Yoga and weight loss****Update***

Klayfish said:

Yes, exactly. You put a lot more detail into the post than I had. When I say go into "starvation mode", what you have above is exactly right. Of course, someone who actually truly starves themselves, like an anorexic, will lose weight. But as you said, it'll be muscle and your body shifts to trying to protect itself. But people who just do a deficit and stay with that non-stop get that law of diminishing returns, due to exactly what you described. At first, weight loss can be rapid if a person is really heavy, but then it'll grind to a halt over time.

Very well said. Muscle burs a lot of calories. Weight training is a fantastic way to help stay lean. Nothing at all wrong with yoga...except that I'm about as flexible as a steel rod. It just won't do a ton for weight loss.

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Glad you see it that way also! It amazes me when I read the forums on MyFitnessPal how many people buy into the literal interpretation of "starvation mode" and believe that an overweight person got that way because he/she restricted themselves too much and can't lose weight so they use that as an excuse not to go into a calorie deficit.

Just wanted to add two things ----

A good read on some of these issues is an older book called Fit or Fat.

This story might seem totally bizarre but it's the truth. So much of weight, fitness etc. for a women around menopause is about hormones - stress levels, cortisol, sleep etc. And not every single person of course, every person's body reacts differently. I know of someone who is an athlete. She started to gain a lot during these years. When it was happening she did her same workout that had always worked - jogged, interval training, weights etc. Still happened.

She started to walk at this really slow pace for most of her days. And I mean slow, it's mainly outside but on the treadmill it would be 2.5 miles an hour. And once a week she still does her intervals. And since she is fit she can easily do 11 miles an hour on an interval with no issues. But most of her days are now slow walking outside.

With the walking added in she lost all the weight in no time and it's never returned.

No change in diet whatsoever.

So that slow walking has to be about stress levels in the body, lowering them. And the impact of that. I would think that yoga would have exactly the same effect.

I too have noticed that what worked is no longer working. Can be so frustrating.

However, I do a program called Classical Stretch, it's a program put together by a Canadian ballerina. Whenever I put it back into my workouts, it really makes a difference. Once again, this has to be about the calming nature of the workout on the body. It certainly isn't about calories in and out with any of these choices.

Christine said:

Glad you see it that way also! It amazes me when I read the forums on MyFitnessPal how many people buy into the literal interpretation of "starvation mode" and believe that an overweight person got that way because he/she restricted themselves too much and can't lose weight so they use that as an excuse not to go into a calorie deficit.

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About six years ago when “starvation mode” was a popular theory it was advice given non stop at MFP (and LoseIt) and given by a lot of the people who now discount it. It made me nuts when they’d tell obese people to eat more. I left both forums for quite some time because I couldn’t take it.

lisaviolet said:

Just wanted to add two things ----

A good read on some of these issues is an older book called Fit or Fat.

This story might seem totally bizarre but it's the truth. So much of weight, fitness etc. for a women around menopause is about hormones - stress levels, cortisol, sleep etc. And not every single person of course, every person's body reacts differently. I know of someone who is an athlete. She started to gain a lot during these years. When it was happening she did her same workout that had always worked - jogged, interval training, weights etc. Still happened.

She started to walk at this really slow pace for most of her days. And I mean slow, it's mainly outside but on the treadmill it would be 2.5 miles an hour. And once a week she still does her intervals. And since she is fit she can easily do 11 miles an hour on an interval with no issues. But most of her days are now slow walking outside.

With the walking added in she lost all the weight in no time and it's never returned.

No change in diet whatsoever.

So that slow walking has to be about stress levels in the body, lowering them. And the impact of that. I would think that yoga would have exactly the same affect.

I too have noticed that what worked is no longer working. Can be so frustrating.

However, I do a program called Classical Stretch, it's a program put together by a Canadian ballerina. Whenever I put it back into my workouts, it really makes a difference. Once again, this has to be about the calming nature of the workout on the body. It certainly isn't about calories in and out with any of these choices.

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Interesting you mention this because the last two years that I have put on weight have truly been the most stressful time of my whole life. My work situation was more than I could take and I was having panic attacks about every other week while my workouts were diminishing. I am now taking a cortisol support supplement and doing yoga. After class I think every time would I have been able to do a better job managing stress over the last two years if I had been doing yoga. It is so relaxing for my mind!!

Sabeking said:

No I’m not taking it as criticism and I do appreciate your feedback!! It’s just frustrating putting in all this work and not seeing results!! I will be more conscientious of my intake. I wonder if my Fitbit is off?

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Fitbit is a guide and it can be off. I'm going through the same thing. I'm 55. It's harder to maintain the weight. My fitbit calculates more than actuality. Exercise is wonderful but it's caloric intake that makes the most difference, imo.

wenrob said:

About six years ago when “starvation mode” was a popular theory it was advice given non stop at MFP (and LoseIt) and given by a lot of the people who now discount it. It made me nuts when they’d tell obese people to eat more. I left both forums for quite some time because I couldn’t take it.

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Sounds like logical advice to me... LOL

Seriously, sometimes I think that's one thing that's missed often. Logic...and common sense. Of course, common sense should tell someone that if they're overweight, simply adding calories will simply add weight. Literally starving yourself will lead to weight loss, but in unhealthy ways.

As already discussed, continued calorie deficit can and will lead to making it harder to lose weight and accomplish your goal, but you shouldn't just "eat more" or "eat even less". There's well proven and time tested nutrition advice out there that's pretty easy to find. You just have to weed through the nonsense.

I'm regimented in my nutrition, eating at maintenance levels (my weight is steady). Because of that, I find that I wind up loosing a few pounds in the weeks after a WDW trip. When I'm on vacation, I eat a clean base of nutrition. But the rest is out the window. I'll eat chips, ice cream, whatever I want...every day. Of course, I gain a few pounds. However, when we get home and I go back to my normal nutrition, I'll drop the few pounds I gained at WDW and an additional 3-4lbs within about 10-14 days.

As for the comments about stress, yes, absolutely stress can play a role in how your body handles things. No question about it. But stress by itself does not stop weight loss or cause weight gain. I've heard many people say "Yeah, I've gained xx lbs in the past few years, all because I was stressed". No. It's the reaction to stress...namely binge eating...that causes the weight gain. So yes, stress is definitely a factor, but it's only a piece of the puzzle.

Klayfish said:

As for the comments about stress, yes, absolutely stress can play a role in how your body handles things. No question about it. But stress by itself does not stop weight loss or cause weight gain. I've heard many people say "Yeah, I've gained xx lbs in the past few years, all because I was stressed". No. It's the reaction to stress...namely binge eating...that causes the weight gain. So yes, stress is definitely a factor, but it's only a piece of the puzzle.

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No one said it's more than one piece of the puzzle.

No one said "Hey my weight gain was ALL about stress".

And we were discussing some women around menopause. But I'm sure you know all about women and menopausal changes that can impact some, not all but some. It reminds me of people that swear that no women can gain on a birth control pill, when a lot of women do not. Because some do not, of course it is not possible.

And we were talking about methods that brought down stress levels/possibly balancing hormones and situations where weight came down - without any food changes - with a specific type of exercise. And my example is a friend that did not set out to do that, but it happened. A real world example. Whether it works for others, who knows. And as for your bolded I can guarantee that my friend has never had a moment of binge eating in her entire life.

Easy there...don't get all bent out of shape (yoga...see what I did there). As you read in my post, I said stress is unquestionably a part of the puzzle. Hormones are too, both for men and women. The only thing I was saying in the part you bolded is that I have that same reaction when I hear people blame massive weight gain purely on stress. Just being stressed out is not going to actually cause you to gain weight. Not saying anything about you or your friend.

Thank you for all the replies. Lots to think about. A few things that stick out to me that was mentioned is muscle mass. I am going to do some research on that and increase my strength training proponent. I have never been a person that eats sweets but thinking more about my food choices, I can probably make some changes...for example, get rid of the vanilla creamer in my coffee and go to cream. Looking at the sugar content in day to day foods. This will be easy as my daughter is allergic to cane sugar,; I know sugar is in everything from turkey to dressing. I think I may need to incorporate a lot more fresh vegetables. I have the protein covered. Eggs for breakfast usually, no carbs, lots of chicken, turkey burgers, fish, etc... Any lunch ideas besides salads??? I do eat a lot of soup but know these can be high in sodium. I will say the yoga is really appealing to me, I never thought I would like it. The only part I don’t like is all the sweat on the ground after hot yoga lol!

Klayfish said:

Easy there...don't get all bent out of shape (yoga...see what I did there). As you read in my post, I said stress is unquestionably a part of the puzzle. Hormones are too, both for men and women. The only thing I was saying in the part you bolded is that I have that same reaction when I hear people blame massive weight gain purely on stress. Just being stressed out is not going to actually cause you to gain weight. Not saying anything about you or your friend.

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Never thought you were directing a thing at me, because I'm not even in most of my posts on the subject. So ??? on that. Nor at my friend in that kind of sense.

You often speak in absolutes Klayfish, and whether you think it or not your post was full of them. It was about me using my prior examples posted and being sarcastic and making points against those absolutes - not reopening my thoughts on hormones, stress or fitness only.

So not bent out of shape. Can't be. I'm totally inflexible Klayfish - yoga or not.

Sabeking said:

I will say the yoga is really appealing to me, I never thought I would like it. The only part I don’t like is all the sweat on the ground after hot yoga lol!

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And as I've been reading it's not only the sweat on the ground with Bikram, it lasts for a good half an hour afterwards for some.

I honestly wished I could get into it Sabeking. I'm truly jealous of those who are. Because I've done Classical Stretch over the years, which is not yoga but shares some elements, I imagine the feeling afterwards must be wonderful.

Enjoy and best of luck on finding what works for you.

Sabeking said:

Thank you for all the replies. Lots to think about. A few things that stick out to me that was mentioned is muscle mass. I am going to do some research on that and increase my strength training proponent. I have never been a person that eats sweets but thinking more about my food choices, I can probably make some changes...for example, get rid of the vanilla creamer in my coffee and go to cream. Looking at the sugar content in day to day foods. This will be easy as my daughter is allergic to cane sugar,; I know sugar is in everything from turkey to dressing. I think I may need to incorporate a lot more fresh vegetables. I have the protein covered. Eggs for breakfast usually, no carbs, lots of chicken, turkey burgers, fish, etc... Any lunch ideas besides salads??? I do eat a lot of soup but know these can be high in sodium. I will say the yoga is really appealing to me, I never thought I would like it. The only part I don’t like is all the sweat on the ground after hot yoga lol!

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For the nutrition, I'd recommend looking into a healthy macro balance...protein, carbs and fats. Certainly, you don't want to consume lots of sugars, but if you've got a good balance you can probably keep your vanilla creamer (assuming you don't have more creamer than coffee. ). Everyone's nutritional needs are different, depending on a lot of things. DW eats: oats, egg whites, greek yogurt (non-fat plain), some fruits, tilapia, salads, boneless/skinless chicken breast, sweet potato, rice cake, all natural peanut butter. Obviously, she doesn't eat every one of these each days, but they are her staples.

lisaviolet said:

You often speak in absolutes Klayfish, and whether you think it or not your post was full of them.

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I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Hello All, I wanted to update and say thank you for the great advice. I have now lost six pounds since my last post! I made some of the changes mentioned and they really got the ball rolling. Hope my post can help someone else. So I would like to take off 15 total and am thrilled with the six so far!
The changes:
Completely cut out Diet Coke...sad but true
Limit myself to one carbohydrate a day
Doing yoga with weights three times a week...I think this was a huge game changer, especially in regards to muscle mass that was mentioned
Increased my calories. I am supposed to have 750 deficit and was coming in even below that daily. Not enough calories.
Lastly, one day on the weekend I don’t count calories at all, if I feel like a burger and fries I do it.

Thanks again for the input!

Sabeking said:

I have now lost six pounds since my last post! I made some of the changes mentioned and they really got the ball rolling.

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Wonderful Sabeking. Congratulations.

Sabeking said:

Hello All, I wanted to update and say thank you for the great advice. I have now lost six pounds since my last post! I made some of the changes mentioned and they really got the ball rolling. Hope my post can help someone else. So I would like to take off 15 total and am thrilled with the six so far!
The changes:
Completely cut out Diet Coke...sad but true
Limit myself to one carbohydrate a day
Doing yoga with weights three times a week...I think this was a huge game changer, especially in regards to muscle mass that was mentioned
Increased my calories. I am supposed to have 750 deficit and was coming in even below that daily. Not enough calories.
Lastly, one day on the weekend I don’t count calories at all, if I feel like a burger and fries I do it.

Thanks again for the input!

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Absolutely fantastic!!!! A few thoughts from what you posted.

I don't see any reason to cut out Diet Coke. As long as you aren't drinking a 6 pack per day, it really won't do any harm.

How much did you increase calories? I'll bet your body is responding by increasing metabolism, hence the weight loss...and the muscle building also is a huge calorie burner.

Outstanding on the cheat meal!! You work hard all week, enjoy the meal. I look forward to mine every week. Heck, it's only Tuesday morning and I'm already contemplating what I want for Friday dinner.

Klayfish said:

Absolutely fantastic!!!! A few thoughts from what you posted.

I don't see any reason to cut out Diet Coke. As long as you aren't drinking a 6 pack per day, it really won't do any harm.

How much did you increase calories? I'll bet your body is responding by increasing metabolism, hence the weight loss...and the muscle building also is a huge calorie burner.

Outstanding on the cheat meal!! You work hard all week, enjoy the meal. I look forward to mine every week. Heck, it's only Tuesday morning and I'm already contemplating what I want for Friday dinner.

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I know that for me, personally, cutting carbonated drinks from my diet was a game changer (all of them, not just full calorie versions). The sodium and carbonation were causing a lot of bloat.

Klayfish said:

Absolutely fantastic!!!! A few thoughts from what you posted.

I don't see any reason to cut out Diet Coke. As long as you aren't drinking a 6 pack per day, it really won't do any harm.

How much did you increase calories? I'll bet your body is responding by increasing metabolism, hence the weight loss...and the muscle building also is a huge calorie burner.

Outstanding on the cheat meal!! You work hard all week, enjoy the meal. I look forward to mine every week. Heck, it's only Tuesday morning and I'm already contemplating what I want for Friday dinner.

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So I am still at a 750 deficit but I was finding that I could not make it to 750 prior. I was really having a 950 deficit daily. I am eating more and getting rid of processed foods. I was tired a lot and that was a heads up that I’m not getting enough. I will say though my appetite has decreased so much it is a struggle to eat what my body needs but I force myself.

I agree about the weights increasing my metabolism. Now, my question is can my body get used to the weights and things stall again? I assume no as long as I am still sore after each work out. I will say the nice thing about these yoga sculpt classes is that the instructors change so I am getting different workouts throughout the week.

I agree with Soldier Sweeties on the soft drinks and bloating. I find too that when I have a Diet Coke in one hand I want a potato chip in the other hand!!!!

What are your thoughts on the free weights and continued weight loss?

Soldier's*Sweeties said:

I know that for me, personally, cutting carbonated drinks from my diet was a game changer (all of them, not just full calorie versions). The sodium and carbonation were causing a lot of bloat.

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Totally agree!!. This seems to happen with bread too. I can have a fairly flat stomach, eat a piece of bread and have a food baby. It’s ridiculous! Also when I have a Diet Coke I want potato chips!! Lol, they just go together!

Sure, carbonation can cause bloating, but not sure it really impacts weight significantly. Again, I'm making an assumption that we're talking small amounts, not a full 6 pack. I was curious about the sodium content in Diet Coke...it's 40mg per can. That's very low, so I think you'd be OK there. I'm not saying Diet Coke is a "good" thing like water, but I also don't see it as a negative in moderation. It's DWs' soda of choice, actually. Mine is caffeine free diet Coke (I'm not allowed to have caffeine...Crohn's). Now the craving for a salty chip with your soda is an entirely different thing.

I'd also say again to not focus so much on the number on the scale. It's more about body fat content and overall health. Muscle is heavy. If you have a lot of muscle, the actual number on the scale may be higher than you'd expect. But you'll be extremely fit. DW is around 17%, but you'd be surprised at the scale.

I'm not a professional, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night (remember that ad campaign??), but I wonder if 750 is still too much of a deficit long term? Not saying you need to go over maintenance, but maybe get a bit closer...at least for a little while. I'd suggest checking into that a bit more.

Will your body get "used" to the weights? Yeah, sort of. If you do the same routine every day with the exact same weights, eventually you'll plateau. And yes, the soreness will eventually go away. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you're happy with where you are. However, it can slow down your "calorie burn" because it becomes muscle memory. I always mix it up. Even if you don't add more weight, vary the routine every month or so. For example, if you're doing standing bicep curls, the next month switch it to preacher curls, hammer curls or spider curls. Keep your body "guessing". Personally, I've plateaued in that I'm not gaining any more muscle mass...I've gained 30lbs in the past 10 years...but I'm perfectly OK with where I am. I don't try too hard to keep adding weight, but I vary my routine up regularly.

Following your progress...nice work!

I'm hoping to get some ideas on what I can do from this thread. Prior to having children I was a steady 98 pounds since I was 15 years old (around the time I stopped growing...lol). I ate anything I wanted. My mom always cooked lean, nutritious meals but I was never limited on what kind of snacks I was allowed to have so I grew up drinking a lot of soda and I could polish off a box of Ho-Ho's in 2 days by myself, and remained 98 pounds. I drank Starbucks Java Chip Frappucinnos at least twice a week (expensive hobby that I could only afford when I lived with my parents!). Anyway the idea is that I grew up with a love of sugar (and pasta... grew up with Sicilian family) without any noticeable effects. So it's an ingrained habit. Then when I was 26 I had my first baby... I bounced back after that but then I had 2 more. I now regularly fluctuate between 109 and 113 pounds depending on the time of year (winters are long). It's not an incredibly high weight but I'm only 5 foot tall so I notice it -- I just feel like a different person since kids. Flabby core, uncomfortable feeling. I've been focused on trying to reduce the number on the scale (I kept trying to meet a goal of 105) but I think maybe that's the wrong approach at this point. Plain old calorie reduction doesn't seem to help for some reason. I think I need to work more on toning and trying to build muscle instead. And I need to reduce daily sugar intake (I'm trying to start small -- reducing/removing it from coffee... it's hard).

I had 3 c-sections in 3 years and as a result have diastasis recti, which prevents me from doing certain exercises. My core has obviously suffered some damage from this, lol. I do things like side planks and leg lifts but haven't made much difference other than increasing my stamina in doing those things.

We have a treadmill that I use mostly in the winter (boring), a rowing machine (also boring), I have some light hand weights, and we also purchased a weight bench with leg lift thingy (that's the technical term right) from Craigslist over the winter, but I'm unsure how to make that best benefit me. In the summer I bike (but not extensively), and our 2+ acre property requires a lot of work so I spend most summers doing a lot of lifting, shoveling, etc. This year we're building a retaining wall concrete patio out front and changing the way the yard slopes so I've been lugging around 50 pound bucket of rocks, wheelbarrows full of busted up concrete, dirt, lifting retaining wall blocks, etc. But then winter comes.... plus my job in web development is sedentary. So it would be nice to know the best way to use the weights to benefit me year round.

As for the Diet Coke thing -- the only time I drink soda anymore is with a rum & coke, and I am a very rare drinker -- usually only for special occasions. I don't like the taste of diet soda so I never tried to swap to that. I do like carbonation, and I am not a good plain water drinker, so what helps me is sparkling water. Just a thought!