Balancing the body in a healthy way

Balancing weight in a healthy way does not at any time refer to an aesthetic canon that responds to an aggressive world where we seek to satisfy an image that creates slavery and is disconnected from our reality.

Each body has a bone structure and in turn a muscular structure, which determines your constitution. The weight will be appropriate to that structure, there are people with a wider structure, others with a narrower structure and in each case it is perfect, there is no one better than the other.

The idea of having a figure that fits the marketing that is sold to us in advertising media can lead to appetite disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Extreme dieting or the famous operation bikini where the urge to lose a lot of weight in a short time triggers serious behavioural, emotional and organic problems.

However, there are factors that must be taken into account in order to maintain good health. For example, waist circumference is a determining factor in avoiding cardiovascular accidents. For men it should not exceed 102 cm and for women 88 cm.

Heart 'weighed down' by abdominal fat 

Abdominal fat contributes to high blood pressure and hypertension. The predisposition increases even more with a larger waist circumference. In addition, fat that accumulates around the abdominal organs releases hormones into the bloodstream, such as resistin, which decreases the ability of insulin to convert glucose into energy. 

Another consequence of storing too much fat tissue in the body is that it increases so-called 'bad' cholesterol and increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Studies show that if this fat is stored around the stomach, the risk is higher. 

It is equally dangerous to be underweight as the body's organs can be damaged leading to hormonal imbalances, amenorrhoea, frigidity or decalcification among other things. 

To maintain a healthy weight, the diet should be varied, balanced and based on local, seasonal and organic vegetables. For example, whole grain cereals, pulses, seaweed, seeds, dried fruits, ferments, good quality oils...

It is also advisable to follow the rhythm of the sun for your meals. The popular saying goes: "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar". 

When someone asks me about intermittent fasting, it is clear to me that if you have dinner at 19:00 and then have breakfast between 8:00 and 9:00, then you give your body a 14-hour rest and do not interfere with the natural rhythm, "it is intelligent intermittent fasting".

Another important aspect of maintaining a healthy weight is to sleep a minimum of 8 hours. "Too little sleep predisposes to weight gain" and this is because lack of sleep alters the regulation of ghrelin and leptin, the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety. When you get too little sleep, you tend to eat more, especially snacking and simple carbohydrates.

There is another aspect that can lead to imbalance and that is emotional hunger. Emotional hunger is an immediate impulse. I need to eat now', and 'not just any food will do', because what I want is something specific such as chocolate, bread, crisps, industrial pastries, fatty foods, sugary sweets.... After eating these foods we have a feeling of relief that lasts a few minutes and then we want more.

Emotional hunger arises when we feel unloved, unsatisfied, highly stressed or have lost our rhythm. That is why we try to fill the emptiness with this type of food and by eating in this impulsive way.

Eating activates areas in our brain related to pleasure, also known as the reward circuit. This mechanism involves dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the sensation of pleasure, and serotonin.

This circuit is easily activated especially with "highly palatable" foodstuffs. These are those containing fats+sugars, fats+salt, monosodium glutamate. All of these are present in many packaged foods, refined flours, intensely flavoured food products, flavour enhancers...

When a person's constitution is very yang - contractive, compact - fasting, eating salty food of a very contractive yang nature and extreme exercise results in fat retention in the body, an effect on the body that is the opposite of what is desired.

Tips to eliminate fats and unbalancing substances from the body and lose weight:

1- Use dried shitake mushrooms regularly in your miso soup.

2- Add dried daikon to your soups or drinks.

3- Eat one serving of detergent vegetables every day: fresh radishes, fresh daikon, grated carrots, celery, asparagus, cucumbers. 

4- Don't go to bed after dinner, wait at least 3 hours.

5- Walk briskly every day for at least 40 minutes.

6- Avoid prolonged fasting and extreme diets, just because you eat little does not mean you lose more weight, the body does not know that you are going to give it food and it will retain everything.

7- Seaweed, especially nori and kombu seaweed, helps you to discharge fat from your body and at the same time mineralises you.

8- Don't skip meals.

9- Chew each mouthful of food thoroughly.

10- Do not drink at meals.

11- Eat more couscous and bulgur, they have less fat and twice as much fibre as other cereals and according to macrobiotics they relax the condition.

12- Drink kukicha tea, green tea and Mu tea regularly.

13- Avoid cold meals. Hot meals and broths activate the metabolism.

14- Red rice balances glucose and is very suitable for weight maintenance.

15- Practice moderate movement.

16- Tofu is rich in nutrients and zero fat.

Tips for regaining weight and building organic wealth:

1- Eat more creamy vegetables and creamy foods.

2- Incorporate mochiinto your diet.

3- Take more oats in flakes and grains.

4- Eat creamy vegetable stews.

5- Increases the use of oil in cooking for sautéing and tempura.

6- Incorporate seitan into stews, sandwiches and other preparations.

7- Have some sprouted bread with tahini or other mashed nuts.

8- Chew your food well.

9- Eat 5 meals a day.

10- Don't skip dessert or snacks. Prepare them with natural sweeteners.

11- Have seasonal fruit mid-morning.

Drink to eliminate fat from the body 

Dried daikon with carrot 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon of soaked dried daikon

The same amount of grated carrot

1/2 glass of water

Elaboration:

1. Remove the soaking water.

2. Cook the daikon and carrot in a glass of water for 10 minutes.

3. Eat and drink the broth.

4. Take 3 times a week for 3 weeks on an empty stomach.

Weight gainer dish 

Mochi sandwich 

Ingredients: 

1 mochi cube

2 slices of seitan

1 teaspoon pesto

A little oil

Elaboration: 

1. Cut the mochi into three strips.

2. Brown the seitan in a little oil.

3. Place the mochi in a sandwich or waffle iron until it is completely melted.

4. Fold the melted mochi into two pieces.

5. Spread with the pesto.

6. Stuff with seitan

Enjoy your meal!

Article written by Patricia Restrepodirector of IME and macrobiotic consultant.