Yoga is a Safe Solution to Weight Control

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP

What are practical solutions for weight control? Habits like Yoga and walking bring awareness to daily health. If you want to be healthy and also to look your best, then having control over your weight is something to bear in mind.

The truth is that there are all sorts of things you might need to think about here, and it’s something that you can approach from many different angles. Regardless, our habits make it possible to control your weight more effectively. Let’s take a look at some choices which might help this along considerably.

Know Your Ideal Weight

This is one thing that you will need to figure out first and foremost, so you know what you are aiming for and you have something in mind to grasp for. It might be that you are trying to fit into a certain outfit, or it could be more to do with being a healthy BMI, but whatever it is just make sure that you have some kind of goal. It helps if it is an achievable goal which is nonetheless going to be somewhat challenging, so that is the kind of area to look for here.

Keep Your Diet Balanced

Eating well doesn’t mean that you have to restrict yourself from foods you love. It’s more about making sure that you are eating the full range of good choices, including plenty of whole foods. That will include fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, with a good focus on grains and pulses too. If your diet consists mostly of these kinds of things, you are going to find that it really makes a huge difference to how healthy you are and feel, so that is something that you will want to think about for sure.

Try Fasting for Weight Control

At the same time as that, you might want to try out the trend of fasting if you want to lose some more weight more quickly. Done right, fasting can actually be really good for you, helping to encourage the growth of your human growth hormone and ensuring that nutrients flow around your system more easily while also keeping your weight down. There is a strong link between intermittent fasting and weight loss, and it’s something that you are going to find really worth considering if you are thinking about trying to control your weight a little bit more effectively.

Stay Active

If you can stay active enough, you are going to find that you always maintain a good, healthy weight. So you need to find some kind of physical activity that you really enjoy, and if you are able to do that you should find that it can really help you out a lot here. It could be a sport you love to play or just some kind of exercise that really works for you. In any case, staying active is vital if you want to control your weight as effectively as you can.

Weight Control with Yoga

Is Yoga a safe solution to weight control? Let me be completely honest: Yoga was not created as a weight loss program, but the Yogic lifestyle does allow one to manage weight control. Scientific and medical scrutiny have yielded information, which looks favorably on Yogic methodology. One more study tells the world, that Yoga can help with weight control and weight loss. The study I refer to was held by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

The study involved 15,500 healthy, middle-aged, men and women. This is a group that typically has difficulty with weight loss, since the number of calories needed declines, and the energy levels needed to burn calories, is not what it used to be. Unfortunately, this is a fact that I have become painfully aware of during the past few years, and cutting back on food was my unwanted last option. Although, I cross train almost daily, it took me one year to lose 16 pounds of extra weight.

Weight Control and Lifestyle

Yoga practice was defined as practicing at least 30 minutes once a week for four or more years. Comparatively speaking, this is truly bare minimum, and many Yoga teachers used to say that this amount of Yoga training would do nothing. How times change; Yoga has been keeping people fit for approximately 5,000 years, and its many health benefits are still a mystery worthy of more studies.

Alan R. Kristal, Dr.P.H., the study’s lead author at Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division said, “Men and women who were of normal weight at age 45, and who regularly practiced Yoga, gained about three fewer pounds during that 10-year period than those who didn’t practice Yoga.” Until all the studies are in, it would be safe to say that adding Yoga training to your weekly routine, and eating wisely, will contribute to weight control or weight loss.

Looking at the Big Picture

When seeking a Yoga teacher, find one who is compassionate and will encourage you to practice more frequently. The results you will gain from regular practice, of three to four classes per week, will be extraordinary, especially, if you practice Yogic methodology for years.

The physical practice of Hatha Yoga is a very low impact activity – in comparison to many aerobic exercise routines, and can be practiced for longevity. Your knees, spine, hips, and shoulders, will thank you for the condition Yogic methods will keep them in. Many of today’s standard forms of exercise do not have the same bragging rights, as Yogic methodology.

With respect to eating, take the time to identify hunger and cravings. You will notice that they are not the same thing. Being a chocolate lover, it is much better to eat a piece of chocolate, now and then, than to buy a dozen chocolate donuts. This is not to justify, or surrender, to chocolate, but to eat it in moderation, and not every day. Based upon what I have said so far, it is all about identification, control, and moderation. We have to stop mindless eating habits.

Researchers also found that women who received a 1200 mg. calcium supplement, on a daily basis, reduced their number of premenstrual food cravings by 54%. On another note: When you have anxiety, your body produces more of the hormone cortisol, which may increase the volume of carbohydrates you eat. Carbohydrates temporarily increase our levels of serotonin, making us feel relaxed for the short term.

https://youtu.be/NFNIx-3DKcc

Conclusion

What can we draw as a solid conclusion? Can asana, meditation, pranayama, and more Yogic techniques burn enough calories to be classified as a weight loss system? Can all the hot, vinyasa, and power classes make us lose weight? The studies keep rolling in without a solid conclusion. Maybe it all comes down to a new level of awareness within practitioners about eating and exercise, which results in a holistic way of life.

However, positive daily habits that you can easily adapt into your lifestyle can make steady change possible. This is not instant, but lifestyle changes are entering a marathon without the pressure of time. All we do is keep moving forward and continue with good habits.

Additional Resources

YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENUATED WEIGHT GAIN IN HEALTHY, MIDDLE-AGED MEN AND WOMEN
Kristal, Alan R; Littman, Alyson J; Benitez, Denise; White, Emily. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine; Aliso Viejo Vol. 11, Iss. 4, (Jul/Aug 2005): 28-33.

Psychological Well-Being, Health Behaviors, and Weight Loss Among Participants in a Residential, Kripalu Yoga-Based Weight Loss Program
Tosca Braun; Crystal Park; Lisa Ann Conboy
Int J Yoga Therap (2012) 22 (1): 9–22.
https://doi.org/10.17761/ijyt.22.1.y47k2658674t1212

Ashtanga yoga for children and adolescents for weight management and psychological well being: An uncontrolled open pilot study
Authors: Sandra Benavides and Joshua Caballero