Yoga for weight loss??

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sarahertzberger
sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone done just yoga for exercise and gotten to your goal weight? I've been really interested in yoga lately, and I've read some things that say it is good and some say it won't necessarily help you to lose weight, so anyone with some tips please share, but if you've got a success story would you please share that with me. Thank you! :happy:

Replies

  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Only by peer pressure - literally wanting to be able to progress myself in the more advanced yoga postures and knowing that my excess fat was holding me back. It is dieting that is getting me to the weight I want to be to perfomr the way I want to, but yoga is the incentive.

    ... so - in short - yes and no.
  • GoodLittleEater
    GoodLittleEater Posts: 53 Member
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    I think you should do any exercise you ARE going to do. A strong yoga practice is better than nothing and is going to help you possibly build strength and muscle tone… which helps you burn more calories when you do cardio.

    I find the skinny yoga girls at my studio very motivating :) I think I can attribute a little success to that.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Yoga breathing and stretching teaches you to pay attention to your body. When you observe what is happening internally, you beginning to change your relationship to food and eating.
  • pure777
    pure777 Posts: 10
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    you can burn quite a lot of calories in vinyasa flow yoga.. I love yoga and always find I loose more weight in the weeks where I do more yoga.. its also great at helping your body work better within itself ie.. your digestive tract.. I'll grant you its not the same as sweating it out on a treadmill or in a body pump class but never the less it still works but in a holistic whole body approach.. xxx
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Calorie deficit for weight loss. That's largely dietary. Get your diet in order first.

    Exercise for health and fitness.

    Yoga can be a great progressive resistance routine, a spiritual practice or soft tissue work (or a combination of all three) depending upon how it's approached.
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
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    Lots of people I work with do yoga. The general consensus is that any weight loss is attributed to some resistance type training but mostly from stress relief and therefore less stress eating.

    I tried yoga once. ONCE. I was sore for days. I recovered from my marathon much faster than the one hour of yoga. You yoga people are amazing enduring the poses and not giggling when someone invariably farts doing the downward dog.
  • Sherrellynn
    Sherrellynn Posts: 8
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    It must be a combined effort. Diet and exercise work for me. I do Tai Chi (meditation in motion) and yoga once a week. When I hit a plateau I add something somewhere. Another 35 minutes class somewhere. The yoga I do is for anyone. I am 60 and on oxygen. I do 3 1 hour classes consisting of 30 min treadmill and hand and ankle weights and band stretching classes. I also pick up a 35 min yoga class and 3 to 5 Tai Chi classes a week,. some 1 hour but most are 35 min. A combination of my fitness pal and these activities are working for me. Hope this helps. Stay moving. Good luck
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    A strong yoga practice is better than nothing

    I think a strong yoga practice is A LOT better than just nothing! :wink:
  • Ragtees
    Ragtees Posts: 33 Member
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    Vinyasa Yoga is the first exercise I did when starting my journey. It helped me immensely, but you'd have to do it 4x a week for an hour to have the effect you're looking for. I mixed in weights and cardio during the week. with yoga.
  • sunnyogachick
    sunnyogachick Posts: 10
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    I began yoga almost two years ago. I give full credit to where I am now on my weight loss to yoga. Is yoga the only thing I do? no. but it is what set my life on a new path. I highly suggest it for anyone and everyone. I think everyone can benefit from it. Mainly, yoga helped with lower back pains I was having, it strengthened my core, it gave me "leaner" looking limbs (I felt short and stubby before). Friends and family would even tell me I looked taller just because I stood up better due to my yoga practice. If you do power yoga, you will definitely get a workout and use muscles you typically do not use. I really love yoga, but I think every person is different. Once you find an activity you enjoy, it will be fun to workout. For me, that was yoga. For you, it might be yoga or it might be one of the many many many other fitness activities out there. Like others above me said, it's all about being active and a healthy lifestyle.

    Good luck and I hope you love yoga as much as I do :)
  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
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    Thank you all for the great responses! :smile:
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    @ Sunnyogachick. Svarga Dvidasana - Bird of Paradise pose. Either your profile photo is photoshopped or you have nerves of steel!
    I appreciate the inner focus, resolve and serenity required to hold that pose on the yoga mat, let alone atop a rock buttress! Awesome!
  • Peaceandwater
    Peaceandwater Posts: 23 Member
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    There are different styles of yoga but I think they all help towards weight loss in different ways. Yoga is very much a strengthening exercise, especially when you are holding poses and balancing. I find that there are some yoga instructors that move the pace along quickly and I end up feeling like I did cardio when the hour is up. However, even with the more meditative types of yoga I believe that the work you are doing inside your body (lungs, liver, digestive system, etc) is helping to create a more optimal, healthy system which will assist in whatever health goals you may have! Also, in the past, I have overeaten when stressed and yoga certainly is an anti-stress. So even if it doesn't burn a ton of calories, if it can prevent me from overeating then it is helping me to lose weight!
  • sunnyogachick
    sunnyogachick Posts: 10
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    haha nope not photoshopped. just keep practicing it and it'll become easier! it's a lot of strength and balance (like most things in yoga). practicing yoga has made me incredibly more flexible but I still have a long way to go

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