Lose weight with yoga tips
Lose weight with yoga, it’s definitely possible.
Maybe not even because you are really focused on losing weight, but rather because you are adjusting your overall lifestyle. With yoga, you can learn to listen to your body’s signals and act on them.
There are also more and more forms of yoga that are very physically challenging.
Now you might think that the more physical the yoga form is, the easier it is to lose weight with yoga, but that’s not entirely true. Know more about yoga from 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh.
So in this blog, I want to tell you more about losing weight with yoga. You will find out:
- 6 factors that contribute to losing weight with yoga.
- What to consider if you want to lose weight with yoga?
- Tips for losing weight with yoga
And much more. Reading along?
Questions and answers
1. Can you lose weight with yoga?
Yes, you can! Some forms of yoga are almost like exercise, but yoga encompasses much more than that. It’s a lifestyle, and when you start to embrace that lifestyle, weight loss may well be a result.
2. How many calories do you burn with yoga?
This very much depends on the type of class and your metabolism. We recommend not focusing on burning calories, but rather on how yoga makes you feel.
Do you feel fit, energized and comfortable in your body? If so, you’re much more likely to make healthy choices and take good care of yourself. You’ll get a lot more done that way!
Yoga as a sport
While yoga was considered “squishy” or “calming” until a few years ago, it is now increasingly considered a sport.
While we don’t think the term “sport” does justice to what yoga actually is, it does convey a clear message. Yoga is increasingly seen as normal, and people are realizing the benefits it brings.
Yoga is a holistic practice for body, mind and spirit, but many people start yoga because of the physical benefits.
A major reason to exercise is for the health benefits, and one of those benefits is weight loss. It is therefore logical that the connection between yoga and weight loss is quickly made.
Lose weight with yoga
Losing weight in itself is not the primary goal of yoga. But if you get on the mat more often and practice a little more intensively, you can definitely lose weight. I have made this experience myself.
Because of the combination of movement and relaxation, yoga is very good for losing weight. Your body automatically always strives for a state of homeostasis, where it is in balance and equilibrium. However, many processes are disturbed by a hectic world and a poor lifestyle. This is often accompanied by obesity.
Yoga helps you regain this state of balance, equilibrium and homeostasis. This allows your body to function better and be more balanced. This will help you lose weight.
To achieve optimal results, the form of yoga you choose and the content of your practice are very important in this regard.
6 Factors that contribute to weight loss through yoga.
There are a number of factors that contribute to weight loss when you practice yoga. Some of them are explained below.
1. the thyroid gland is stimulated.
As a result, the metabolism is improved. Blood circulation is stimulated, which in turn stimulates combustion and reduces fat storage.
2. yoga reduces stress and binge eating
In stressful situations, you may be more prone to binge eating. As you feel more comfortable in your body and less stressed, you will feel less of a need to binge.
3. The organs are stimulated by yoga.
The organs are put into action. For example, see our previously discussed chakras. As the organs are functioning optimally, good combustion can also take place.
4. heart rate, combustion and blood flow are stimulated
As you perform asanas during your practice, you burn calories that help you lose weight. It also ensures that energy flows optimally through the body.
The yoga sun salutation, for example, provides a good burn because you do a series of asanas that increase your heart rate, stimulate circulation and combustion.
This is likely to make you sweat, which not only burns calories but also eliminates waste products.
5. digestion is stimulated
However, exercise is not the only way yoga helps with weight loss. In fact, calmer forms of yoga can contribute to good digestion through twisted postures, among other things.
Good digestion ensures that you accumulate fewer fat reserves and therefore gain less weight.
6. you get in touch with the yoga lifestyle and nutrition.
As I mentioned earlier, yoga is more than just a sport. Besides the practices, yoga is also part of something bigger: the yoga lifestyle.
Important components of the yoga lifestyle are a healthy diet and physical and mental balance. When you focus on these, you automatically work on a healthier lifestyle as well.
As your awareness increases, you are more likely to feel the effects of food in your body.
As you take your habits off the mat and into your daily life, you will live more consciously and be more active with your health.
Better control of your mind prevents emotional eating, for example, and discipline on the mat leads to more discipline in your daily life.
Tips for losing weight with yoga
Each type of yoga has its own benefits, making it incredibly valuable. Nevertheless, you can distinguish between different forms of yoga when it comes to losing weight. After all, some forms of yoga are simply better suited for this purpose.
In addition to the form of yoga you choose, the way you practice is also important in helping you lose weight with yoga. Therefore, in the following I will give you some tips that you should consider:
1. opt for an active form of yoga with room for relaxation
Choose a more physically demanding form of yoga. This is because your heart rate will increase due to all the movements in the practice.
Yoga forms that are great for this include power yoga, ashtanga yoga and vinyasa yoga. These forms of yoga place more emphasis on the physical side of the practice and allow you to move comfortably.
Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga is a form of yoga that we like very much because it combines active and passive elements of the practice in perfect harmony.
Thus, you will experience all the benefits that yoga can offer you in losing weight. Hatha Vinyasa is also the form of yoga we work with in our online yoga beginners course.
So make sure you incorporate relaxation into your practice. Too much stress can make you make bad and unhealthy choices faster.
2. Choose a form of yoga that you can sustain
Be realistic about what type of yoga suits you. Maybe you’d like to start with power yoga, but it doesn’t fit your physical fitness right now.
Respect what you can do right now and make the most of it.
3. Challenge yourself without pushing your limits
Once you have chosen a form of yoga, it is important that you also respect your limits during the practice. Make sure you challenge yourself and push yourself to your limits, but avoid going beyond them.
This will help your body stay balanced and prevent injury. An injury can put a crimp in your weight loss efforts. It’s often difficult to exercise with an injury, and that’s exactly what you don’t want if you want to lose weight.
4. Decide how often you want to exercise
Be realistic when deciding how often you want to exercise. If you want to lose weight with yoga, you probably want to see results quickly. Put that temptation aside for a moment and consider how many times a week you can realistically get on the mat.
Focus on routine rather than a specific goal.
By this I mean that it is much better to agree with yourself to exercise every day than to set a goal of losing 5 kilos. This will motivate you when the results on the scale are disappointing.
Another tip I would like to give you is to strive for regularity. It’s better to get on the mat and work out for 20 minutes every day than 1.5 hours once a week.
Bonus tip – Breathe to lose weight
When you do yoga, you (hopefully) breathe a lot. The breath is the link between your body and mind, and it helps you affect your nervous system and all sorts of other systems in your body.
So not only can you optimize your energy system, but you can also lose weight through breathing.
How, you ask?
Research has shown that we do not convert most fat into heat or energy, but exhale it as CO2.
In their paper published in the British Medical Journal, the authors show that to lose 10 kilograms of fat, 29 kilograms of oxygen must be inhaled.
This metabolism produces 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 11 kilograms of water.
The lungs are therefore the most important organ through which we lose weight.
But.
Don’t cheer too quickly, breathing more and faster does not lead to more weight loss. It will only lead to more stress and health problems.
But proper, complete breathing, using the diaphragm and lungs correctly, can optimize and support the weight loss process.