How to Use Yoga for Weight Loss
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You probably know already how good yoga can be for your body and mind. Flexibility, mobility, and relaxation are natural results from starting a yoga routine. But did you know that yoga is also great for weight loss?
It might sound too good to be true, but yes, you can lose weight without intense HIIT workouts or lots of hours in the gym lifting heavy. The right yoga routine can help you drop pounds while streamlining your body shape and giving you the feminine, sexy body you’ve been craving!
In this post, I’ll cover:
· How Yoga Contributes to Weight Loss
· What to Do When You Start a Yoga Routine
· Tips on Staying Safe While Doing Beginner Yoga
· My Favorite Yoga Program for Weight Loss
If you’re ready for a body that looks AND feels better, yoga will be great for you! Let’s get started!
How Yoga Contributes to Weight Loss
Many people will argue that yoga is not intense enough for weight loss, but the results of so many people show that that’s just not true! While the most gentle of routines don’t get your heart rate up, practices like power yoga, Bikram, hot yoga, or vinyasa (yoga flow) will definitely help you burn calories. You’ll also gain lean muscle mass.
When you are doing yoga, your muscles have to hold yourself up in the poses – that takes work, especially if you’re overweight when you start! The key is to find the right yoga practice for your that gets your heart pumping and your muscles burning. A hot yoga session can burn around 500 calories – on par with an intense gym session!
The most important part of why yoga helps with weight loss is not just the calorie burn. Yoga promotes stress relief, as well as mindfulness. Studies have show that people make better food choices throughout the day when they regularly practice yoga. It contributes to an overall feeling of well-being, and your brain finds it easier to choose the healthy options! It is almost like a Jedi mind trick for your diet.
Stress relief also plays an important factor, as cortisol, the stress hormone, has been shown to actually cause the body to store excess fat. Lowering your stress levels can help your body naturally regulate and begin to release some of that stored weight.
What to Do When You Start a Yoga Routine
Starting a yoga routine can be as simple as finding a video on YouTube, pushing your coffee table out of the way, and pressing play! However, if you want to start a practice that you will find fulfilling and that helps you on your weight loss journey, you need a little preparation.
First, decide what kind of yoga you’ll be doing. Search your area for classes if you want the community experience. You can also find a variety of yoga programs online. Some of the best yoga types for weight loss are:
· Vinyasa
· Hot Yoga
· Power Yoga
· Bikram
Then, if you’re not going to a studio, find a location that you can dedicate to your practice. You’ll need a variety of equipment to get started, but don’t wait to start if you haven’t gotten everything set yet – you can yoga anywhere! If you want to purchase items for your practice, you might want to have:
Finally, commit to a day and time. Ideally, for weight loss, you want to be doing 40-60 minutes of yoga 5 to 6 times a week to see consistent results. You can also mix your yoga sessions with other exercises such as walking or swimming to reach that goal.
Not sure how to get started with yoga for weight loss? Check out this amazing 12-week yoga program that will shape and tone your entire body!
Tips on Staying Safe While Doing Beginner Yoga
When starting a yoga program you need to take caution not to try to progress too quickly. It’s the time on the mat that will get you results, not pushing yourself past your limits. Here are some tips to stay safe:
- Use blocks and straps when necessary to support you in your poses
- Start slow and master the basics
- Always warm up before starting
- Take a class or follow an online video tutorial to guide you into the poses gently
- Don’t push yourself and take breaks if needed
My Favorite Yoga Program for Weight Loss
Part of being a yoga beginner is following a plan or program that will guide you safely through the poses and progress you into more advanced work. Without that expert guidance, you can be left either possibly getting hurt, or not making progress. Finding a great yoga program can be tricky. That’s why I love YogaBurn.
YogaBurn is a 12-week program designed to take you from beginner to yogi – while burning fat and building a sexy body shape. Creator Zoe Bray-Cotton (a new mom herself!) styled the program after the idea of dynamic sequencing, building and progressing rather than simply repeating.
Each phase is 4 weeks long and has a unique focus. The first phase, foundational flow, teaches you the basics and helps you get comfortable with yoga and it’s sequencing. Phase 2, transitional flow, trains your body to do more complex poses and puts them together into more challenging sequences and flows. The final phase, mastery flow, puts it all together and helps you achieve maximum fat burn.
I love how the 45-minute sessions are paced, and that she always has you progressing. So many yoga programs out there are single sessions or short 1-to-3-week courses. It’s nice to know that for a full three months, you are making progress and continuing to mix it up – and burn more fat!
If you’re looking for a comprehensive yoga program designed to help women lose weight and get in shape, you definitely need to check out YogaBurn. And right now, you can get it for as little as $37 for the whole digital program! With the 60-day money back guarantee, there’s no reason to wait! Check it out here.