Will Yoga or Pilates Help Me Lose Weight

Will Yoga or Pilates Help Me Lose Weight?

This month we are bringing BodyFlow to The Strong Center.  It is a fantastic Yoga-based workout, with elements of Pilates and Tai Chi.  When I announced this to a personal training client, she asked a question which I hadn’t heard in quite a  while: “Will Yoga or Pilates help me lose weight?”  I paused before responding, knowing that my answer could oversell or undervalue the benefits of two very beneficial forms of exercise.

Basically, I reminded her that both Pilates and Yoga would help build strength and endurance, improve balance and coordination, while increasing flexibility and reducing stress.  Great answer, right?  But I didn’t answer the million dollar question about weight loss.  I actually did answer the inquiry, but in one of those roundabout, hopefully helpful ways that explains how things are not as simple they appear.  I think my verbal answer was a little more convoluted, but I wanted to share the same thoughts in writing.  It went something like this:

In my experience working with people as a personal trainer, and as a Yoga instructor, I have seen amazing benefits from what are often referred to as “mind-body” classes.  Sure, you may burn far more calories stairclimbing for an hour than an hour of yoga.  You’re likely to stimulate your muscle metabolism with weight training greater than in a Pilates class.  Don’t get sucked in by media hype about celebrities shaping bodies and melting fat with Yoga and Pilates.  Strength training and cardiovascular exercise are absolutely essential parts of getting your metabolism to work properly.  However, you get something from Pilates and Yoga that you can’t count in calories burned.

People who regularly practice “mind-body” exercise like Pilates, Yoga, and Tai Chi seem to have a better handle on what’s going on in their body.  Am I hungry or am I just tired?  Do I need food or do I need sleep?  Do I need sugar or do I need to improve my mood?  Am I needing nourishment or am I trying to distract myself from anxiety or chronic pain?  How we answer these questions, or even ask them in the first place, can be the deciding factor in whether we eat the right amount of food for our body or if we go overboard.  No diet, no book, no pill can stop you from habitually turning to food as a coping tool if you don’t learn other ways to manage stress, energy, mood, pain, etc.

Practicing mind-body exercise does more than build body awareness.  It can also give you the tools to better reduce stress and anxiety, as well as improve your mood and energy.  This is not touchy-feely new-age stuff.  Do the math:

Option 1: Every time I need some kind of pick-me-up to feel better, I turn to Krispy Kreme or Starbucks. 

Option 2:  After a Yoga or Pilates workout I feel invigorated, hopeful, relaxed, and in control.

Which would you prefer?  Which do you think your heart, bones, muscles, and joints would ask of you?

So there’s my answer.  Yes, Pilates and Yoga can help you lose weight, but not so much from the direct body-changing magic that is sometimes ascribed to them.  Maybe some of that.  But also due to the head-changing benefits that support your weight loss efforts.

I thought my answer was pretty good, then this blurb came to me in a fitness journal email this week:

“Practicing yoga regularly may help your eating habits so you can maintain a healthier weight, a new study says.  Researchers at the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reported a link between yoga practitioners and "mindful eaters," people who were better aware of their feelings of hunger and fullness and why they ate. These mindful eaters, as opposed to those who ate regardless of hunger or to soothe anxiety or depression, tended to be less likely to be obese, the study found. Results are published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.”

Sometimes things just work out.  If you want to give a BodyFlow or Yoga class a try at The Strong Center, sign up here.