Q: I’ve got quite a bit of weight to lose and want to know if yoga can help me?

A: Exercising frequently is the key to losing weight and maintaining your weight once the extra pounds are gone. This goes hand-in-hand with eating a healthy diet filled with fruits, veggies, proteins, and whole grains. This kind of diet not only will help contribute to losing weight, but it will give you enough energy to workout. It’s like a cycle.

 

In order to lose weight, you need to burn calories and like anything physical, doing yoga can help you achieve that goal, but it depends on what style of yoga you choose. You may want to choose vigorous Power, Vinyasa, or Ashtanga classes. These classes move quickly, and can really get your heart pumping, which can result in greater calorie burn than slower-moving gentle yoga classes. Hour and a half classes like these should be done at least 3-5 times a week to see weight loss results. This consistency will help you strengthen, lengthen, and tone your muscles.

 

It has also been suggested that hot yoga, performed in a room set to 105 degrees F (40.55 C) is excellent for weight loss. Studies do show that this type of yoga does cause temporary weight loss. As one sweats, one loses water weight. Yet this type of weight loss is not permanent, and it doesn’t necessarily burn a lot of fat.

 

Regular mat yoga, often called Hatha yoga, does cause some weight loss, over consistent practice of at least one class a day. It can also cause muscles to become more toned and flexible, a desirable benefit. A one-hour Hatha yoga class does not burn the same amount of calories as one hour of fast walking. On average, the one-hour yoga class burns about 100 calories. However, a study conducted by Alan Kristal in connection with the National Cancer Institute showed that those who practiced yoga one hour a week lost an average of 5 pounds over a four-year period. This data was compared to those who did not practice yoga and gained 14 pounds during the same time period. Thus practicing yoga, even once a week theoretically helps you shed a small amount of weight, while keeping weight gain at bay.

 

Whether or not yoga does offer huge weight loss benefits it certainly offers fitness benefits, specifically for the muscles. I highly recommend yoga if you’ve got weight to lose because not only will it help you look and feel fitter but because it also focuses on mind/body awareness. People who have greater body awareness tend to notice when they feel full and stop eating and to take greater care of their bodies and what they put into them. This suggests that it is not the exercise but the philosophy of regular yoga practice that may result in weight loss. Further, it may also encourage you to seek out cardiovascular exercise such as brisk walking, running, cycling and swimming with more proven weight loss records.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 1:40 am and is filed under Ask Marilyn, Exercise, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.