Bikram yoga making me gain weight!?

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electromg
electromg Posts: 70 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Back when I was overweight last summer, bikram yoga jump-started my weight loss inspiration and I lost 30 pounds total.

This January I went back and was going about 5 days a week. I starting gaining weight! At first I knew I was probably overestimating my calories I was burning so I was overeating. Then I started calculating it as regular light yoga only burning about 300 calories for 90min. Still no help. I lost weight after quitting yoga despite not watching my calories anymore.

Then I figured this second place was not very vigorous, and I would go back to the original place. I have been putting in my all straight through. It was much hotter, and the teachers really make sure you are pushing to your limit. Again, I am gaining weight just slightly...but with how I've been eating, I should actually be losing!! No its not muscle...I wish.

The difference now is that I am right in the middle of the normal weight range, and I am trying to get slim. Some websites are saying bikram may not necessarily make you lose weight, but more "level" out your weight to its "natural" state. Having two obese parents, I don't want to be in my natural weight. I have always been stuck borderline overweight my whole life.

ggrrrrr I LOVE yoga!

Replies

  • ruststar
    ruststar Posts: 489 Member
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    Somehow you're not getting enough of a deficit to cause weight loss. You've been doing this for a while, up to five classes a week, which indicates your body has adjusted to it and is probably more efficient (meaning you're not burning as many calories). Try cutting it down to a couple days a week and try a completely new activity and see if that helps.
  • 1nsands
    1nsands Posts: 27
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    I love bikram. And it does wonderful things for my body health in general. It has helped me squeeze through some plateaus... but I've never lost a significant amount of weight from the workout.

    You might be gaining a significant amount of water weight. That sounds backwards, but maybe it makes you drink a lot more water. Have you checked your sodium to potassium intake? Sodium is surprisingly important for your system when you're sweating that much... but it needs to be balanced.

    If I were you, I would focus on cardio for weight loss, and utilize bikram for strength, endurance, and flexibility.
  • paularoiid
    paularoiid Posts: 1 Member
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    Same thing is happening to me! I was on my ideal weight and I started doing yoga to tone and get some flexibility. Just a coiple of days I started I noticed the number on the scale going up!!!
    Is not like I feel more "fat" but it stills that number is kind of bothering me... I will try drinking more water this week to see if something changes...

    NAmaste
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    yoga is not making you gain real weight. i promise
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    you may not be eating enough... i have similar issues regarding working out and...gasp...gaining! then losing when i stop (or go to something less strenuous). Bikram is VERY intense...well it can be. Each session for a 130 pound woman can burn 400-700 cals, depending.

    i bet you nee to nourish your body more... i haven't looked to see if your diary is public, but if its not, you may want to change it so we can have a look.

    I am a big believer in small deficits, so don't get me wrong here - but how is not eating enough causing a weight gain?
  • Tempe729
    Tempe729 Posts: 270 Member
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    Somehow you're not getting enough of a deficit to cause weight loss. You've been doing this for a while, up to five classes a week, which indicates your body has adjusted to it and is probably more efficient (meaning you're not burning as many calories). Try cutting it down to a couple days a week and try a completely new activity and see if that helps.

    ^This :ohwell:
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    While it has been suggested that yoga will not make you gain "real" weight I guess that means muscle mass - yoga does initially cause an increase in muscle mass - for a beginner as the body builds in strength to do the new form of exercise.

    However, you have been doing Bikram intensely and frequently so that won't be in your case. You do however, tend to drink loads more water and I wonder of you are holding onto fluids? As has been suggested, I would look at sodium levels and water retention first.

    Cut down on Bikram sessions and do a different activity or different style of yoga - Astanga or Iyengar maybe? - that doesn't make you so thirsty so you are not taking on so much water and watch your sodium intake and see how that goes.

    are you able to weight yourself on scales that detect fat and muscle separately and watch whether this is muscle or fat or water you are taking on?
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    While it has been suggested that yoga will not make you gain "real" weight I guess that means muscle mass - yoga does initially cause an increase in muscle mass

    A 23 year old female will not be building any muscle doing yoga.
    Back when I was overweight last summer, bikram yoga jump-started my weight loss inspiration and I lost 30 pounds total.

    so yoga made you lose weight and now it's making you gain weight? This cannot be the case.

    Also you never stated how much weight you gained once you started on the yoga again, I would guess we are talking about a few pounds here?

    It's not the yoga.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    While it has been suggested that yoga will not make you gain "real" weight I guess that means muscle mass - yoga does initially cause an increase in muscle mass

    A 23 year old female will not be building any muscle doing yoga.
    Back when I was overweight last summer, bikram yoga jump-started my weight loss inspiration and I lost 30 pounds total.

    so yoga made you lose weight and now it's making you gain weight? This cannot be the case.

    Also you never stated how much weight you gained once you started on the yoga again, I would guess we are talking about a few pounds here?

    It's not the yoga.

    I agree with your second point, however your first point is a common misconception that yoga will not build muscle; the right kind of yoga and the right teacher and the right amount of effort will. Maybe try a good session one time and see if you don't feel you had a good workout the next day.

    I'm not talking looking stacked but there is a significant amount of strength increase and a little muscle growth, unless you are talking about yoga classes that spend more time naval gazing than actually doing some work.
  • CharityD
    CharityD Posts: 193
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    Do you have body fat percentages or measurements you can compare? Go by how you look & feel, not the scale! :flowerforyou:
  • 2BhappyBhealthy
    2BhappyBhealthy Posts: 181 Member
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    Sorry, but YES, Yoga absolutely CAN build muscle. That's like saying push ups, planks and other plyos will not build muscle... It's resistance training.

    However, I do not think that is the case here. I also reached a point in my yoga practice where I no longer was losing weight and instead started gaining weight. This was not because of the yoga I was doing or the frequency, etc, - it was because I was grossly over estimating the calories burned in class. I was also over eating on yoga days because I knew what a hard workout it is and wanted to build my energy and strength before (and after) class.

    I now wear a HRM and depending on the class, I will burn between ~ 80 and 200 calories in an hour. Yesterday for example was a class that I would have logged as about a 400 calorie burn (thinking I was UNDERestimating even - it was advanced and I did every full extension) and I only burned 178 calories.... Reality sucks sometimes.

    But once I realized the calorie burn was far less than what I thought, I started listening to all my awesome weightlifting friends on here, and now I lift weights, I run AND I do yoga (now I just typically practice yoga on "rest days" because it helps so much with the water retention and soreness from lifting and running.

    Hope any of this helps, I would just shake up your routine and I would definitely get a HRM and a food scale if you don't already have one. We can easily miscalculate what the true calories in/calories out are.
  • simplyvanillasoy
    simplyvanillasoy Posts: 1 Member
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    I noticed weight gain with yoga as well since I started practicing regularly about 6 weeks ago - i think I was really over estimating the calories burned. Although I've gained a few pounds, I've also noticed I'm more toned and my clothes fit differently. I started adding back in a combination of cardio (xc skiing, running) in addition to the hot yoga - I think it's better for your yoga practice anyway. In the long term, mindful meditation changes the way your brain responds to stress (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110121144007.htm). This can help with emotional over-eating. So keep it in the routine for life-long health! :happy:
  • BruceWayne305
    BruceWayne305 Posts: 1 Member
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    It does, by making you thing you did something towards weight loss. I have over 400 classes and it's the same as staying home and doing nothing. There are great benifits but only health ones. If anything the 90 minutes that are so hard to do will make you keep fat towards your waist (Google "marathoners vs sprinters body)

    Once you understand this and only use it for health, you will have to be strict on your gym and diet and then start to loose the weight.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    electromg wrote: »
    Back when I was overweight last summer, bikram yoga jump-started my weight loss inspiration and I lost 30 pounds total.

    This January I went back and was going about 5 days a week. I starting gaining weight! At first I knew I was probably overestimating my calories I was burning so I was overeating. Then I started calculating it as regular light yoga only burning about 300 calories for 90min. Still no help. I lost weight after quitting yoga despite not watching my calories anymore.

    Then I figured this second place was not very vigorous, and I would go back to the original place. I have been putting in my all straight through. It was much hotter, and the teachers really make sure you are pushing to your limit. Again, I am gaining weight just slightly...but with how I've been eating, I should actually be losing!! No its not muscle...I wish.

    The difference now is that I am right in the middle of the normal weight range, and I am trying to get slim. Some websites are saying bikram may not necessarily make you lose weight, but more "level" out your weight to its "natural" state. Having two obese parents, I don't want to be in my natural weight. I have always been stuck borderline overweight my whole life.

    ggrrrrr I LOVE yoga!


    Keep better track of your calories...

    minor water retention/weight gain is normal when starting a new program... it can last for 3-4 weeks.
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Have you taken your body measurements? My sister is a certified Bikram instructor. She initially lost weight and then pretty much stayed the same, but her waist definitely got smaller, her stomach flattened, and her arms look amazing. She did it 3 times a week.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    BruceWayne305 wrote: »
    If anything the 90 minutes that are so hard to do will make you keep fat towards your waist (Google "marathoners vs sprinters body)

    g1mnfilqi6ve.jpg

  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    The thing with bikram is you only burn a much as you put into it. You can do a really hard class where you actually engage all of your muscles and burn quite a bit whereas if you take a class another day and don't try as hard or subconsciously take easy way out or have a teacher who doesn't hold the posture long enough you may only burn an extra 150. So it is really hard to count calories from bikram yoga. I usually stick to estimating 200.

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