Has anyone lost a lot of weight doing yoga?

gina_nz_

Yoga strengthens you core muscles and stretches your muscles, while alone it won't cause weight loss, but with cardio it will help. Yoga in my opinion is more about body awareness and meditation for stress. So in saying that, helping decrease your stress will help with weight loss.

ezavora

I've done yoga on and off for 20 years. For the last 5 weeks Ive been doing a 30 minute power yoga video 5 times a weeks and a little extra exercise on the side. I feel I may have thinned out in a few key areas, but mostly just "feel better." It definitely has not been the answer to my weight loss goals, but I think in general it is a good thing and will continue with it.

bathsheba_c

I continued to gain weight while doing yoga, so I wouldn't recommend it for weight loss. That said, it made a noticeable difference in terms of my flexibility, posture, and strength, all of which are hugely beneficial for the body.

Pgarcia413

BUT LOSING A LOT OF WEIGHT IS GOING TO COME FROM YOUR DIET. Not from cardio, not from yoga, not from lifting. It all starts and ends at the kitchen table. Get your intake right, and then you can pick whatever physical activity you want to sculpt your body.

QFT

diet is what gets you slim. exercise gets you fit. it all depends on the body you want. do you want to look like a swimmer? hit the pool. do you want to look like a runner?? start running and etc etc.

so much of the fitness side of things is an experiment. you need to go and try something for a few weeks, preferably for a month or more. go slow. so many people want to try something and then over do it, such as running 6 days a week, with no prior experience.

personally, i like yoga. i go to a power yoga twice a month or so, for active rest from my regular routine.

^^Yes!!

In addition I would like to add, depends on the kind of yoga you are doing. People talk yoga as it's one type. It's like combining walking/jogging/running. Someone says "i walk but i don't lose weight." Another posts "I run and I have seen improvements." Same thing with yoga. What kind of yoga are you doing?

Hatha yoga is the slower of the yoga's and is meant for beginners to learn the practice of yoga. It may not get your HR up (it could) but it's about focusing on learning the breathing and postures. Once you feel comfortable with the postures, move up to a power or flow class (ashtanga or vinyasa). This is where your HR can go up and you can get into your fat burning zone. I did a power class and wore a HR monitor and I was up to 70% of my max HR. This style is continous movement, vinyasa more than ashtanga will really get you moving and burning. Great for strength, flexibility and cardio.

Now bikram is actually a slow practice. You sweat a lot and lose water. You can probably walk out of class and see weight loss but drink some water and you get it back. It doesn't burn as many calories as you would think. Vinyasa challenges you more, moves faster and will burn more calories. Just look it up. Compare the calories burned on this calculator. It's pretty accurate based on what my HR monitor has told me about me: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

You can get toned doing yoga, you can lose weight as well. It can be a cardio workout but you have to find the right class for you. But true what others have said, eat right first. If all you ever want to do is yoga, that is okay too. You can lose weight.

DesdemonaRose

Pgarcia413 pointed out one of the most important things about Yoga.. it depends on what kind of yoga you do! There is Yoga where you dont' stop moving and it's like a mixed weight/cardio routine. Kind of like doing circuits without the machine. Rodney Yee has a great DVD that keeps you moving and really gets my heart pounding. If you are doing something slow and easy then it won't burn a lot. If you are staying still in single postures for a long time then you'll burn calroies closer to weight lifting calories verse cardio. If it's easy moves or just stretching you probably won't burn a lot.

Fitness and weight probably plays a lot. A 200lb person holding thier body weight up will burn a little more than a 100 lb person. If your a Yogi who's been doing it for years you are going to burn less weigth than a newbie. I am trying to get back into it after years and it makes my heart pound and sweat in normal room tempratures (I just Yoga at home and occasionally attend classes at my gym. No hot yoga though, screw that, heat makes me want to sleep).

khop18

The P90 yoga, along with the MTV power yoga, are the toughest workouts in my routine and leave me tired, sore, and with serious appreciation for the people that do it on the regular. I know some women whose only physical fitness is a bikram class down the street from me, and they look F'n AMAZING. Absolutely, you can use yoga to get in and stay in shape.

BUT LOSING A LOT OF WEIGHT IS GOING TO COME FROM YOUR DIET. Not from cardio, not from yoga, not from lifting. It all starts and ends at the kitchen table. Get your intake right, and then you can pick whatever physical activity you want to sculpt your body.

I couldn't agree with this more.

Mokey41

Great resurrection of a really old post!

Number_44

Great question, I'm anxious to hear what everyone says also. I am new to weight lifting but really enjoy the challenge. Cardio is miserably boring. I'd like to try yoga or pilates. Just figured out we have a Yoga thing on the Wii Fit so maybe I can learn some basics first.

I guess you havent seen the other posts like this in the past that usually wind up like this:





ETA: The search function is very useful when inquiring about certain topics.....

Cardio Cardio Cardio.....do you use an HRM? How do i know I am getting the right calorie burn if I dont? Should I do HIIT? Should I lift heavy? Is 50lbs heavy? How many reps should I do? Which exercises? Should I do abs? Does yoga work my abs? How about nutella? Should I eat that within 1 hour after my yoga? I wasnt sure if I should eat right after because I want to make sure I eat my 6 small meals a day to keep my metabolism fire stoked. Ive also cut out all bad foods cause I want to eat clean. Yayy

erinm5

Last year when I first started going to the gym I attended Les Mills Body Flow, and lost about 9 pounds going 3 times a week. I found it really helped with toning up my legs and my flexibility. I always felt awesome after every class, and surprisingly the classes got harder as I went more because I would deepen the poses and go into the harder modifications.

chelsea_angelena_brown

YES!! You absolutely can lose weight and tone muscle from doing yoga. What matters is the TYPE of yoga you are doing. While all yoga is beneficial, creating a better mind/body awareness, teaching proper breathe work, and to an extent working and stretching muscles, you need to be doing POWER YOGA to really see results. You are not going to be torching calories sitting in a slow moving hatha class, or chanting kirtan (don't get me wrong both of these things have ample benefits, but weight loss is not one).

In a power flow class you can burn up to 350 calories in 45 minutes. Most classes run 1.5 hrs. That's 700 calories a class (this is on the higher end, how many calories burned really depends on your metabolism and what shape you're in). You combine that with a calorie deficit, high nutrient diet, you're going to lose weight, just as much as you would from running or any other cardio activity.

There is another great benefit to doing an hour and a half of yoga vs the same amount of time doing straight cardio...you are not only getting your heart rate up and SWEATING you are also building strength. More lean muscle mass = more calories burned during daily activities, and an overall better metabolism.

Power yoga is incredibly challenging. When I first started out I could barely lift my arms/walk for the first couple of days after the class.For beginners I would recommend doing one day of power yoga, followed by two days of rest, eventually moving to one day on one day off, and finally doing 5-6 days a week with one or two days rest. This is very challenging but you will get hooked. Yoga is FUN and it totally puts you in touch with your body. I've never felt so comfortable (or looked so good) in my own skin than when I was regularly practicing yoga.

Personally, I hate hot yoga. I sweat like a pig, but I never really know if that sweat is coming from me burning calories, or because the room is so damn hot. The heat exhausts me way earlier than I would normally be into my usual yoga routine, and so I don't work as hard. You are also at risk for injury from over extension, and it can be tough on joints.

If you want results, do an hour and a half power yoga class 3-5 times per week, with a low cal, high nutrient diet. You will absolutely lose weight. I challenge any gym junkie, cardio nut, or weight lifter to try a 90 min power yoga class and tell me they didn't sweat! Of course if you are trying to build up huge bulky muscles, yoga is not the way to go. You are not lifting weights, you use your own body weight instead, but if you're looking to increase strength and tone, power yoga is the way to go!

I have the privilege of going to Bryan Kest's power yoga studio in Santa Monica. For those of you not the area I believe he has a dvd. If you just check google though nearly all major cities have power yoga classes. Ashtanga is another great form of yoga, which power yoga developed from. Ashtanga is also a great workout, but much more disciplined and traditional than power yoga.

Sorry I know this has been long, but power yoga totally changed my body and my life, so I wanted to share the benefits. I have totally fallen off track after losing my father last year. I fell into an extreme depression and completely abandoned my mat. I've gained 25 lbs, developed a sluggish metabolism and lost an incredible amount of strength. Today is January 1st, a new year, and the first day of me going back to yoga and getting back control over my life, so I felt inspired to share

If I did it once before, I can do it again...and so can you!

Namaste

suppakana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448

That video says it all. The man's transformation makes me cry.

angelamangus1

Exercise is for toning, agility, and strength. Weight loss is in the kitchen.

angelamangus1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448

That video says it all. The man's transformation makes me cry.

Absolutely loved this video and I cried too!! He never gave up!

silverraiyne

I do 90 minutes of vinyasa yoga at least 3 times a week, it's a fast paced yoga and it gets my heart rate going and I work up a sweat. It's my main form of fitness. So yeah, yoga combined with a clean & mindful diet has definitely contributed to my weight loss success.

yogicarl

BUT LOSING A LOT OF WEIGHT IS GOING TO COME FROM YOUR DIET. Not from cardio, not from yoga, not from lifting. It all starts and ends at the kitchen table. Get your intake right, and then you can pick whatever physical activity you want to sculpt your body.

Amen

I would agree with this and it has been my finding for myself.

What Yoga did for me was to change my previously poor self image and self respect to the point where I could look after myself better - it helped me to regain my self-worth.

Now, my Yoga is a daily motivation to build strength and lose weight so that I can progress to more advanced poses.

So - yes, in way, Yoga helped me to lose weight.

AlexysW

I've done cardio and strength training more than anything else. The good thing about it is that I feel so good afterwards and love that I sweat,BUT... I have broken both wrists in the past and my hips are messed up badly along with my tailbone being broken before too. And the cardio and strength training really hit me hard. I love that I feel sore but I cant do push ups like I used to or run for very long. I have 30lbs left to lose and am doing my best to still incorporate cardio and strength training but its so hard when all it does it hurt me!! So I bike ride,walk,yoga,pilates,and some cardio and strength training along with a healthy diet. I've seen some great changes and feel amazing!! Even if it doesn't get my heart pumping. But thats just the way my body is,since everyone is different I don't know how it will affect you. It never hurts to try

stuffinmuffin

I take the 80/20 rule, which is that 80% of your body shape is from the kitchen and 20% from the gym! Exercise helps weight loss but really it is down to what you do or don't put in your mouth that makes the most fundamental changes.
Cardio is going to burn more calories than strength training, but then strength training is going to create more muscle that burns more calories - just do what you enjoy and make it sustainable!

oli_via1598

People who say that cardio and weights are really ALL you need to be thin and fit obviously have ONLY really done cardio and weights as their primary exercise.
Yoga is so appealing because it makes you feel good and healthy right?
I was at my lightest and slimmest weight/figure when I was doing SOLELY yoga.
I woke up, had a cup of tea and went to do yoga for at least 30 minutes. Then before bed again for 45 minutes. .Every day without fail.
I hated gyms and running, so I turned to yoga.
As a result, paired with cutting out all meat/eggs/denatured or refined foods, yoga slimmed me down soo much.
Yoga destresses which means your body will produce less cortisol, a chemical that is essential to make energy from proteins, but stress causes TOO high levels, which in turn can slow down cell regeneration, impair digestion, metabolism and mental function and weaken your immune system.
Yoga makes you more aware in everything you do from your posture, to your daily breathing. So you will also begin to really notice what you eat.
Yoga doesnt shorten or strain muscles like running and weights does, so you wont get cramps (well, at least not later on) or stiff neck/back etc.
If you do several sun salutations quickly, you get a good cardio boost first up and then you can also take Vinyasa (or other yoga) classes.

So yes, it is possible. Don't feel like your not doing anything at all if you turn to yoga because it seriously does work.
Also, try not to overthink it and just do it. Remove any ideas you have about fitness and counting all your calories etc.
It is a slow weight loss, but you don't bulk, you will be super tight and toned, slim and feel light like a feather after a couple months of religious practice. Plus, you will be so much more flexible.
Make sure that your diet is also light and mostly plant based and eat slowly and smaller meals.
I found it was easier to do this than to worry about counting calories and macros etc, but to rather just eat when I was actually in NEED of food.

good luck.

mercurywinks

Yoga is awesome and I have, for a FACT lost weight doing it....I think over all the most IMPORTANT thing is to find some variable. You can't just do ONE thing and be healthy...but fitness is about feeling good, so find what works for you, make your OWN routine and stick to it.

eso2012

You can lose weight no matter what you do, as long as you burn more calories than what you have consumed.

But for overall fitness, you need strength-training (for muscles and bones, for strength), cardio (for heart and lung) and flexibility stuff like Yoga.

My initial loss - about 10 pounds - was all Pilates. Then I started adding on lots of other stuff to complete the pic.

monychic

I have started doing just 20 minutes of yoga in the morning (yogadownload.com has lots of free 20 minute workouts) in addition to Neila Ray free workouts http://neilarey.com/workouts.html . I have also significantly decreased my portions and have been going out to eat less. I have lost 25 pounds in 5 months. I was in shape before..ran half marathons, did boot camp, etc but just couldn't get that last bit off. I have found that if I start with yoga in the morning then I actually feel like doing another workout after and am more energized for the day. I'm also drinking a lot more water in the morning. I have noticed the biggest difference in my abs.

silverraiyne

brittanygv

I would love to see the list of videos you do for Yoga and Pilates. These are my main forms of exercise and I am looking to incorporate more in to my week.

GibbsGirl13072

Bahaha! Crazy cat