Indulge Time Pass: Luke Coutinho has pointers for emotional detox, better sleep cycles and sustainable workouts

Holistic lifestyle coach and author Luke Coutinho is perhaps the most sought-after wellness experts in the country right now, but he insists that the insight he shares with his clients is something that they are already aware of. “I don’t heal anyone, my team and I, we enable people and their habits. Most people already know what they need to do, it’s out there, so people pay us for motivation. Our bodies are built to fight the most severe viruses, but most of us can’t enable ourselves and the best practices. If someone wants to lose weight in three months, I tell them you can start losing weight in a week, but are you willing to do what it takes? Not what the world is doing, or what’s trending, but what you need to do,” Coutinho tells journalist and author Kaveree Bamzai during a recent session of Indulge Time Pass webinar, which engages some of the best minds of the country to help us navigate the new normal.

Sleep is Key

Coutinho believes sleep is fundamental to wellness and there is no shortcut involved, and also talks about how we all need to adapt some changes to make our sleep cycles more productive . “I tell my clients that sleep is the No 1 factor which determines individual wellness and controls our body clocks as well. Most people sleep at different timings everyday, but the body has a clock. It won't support you if you don’t follow it; you won’t lose weight if you don’t improve your sleep. There are minor lifestyle changes involved like not having sugar before bed because it breaks down into energy, so how will you sleep?” Coutinho remarks

Keep it simple

Coutinho reveals that his methodology and program doesn’t ask his clients to follow diet charts blindly, but instead depends upon a very educated system where he makes sure his clients understand why they are doing what they are doing. “We break down nutrition, we put them through activities, which could be as simple as yoga and walking. Most of our patients lose weight with just the right combination of yoga and walking. If your stress levels are chronically high, you have high cortisol, if you have high cortisol, your body stores fat. We explain this to people, we teach them how it works so they are motivated,” Coutinho says. 

Eat fresh to live well

The wellness coach also advises people to choose a workout that works for them and is repeatable so they can do it regularly, and believes in eating seasonal and fresh produce. In fact, Countinho thinks more and more people are interested in a sustainable food chain.

“Today people want crops that don’t grow locally, people should learn to eat seasonally grown produce which grows locally. It’s simple, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, beetroots, carrots, cucumbers, they are all great for consumption during this season. In winter a different set of crops will come up, more pulses will come in, and our patterns should change accordingly” Coutinho says.

Going green: Yay or nay?

However, the lifestyle guru advises against blindly following the veganism fad, without working out your body’s needs, especially if you’ve grown up eating meat. “I always go by data, I’m yet to see data which determines that vegans or vegetarians are healthier. I see sick vegans, I see sick non-vegetarians, it depends from person-to-person. I see some unhealthy people turn vegan, and they are so deficient, they have not supplemented their diets the right way. You need to transition slowly, especially if you grew up eating animal protein. You can’t do it just because your friends are doing it,” Coutinho insists.

Screen time and wellness

Coutinho, who has a steady presence on Instagram, addressed how essential emotional detox is at the moment. The holistic expert believes that with increasing exposure to social media, it's more important than ever to think about emotional detox as people tend to seek stimulation outside and not within, which makes them disconnected with their own selves. 

“If we are only connected outwards, everything that happens will affect you, you can be controlled by everyone. This happens if you’re not grounded from within. You have to stay connected and know yourself. We need to be in control over our emotions, if you're not willing to change your environment no one can help you. If you’re too attached to the virtual world you’ll end up feeling empty and unhappy. Focus on counting on your blessings and be grateful. And a grounding practice helps: it could be prayer, meditation but something that connects you to yourself, make it a habit,” Coutinho says.