Description (cont'd from above)

The Macrobiotic Diet Weight Loss Plan

Named for the Greek words that mean long life, The Macrobiotic Diet plan has the goal of giving you a life of peace and helping you avoid disease. It uses principles of balance and moderation, harmony and variety, ecological wisdom, and common sense. You won't count calories, weigh or measure nutrients, or eat a single wonder food that answers all your bodily needs. Instead, you'll discover how to balance yin and yang, and learn the laws of harmony and relativity that govern all bodily and mental functions. Once you've understood the classification of foods into yin and yang and learned how to eat appropriately harmonious portions of each, you will be able to follow a balanced diet. You should avoid foods that are excessively either yin or yang.

Setting all the philosophy aside, The Macrobiotic Diet is a plant-based diet that recommends that you eat foods that are natural to your climate zone and environment.

You base your diet on whole grains and limit animal products. You'll also avoid processed and artificial foods in favor of those found in their natural, whole form.

What makes The Macrobiotic Diet plan different?

The Macrobiotic Diet plan is a lifestyle as well as a plant-based, low-fat, high-carbohydrate way of eating. You don't just change what you eat, you change how you think about what you're eating. You must concern yourself with the foods you are consuming, whether they are raw or cooked, and how they are cooked. If you successfully balance yin and yang, you will live a longer life that's filled with harmony and health. You won't necessarily be thinner.

What is The Macrobiotic Diet weight loss plan?

This is a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. Of the foods you consume, you should be eating 50 to 60% whole cereal grains, 25 to 30% vegetables, and only 15% fat.

You should avoid meat and dairy products and limit your consumption of fish and seafood. The rest of the food choices are soups, beans, and sea vegetables.

The premise behind the diet is that if we change what we eat, we can also make critical physical, psychological and spiritual changes. According to the plan, the current American diet has led to many chronic diseases.

According to the Macrobiotic Diet, plant-based eating connects with lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. The original human diet, dating from the earliest hunter-gatherer days in pre-history, was low in fat, very low in sugar, and high in fiber and other complex carbohydrates.

If you follow the Macrobiotic Diet faithfully, you will eat foods that are natural to your environment and climate zone. You will cook about 2/3 of the vegetables you eat, and eat the remaining vegetables raw or pickled. You'll avoid processed and artificial foods, never eat 3 hours before bedtime, and eat only when you are really hungry.

Forget tomatoes, potatoes, dairy products, meat, coffee, tea, soft drinks, or really anything you would find in your neighborhood grocery store. Start searching for your nearest macrobiotic store. Better yet, grow your own vegetables and grains and make your own miso. Your wallet may lose some weight, since the diet recommends that you use only organic products.

Some other suggestions for following the Macrobiotic Diet include:

• Chew food well, at least 50 times or more per mouthful. This may create a meditative dining atmosphere, since you'll be busy counting rather than talking.
• Use good posture at the table and express gratitude to your food.
• Avoid long baths or showers since this depletes your body's minerals.
• Every morning and/or night scrub and massage your entire body with a hot, damp towel until the skin becomes red to stimulate the flow of electromagnetic energy through your body. This sounds painful.

What are the weight loss expectations?

There are no weight loss promises. The Macrobiotic Diet does offer assurances that changing what you eat will bring about physical, biological, and spiritual changes. This diet is not about weight loss, but about developing harmony with nature.

Is exercise promoted?

The Macrobiotic Diet does not directly address exercise. There are suggestions that you should be as active as possible in your daily life. You can scrub floors, clean windows, and/or wash clothes to gain the benefits of activity. It further recommends engaging in systematic exercise programs such as yoga, shiatsu massage, martial arts, and sports.

Are supplements recommended?

Supplements are not recommended. You should get your vitamins and minerals in their natural form, which is found in food. A table of natural sources of different vitamins and minerals is available to help guide you on the Macrobiotic Diet plan.