Weight Loss, Italian-Style!

Jill’s Asian Adventure: Why Would Anyone Go to an Ashram?

Jill — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:21:42 +0000

Due to what I will call “technical difficulties” (read: getting back to regular life, taking care of business, and taking care of new clients who have wanted my new pet loss book or a pet loss consultation) I had to take a break from doing these posts on my India trip. Re-entry from being out in orbit is never easy!

To pick up from where we were, I had just arrived at the ashram in India. It’s a beautiful place of natural beauty and tranquility where enlightened masters have done intense spiritual practices for generations. (And going back a lot further than that before they came to this particular location in what was the Dandakaranya forest, where one of the great Indian epics, the Ramayana, took place.)

You may wonder why anyone would go to an ashram. I mean, there would have to be a pretty good reason to fly halfway around the world (especially nowadays), put up with the rigors of travel, the cost, the discomfort of red-eye flights, riding through the desert on dusty, dangerous roads, physical illness, and all the rest, right? But for those of us who love the ashram experience, it’s all worth it. Like me, everyone I met during my stay had been exposed to or given a taste of what is referred to as “liberation,” “enlightenment,” or “self-realization.” Most of us got that taste through meditation, and we wanted more of it.
And for those of us on this particular path, there’s no better way than going to the source.

I don’t know about you, but I always thought there had to be more to life than just being born, growing up, toiling, and finally dying in the end. Life certainly has its moments — but it’s also filled with pain, sorrow and boredom. I’m not a Buddhist, but the Buddha was right when he said that being alive is like being in prison. (Or something like that.)

When I found a way out of that that didn’t involve drugs, sex, television or any other numbing distraction that basically leads nowhere and can harm you in excess — when I found that I could access a state of freedom that some might call bliss, which could actually heal the mind and body, I wanted to learn how to reach that place, not just in dribs and drabs, but on a regular basis.

You can learn a lot from books, but you learn a lot more from direct experience.

When I first started going to the Ashram in the late 1980s, it was a busy place, open to the public, because they felt that no one should be denied access to the knowledge held there. Liberation is a possibility for everyone. But opening it to the riff-raff caused a lot of problems.

The people who didn’t respect the place ruined things for everyone else. In fact there was a point when people traveling on the hippie trail through India used to stop at this venerable institution just to take advantage of the delicious food. That’s not what an ashram is for, so the gates came down.

This time — due also to heightend security in India in general following a terrorism attack in Mumbai a couple of years ago, we weren’t even allowed to walk into the nearby village unless we were accompanied by an Indian national. But I have to say that once I got used to the new circumstances, I liked things even better than before. The new peace and quiet was conducive to turning the attention inward.

Now the ashram is very quiet, accessible by invitation only, and restricted to serious long-time students of this particular type of yoga. During my stay, I was delighted to run into people I hadn’t seen in 20 years. I also met new friends who had been on this path for one to three decades.

It was a little disorienting at first because there was no longer the choice of a Western-style kitchen. Everyone ate Indian-style in the main pavilion or on the outdoor terrace. What used to be the bookstore was now the music room, and the old Western-style eating place was now a library. There were more Western-style toilets — a definite plus. I also had my own room in a condo with one other person. This was a welcome change from my first visit in 1989 when I shared a room with 14 people and only one bathroom!

The gardens were even more magnificent than I remembered. There were the same coconut palms, mango and frangipani trees, and exotic flowers. But because there were so few people, the place was full of birds I’d never seen before and the air filled with exotic songs. Every day I’d lie on my bed for a period, just listening to their intoxicating melodies. Even if it had been only to experience the beauty and tranquility, the entire trip would have been worth it. But there was more, which I will tell you about in future posts.

Arriving at the Ashram

Jill — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 05:30:11 +0000

After the snarled midnight traffic of Mumbai, we headed the countryside. Around 2:30 in the morning, I began to recognize the twisting roads, farm houses and ramshackle buildings of our area of Maharashtra. Along the roadside were strange yet familiar signs in curly, whimsical Hindi script.

We came around a bend, and I caught my first glimpse of the lush vines and creepers growing over the walls of the ashram meadow. Was I really there? On the other side of the dusty road stood the little row of shops, unchanged over the past 10 years. At last I saw the beautiful white cupolas of the Ashram rooftop, and then the lotus-shaped gate in front.

It was India, but at 3 a.m., the air was cold. A guard in a long wool overcoat, a scarf wound tightly around his neck, and a wool cap with “Alaska” embroidered on the brim stepped out to greet us.

The beloved row of royal palms still stood majestically in the moonlight. We walked between them as stars twinkled overhead. Everything was quiet, except for the occasional bark of a local dog. When I arrived at the condo, I had to tiptoe across my condo mate’s room to get to my own in the back.

The room was beautiful, warm and stark, decorated only with three pictures of the ashram’s lineage of gurus. The sight of their faces warmed my heart. By flashlight, I pulled on my pajamas and crawled in bed, happy that I’d brought a thick wool blanket with me, even though it had taken up half my suitcase.

I fell asleep, excited that I’d be waking up in one of the places dearest to me in the world. I couldn’t wait to visit the temple and explore the gardens.

On to India: the Night Journey

Jill — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:18:31 +0000

I caught a night flight from Singapore to India.

First surprise upon landing: Mumbai Airport was a sweltering hole last time I was there 10 years ago. Now it’s a gleaming, air-conditioned place on par with any in the world. Second surprise: After we went through Customs, we had to go through airport security again, with x-ray machines and all — at midnight — before we could leave the airport! (Mumbai had a gruesome terrorist attack at the Taj Hotel a while back, if you remember, so security is tight.)

Video 1: We’re not in Kansas anymore — or Singapore, for that matter. An airport restaurant had a flashy Indian costume from a famous movie on display. Dig the spangly, one-legged pants in the background on this poster of it.

Video 2: The streets are jammed, even though it’s late at night. First thing, we got stuck behind a great big truck. Notice the writing: “Horn, OK, please!” Really?

Video 3: Yes, India is different. On the freeways you share lanes with cars, motorbikes, little motorized “rickshaws,” gigantic dump trucks…you name it.
(Not shown in the video: When the traffic got too bad, my driver jumped the divider and proceeded to drive backwards up the oncoming lane.)

Video 4: Mumbai street scene: There’s a lot of active street life at night — little shops, little shanties, dogs and people walking, walking, walking. Think I’ll have to blog on Weight Loss, Indian Style!

Discipline Reigns Supreme as a Weight Loss Virtue

Jill — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:00:56 +0000

Mention the word “discipline” in the same sentence as “eating,” and many people will immediately tune out.

No one wants to hear about discipline in terms of losing weight because it conjures up images of deprivation, harshness, and control.

But you do yourself a disservice if you view discipline this way. The truth is that it’s the key to your weight loss freedom. Italians are disciplined eaters and they also eat pizza and pasta — more often even than we do. It’s discipline that allows them to be such carefree eaters.

Discipline can take many forms. The great opera singer, Pavarotti, was quoted as saying, “One of the nicest things about life is the way we stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”

Although Pavarotti was not the best example of a disciplined eater (he struggled with his weight his entire life), he, like most Italians, knew the value of making mealtimes a sacrosanct time of day.

Even if you aren’t the most disciplined eater, you can begin by committing to taking mealtimes seriously and stopping what you are doing three times a day to truly focus on the joy of eating. This means creating something good to eat that you can look forward to. It also means sitting down at a table and using dishes and cutlery rather than grabbing a bite from a fast food restaurant and eating in your car or on the couch in front of the TV.

When you feed yourself well at meals — meaning that you eat a healthful blend of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, rather than some weird concoction you’ve come up with in order to “lose the weight” — you will find it easier to practice another discipline: letting go of snacking.

Giving in to the snack habit is the opposite of living a disciplined life — and you know the results: excess weight, mountains of guilt, and yet more snacking.

Getting a handle on your snacking habits by eating better allows you to begin to enjoy the pleasures of real food. You’ll then be in a better position to trade an obsession with cookies, cakes, chips, etc., for an interest in the wholesome goodness of things like fresh fruit.

And your discipline eating habits will allow you to occasionally take a break and indulge in something decadent — without the guilt.

When You Go Walking, So Do the Pounds

Jill — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:00:26 +0000

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to bring an Italian sense of vitality into your life and move like an Italian. People get up early in Italy and move throughout the day. Next to their healthy eating habits, the number one reason why Italians are slimmer than Americans is because of the amount of movement they get in their everyday lives.

The best kind of life-enhancing exercise I know of? It would have to be walking. Walking is the exercise of choice for people everywhere in the world. The National Weight Control Registry, which keeps track of thousands of people who have shed thirty pounds or more and kept it off over a year, has found that most successful people start out by walking on a regular basis.

You can start small, especially if you’re not in the habit of walking or if you’re very overweight. In fact, it’s important to consult a health professional before starting any kind of diet, weight loss, or exercise program to find out what’s best for your particular body type and situation. Don’t push yourself too hard in the beginning. You can just commit to being more physically active every day. You could start with 10 minutes of walking, or 15, or 20, depending on your constitution. Take a walk before or after breakfast. Or before or after dinner.

If Americans would simply walk on a regular basis just for the pleasure of it, they’d be in much better shape. There are all sorts of opportunities for walking. Walk to your local market on weekends. Take your dog for a walk. Walk with a friend. Let walking take you outside to enjoy nature. It boosts immunity, lowers blood pressure, and releases those pleasure-giving endorphins that make you more vibrant and alluring. It lifts your spirits.

You can even adopt the Italian ritual of la passagiata, the ever-popular evening stroll. It’s the time when Italians are out enjoying the fresh air, being watched, and watching others. If you can’t get your head around that one, think John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever when he struts through Brooklyn.

My friend Kathleen discovered the joys of walking when she and a friend began walking after work. (Before that she used to do a treadmill at the gym.) She and her friend found that after just a few minutes of walking, they would feel better and would have discarded all their stress from a day of work.

They settled into a routine of walking for an hour or so at the end of the day, covering three and a half to four miles Monday through Friday and five miles on Sundays, unless it was pouring down rain. Kathleen said it was much more fun than the treadmill. Once a week they would walk to their favorite restaurant and share great food and a bottle of wine.

“One night we had too much and ended up singing all the way home!”

Kathleen said that now, if they don’t walk, it really bugs them.

“You process what you eat better,” she said. “You aren’t as hungry when you get regular exercise. Bu you can actually eat more.”

Walking allows you to enjoy a hearty appetite. The last time I was in Rome, we grabbed dinner at a sprawling cafeteria above the train station when we returned from a trip one evening. I was amazed to see the enormous spreads the Italians were eating. Almost all of them had a pasta first course, a meat second course, a salad, vegetable, bread, drink, and water. Italians dine like kings. They need to. They walk — a lot!

Meeting Two Chinese “Emperors” at Singapore Airport

Jill — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:26:59 +0000

So, here I’m finally on my way to India. But the adventure continued at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where, as you’ll see in one of the video clips below, I stumbled upon the end of an amazing dance performance in honor of Chinese New Year.

Then I ran into two Chinese emperors handing out fortune cookies. (At least I thought they were emperors.)

Finally, I want to show you Singapore Airlines’ “Sanctuary” — a wonderful place for long-haul travelers to catch a mid-trip snooze.

High Sugar, High Fat Foods Cause Overeating

Jill — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:00:22 +0000

Mention the word “discipline” in the same sentence as “eating,” and many people will immediately tune out.

No one wants to hear about discipline in terms of losing weight because it conjures up images of deprivation, harshness, and control.

Although Pavarotti was not the best example of a disciplined eater (he struggled with his weight his entire life), he, like most Italians, knew the value of making mealtimes a sacrosanct time of day.

Giving in to the snack habit is the opposite of living a disciplined life — and you know the results: excess weight, mountains of guilt, and yet more snacking.

And your discipline eating habits will allow you to occasionally take a break and indulge in something decadent — without the guilt.

Special Sun Protection, Singapore Style!

Jill — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:03:44 +0000

Singapore is close to the equator, so when you’re out and about,
you really need to protect yourself from the sun. Singaporean
women have an interesting answer to the problem:

The covered walkways help, too, as seen in this photograph.

Jill Suggests a Travel Journal

Jill — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:09:49 +0000

Singapore Tea and Sweets Shop

Oscar Wilde said, “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

It’s true — you should never travel without some kind of journal for capturing intriguing impressions and special moments.

For my Singapore/India trip, my Mom and Dad gave me a 10 Speed Press journal loaded with detailed travel information that really came in handy on the road.

I also took another type of “Gypsy” journal with me. It’s designed by my artist friend, Barbara Wirth, and is decorated with her beautiful water colors. Get a sneak preview of it and hear me gush over it:

Also, enjoy the following photos of a Singapore tea shop and some
exotic Southeast Asian fruit treats!

Exotic Singapore Fruits

How to Experience the Rapture of Eating

Jill — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:00:23 +0000

In order to let go of junk food and bad eating habits, you need to experience what I call the Rapture of Eating. In other words, you need to relearn how to appreciate the goodness of food. It means the difference between being a glutton or an epicurean.

Do you rush through your eating experiences as if your eating in a panic? As if there is no tomorrow? Then you can be enjoying the Rapture of Eating, which requires time. This is not about ripping open a bag, tearing open a box, or dumping a can into a pot and plopping yourself down in front of the television.

To feel the real joy of eating, which will discourage you from a disastrous habit of snacking, you must learn to take your time, eat something good enough to feel rapturous about, and you must create an atmosphere conducive to the appreciation of good food.

Let me give you a snapshot of how I came upon this on the Isle of Elba. Every morning, I awoke to the intoxicating aroma of cornetti baking in the oven of my hotel. (These are a type of Italian croissant. They’re doughier and less buttery than French croissants, but they are delectable!)

These amazing cornetti were one of the reasons why I took pains not to overindulge at night. I didn’t want anything to ruin my guiltless enjoyment of the cornetti in the morning!

But it wasn’t just the cornetti that made breakfast such a rapturous experience. Colazione, as they call breakfast, was served al fresco, on a terrace overlooking a lovely garden near the sea. So that’s 25 points for the cornetti, 25 points for the setting. And I’ll give another 25 for the companionship. (Students of the Italian language were all placed at the same table so we could converse together about our classes and our adventures.) The other 25 points goes to the coffee, which was usually cappuccino or a caffe latte.

Can you eat in your garden? If not, do you have a balcony? If none of the above, do you have a sunny window where you can create a “breakfast nook”?

Here’s how I brought the Rapture of Eating Breakfast back to the United States with me. As soon as I got home, I moved from eating breakfast staring at my kitchen wall to eating it in my lovely, sunny living room to make the experience feel more like Italy.

When I moved to California, I acquired a garden. I tried making my own cornetti. (Not a pretty picture!) The resulting disaster didn’t discourage me. I found a French cafe with an outdoor terrace and some excellent croissants that were close enough. The universe took me seriously and even stepped forward to provide some Italian regulars. And I was in business!

Of course I don’t eat these delicious croissants every day. I make it a treat to have one on the weekend. But my point is you need to make your dining experience pleasurable in as many ways as possible. The food itself is important, but it’s not just about the food. Give yourself a pleasant surrounding whenever possible, and some good companionship, even if it’s only on weekends.