I Quit Sugar for Life (8 page)

I recalibrate by:

And if I’m really wanting to reset right, I do a ‘Clean Week’, eating super dense nutrition for 5 days (yeah, I know, not quite a week!).

An Indian approach dating back 5000 years (Buddhism stemmed from the tradition 2000 years later), Ayurveda’s central thread is balance. You don’t fix health issues;
you heal with balance. I like this. No, I love it. Living sugar-free for life is about balance and finding your own through food and energy restoration. This Wellness Code incorporates a lot of
Ayurvedic philosophy and practices. Not surprising since I’ve been working with it for a few years now.

Never heard of Ayurveda? Let me flesh out a little. The tradition (to which Deepak Chopra, the Beatles and David Lynch have all been subscribers) incorporates diet as well as
other lifestyle habits and works to three doshas, or body types. Each of us is a combination of all three types, but tend to have one that dominates. Wellness is about ensuring our dominant dosha
(in my case it’s Vata) is happy and balanced, not aggravated ortoo dominant. We do this with a bit of gentle recalibration and tweaking; no dieting, just some supplementing.

IF YOU’RE PREDOMINANTLY VATA,
you tend to be thin, tall, light and quick in your thoughts and actions. Change is a constant part of your life.
You’re FLIGHTY! Vatas
hate
the cold and love summer and can have very dry hair and skin.

When you’re in balance, you are creative, enthusiastic, chatty and lively. But if Vata becomes excessive, you may develop anxiety, insomnia, constipation, irregular
digestion, dizziness and disjointed thoughts.

If you’re VATA

LEMON AND CINNAMON LAMB SHANKS WITH GREMOLATA

A GREAT VATA BALANCER (see
here
):

warm, soft and grounding

How to balance Vata:
Calm down! Do this with warm, soft, cooked, oily and grounding foods (stews, fats, root vegetables, ginger and other
‘chai-like’ spices). Berries, ‘sweet’ foods like sweet potato and dairy are good, but avoid stimulants (back away from the coffee!) and cold salads. Facial and body oils are
great (I love roseship oil on my face and coconut or sesame oil on my body), so is eating extra oil. It’s best to maintain regular habits (eat and sleep at the same times), rest, stay out of
the wind and away from air-con and to exercise gently – yoga, swimming, a bit of weights and walking are best, even though you have a natural tendency to want to do frenetic cardio. Oh, and
make friends with a balanced Kapha type – they’re lovely and grounding for a Vata.

Many of us in the West tend to be Vata-dominant. Our culture almost demands it! What’s more, whatever your dominant type, if your Vata is wobbly – frenetic,
over-stimulated (from eating too much sugar!) and anxious – the other doshas will also become unbalanced. And so keeping Vata happy is the key to good health.

A few things to keep an eye out for, which will render you imbalanced no matter your type: air-conditioning, plane travel, noisy city life, frenetic schedules and frantic
exercise.

IF YOU’RE PREDOMINANTLY PITTA,
you’re muscular, medium-build, often with a reddish complexion and freckles (both light ones and
dark spots). Your force is fire – so summer throws a Pitta person right outta whack and you can sweat . . . a lot!

When balanced, you are warm, intelligent, focused and determined and a great leader.

If out of balance, Pitta types can be judgemental, irritable and aggressive. They get ‘hot’ symptoms, such as heartburn, burning eyes, acne and acid stomach.
I’ve noticed Pitta men are often bald (too much heat coming out the top of their heads!).

How to balance Pitta:
Cool down! Eat salad-y and watery foods such as coriander, avocado, cucumber and dark, leafy greens (kale, baby spinach leaves) and avoid
fried or spicy foods. Keep out of the sun and surround yourself with cooling colours. Do not go near a hot yoga class (Bikram ain’t your friend!); water sports are perfect. You tend to like
aggressive, competitive sports – back off from these when you’re hot and Pitta-ish and try yoga, walking and more graceful pursuits.

If you’re PITTA

I AM GRACEFUL (ANTI-INFLAMMATORY BLEND) GREEN GLOWIN’ SKIN SMOOTHIE
(see
here
)

IF YOU’RE PREDOMINANTLY KAPHA,
you have a strong and large body frame; thick, curly hair; and thick, smooth, oily and hairy skin.

In balance, you are calm, steady and patient, sleep well, have perfect digestion and enjoy life without worry. You’re pretty laid-back.

When out of balance, your digestion can be slow, and you can be prone to weight gain, fluid retention, allergies, depression and excessive sleep. Kapha is an earthy dosha and
can make you heavy and stagnant – you need firing up!

How to balance Kapha:
Choose foods that are light, sprightly and spicy. Ginger, black pepper, cumin, chilli and lots of bitter dark greens are your friends.
Coffee can be good when you’re a bit heavily Kaphic, to get you motivated. Avoid heavy oily foods and, yes, sugar. You have great stamina and strength, but when you’re out of whack (and
sluggish), cardio is best. Also, you might like to surround yourself with a Vata type – their energy will help to motivate you out of the slump.

If you’re KAPHA

PRAWN COCKTAIL MISH-MASH GREAT GRATED SALAD
(see
here
)