22 Jan 2023
Eating with abandon is not a good idea. These tips by holistic health guru, Mickey Mehta will help you gain weight the healthy way.
It often seems, for some people, the hardest thing in the world to do is to gain weight. Every once in a while I meet people for advice on a healthy weight gain plan. The ideal way to gain weight is through a healthy and nutrient dense diet plan and exercises.
My mantra for a plan that optimizes not just your weight gain goals but also your wellness quotient is as follows:
1. Let s focus first on nourishment through food. The adage 'you are what you eat' is undoubtedly the solution to a lot of our maladies. Food choices must be nourishing and must be for healing and cleansing. The nutrients that you derive from the raw materials help you build new cells, stronger muscles, protects you from diseases and impacts your moods, attitudes and thought processes.
Incorporate natural, nutrient dense and wholesome foods like whole grains, oats, brown rice, seasonal fruits and other fruits like bananas, chicoo etc, starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, other vegetables, pulses/beans, a good helping of nuts, dates and figs, milk and yogurt and ghee of cow s milk, (Ayurveda vouches for their health giving properties), greens and raw salads and sprouts. Avoid erratic timings and ensure that you eat 5-6 frequent and moderate sized good quality meals daily.
Include healthy snacks like peanuts, bananas, orange/pomegranate juices/ boiled chickpeas etc. and avoid unhealthy and junk foods like burgers, pizzas, processed foods and desserts. Honey, palm sugar and jaggery based til/rajgira/peanut chikki or laddoos and other sweets are preferred
2. Include exercises to repair, renew and for strength and stamina. Balance your workout schedules with a combination of exercises like warm ups, stretches like tadasana, side stretch, warrior pose, strength training with exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, push ups, squats and lunges. The biggest muscle-surface area on the body is in the legs. Working your leg muscles is a great way to build muscle mass. Leg workouts typically are the most difficult, but well worth it! Core focus with exercises like ab crunches, bhujangasana, naukasana and sethubandhasana are ideal.
Toned abdominal muscles also are important for overall health and wellness.When the muscles of your body are toned, doing most physical activities becomes easier. By exercising to tone your abs, you also lessen the risk of developing back problems.Do strength training with light weights for 2 to 3 times a week as a base. Integrate my Yo workouts which are a combination of yo-stretch, yo-strength, yo-flex and yo-cool.
I recommend these exercises as they address strength, flexibility, stamina and agility. For me, these exercises, based on the principles of yoga with breathing exercises are synonymous with heightened immunity, metabolism, for building strength and stamina, for improved nervous, digestive and hormonal functions and to help the body heal and renew itself.
3. Rest plays a key role in any weight gain program. Ideally, for weight gain intersperse these exercises with 2-3 days rest for good results.
4. Posture and form play crucial roles in exercise management. The minute you break form, stop or you ll injure yourself. This is where it s highly recommended to have professional guidance to observe and correct your form. Here are more tips from Mickey Mehta for healthy weight gain.
5. Breathing and shavasan: Conscious breathing exercise establishes regular breathing patterns and relaxed rhythms of the body and when you lie down in shavasan tension and stress dissipates leaving you with a feeling of wholeness and serenity.
Remember, just like food nourishes you, so do exercises. Do not over exercise as this will make you burn more calories than required. Focus on the three D s of exercise for maximum benefits and for attaining a holistic way of life - Discipline, Dedication and Devotion.
So, let your enthusiasm be energised to get optimised.