Gentle yoga for gradual weight loss

It’s summertime, the few months where we expose more skin than any others. This causes a massive increase of people wanting to be “beach-body ready,” and though that term irks me more than encourages me, there are healthy ways we can tone up and slim down. Unfortunately, diet fads and extreme workout regimes seem to be the go-to method for fast weight loss. Yes, cutting calories and burning them is the simple equation to weight loss, but that doesn’t mean it’s always good for you. There are good and bad ways to go about anything in life. Getting in shape is one of those things.

The body does not appreciate sudden and extreme changes in routine. It does not handle high-impact or high-intensity workouts very well, especially in the heat, and particularly if you’re a bit fragile, like me. So when it comes to exercise, not going from 0 to 100 real quick is helpful. It may be tempting to re-invent yourself and want it all at once, but that’s not how life works, and if you force it, there will likely be repercussions. Such as:

• Sudden onset fatigue
• Compromised immune system
• Heat exhaustion
• Muscle / joint pain
• Injury
• Damage to oesophagus due to heavy breathing
• Inflammation
• Leaching of nutrients from the tissues
• Fainting
• Headaches
• Digestive issues
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Drastic fluctuation of hormones
• Mood swings
• Compromised mental state (difficulty focusing, remembering and calculating.)

Over exertion is not pretty, and actually makes matters worse in the weight loss department. Countless studies have shown that a gentle buildup to a desired regime is the only way to stick with lifestyle changes long-term and keep yourself healthy throughout. You could be wanting to start jogging, but haven’t attempted it in months, or years. Don’t start off by hitting the track with all you’ve got. Start by walking the track for the first week. Power-walking the next and then introducing intermittent jogging until you’ve accumulated the stamina to run the track without wiping yourself out. Don’t forget rest days! 🙂 Gradual weight loss can never be a quick sprint.

The idea of exercise is to actually give us more energy, not leave us deflated. With the right morning routine you can be burning energy and boosting energy simultaneously. With the wrong routine, you’ll feel like you’ve been in battle. Swimming, walking, roller blading (for the brave), yoga and pilates are all great ways of getting gentle exercise and achieving weight loss. You don’t need to run a marathon to feel like a model. (Not if you don’t want to that is.)

Why yoga is a smart choice for gradual weight loss

Yoga can be done outside or in, at a studio or at home, with a friend or alone, following a routine or improvising. It’s phenomenally good for your muscles, joints and fascia as well as your internal systems such as digestive, nervous and circulatory. With regular sessions on your yoga mat you can improve muscle tone and strength whilst decreasing muscle tension. Increase flexibility whilst decreasing fat stores, calm your mind whilst sharpening it, and stabilise your emotions whilst lifting them.

A gentle yet effective exercise is really the best form, and once you’ve mastered the mat, you’re ready to take on the world! (At least it feels that way.) Personally, I prefer yoga as my sole form of exercise during hot months, as I don’t handle the heat well at all. Swimming I will do as often as possible (meh, when the mood strikes.) And providing the temperatures are mild, the beaches aren’t packed and there’s been no recent sightings of sharks or jellyfish, lol. A yoga retreat honestly sounds like the best vacation ever right about now. Who’s with me? Are dogs allowed? 😉

Well, we can’t always get what we want so let’s create our own yoga retreat right here starting off with this excellent tutorial!

Yoga With Adrienne is one of my absolute favourite YouTube channels yet. In this video she takes to a beautiful, nature-surrounded park to show us a truly relaxing, gentle routine. What I love about this yogi is her careful attention to detail. You don’t have to worry about getting the pose wrong, as she guides you through the minute corrections in order to get the best result from each stretch. Even though she goes nice and slow, before you know it you’ve finished the sequence and 25 minutes felt like 10!

As Kevin Trudeau so truthfully said: “Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel.” Yoga makes your body feel so good, you’ll be hooked once you start!