We all wish there was a magic pill to help us lose weight. Judging by the spam we get there are people out there willing to spend money on a chance that such a pill actually exists. Fad diets work only temporarily. Over 95% of people gain the weight lost on a fad diet right back, usually with a few extra pounds.

Fad diets don’t work

Our fat cells are designed to hold on to extra fuel ‘just in case’, in women even more than men for reproductive reasons (so you and your fetus could survive during a famine). Going on a diet is like creating a mini-famine; your body panics and shuts down your metabolism as much as possible to protect your treasured fat cells. It will even reduce your muscle mass to lower your metabolic needs before it will release significant amounts of fat. Your stress levels go up (after all, your body thinks you’re starving), affecting several hormone levels (such as cortisol and serotonin) that will cause intense food cravings. At that point will power just won’t cut it for long. Once you start eating again, your body goes into fat-storage overdrive to prepare for the next ‘famine’ causing rapid weight gain. That, and your muscle mass has decreased during your diet, so you’re using up fewer calories doing the same things than before your diet. Many of us have dieted so often that hormonal imbalances persist even after we’ve gone off dieting.

Just exercise more and eat less

It is not truly that simple either. It is a good starting point, and a good maintenance strategy once the weight has been lost, but as illustrated above, hormonal imbalances can play a huge role in weight gain (and loss). For instance, low levels of serotonin (the feel-good hormone) cause sugar, carb and/or alcohol cravings because those foods will temporarily increase serotonin levels. These foods can literally make you feel better, which is why they are so addictive. Unfortunately the effect is temporary, causing another craving an hour down the road. Hormonal imbalance can wreck any weight loss program.

Exercise is a major part in any successful weight loss effort, but not just because it burns extra calories. Exercise stimulates enzyme production that helps release fat. Exercise also has the potential to reduce stress levels and so affect your hormonal balance positively.  So in order to lose fat (and not just weight) our bodies must be convinced there are no more famines coming, it must be hormonally balanced and it must move.  

How Yoga helps Weight Loss

• Yoga reduces stress levels. You may think only high-powered executives experience stress, but really, most of us are in a permanent state of stress. Getting the kids to school in time, dealing with work, deadlines, financial worries, relationship problems, traffic, the holidays, weight concerns, it’s all stress. Stress totally upsets the hormonal balance, making it virtually impossible to lose weight. The stretches we do in yoga release muscle tension, which in turn reduces stress levels.
• Yoga is instant gratification. Because of the release of tension in the body, yoga is exercise that makes you feel good immediately. You don’t have to struggle 6 weeks until you can finally make it through a step class without thinking you’re going to die halfway through. You’ll feel capable and powerful right from the start!
• If you don’t truly enjoy the exercise you’re doing eventually you’re going to stop doing it. Many people enjoy yoga, not just suffer through it because ‘it’s got to be done’. The exercise you actually do is far more effective than the exercise you think you should be doing, but never can quite seem to get around to.
• Yoga is aerobic and it builds muscle. You know you have to do cardio to get up your heart rate and lift weights to build muscle, to get full health benefits. Yoga does both. It uses your own body weight for resistance and it can get your heart rate way up. Not always in the same class, but keep coming back and we’ll do it all.
• Yoga is a complete body work out. No stick arms with thunder thighs. Also, we don’t isolate muscle groups as you do in weight lifting, so the strength you build is balanced and more functional in daily life. Your whole body will build long, lean muscles.
• Yoga stimulates your glands, which helps to restore hormonal balance, reducing food and alcohol cravings. There are poses that stimulate the thyroid, the adrenal glands and other glands that the treadmill just won’t get to.
• Yoga stimulates the digestive track, making it easier to eliminate the waste products that your shrinking fat cells release and that can make you feel bad if they linger in your body.
• Yoga focuses on accomplishments, on accepting our bodies and our selves. You are never encouraged to do something you’re not comfortable with. There are no perky 20 year olds in front of the class screaming at you to do it harder, faster, more, more, more…. (that would be counterproductive for the stress levels). Instead we want you to find peace in and with your body. Only if you love your body are you going to be motivated to take good care of it.
• Yoga focuses on body awareness. True yoga asks you to be continually present and aware of what is going on in your body (and sometimes your mind, because many of us encounter fear in particular poses). This practice in being mindful helps when in daily life we have a tendency to do things mindlessly (like eating). 

Additional information can be found in this Yoga Journal article.

Strategies that Work

Yoga is not a magic pill, of course. When done 3 or more times a week it can be very effective in lowering stress levels, balancing your hormone levels, increasing body awareness, helping your body to build muscle and to let go of excess fat. Most people automatically notice their cravings for junk food subside, but will still need to work on their behavior around food; in particular the size, frequency and timing of their meals.

Small nutritious meals every few hours will convince your body that it is safe to let go of the emergency stores of fat and, combined with moderate exercise, is an effective road to permanent weight loss. But if you're like most people who have been struggling with their weight you have such strong emotional ties to food that following such a simple plan is almost impossible even if you're not dieting or going hungry. You may also be setting yourself up for failure by constantly running a negative commentary in your mind, that will not allow you to believe you can lose weight or keep it off. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, you always sabotage yourself, despite your good intentions. True weight loss (the kind that never comes back) can only be achieved by facing (and eradicating) your emotional ties to food and the negative back-talk.

How Marleens Clients Lose Weight

When you decide to work with me on weight loss we are going to address all of the issues mentioned above. It is important to know that I will never forbid you to eat foods that you love. I do not believe that that is a strategy that will work in the long run. We will analyze when, why and how much you eat and focus on gearing your eating patterns towards optimizing fat loss. We'll work on planning ahead and eliminating mindless eating. If appropriate we'll consider doing a detox fast. We'll gradually start adding cardio exercise to your lifestyle, staring with only 15 minutes once a week if necessary. We'll address your stress and body awareness, and your aches and pains with yoga, building your strength, inside and out, and (re)discovering your joy of movement. Using visualization and other mind-body techniques we will improve your body image, your motivation and turn your self-sabotaging thought patterns into self-supporting ones. With this multi dimensional approach your chance of success improves dramatically!

Our sessions together will be part talking, part yoga and part mind-body exercises. Initially we will meet once a week, or more often if necessary. Depending on the issues that surface and on your ability to develop an independent personal practice, we'll be able to meet less often once you get on a roll.

My approach to weight loss does not lead to immediate, dramatic results like those promised by the diet industry. This type of weight loss is slow, because you're not losing water and you're building muscle instead of losing it, it is just the fat that is coming off. But what is important is that what comes off stays off and you'll feel strong and fit in the body you were meant to have!

We will work together in the privacy of your own home or office. I find that people are most comfortable there and getting used to doing yoga in their own space makes it easier for them to incorporate the the things we work on into their daily life. I will see clients in Benicia, Vallejo, American Canyon, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Concord and Walnut Creek.

If you are ready to give up on the futile diets and start losing weight the yoga way, call me. We'll go over your history, your goals and your dreams and you'll be able to book your first session with me: 707-747-5103

If you’re curious about my personal weight loss experience with yoga, check my bio.