The Chinese philosophy of body image and losing weight
The Chinese approach to Losing Weight
健康
Accepting your Karma
FIRST - You must accept your karma.
If it is your karma to be a slim athlete then the right diet will lead you to this.
If it is your karma to be a bit paunchy and prefer a quite cup of tea to a brisk jog, then a healthy diet will allow you to enjoy life with a comfortable amount of fat.
Karma is about acceptance. You can and should work towards goals, but you should also learn to accept the result.
If you embark on this diet, then enjoy the journey and accept the results.
Love yourself for who you are ...... now, in the present, always.
Your weight is determined by just three things:
1. What you eat
2. Your metabolism
3. How much you move your body each day (and how)
We will look at these 3 apsects of your weight
Losing weight will vary for each person, depending on where you started and the balance you want to reach, ie: the body image you are happy with.
Losing weight is about consistency and setting goals that are well within reach and can be incorporated into your day-to-day life.
A 'crash' or 'fad' diet will reduce your weight while you are on it. However, generally, you will return to your normal weight when you go off it. That is why it is essential you find a way of reaching the weight you are happy with through eating what you like eating and exercising to the level you can do and enjoy every day.
For most of us, a prolonged diet course or treatment is prohibitively expensive.
Also, if the treatment or food is unpleasant, then it is unlikely you will want to continue with it anyway.
How much you move your body each day (and how)
Some people love to run and swim and play sport. Some people like to garden, take a stroll and contemplate life with a good cup of tea.
It is important that you move (exercise you body), but it is equally important that you enjoy doing it.
Otherwise you are not going to continue doing it.
Find a few things you like to do each day. They can range from a long run for some people to a gentle dig in the garden for some people.
All you have to do then, is balance what you enjoy doing each day with your food intake.
The best diet is a well balanced diet of fresh food. That is a vital step to losing weight (and good health).
Three well balanced meals a day of fresh food and preferably no snacks in-between.
You can have the occasional treat, but not as a habit.
Drink normally. To much liquid can be as bad as too little. Drink what you like as long as it is in moderation. A good cup of coffee does not hurt. A steady intake of only coffee does hurt. A glass of wine does not hurt, but a steady intake of wine probably will. The occasional glass of water will do you no end of good, but not, as some suggest, litres and litres so you spend all your time going to the toilet.
All references to food assume you are eating a healthy well balanced diet. It is not necessary to change your diet and eat things you do not like. It is not necessary to become a vegetarian, indeed, that could be harmful if you do not approach it in the right way. Our bodies need protein and meat is the most efficient way to get it.
However it is essential your diet is well balanced and preferably based on fresh food, freshly cooked each day.
Everyone can find a variety of food they enjoy eating and ways to cook it which bring pleasure at each meal. Most of us do that already, so there will be very little adjustment needed. Heed the Chinese approach to hot & cold, it will not only help you lose weight, it will help you maintain good health.
Before you start, you should have some tests to determine if you have an allergy, or a metabolic issue, or some other health problem that is causing you to weigh more than you would like.
Note, I said ‘weigh more than you would like’.
Some people would be comfortable with a body weight and shape that another person simply hates and wants to change.
Your metabolism
Some people have fast metabolisms, some people have slow metabolisms. There is not much you can do about it, which is why it is important that you have a healthy mental attitude to your weight and body shape. Be happy with what you were born with, or be happy with what you can achieve. Being unhappy is rather silly. Happy one day or sad one day is up to you, but the day is gone anyway. Surely it is better to use that day being happy.
The amount you eat depends on how much exercise you want to do each day (How much you want to move your body each day, see above).
To begin a programme of losing weight start with three simple steps:
1. Cut down the food you eat by 10%. Do not change the variety (unless it is not a good diet as described above), just reduce it 10%.
2. Increase your exercise each day by 10%. That could be an extra 100 metres of running or an extra 10 minutes gardening or an extra stroll around the block. The important thing is to increase your metabolism just that little bit extra.
3. Drink some Chinese tea after each meal (red in winter, green in summer). It will settle your stomach and increase digestion.
That’s it …
Do that for 2 – 4 weeks then increase the percentage to 15%.
Repeat until you are happy with the balance between how much you eat and how much exercise you are doing.
It will vary for each person, depending on where you started and the balance you want to reach, ie: the body image you are happy with.
Your doctor or an internet search will give you a healthy weight range for height and age.
You cannot expect to look like an athlete if you do a little gardening and enjoy your steak, chips and a glass of red. However, if done sensibly, you can do all that and find a healthy weight.
Body image is important to all of us.
We can only be ourselves. We cannot keep up an athlete’s regime of diet and exercise if that is not in our nature. So if you try to maintain a balance that you do not feel comfortable with simply to meet someone or to attain a body image, then you will eventually fail.
If you meet someone who depends on you retaining that body then that someone will eventually be disappointed. If you give up on the regime, you body will change and you risk being dissappointed not only in your body, but at what you perceive as a failure.
Find the balance and the body will look after itself.
It may be a little paunchy, but it will not be obese or slovenly.
Then, you do not need to work at keeping that body; it will be a natural part of your life.
Also remember that our bodies change with age. So do not expect to have a 20-year-old body when you are 50.
Finally, don’t be in a hurry.
Does it matter if it takes one month or one year to find your ideal balance? The main thing is to find a balance that you can maintain.
A balance between enjoying what you do and enjoying what and how much you eat.
Along with cups of good Chinese tea. Seriously, it does aid in digestion.
Chinese green tea -Tie Guan Yin’s story 铁观音
The story of the Pu'er Tea 普洱茶 the famous red tea of China
All the above assumes you do not smoke and you do not drink to excess.
The Chinese approach to Health
健康
A Chinese Diet to LOSE WEIGHT & stay healthy
Chinese Medicine - A Brief overview
The Chinese philosophy of body image and LOSING WEIGHT
Share Article 
