Has anyone tried yoga to lose weight

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  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I am on week two of my diet and yesterday was my first day with MFP. So far im down ten pounds. I'm 40 pounds away from my short term goal and 109 pounds away from my long term. Im currently working out three to four times a week at home since I dont have time to go to the gym. I'm thinking about trying yoga. Have anyone lost weight doing yoga. Also do anyone enjoy doing yoga. Is there a good dvd to recommend?

    Calorie deficit = weight loss. Exercise = fitness. That being said...I DO love yoga. Yogaworks has 3 DVD's....all of them are great. And for a real challenge try Jillian Michaels yoga meltdown or Bob Harper's warrior yoga.
  • Bel0602
    Bel0602 Posts: 135 Member
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    Yoga has never done anything big for me. I just do it once in a while to stretch.
  • marathon64
    marathon64 Posts: 378 Member
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    can anyone recommend a Youtube yoga workout - beginner level? Not JM yoga meltdown. I have searched on YT and there are A LOT so would appreciate if anyone can recommend one that they have done and found it easy to follow with good instruction ! cheers

    I have not used them myself but YogaGlo channel on YouTube is THE place to start. There are tons of yoga practice videos there many by very renowned yoga teachers. Play and find what appeals to you! Good luck!
  • FaerieCae
    FaerieCae Posts: 437 Member
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    Core strength is foundational to caring for your body. Yoga can certainly increase the muscle mass in your body as well. It does not burn calories like cardio unlesss you do a power yoga but from both a physical and mental "wellness" perspective I can't say enough positive things about yoga. They key IMHO is finding a teacher you love who inspires you.

    This ^. I include yoga in my workout at least 3 times a week. My body feels amazing afterwards, it really helps my back problems. I do vinyasa yoga. Theres a chick on youtube that I use because she explains things really well, theres no silly music and it pushes me flexibility wise. Look her up, see if you like her. Sadienardini
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    I think it's not a bad addition to your regular exercise schedule, but not instead of it. Having said that, my sister who rarely moves unless it's to go to the car, started doing yoga and lost a decent amount of weight.
  • BaileyBoo13524
    BaileyBoo13524 Posts: 593 Member
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    Try hot yoga this is strength and cardio all in one! I have been practicing consistently for 4 months now and the results are great! Of course I do cardio and heavy lifting along with it, but it's really brought more balance and flexibility into my life!
  • lisamarie1780
    lisamarie1780 Posts: 432 Member
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    I'm not a personal trainer or anything but, It might be important to keep in mind that yoga doesn't have a very high calorie burn. I think Hatha yoga (pulling up my NRLFW memory here so I"m not sure if that's the right one) has a reasonable one but still not very high on the list. If you are interested in losing weight it might be good to start with some sort of cardio or weight lifting or even better yet combine the two! However, yoga might be a good gentle way to begin exercising! Good luck!

    This isn't true. You can burn alot of calories with yoga, it just depends on which type you're doing. I lost most of my baby weight doing Kundalini Yoga once a day 5 times a week and nothing else apart from walking.
    Try Ana Brett's DVDs, in particular Kundalini Yoga Flow Bootcamp and you tell me you don't sweat. I lost alot of weight doing this DVD and got lovely definition too :)
  • lisamarie1780
    lisamarie1780 Posts: 432 Member
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    Kundalini yoga is a more aerobic type of yoga and is very intense. It's hard at first but do try it and keep at it, you'll learn to love it !
  • ab_noel
    ab_noel Posts: 1 Member
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    I have been following a personal pilates trainers on YouTube. Her workouts are great and if you check out her website she makes a whole month schedule every month. 6 days a week for an hour each day. She has cardio videos, HIIT videos and lots of pilates. Her name is Cassey Ho, her YouTube username is Blogilates and her website is www.blogilates.com I suggest you check it out. I started her calendar at the beginning of April and have followed the whole calendar only missing one day and have noticed a significant difference in my legs, butt, triceps and core. Hope you enjoy her as much as I do!
  • Lyby
    Lyby Posts: 42
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    I survived my first class -- and sweated my butt off! My muscles got warmer and I felt more awareness of the deterioration of my fitness level than I ever did in Zumba last year. I am going to learn how to BREATHE! Best part of the class? Not a single gym rat in the pack! The beginning was a little abrupt with no opportunity to meditate and mentally calm and prepare myself before class started. She turned out the lights and the only glow was from the closet light --- kept the room cooler I guess. And, as predicted, there was a weird little moment at the end of the cool-down where the instructor picked up a book and began to read an inspirational quote for the day --- from a fundamentalist Christian perspective lol. But it was more than just stretch and flex so I'll be going back.
  • Rarity2013
    Rarity2013 Posts: 196 Member
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    Yoga is pretty much my only formal exercise. I've used it before to lose weight and been very successful with it. I find it puts me in the correct mindset (ie. ooh, salad! Yum!), is a great toning exercise, and is just all-round less horrible than other exercise (yes, I am very lazy and I hate exercising).
    Its important to realise that you are unlikely to be burning tons of calories with most types of yoga.
  • nisijam5
    nisijam5 Posts: 10,390 Member
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    I do barre yoga about 2 times a week and it's a great calories burn and lengthens all the muscles - think of the exercises that ballerinas. And, they have smoking bodies. I mix this with hot yoga, elliptical and pole dancing. My body is more toned now than ever.

    Good luck.

    I say try it. I didn't think I would like it and I turned out to love it.
  • jodie_t
    jodie_t Posts: 287 Member
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    It's a help, like any other physical workout. For me one thing it has in its favour over other workouts is it makes you feel really really good for less physical hard work. A yoga teacher I once had said it exercises your inner organs as well as the rest of you, maybe that explains it. I have Linda Soloman's Yogalates For Weight Loss.. There are several sections to it, I find the first a bit slow but it gets more challenging as you go thru & there's a brilliant 15 minute abs workout, I bought it about a year ago & still havent got bored with it. One tip with yoga videos tho, I always used to get confused listening to instructions telling you to twist this left and put this over to the right, now I just follow the presenter as if they're a mirror image of myself, it's easier :smile:
  • annadavidson1984
    annadavidson1984 Posts: 22 Member
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    I would agree that to really lose weight you need some type of cardio.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    Any exercise helps lose weight, but yoga doesn't burn a colossal amount of calories for the most part. The calorie deficit is what causes you to burn fat; the type of exercise you do is largely irrelevant aside from the fact that resistance exercises will be more effective for preserving muscle mass and helping you look leaner as your scale weight drops.
  • Bobbyjr72
    Bobbyjr72 Posts: 28 Member
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    I've been doing Bikram / Hot yoga for a while. I wore a heart rate monitor to about 10 classes in order to get an average reading for calories burned in order to log in MFP. Now keep in mind that everyone is different, but for me I burn an average of 875 calories during the 90 minutes. Days that I simply go through the motions it's less and days where I really push myself to get the poses and hold them it's more. The real kicker is that you shouldn't eat for 2-3 hours prior to class and after class you basically want water and not food for hours. I lost most of my weight (30 pounds) when I was doing bikram yoga 2-4 time per week at night / weekends. It definitely helped along with my diet and other exercise.

    The real perks are better flexibility, core strength, no more back and hip issues for me, clearer skin and better lung capacity. Overall, I just feel better when I am doing yoga.

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