enLIGHTened Yoga Diet

Enlightened Yoga Diet Background

EnLIGHTened – How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer, is a book authored by Jessica Berger Gross who struggled with her self-esteem and image in order to lose weight. Introduced to Yoga at 14, she didn’t take it seriously until years later. The practice became a key factor in her weight loss, increased self-esteem, and gave her the motivation to write an entire book about the Yoga Diet.

Much of EnLIGHTened serves as the framework for what many know now as the Yoga Diet. While not a strict guide so much as Jessica Berger Gross’ life story, many of the experiences she had gone through and listed in the book can be incorporated effectively into a unique form of dieting that includes Yoga as one of the primary forms of physical exercise. Integrated with a healthy diet, which Gross also explains in the book, EnLIGHTened, a Yoga Diet may also help other individuals to successfully lose all the extra weight

EnLIGHTened Basics to a Yoga Diet

EnLIGHTened is not a guide to a Yoga Diet per se, but may serve as a springboard for readers to try out a Yoga-based diet. In this personal account from the author, many of her insights and experiences can and have been successfully transcribed by thousands of readers worldwide as an alternative means to weight loss and exercise.

The core philosophy behind EnLIGHTened is based on the Yoga Diet and much of the principles where Yoga is built upon. Gross demonstrates in the book that many of the ancient principles behind Yoga can still be applied to a fitness regimen today. Some of these include developing honesty and introspection, as well as developing discipline and moderation which are key factors in being able to go through a successful weight reduction program.

One of the more basic elements that Gross touches upon is how eating three meals a day is important in the success of the Yoga Diet. Skipping a meal can be the cause of excessive cravings, which can in turn, lead to overeating. A large breakfast consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables make up the backbone of her large yet low-fat diet discussed in EnLIGHTened and can be a basic factor for other people to utilize it in their own Yoga Diet.

Putting together your own list of staple meals containing healthy and wholesome ingredients is also one pointer Gross mentions in EnLIGHTened. This collection of staple meals are also basic to this Yoga Diet, in that they are meals you won’t get sick of eating; a common problem that is encountered by dieters undergoing other weight loss programs, which introduce foreign health foods into a person’s daily food intake. In Gross’ advice, it is still key to maintain a low-fat diet; one that can supplement a Yoga fitness regimen just as well for you as it did for her.

After reading through EnLIGHTened, Gross’ experiences should also serve as a great motivation to anybody having second guesses about a diet. Placing enough effort and dedication that are required for any diet or exercise regimen can be hard for many people to get past sometimes. Reading the EnLIGHTened book prior to starting your Yoga Diet may indeed be an enlightening experience.

Recommended Exercises

While EnLIGHTened talks about the author’s experience with Yoga and her weight loss, Gross also states that any weight loss-promoting aerobic exercise can do the job just as well as Yoga did for her. EnLIGHTened was, after all, not designed strictly as a step-by-step guide to help people with their weight loss conundrums, but comes off as a more inspirational means for people to get motivated enough to lose weight on their own.

“Finding your own Yoga,” according to Gross, can be roughly translated into performing the exercise and workouts that work best for you and your weight loss problems. Even people looking for more modest weight loss may have other means of exercise and physical exertion activities that will eventually work better for them.

While EnLIGHTened and its suggested Yoga Diet is no substitute for professional advice, it is important to note that every person shares a different physical makeup. This means that trying out other diet programs may be needed in order for an individual to find the perfect diet regimen that will suit his or her preferences and needs.

Aerobic exercise is beneficial to nearly everybody for weight loss purposes. Finding an exercise you enjoy is very important, according to Gross. Whether be it hiking, jogging, biking, or even taking a walk around the city you live in, like Yoga, can be very therapeutic as well as beneficial to your overall health.

Recommended Foods

Fresh fruit, vegetables, almonds, tofu, whole-wheat bread, avocado, pineapples, lentils, beans, shellfish, fish, yogurt, brown rice, low-fat cheese.

Enlightened Yoga Diet Sample Meal Plan

Breakfast

6-8 almonds
1 banana
1/3 pineapple
¼ cup organic low-fat vanilla yogurt

Lunch

Lentil dahl with spinach and rice

Afternoon Snack

Brown rice cake with almond butter

Dinner

Tofu veggie stir-fry with Brown rice

Costs and Expenses

enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer by Jessica Berger Gross is available in paperback at Amazon.com for $16.75.

Click here to purchase the book at a discounted price.

Pros

• Appealing for people interested in Yoga.
• Flexible enough to accommodate any kind of exercise into the Yoga Diet regimen.
• Promotes healthy lifestyle changes through the avoidance of overindulging.
• Good for dieters with modest weight loss goals or for people who are not interested in building muscle in general.
• EnLIGHTened promotes an open-ended approach to the entire Yoga Diet regimen and does not place overly strict requirements from which a reader must abide by in order to get results.

Cons

• A vegetarian diet may be hard to adapt for some people who are used to eating meats.
• Open-ended design may leave the totally clueless at a loss to decide for themselves.
• The memoir nature of the book may put off people looking for specific food choices and statistics.

Conclusion

The book EnLIGHTened can be used as a vague yet inspirational starting place for your venture into the Yoga Diet. While it may not state very specific ways to go about your dieting efforts aside from the methods that Gross herself had used to lose weight, a little research and creativity can help the reader find his or her own way to make the Yoga Diet work for one’s own. Healthy eating and physical activity in general were her main topics in the book, after all.

Gross’ memoir also promotes the use of the core principle philosophies of Yoga, and not just the many postures and poses it requires somebody to assume in order to achieve weight loss and a better overall approach to lifestyle choices. With the right knowledge in hand and the inspiration that the book EnLIGHTened holds for readers, the Yoga Diet may indeed work best for your weight loss goals and needs. Click here to start the enLIGHTened Yoga Diet.