The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Weight Loss and Hot Yoga › How to Loose Belly Fat
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Weight Loss and Hot Yoga › How to Loose Belly Fat
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Sorry to be clogging up the threads, but my instructors never stick around to field questions.
In terms of fat-loss, I seem to be loosing everywhere EXCEPT in my belly area.
I take hydro-cortisol for low adrenals, which may be partially to blame. What else can I do aside from core-strengthening during class to get rid of this belly fat?
Kristin
I was chatting with a gal at my studio about this.
She looks like she’s made good progress in the belly fat loss.
She indicated she stopped eating “white” food: no milk, no cheese, no sugar, no wheat, etc.She eats eggs, along with the yolk as she did not cut out fat.
Chicken, meat, fruits, vegetables, oatmeal (steel cut only)I know this will work as I did it successfully a fews years ago, so right now I am slowly adapting to this program over the next few weeks. (I am off skim milk but am winding down on the cheese!) etc etc.
Hi Kristin
I know we can always count on Edge for some good advice (thanks ;))
Firstly, “clogging”? Hardly. Very good question and probably one that will become very popular with our community. Sometimes the questions that everyone wants to know the answers to are dismissed as being too trivial or silly.
Yes corticosteroids can cause that kind of issue. I like the idea of reducing the amount of processed foods. Don’t go all obsessive though. You will work out what feels right. My body particularly responds well to food combining principles. Google it or come back here for more details.
Robert (my husband and webmaster extraordinaire) says that recently he decided to focus on sucking in his tummy as the major focus for a 2 week run of classes. Putting this conscious attention on it made a big difference for him.
I don’t know whether you are an omnivore or would miss meat (my family is vegetarian), but I also have found that becoming vegan (even for a limited time: cutting out animal products like milk and cheese) is good for me.
Go to Regaining your figure for some other great tips from many readers.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Kristin,
I know this response is a bit late as you posted a few months ago, but I just recently joined. I have discovered a great way to get rid of belly fat. Apparently the idea that eating Monounsatured Fatty Acids (MUFAs) as a way to burn belly fat was published in Prevention magazine earlier this year. I have not read the article but heard about this approach from a friend. I have been eating one serving of MUFAs with each meal for the last two months and have seen a huge improvement in my belly.There are several websites with recommendations about this, but–basically–MUFAs are: Olive Oil, Olives, Nuts, Avocados, and Chocolate. What a delicious way to lose the spare tire!
Good Luck!
CindyI’ve tried the sucking in the tummy, while in a Bikram class but in the end I always forget to breathe and I think that is the ultimate challenge for me. Either I practice my breathe doing the poses by inhaling through the nose, or I suck the gut in. Well, either way I must be doing something right, because after doing Bikram for 2 wks I’m seeing more definition in the abs, so I’m thinking my “six pack” might be near…:)
This is kind of off topic however, I also went shopping the other day and saw the most adorable yoga shorts, they were teeny but adorable and thought to myself that I should just buy them, leave them in the closet and try them on again in 2 months time, so as to motivate myself.
Wow- what awesome feedback!
I was actually having the same trouble in my practice where if I sucked in the belly my breathing goes out the window. One of the teachers at my studio suggested trying “80-20” breathing, where you take in a full breath and the start of the posture, tighten the abs, and then release/take in smaller breaths throughout the posture. It’s not to be used for all the postures (i.e. the balancing ones) but it’s helped my tummy immensely!!!
Kristin
Hi Kristin
Abdomeno-diaphragmatic breathing is not the only way to breathe into your lungs and get great lung expansion and breath. You can still ‘suck in your stomach’ and focus on expanding the ribcage on the inhale and let the bottom ribs lengthen back down and relax on the exhale.
Many hot yogis think Abdo-diaphr breath is the only way to go. But think about it there are times when your abdomen is being stretched or held in, in poses where it is simply impossible to relax and let your belly ‘move outward’. The trick is to focus on moving the flow of breath out of the top of chest where it can cause sensations of panic, anxiety, being shallow and light, to expand the ribcage outward and right into the lowest ribs. The diaphragm will undoubtedly still be used but the mechanism is different.
It may take you some practice. But it is definitely worth it. Why use only such a small percentage of your lung capacity. Modify your breathing and energize your practice.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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