Hi,

I'm just starting out attempting to lose weight for the millionth time. I want to give myself the best chance this time so advice please.

I've always fancied doing yoga. I find it very difficult to relax so I also think that might help with that problem. I can't afford classes and tbh I live in the sticks so there probably wouldn't be any around here anyway.

So a. does yoga help with weight loss?
b. could I use a dvd or a book to learn from or is classes the only way?
c. If so any recomendations for dvd etc?

And anything else I might need to know.

Thanks!

Any exercise will help. I love yoga myself. You can google free yoga exercises and get all you need. I also use the Biggest Loser Yoga for Weight Loss dvd.

Ooooh, thanks, I'll have a look

Tons of free Yoga workouts on the you tube too! Just watch before you do, you'll know what you can't do, make adjustments. Good Luck.

I love doing yoga at home. I recommend the mat, of course, and some blocks. Sometimes they use a strap but I find for most things a towel will work. At least until you know you want to continue. I just ordered a strap since I've fallen in love!

But it's not a 'torch calories' type deal, at least not for me. I love Rodney Yee's dvds, especially the 5 Day Yoga Workout dvd. I've heard good things about his Yoga for Beginners. Gaiam dvds are all pretty good and Element has a beginner dvd I enjoyed but I can't remember who instructs on it.

I started with just a mat, but I find my hands get sweaty and slick. I tried some sticky yoga gloves but my hands just pushed uncomfortably into the fingers so I've got a yoga towel, which you lay on your mat and it helps absorb the sweat. You might not sweat as much as me though! My feet are usually fine.

That's all the advice I have! I'm still a beginner as well.

If you enjoy it, then do it. Just know that 80% or so of your success comes from your diet. Exercise to get fit, not to lose weight.

Well, I ordered a dvd the other day, I don't have constant internet access except at work so youtube wouldn't be so useful for me. I think I ordered yoga for dummies or something like that - it had good reveiws so fingers crossed it'll be good.

thewalrus0: thanks, I'll bare that in mind, I'm going to try and get along without a mat or anything as I know my boyfriend has one and as I'm moving in with him next month it seems pointless my buying one. I am looking forward to my dvd arriving now though

If you have Comcast OnDemand there are always a lot of free yoga workouts. I like it...makes me feel taller.

I'll just share my experienc with you. I don't do yoga, but I do Pilates five days a week. For the first year, I didn't lose an ounce. In the second year, I've lost 35+ lbs. The workout, while it does make me sweat (a little) and I get really sore muscles, doesn't really burn that many calories above what my body burns during that hour. Maybe 200 calories. I'd really have to exercise a lot, like up to four hours, for exercise to have an impact on my weight loss.

That said, the practice of Pilates helped me discover and create a stronger mind-body awareness in myself. I was able to slowly build muscle and joint strength, stretch out ligaments and improve my range of movement and, most importantly, grow a lot of self-confidence in my ability to move on to more rigorous exercise. I started doing it just one day a week and slowly built to five days a week. If the studio was open every day, I'd be there on the weekends too!

There are DVDs available for Pilates, as well as books. I actually owned some of those for a few years before I started taking classes. I looked at them, thought about starting, but never did. I even took a few group classes at a fitness spa for three weeks. I didn't really like it, or didn't get it at the time. Actually, it was the teacher. I just didn't understand her cues. When I met with the instructor at the studio I go to now, she had me come in once a week for a private lesson until I developed some understanding and could achieve the positions properly. After that, I joined a beginning class and stayed with it for a year. Then I moved up to intermediate level.

I can now do Pilates on my own, with or without a DVD. I still prefer to do it in class. No kids or phone to interrupt me. And with her coaching, I'm always developing my abilities at Pilates. I have only lost weight if I limit how much I eat. But with regards to Pilates, I know that if I lose focus on my diet and regain weight, I can't achieve as much as when I weighed less. Even 10 lbs less.

I order to lose weight due to doing Pilates, I have to really step up my game, get to an advanced level where I can do a more rigorous workout that gets my heart rate up.

Hope that info helps.

Missheidi87: I don't know what that is, maybe we don't have it over here, but I would like to feel taller.

Geoblewis: Thanks for the advice, I would much rather go to a class to be honest, it always helps to have someone tell you what you're doing wrong that you might not be able to see yourself, but currently there is no classes where I am. I am moving at the end of December and I will probably have more choices then but I'll be unemployed with no income so until I find work classes will still be out of the question. But fingers crossed I'll find work and I can explore a few different types of exercise, yoga, pilates, spinning etc and see what I like, but at the moment dvds are the best I can do.