Thursday, May 29, 2008

Low Carb? Have A Balanced Diet

The body’s main source of energy is Carbohydrates. When you do any type of physical or mental activity, your body is using carbohydrates. Carbohydrate is synonymous to fuel. When you take out the carbohydrates from your diet, you become a sluggish, tired, lethargic soul. However, if you don’t use that energy, it'll be stored as fat. A high protein low-carb diet is extremely dangerous over a period of time. Our body is designed to eat fruits, grains, vegetables and not just flesh. The body starts to break down after a while on too much protein. The weight you initially lose in a low carb-diet is water. The body needs carbs to burn and to make energy.

If you don’t consume the adequate amount of carbs, and you are active, you are doing a bad thing to your body. If your body is active and it does not have enough carbs to fuel itself, the body will be on a starvation mode. Thus, by consuming fewer carbs, your body will start to burn its fat stores. this may sound good, keep in mind that your brain needs carbs and fat as well. Carbs should never be eliminated from your diet for any period of time. Your brain will slow down with a low carb diet. Your body needs carbs for energy in order to access your fat.

Simple carbohydrates versus complex carbohydrates
Simple carbs are found in fruits and vegetables. Since the simple carbs are small, they are easier for your body to break apart and use, so they are utilized as your first source of energy.

The complex carbs, such as pasta, take more time to break down and the energy release is slower than simple carbs, so your body utilizes this energy source next. Fat takes much longer to break down, so it is utilized as the next source of energy.

Note that if your body is running low on carbs, or you are doing too much activity without enough carbs, then your body can't access the fat fast enough as a result, it will utilize protein as energy. Protein is stored in muscle tissue. This will cause you to lose muscle mass if you do not eat enough fats and carbs.

It is better to eat a majority of your simple carbs in the morning such as fruit to rev up your body for energy. Then eat the majority of the complex carbs morning to afternoon. However, you lessen the carbs in the evening to bed time. When you go to sleep, your metabolism slows down. Any carbs that were not already burned will still be there. Protein and foods such as yogurt and cottage cheese are excellent before bed, because by the time your body processes these foods you will be awake again.

The more active you are, the more carbs you need. A nutritionist should be consulted if you want to know the exact amount of carbs your body needs. 'Low carb' is a catch phrase, and all it means is that you cut out most of the foods containing carbohydrate from your diet. And that is obviously bad. The most important thing in any regime is to consume sensible portions of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates; yes, you need carbs! Your source of energy comes from carbohydrates. If you are oftlinereally concerned, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist. A food log is your best bet for this.
To lose body fat, you should up the cardio exercise, and pay close attention to your diet. Don't take carbohydrates out of your diet. Eat six small meals a day to keep the metabolism running high. Include some strength training in your routine. More muscles burn more fats. The only way to loose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn, as you keep a calorie deficit. Roughly 3500 calories are equal to one pound of body weight, so keeping a deficit of 500 calories a day, depending on your body type should turn into one pound a week.
You don't want to have a deficit of anything more than 800-1000 per day without seeing a doctor. You need carbohydrates for your body to breakdown glucose to use for energy. The best diet is a balanced one; don't take out any single food group, and don't overdose on a single food group. Eat five to six smaller meals throughout the day; this helps keep your metabolism running. Exercise at least 30 minutes to 1hr at least five days a week while making sure you are at your aerobic rate. Keep in mind a "healthy" weight loss is losing about one to two pounds per week.
The body needs a well-balanced diet. This means that it needs everything, including protein, carbs, and even fat. There is no such thing as a "bad carb." Extracting an entire food group from your diet can actually do your body more harm that good. If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a well-balanced diet, smaller meals, and keep up with the aerobics as well as some resistance training.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Can't Lose The Stomach Fat!


Unfortunately the reason that you are gaining weight in your stomach area may be due to genetics. It happens to all of us but in different ways. The only way to truly lose the fat is to work it off. Weight training is an excellent way to not only speed up your metabolism which in turn burns fat, but target the areas that aren't naturally worked on as well. Regardless of doing countless abs exercises the reason the six-pack abs remains invisible is due to excess layer of fat covering the tummy. The key is: diet and exercise.

You need to eat five to six small meals a day. Eat some protein with each meal. Cut out all refined sugar; and add more fiber as well. The fiber and protein will fill you up, helping you to cut down on your unhealthy eating. By eating more than three small meals spread out through the day, you will kick your metabolism in high gear.


Stomach crunches alone will not get rid of fat. You must combine cardio with sit-ups along with a diet complete with fruits, veggies, lean meats, and complex carbohydrates to strengthen your core. No sugar, donuts, cookies, sodas should be included in your regime. Cardio burns off the fat around the middle, as you add strength training to further tighten that area. The more muscle you have from strength training, the more efficiently your body will burn fat.


When we want to get rid of body fat, there is no way to specifically burn fat from one part of the body. Doing sit-ups alone won't burn the fat that is covering your abdomen. The only thing you can do is lose weight and eventually the problem area will improve as well. The way to burn fat is through a calorie restricted diet in conjunction with an exercise routine that will burn calories and turn your body into a furnace. Activities that burn calories include running, biking, swimming and other high intense activities.

You'll need to reduce your calorie intake and up your cardio as well. It will come off eventually. To get a flatter stomach remove all of the refined starchy foods from your diet. The thing about belly fat or any fat is that it is a deposit of fat in an area and there is no way to spot reduce in any specific areas. It can be very and very frustrating. The best thing to do is to eat a moderate diet. Making sure you get exercise at least five times a week, including resistance training, is of extreme importance in order to build up muscle. Crunches build up muscle. Running six to eight miles a week not only keeps you in good cardiovascular health but it's a good way to help melt the fat while you are on your way to a flat toned abs

The stomach is the hardest place to get rid of fat and the best way to tone your stomach and make that fat go away is through aerobics and resistance training.

1) The elliptical machine is helpful and it will save your joints in the long run, but get outside and run Running, crunches, squats, sit-ups, side bends, are all good exercises.

2) Consider limiting your intake of simple sugars (soda, candy, deserts, etc.) If that doesn't help much, replace more of your everyday carbohydrates with low sugar / high fiber foods For example: whole grain bread instead refine-white flour bread or Brown & Wild rice instead of white rice).

3) Crunches, leg lifts, plank positions, will strengthen your core muscles.

If you want that six-pack, the most important thing to do is adjust your diet while you incorporate aerobic and resistance training. You have to be knowledgeable about the foods you eat. You have to eat smart. Get rid of all sodas and refine sugar. They are empty calories and, watch out for fruit juices as well. Although they are much healthier than sodas, they can be loaded with sugar. Don't drink your calories; calories should be chewed.

Reduce or eliminate your intake of simple carbohydrates such as white breads, white rice and, white flour. Substitute these for vegetables and foods that are high in fiber. Eat a low fat diet. Eat lean meats and lean protein and exercise. Aerobic exercise is great for calorie burning. Crunches develop muscles, cardio burns fat. If you have a lot of fat around your stomach, any type of cardio will help to burn those fat and the crunches will develop the muscles. Muscles are important as they help the body burn fat more efficiently.

You can work out as much as you like but if you eat the wrong foods you will not see the results you are seeking. So be very sure of the amounts of calories you are having on a daily basis, If you consume less than you are using, your body metabolizes fat and you lose the weight.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Increase Your Flexibilty


Yoga can be a good way to increase your flexibility. If you want to increase flexibility, it will take time and patience. When you stretch, don’t bounce, get in your stretch and hold it for 10 to 15 seconds. Stretch when you wake up, bend down as far as possible touch your toes. If you feel tightness in your hamstrings, it's fine just don't over do it. Daily, work your way as far down as you can. Touch your toes with straight legs daily until you can get your palms flat on the floor, keep doing it otherwise the muscles will tighten again. A good stretch will hurt a little while it is happening! You will definitely increase your flexibility. It may take a while.

If you want to increase flexibility, it will take time and patience. The first thing to do is to look at yoga poses and adapt them to your routine. Start with stretching 5-10 minutes a day and build up to thirty minutes at least. Some really good stretches for the leg lift involve ballet stretches.

Try these exercises, increasing them over a gradual amount of time- and keep up with it, if you don’t use it, you loose it.

Spread your legs a little less then shoulder width apart, keep your back as straight as possible, arms straight out above your head, then bring them to meet your toes, trying to not bend anything. if you cant reach, no worries. go as far as you can. but always push yourself a little. hold it there for 30 seconds, repeat. gradually up the amount of time you spend holding your toes until it doesn’t hurt at all and you could stand like that all day.

Stand with a slight distance away from a wall. Look straight ahead, so your side is parallel to the wall. stick your leg closest to the wall straight out as much as possible so its resting against the wall, then try to lift it as high as possible, hold it there till you start feeling vibrations, build it up until your foot ends up above your head.

Sit down, legs straight out. Keep your back up straight, arms out, bring them to touch your toes again.

Sit down, with your rear-end firmly on the ground, spread legs as far apart as possible, then touch each toe separately as above.

For splits, stretch your legs before the splits and they will go farther. Hold each split for thirty seconds, and push yourself until you feel a slight strain. Once you have your splits, work on holding it longer until it becomes comfortable as you adjust to a more difficult pose. Once you have mastered the pose, try leaning forward a bit, or bending your back knee and pulling your foot up. This should increase your flexibility, and better your spirals.

Tuck in your pelvis, and keep your hips square.Use your abdominal muscles and find a point of concentration.

If you want to become more flexible simply stretch as a daily exercise and over a period of time you’ll recognize that you can stretch to a further distance. When your more flexible you'll be able to avoid injuries . Being flexible increases you agility as to not being stiff. When you are flexible you can maintain good posture as well which can improve on your presence on the ice. Just stretch a lot and try different exercises to help:

There are several ways to improve your flexibility: The ballet perspective to stretching:

When on releve, press the floor away from you and go all the way up on the ball of your foot. The weight should be on the first three toes. Turn out from your hips. Keep your shoulders down.

-Practice standing on releve-Stand flat (non-releve) with one leg in passe (reverse legs)-Stand in releve with one leg in passe (reverse legs)
-Stand flat (non-releve) with one leg in second (reverse legs)
-Stand in releve with one leg in second (reverse legs)
-Practice bringing one foot up from coupe to passe flat (non-releve) (reverse legs)
-Practice bringing one foot up from coupe to passe in releve (reverse legs)
-Do a plie, forced arch, releve combination, reverse.

There are several types of stretches that you can practice, and it is important to know the types of stretches to perform:

Back:
Lie on the floor with you feet facing forward, flat on the ground, hip level apart, hands flat on the ground by your ears. Push up so your in a bridge position, hold for 10 counts.Repeat with one arm on your stomach (right and left)and with one leg up pointed towards the ceiling (right and left)-Kneel down, hip length apart. Don't sit on your legs, keep your body up. Arms straight up over your head, shoulder length apart. Go back and try and touch your hands as close to the ground as possible.

Legs:
Sit with your legs turned out, toes pointed. Reach right for 10 counts, then center for 10 counts, then left for 10 counts. Then repeat.-Practice the splits daily, right, left, straddle. You can use a mat or a pillow to propped one leg to give you an extra deep stretch.

Flexibility helps better prepared the muscles as you practice you elements on the ice; and helps prevent injuries. That is why it is important to stretch before and after any workout. The goal is to stretch slow and long, not short and fast. Don’t bounce when you stretch. Stretching on a regular will improve flexibility. Increasing your flexibility will help you jump better, and higher.

There are different types of stretches that you can practice, and it is important to know the types of stretches in order to choose the right type of stretch to perform.

Passive – usually performed when an outside force (rubber-like, or another force) applies stretch to a relaxed joint. The stretch must be performed slowly in order to prevent injuries.

Static – can be performed alone and refers to when a muscle is slowly lengthened to maximum, held for 15-30 seconds and repeated three to five times. Slowly and gradually maximize the stretch as the tension in the muscle begins to relax. Recommended type of stretching. According to the literature, permanent lengthening is achieved when static stretching is performed gradually, at lower force and for longer duration while the core body temperature is elevated.

Ballistic – bouncing a stretch. This is more likely to initiate the stretch reflex, which is a nerve response that tells the muscle to contract if it is stretched beyond its limit. This is the point where injuries may occur. You must be careful as to not go beyond your maximum limitations and aggravate the muscle.Warm up before any type of workout.

Dynamic or Functional – the ability to use a range of joint movement for a particular movement within sport or physical activity. These movements are performed either slowly or rapidly. Dynamic or Functional stretching is considered a type of ballistic stretch and caution should be used when performing this type of stretch.

A warm-up is recommended before stretching and then progress to static stretching before attempting any dynamic type of stretching.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Techniques-( contract/relax and contract/relax). For this type of stretching, it is important to know which muscle is being targeted. Put the targeted muscle on tension, then contract the targeted muscle during the stretch while relaxing the opposing muscle. The contraction does not have to be maximum, do what you can. Respect your limitations. Hold the contraction for a few seconds, move to the new point, and hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds and repeat the process. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching develops strength. Consult your coach in order to able to safely accomplish this type of stretching.

Breathing is important when flexing, breathe from your diaphragm, not your chest. Find a point of focus when doing any exercises, it will improve concentration. Practice will improve your flexibility, do at least half an hours every day, and after several repetitions you should already be doing much better- providing you change your routine as to not become stagnant with the same pattern.

If you want to increase flexibility, it will take time and patience. The first thing to do is look at yoga poses and adapt them. Start with stretching 5-10 minutes a day and build up to thirty minutes at least. Some really good stretches for the leg lift involve ballet stretches. Stretch daily, and go deep into your stretches, really work them. Everyday try to get lower and lower. Stretch responsibly. Respect your limitations. While it is okay to experience moderate discomfort when stretching, it should not be unbearable however.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Exercise Alone Won't Make lose Weight!

For successful weight loss, all you need to do are Moderate aerobic workouts that get your heart rate higher than normal. Incorporating jogging, brisk walking, cycling, aerobic machines, not only burn calories, they keep your heart healthy as well. Swimming is also great, especially if you are quite overweight, because you can get the same benefits of running and you are using all of the muscles in your body. As a result, you burn even more calories. These activities simply get your heart rate up and burn off fat. Try to get at least 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three or four days per week. Rest properly; taking one or two days off exercising each week. Getting enough sleep at night is crucial. You don’t burn fat if you are overworked.

The best way to keep a healthy weight is to eat healthy, cut down on the sweets, and do a cleanse once in a while. Remember, you can lose weight by either decreasing your calorie intake or increasing the number of calories you burn. Any health strategy should include both, but if you want to lose weight fast, exercise is essential. Watch your portion sizes. Opening a bag of rice cakes and eating all of them in one sitting isn't going to help you lose weight. When eating, nuts, or dried fruit put a portion in a small bowl and then put the bag away. That way you won't eat in a vacuum. That way of eating usually leads to eat more than you had intended. Even if you only make minimal changes to your diet choices, reducing portion size will inevitably reduce caloric intakes. A great way to watch portion sizes while snacking is to buy one serving 100-calorie packages. They come in many favorite snack food items!

Once you get use to eating a normal breakfast, lunch and a light dinner, your body will adjust. Determine your daily calorie intake. Some people benefit more if they eat five to six smaller meals throughout the day, about two to three hours apart. For example, their first meal of the day might be a cup of low-fat or nonfat yogurt and a banana. Three hours later they might eat a simple deli sandwich with whole-grain bread and fat-free mayonnaise. Do not skip meals. While this may help you lose weight in the beginning, it fails in the long run. Skipping meals may make you feel too hungry later in the day, causing you to overeat at your next meal.

Most people can eat three regular meals and one snack every day. The three meals should be about the same size and should be low in fat. Try to eat one to two cups of fruits and vegetables, two to three ounces of whole grains and one to two ounces of meat Choose lean meats. Chicken and fish are both very low in fat and certain fish such as salmon, sardines, or fresh tuna is an excellent source of protein. Look at the nutritional information for the foods you eat, pay special attention to your intake of saturated fats and empty calories (high-sugar and/or refine foods). You don't need to cut these things out entirely, but if you reduce your intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods you'll lose weight you will feel better and you will live longer.

Write down all the things you eat on a typical day. Carry a food journal with you and write down every snack, every drink, and the contents of every meal. When possible, write down the number of calories in each thing you eat. It is a lot of work; it takes a lot of discipline. Keep in mind that the recommended serving size is often considerably smaller than the serving you actually eat. You don't have to be 100% accurate, but you do want a good estimate of the number of calories you're taking in. Reducing 500 calories per day from the calories you eat to maintain your weight can help you lose a pound of fat per week.

Exercise alone won't make you lose weight if you're still taking in more calories than you burn. However, eating less and exercising more will only decrease your resting metabolic rate, which accounts for roughly 60-80 percent of daily calorie expenditure. Therefore you should exercise more and eat more protein dense, clean foods; making your calories burned not too far off from your calories taken in will raise your metabolism and allow you to burn fat effortlessly. You will lose the weight at a healthy rate.

Drink plenty of water. Adequate water is essential for health, and a great many people simply don't get enough. What's more, if you're chronically dehydrated, your body will retain water in unflattering places, not only will you feel bloated, you will look bloated. Make sure to get plenty of fluids. The more you exercise, the more water you'll need to replenish the water you have lost (or sweat).You need to believe in yourself if you want to change your life style to a healthy one. Otherwise, the temptation to cheat on your regime will make it harder. Avoid temptations: chocolate, ice cream, and cookies, sweets in general.

You need to always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set. Set small goals. Learn to evaluate and analyze your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fail to achieve your target for the week, find out why is it so. Remember weight fluctuates. Find the problem; then fix it. After evaluating the source of your "mini set back," look ahead to next week and try your best to stick to your plan.

Don't rely on what the scales say every day. That will discourage you. The better way to monitor your progress is to observe on how your clothes feel. The scales can be misleading because as you lose weight, typically you are also building muscle mass. This dual change may cause the scale to go higher; and make it look as if you are not losing fat when you actually are.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Don't Go to the Gym; Lose Weight Your Way

You want to lose weigh for the summer and need something fun. According to you, going to the gym is out of the question. However you would like to do some type of activity that does not involve going to the gym, especially now that spring is here.

Jumping rope, roller skating, ice skating, riding a bike, walking can be very effective

To achieve any weight loss, you really need to exercise and eat an overall healthy diet that consists of complex carbohydrates: whole wheat foods that would be great for fiber and needed nutrients, lean protein to help build muscles and repair your body, and good amounts of fat for energy the body needs that your body cannot create on its own.If you do interval cardio work out and some additional resistance training, not only will you lose weigh, but you will also help your body become leaner and tone. As a result, overall, you will look fit and your core will become stronger.It is good to include cardio as part of your routine. Activities such as walking, biking and skating, once they become part of your repertoire, you will burn calories, but eating healthily should be part of your routine as well. Don’t stick to the same cardio, try to change your routine from time to time, not only you will challenge yourself but you will avoid hitting a plateau. Add jogging, hiking, swimming on alternate days. Variety is the spice of life.As you progress, add some abdominal work and don't forget to focus on your obliques (your "love handles").Keep in mind that muscles weigh more than fat, you may be heavier , as you are looking leaner as well. Eventually the more muscles you build, the more fat you can burn. More muscles will help you burn more calories at rest. And then eventually the fat will come off.However, it may take some takes time. Remember, it is possible to be leaner and stronger, but weight more. Don't give up and stay motivated. Remember, that everyone is different and that we all lose weight differently. Just be patient.

As far as diet goes:

- Try to avoid sweets.
- drink water,
-Under any circumstances should you drink sodas diet or otherwise.
- small portions, chew slowly and sip your drink often to help fill you up.
- small healthy snacks during the day keep your metabolism running.
- count your calories; you should consume between 1,500 to1800 per day; depend on your height And your frame; if you're male, you don't need more than 2,000; depend on your height and your frame.
- Try not to cheat. You can't sneak a couple of cookies and think they won't affect you. Look at how many calories are in those cookies before you put them in your mouth. You'll be surprised how much little snacks like

Friday, May 2, 2008

Built Core Strength With Pilates

Pilates uses the mind to control the muscles.The program focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles. Pilates improves your mental and physical well-being, increases flexibility, and strengthens core muscles. People who do pilates regularly feel they have better posture, are less prone to injury, and experience better overall health. If you want to work your body to the core, try Pilates.

There are two forms of Pilates. They are: Mat-based and Equipment-based. Mat-based Pilates is a series of exercises performed on the floor using gravity and your own body weight to provide the resistance. The objective is to condition the deeper, supporting muscles of the body to improve posture, balance and coordination. Equipment-based Pilates – uses specific equipment such as the “Reformer,” which looks like a rowing machine that you push and pull along the floor. These classes can be easier for beginners because the machines support you when you do the movements.

There is a lot more to Pilates than just exercise. You have to have correct breathing, which is very important. Pilates helps develop your core strength, little bit complicated. You then have to learn to isolate certain muscle groups, for instance pelvic floor and the abdominal muscle. It took me a couple of months and two private sessions a week to learn how to do most of it correctly. Once you can stabilize the hips, back and abdomen only then can you move into the 'exercises'. However once you learn the correct techniques, it always comes back to you. It remains with you. It is like skating, or riding a bike. If you do not learn all this then the actual exercises will be all for nothing. You want quality, not quantity. And it can be dangerous as well, and you can do yourself more harm than good.

I started Pilates and yoga for balance, flexibility, and core strength to help me with figure skating. I do have to say the overall result is great; including health-wise. You don’t need to spend “mega” bucks on equipments for Pilates; I do recommend the mat and the ball. The ball gets deflated for easy storage. There is plenty of information available for anyone interested, but I do advise investing in an introductory class, for proper guidance and proper form. Those are of extreme importance. It is a worthwhile investment. Once the theory is grasped, the rest is really up to you. Not much equipment is required. You actually have to use your own body weight to build muscle mass.

Pilates is designed to combine your breathing rhythm with your body movements. It relies on a variety of special body movements which strengthen, and tone the various muscle groups of the body. It is a series of controlled movements engaging your body and mind, promoting physical harmony and balance for people of all ages and physical conditions. Don’t expect to see immediate results. It will take a few weeks before you’ll see changes in your body. Combine your sessions with some heart-pumping activities and Pilates can help you achieve total body fitness – endurance, flexibility, strength, and balance. Proper breathing is important as well as posture. It is very important to do Pilates using the proper form, because if you do it wrong, it will be self defeating.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Lose Weight With Yoga


Yoga practice increases the body’s metabolism and a higher metabolism burns more calories. As part of a healthy lifestyle, many people have used yoga for weight loss. Yoga incorporates all the body’s muscles, toning and strengthening and with continued practice, muscles burn more calories than fat. In combination with cardio exercise, it could help someone get closer to his or her weight loss goals. If you plan to make yoga your primary form of exercise, you must do a vigorous, 90-minute yoga class at least three times a week. Yoga can be practiced at any age.

Putting on weight, is mainly due to the result of a change in our lifestyle that is conducive to storing calories in the form of fat tissue. These changes can include moving from an active lifestyle to a more sedentary one, changes in diet, increased consumption of fats, sugars and other foods that containing empty calories. Doing yoga regularly can make you feel better about your body as you become stronger and more flexible, yoga helps tone your muscles, reduce stress, and improve your mental and physical well-being as well. Yoga practice can help you firm and help you tone. Your clothes may fit better and , your thighs and arms may appear leaner.

Excess weight gain has become a phenomenon in today's age, especially when lifestyles have become sedentary, and food has become more liberal with extra calories. To lose weight, it is important to do so, not just by doing diets, or exercise programs, which are just too tedious. A Yoga Routine will stimulate your metabolism, curb appetite cravings, strengthen your body, and increase flexibility. Yoga tones the body in a uniformed manner. It can be practiced at any age to keep the body supple.

According to the literature, yoga should always be done on an empty stomach . The sugar levels in the blood are typically lower allowing you to quickly move from the calories in the muscles to the calories in the fat cells more readily. Performing yoga poses, like any physical activity, burns calories. By practicing yoga, you will become more in touch with what your body needs, and naturally you will want to reduce excess foods and become more aware of better health. Yoga can improve weight loss by establishing a healthy mind-body balance.

Yoga provides balance for body and mind. If you are lethargic or depressed, it will stimulate you. If you are frenetic or distressed, it will calm you. Yoga is gentle, connects the body to the mind, and is the ideal exercise for weight-loss. Yoga addresses our relationship with our body, our mind, and our spiritual selves. It is different from other options because it is NOT a weight loss plan. The advantage of doing different Yoga poses also increase muscle tissue. The overall mass of calorie burning tissues in the body has been shown to increase overall metabolism. Yoga can burn loads of calories, but gentler styles may do even more for your waistline. Yoga can be great to improve fitness and to lose weight. Yoga workouts are excellent exercise. Choose yoga for weight loss and generally built muscles and core strength. Yoga can help both with weight loss and improving the cardiovascular system, but the approach may be surprising in that it is different from conventional diets and exercise training. There is a direct and indirect connection between yoga and weight loss. You can lose weight with yoga but more important than that the ultimate goal is that yoga teaches us body awareness. It gives us the opportunity to get in tune with ourselves, to understand and listen to our body and to respond accordingly.