Best online yoga for weight loss? Are you being serious? Surely weight loss is all about restrictive diets and cardio, calories in versus calories out? Where does yoga fit into the picture?
Yoga for weight loss works by:
- Helping with your attitude towards food through mindfulness.
- Improving your quality of sleep.
- Building muscles (muscles burn more calories than body fat) and all-over fitness.
- Burning calories with intense flowing styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or Power Yoga.
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Can You Really Lose Weight By Doing Yoga?
Following a restrictive diet and clocking up endless miles of cardio may be the most popular mantra to lose weight. But it doesn’t work for everyone. Often running and hiking can leave you feeling really hungry. It’s hard not to overeat and replace all the calories you’ve just burned through exercise.
My favorite weight loss solution is to head off on a long trekking trip with little access to food but it doesn’t mean the weight will stay off! Your body switches to starvation mode and learns how to survive on smaller and smaller portions.
Instead, if you’re struggling to lose weight, yoga could be the answer. It can reset your attitude towards food, help you sleep better, and get your body fitter and stronger.
Yoga For Weight Loss – A Non-Diet Way To Lose Weight
Ever tried dieting to lose weight? Most people have. Almost 50% of adults in the US have tried dieting to lose weight.
Did it work? I’m guessing that as soon as the dieting stopped, the weight rebounded and you were back where you started (or even heavier).
You’re not alone. Failed diets and rebound weight are all too common. Evelyn Tribole writes for the National Eating Disorders Association suggesting; “dieting-induced weight gain” may be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.
If dieting doesn’t work, how do you lose weight and keep it off?
✅ Regular yoga practice makes a difference when it comes to weight loss. I find it helps to have easy access to online yoga classes. With Yoga Download, I can practice yoga every day at home for as little as $10/month.
Yoga And Mindfulness
Weight loss really comes down to three factors, calories in, calories out, and your metabolism. There are ways to boost your metabolism which work for some people, but for most, weight loss is about decreasing the calories you eat and increasing the calories you burn through exercise.
A big benefit of yoga is that it makes you think about the needs of your body. Yoga isn’t just an exercise regime. It covers all lifestyle choices including diet and your mental attitude.
Developing self-love and mindfulness through yoga helps you stop and question why you’re filling your body with junk food. You’ll learn to choose healthy food options and only eat when you’re hungry.
Studies have shown mindfulness really helps with weight loss. There are not many people who leap up at the end of a yoga session and think “I could just eat a Big Mac right now”. Yoga guides you towards a better relationship with food and making wiser life choices.
Increasingly we have a distorted view of weight. Retouched images on Instagram give us an unrealistic view of how we should look. Instead, yoga can help us accept the bodies we have.
I’ve had too many anorexic friends to know how weight loss, taken to extremes, can destroy lives. Rather than fall into the trap of excessive dieting, yoga can help you rediscover your natural relationship with food. Eating to fuel your body.
Yoga And Stress
Stress is a big contributor to weight gain. The stress hormone, cortisol rises, boosts insulin levels, makes your blood sugar levels drop and you start craving fatty, sugary foods.
Yoga and meditation are good for your mental health by helping to reduce stress and make it more manageable. (Other good stress busters are getting some fresh air by walking or running).
If you’re suffering from stress, meditation can really help quieten the mind, reduce your heart rate and allow you to relax. Developing a daily meditation practice can have tremendous health benefits.
Yoga And Sleep
Sleep restriction and poor sleep patterns make it far harder to lose weight. I’m the first to crack and say yes to cake when I’ve had a bad night’s sleep!
Studies have shown that adults trying to lose weight were more successful with adequate sleep, normally 7 to 9 hours for adults.
Yoga can make it easier to get to sleep at night and also improve the quality of sleep. That doesn’t mean you should be whipping through a fast-paced Vinyasa yoga flow just before bedtime. Instead, relaxing and restorative yoga will help you clear your mind of the day’s worries and concerns, helping you slip more easily into sleep.
Yoga Nidra, is a form of yoga that induces a deep state of relaxation. The goal is conscious awareness sleep where the mind and body are at rest, but the consciousness is awake. A 45-minute session of Yoga Nidra can feel like indulging in a 3-hour nap!
Yoga Will Strengthen Your Body
Regular yoga practice is an excellent way to strengthen your body. This doesn’t mean you’ll end up looking like a bodybuilder, but you will improve your muscle definition.
The good thing about strength training and building muscle tone? Muscle tissue burns more calories, even at rest than body fat. This doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight. Muscles are denser and weigh more than fat, but you should lose inches.
The emphasis here is on regular practice and you’ll need to combine yoga postures with a healthy diet to see results.
What’s The Right Form Of Yoga For Weight Loss?
There are many different styles of yoga. You need to choose one of the more intense flowing styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or Power Yoga if you want to lose weight.
These classes will give you a good workout and burn calories. Unlike some activities, such as running, yoga is unlikely to increase your appetite. It may even curb your appetite. A big plus if your aim is weight loss.
Just remember, the more powerful yoga poses burn the most calories. You have to earn it on the yoga mat!
The recommendations for weight loss are at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week. The best online yoga classes can help you build a regular yoga practice. Easily accessible – you can work out from home on a regular basis.
What counts as vigorous exercise? It means you can’t say more than a few words without pausing for breath.
Yes, you can achieve this with yoga. I’ve finished yoga for weight loss sessions feeling every part of my body has been worked hard … and all I want to do is go for a nap!
Regular Yoga Practice Is Important For Losing Weight
If you’re intending to use yoga as your main choice of exercise, you’ll need to practice regularly if you want to lose weight. Once a week just won’t cut it. Follow these tips to start a daily yoga practice.
Attending yoga classes is the ideal way to practice, but very few of us can afford, (or have the time), to attend more than once or twice a week. Instead, you can practice at home.
It’s possible to put together your own yoga routines, particularly if you’re experienced. If you’re like me, you’ll do a few sun salutations and then run out of ideas.
Best Online Yoga Programs To Lose Weight
Online yoga classes have made my home practice so much better and I’ve put together a list of my favorite online yoga channels when you want to lose weight, both free and paid. You can find online classes on YouTube or subscribe to an online yoga channel for a small monthly subscription. (I find the subscription services are easier to use regularly and the small fee helps me commit to practicing).
These best yoga classes for weight loss videos are a great idea when you don’t have time to visit a yoga studio or you want to practice yoga every day.
Yoga Download
If you want an online yoga service with a huge choice of styles, Yoga Download is a good choice. Yoga Download has 1500+ quality classes to choose from and covers just about every yoga style you can think of. Remember to keep to Ashtanga, Vinyasa or Power Yoga if you’re aiming for weight loss.
😍 A big plus of Yoga Download is being able to download videos – really useful if you’re traveling away from a reliable WiFi connection. The monthly subscription starts at just $10/month.
✅ Yoga Download has a 3 week Yoga For Weight Loss Program with 15 vigorous classes to follow over a 21-day period and healthy eating recipes to help you hit your weight loss goals. It’s aimed at intermediate through to advanced yoga students.
This program really gets results! Expect to be a little sore if you haven’t practiced for a while! I love the way you can access the program at no extra charge if you sign up for a Yoga Download monthly subscription.
If you’re a beginner but still want to use yoga for weight loss, you can mix things up with the Abs & Booty Bootcamp 2 week challenge. It’s a blend of fitness, pilates, barre, and yoga classes to help you get body confidence fast.
Yoga With Adriene
Adriene is the yoga darling of YouTube. With her wonderfully warm and open manner, she’s amassed a huge following of over 5 Million subscribers.
There are so many different yoga classes to choose from with Adriene uploading a new video to YouTube most weeks.
There are different playlists to follow such as yoga for your core and power yoga. You can also select yoga practices by length. (It is harder sorting videos on a YouTube channel compared with a subscription yoga program but Adriene has tried to make your life easier).
Your starting point on Yoga With Adriene will depend on your level but her Yoga For Weight Loss series is a good place when you want to get in shape.
GAIA
This is where I started with online yoga programs. Gaia started out as Gaiam TV and they still have a weird and wonderful selection of documentaries and films on the channel.
Their yoga section is huge and there are some big names on the channel. Ashley Turner with her short weight loss series is one of my favorites.
The only downside is the complete randomness of the channel. You never know what you’re going to find next and it can take a while to build up a favorite playlist. Gaia is good value for a subscription service at $9.95 per month.
Purple Valley Ashtanga Yoga
If you want to find out how Ashtanga Yoga can help you, the YouTube channel Purple Valley Ashtanga Yoga is a good place to start. Every year some of the big name instructors in Ashtanga Yoga gather in Goa creating a unique series of yoga videos.
If you’re new to Ashtanga Yogo start with this gentle beginners routine:
Yoga By Candace
When it comes to online yoga programs, Candace is another yoga queen with a big following. She adds to her extensive yoga collection weekly. I like the way the videos are straight into the yoga with no lengthy introductions.
This power yoga class is a terrific workout. It’s not suitable for complete beginners but most yogis will be able to adjust the workout to suit their ability.
Body Positive Yoga
If you think you’re too big to try yoga think again. Amber Karns is ready to convince you otherwise. Body Positive Yoga follows my mantra here at Love Life Be Fit – stop putting off living until you’ve lost weight, got your perfect job… get out and have some fun right now!
Yoga With Kassandra
Kassandra is very popular on YouTube right now and has some terrific classes for beginners. Join her morning yoga movement!
Cole Chance Yoga
Cole’s unique look may put you off a little if you’re not into the zen side of yoga, but her instruction is detailed and down to earth. This flow from an ancient Balinese Temple will give you a good workout.
Yoga With Tim
Tim is the person to turn to if you’re up for a challenge. His workouts will really build up your strength! If you’re ready to make a big change to your body start off with his 30 day challenge!
Yoga With Briohny
The list of videos on Briohny’s yoga channel is quite short but Briohny provides some good tips for more advanced poses. I love this excellent 15 minute pick-me-up!
Sarah Beth Yoga
Sarah Beth has a huge following on YouTube and an equally huge list of yoga videos. There really is something for everyone on her channel.
Her playlists include a 30 Day Yoga Challenge, Full Body Yoga, and Yoga For Weight Loss. This is one of the most popular videos in the series:
So there you have it! A pick of the best online yoga for weight loss. Yoga Download is my favorite go-to channel when I’m practicing yoga at home. Commit to a regular yoga practice, burn calories in more intense classes, develop a healthy attitude to food, and yoga will certainly help with weight loss.
If you want some tips on what to wear for your yoga practice, take a look at these posts: “What to wear to yoga class?” and “What do men wear to yoga?”
The benefits of yoga go beyond weight loss. Read about my favorite reasons “Why Yoga Is Good For You”. I’d love to hear your views…
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best online yoga program?
It really depends on finding an online yoga teacher that matches your preferred style of yoga and has classes suitable for your ability. Yoga with Adriene is a good place to start. Yoga Download is a good choice if you want access to different yoga styles and teachers.
Can you do yoga online for free?
Of course! YouTube has a huge range of yoga videos you can access for free. Some of the top yoga teachers on YouTube release daily yoga videos or have challenge programs you can follow.
Does yoga for weight loss work?
Exercise programs for weight loss only work if you combine them with a healthy diet. More energetic forms of yoga such as power yoga are good for burning calories. Yoga can help you sleep better, become more mindful of your diet, and have a positive outlook – these all help with controlling your weight.
Which yoga is best for weight loss?
For weight loss, it’s best to choose one of the more intense flowing styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or Power Yoga. You want to take classes that give you a good workout and build strength.
The benefits of yoga for weight loss.
Yoga is beneficial for your long-term health. It’s about more than just losing weight. If you shed your excess pounds through yoga you’ll also benefit from reduced anxiety, better sleep patterns, a stronger body, and more chance of keeping the weight off long term.