Yoga Question?

Question

Is Yoga a good way to help lose weight? I dont know anyone who does Yoga, and would like to take it up to help me lose weight along with regular exercises and diets that I am doing. I have Asthma so I want something thats not going to set it off bad. I'd really like to lose 30-40 kilo's by Chritmas next year.

Answer 1

I have lost 30 pounds doing yoga and only yoga and not even a very past paced type of yoga. And no diets, just sensible eating and some portion control.

The motto that cardio work will burn fat is, while true in itself, not the whole picture for many of us. What puts weight ON a lot of people is stress. Check out this article in the American Journal of Epidemiology: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/conten...
Stress upsets your hormonal balance so that it will be geared towards fat storage in more than one way. Yoga is a very, very, effective stress reducer and that is why many people end up losing weight even while doing only gentle yoga. Check out this Yoga Journal article too:
http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1694.....

For weight loss I would recommend doing yoga at least 3 to 4 times a week and to do a combination of styles: slower, gentler classes with lots of stretching for the stress release and overall feeling of well being and a few harder classes either faster paced or geared towards strength to get in your cardio and muscle building too while busting stress (Vinyasa, Power Yoga or Ashtanga).

Be careful with the diets. Depriving your body of nutrients is going to send it into starvation mode, which will cause your metabolism to slow down and you will lose muscle mass because your body is trying to cut down on its caloric needs. Read 'Outsmarting the female fat cell' by Debra Waterhouse for a sensible approach to weight loss.

Answer 2

I think you would be better off if you did a search for yoga, i.e., "yoga health benefits", "yoga weight loss benefits", etc. I searched "yoga journal" for the site of the magazine "Yoga Journal" ( http://www.yogajournal.com ) and came up with some other interesting results. Also, try the site http://www.yoga.com

While I don't think it was my primary reason for picking up yoga, I did manage to lose weight. It also helps one look healthier just by the stretching and toning it does to the body. It's been over a year since I dropped my yoga practice and I really miss it, especially after having my baby.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Yoga will definitely help you lose weight as you add it to your exercise and healthy eating. Plus, with your asthma you won't be overtaxed.

Yoga helps you to lose weight because it actually draws muscle to the bone, whereas something like weight lifting makes your muscles bulky. That kind of toning will benefit your weight loss.

Good luck! My source below is a good resource to get started.

Answer 4

Yoga is not a good way to loose weight. It is not an aerobic activity. It has many health benifits but loosing weight is not it's main purpose and it was never meant for this.
It was invented in India and you won't see too many Indians needing to loose weight. The practise of yoga has been hijacked by hollywood celebrities.
There are numerous other metheds of loosing weight ; all of them involving diet and exercise.

Answer 5

Brian777 appears to be ignorant of the benefits of Yoga. It is not aerobic exercise. Yoga is very good both for obesy and asthma. You have to do this with the proper guidance. In Kankal, Haridwar, India there is a dedicated centre. It is better for you to join this centre.

Answer 6

I took a yoga class and thought I was going to hate it, but it was quite the opposite. I would not use yoga to help lose weight, but it is definitely good for toning and strenghtening,