The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Weight Loss and Hot Yoga › No weight loss and even more sore and less motivated after 60 day Bikram challenge
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Weight Loss and Hot Yoga › No weight loss and even more sore and less motivated after 60 day Bikram challenge
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My best friend is a male, 48 yrs, 5’10”, 210lbs (about 30lbs to lose).
He was doing yoga off and on for the past year. Today is his 60th day in a row doing bikram yoga.
His diet is not perfect… but it hasn’t changed since starting his 60 day challenge. He had been maintaining his weight (within 5lbs) prior to starting this challenge. He has gained 3 lbs after 60 days. WHY??
He drinks about 100oz of water a day. Takes vitamins daily and electrolyte supplements.
He walks anywhere between 1-3 miles a day at least 5 days a week – plus the 90 min of Bikram 7 days a week.
He is so frustrated. He has asked people/instructors at his studio and no one seems to have any idea why he’s not losing weight?
He is also MORE sore, tighter, has MORE joint pain, has worse sleeping habits, is less motivated than when he started.
We know many people who have done the challenge and I know his results are NOT typical.
Please help. He really wants to go to bikram school this fall, but he’s so frustrated now, I’m afraid it’s going to change his mind (he’s in pain all the time).
Thank you!!!!
Hi Becky
You are such a good friend! :cheese: Let me see if we can get the ball rolling.
You have given me some clues straight away in your post.
>> 1. Your friend is doing Bikram yoga every day and has done so for the past 2 months. He hasn’t had a break.
>> 2. Without a break your friend’s body is tired and lacking ANY chance of recovery. He really needs to take a few days off and do no yoga.
>> 3. You mention he has pain, is sore, achy has stiff joints. This is OH SO TYPICAL for 2 reasons.a) the first reason for the pain? He needs to LISTEN to his body and rest. Yoga is really about being present with what’s going on. Pushing past whatever barrier he’s up against is really counter-productive. Every BODY needs time to regenerate tissues and take time to rest. Yes, some people do practise for days and months at a time. But the forced schedule does not allow for your friend’s very common scenario.
b) the second reason? It is highly likely, given what you describe that (despite how wonderful an environment it is to practise) your friend may not be using the best yoga techniques to support the opening up, the pain-free, wonderfully challenging yoga poses he is doing. To work hard and to be challenged is the goal. The goal is NEVER, ever to struggle. Your friend is struggling.
So Becky, the scenario is very typical – unfortunately. There are actually a lot of threads on the forum that talk about people unable to lose weight. It could be a nutritional change. It could be salt intake (sea salt of course) and it could be water habits.
But it also [strong]has something to do with the way he’s doing his poses. I can guarantee that.[/strong]
Would you be willing to ask your friend to come to the forum? I have too many questions that would make this process unwieldy! You being the 3rd wheel and all. 😉
In the meantime, if your friend is continuing to go to yoga, he really MUST start ONLY going as far into any pose as he can with EXCELLENT alignment.
There are resources I can point him to to make his practice satisfying and fun and pain-free again. But I really think I need to talk with him (write :lol:) directly.
Thanks for the good background
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Becky,
One idea that came to mind is something I experienced when I was first getting really into Bikram and started going 5 days per week. I was surprised that I didn’t lose any weight after several weeks (although I was definitely stronger and felt healthy). I didn’t think I had changed my eating habits…but then I took a closer look.
I realized that I was eating a few more (healthy) snacks throughout the day because the yoga was making me HUNGRY! Adding those calories up accounted for about an additional 300-500 cal per day, which is about equivalent to what I would have been burning in class averaged over the week. I tried taking smaller portions at meals and sticking with the healthy food and was finally able to lose some weight (and importantly, keep it off).
Incidentally, I noticed that I lost alot more size than weight, and was more toned. So I felt that the numbers on the scale didn’t really reflect my accomplishment. After awhile I just stopped weighing myself and focused on the fit of my jeans instead 🙂
Anyway, I am not sure if any of this applies to your friend, but it is something he could think about. Hope it helps!
@msaness I hope your friend is doing a little better. I’m sorry his challenge has resulted in pain and injury. Gabrielle really does have quite a few forum entries regarding these so-called challenges. I used to feel bad that I’ve never attempted one, but after reading around the Forum here I don’t want to join that bandwagon anymore and instead feel happy with practicing only when I feel good and want to.
@bunni That’s what Gabrielle says in her weight loss e-mails: not to look at the numbers on the scale and instead look at how your shape is changing. I liked your answer! Hot yoga really does tend to make a person eat more. Even healthy snacks add back calories lost while working out but the fact that they’re healthy contributes to our improved shape.
@gabrielle As always, I enjoy “listening in” on your answers to all the questions here. What a caring, giving person you are!
This sounds exactly like me last year. 35 pounds overweight, started Bikram, and dropped 5 pounds in 2 weeks, I was so excited. 2 months later, I told the family I am going to do the 30 day challenge and drop the remaining 30. Nope it didn’t work that way. I ended up eating more, dealing with the pressures and anxiety of making it to class, I was more emotionally drained. I relaxed toward the last 3 to 4 days, and got more sleep making the last week the best week. I only lost 3-4 pounds that month.
So after the challenge I cut back to 3-4 times a week. Added more walking twice a day. I stopped eating after 7:00pm and walked in the morning for 30-40 minutes on an empty stomach. Then added another hour of sleep to my regular sleep time.
Not saying you are not doing all of this, but saying this to say, I used Bikram as a part of the equation, and then things started to work for me. (since it made me drink more fluids and eat better).Now the scale has finally started moving. I have lost 25 pounds, with just these small changes. I try to stay away from the stuff with time lines (30 day weightloss tape, 7 day px, or what ever) because the question is what to do after day 31, if you didn’t make life changes. I have a friend that has all of that stuff, and she loses the weight, but the day after, the weight starts coming back and she panics.
Well, in short, make small changes, that you can keep for a long time (with bikram as the base, driving other things) and keep it in balance with family and life. the weight will give in and start to get off of you.
Good luck.
Beautifully put, Willie
Thank you!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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