Women Over 40: How Much Workout Leads to Weight Loss?

After menopause losing weight is becoming harder and harder. Especially if a sedentary life style contributes to a lack of exercise and physical activity.

Regular exercise is an crucial element to lose weight permanently- however, do you know how much exercise is actually essential to lose weight?
You might say, the more the better,€ and you are right- theoretically.

After all, the common thinking is: The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose.
But in reality things tend to work out otherwise. And this is because of the compensation mechanism. The meaning of the term "compensation" is: If you predict the weight lost according to the calories burned, and measure the actual weight loss accomplished, you'll often find a gap. It's easy to understand what causes the compensation effect: People start to eat more when they go on an exercise plan. It'€™s often justified by thinking, €œAs long as I am burning off the extra calories, I can allow myself to consume more

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But, most dieters assess the amount of calories burnt during exercising and the amount of calories consumed inaccurately: Calories burnt are overrated and calories eaten underrated. So the attitude of “when I am exercising I can eat more” lresults not in permanent weight loss.
In scientific research, the amount of exercise was measured and related to the compensation mechanism. The results are very fascinating. Postmenopausal, overweight or obese  women went to 3 different exercise programs, consisting of 72, 136 or 194 minutes of exercise weekly. All women had a inactive lifestyle before.

The first two groups (exercising 1 hour and 2 hours per week) did not compensate. They lost as much weight as expected. They did not eat more after starting the exercise program.
However, the women on the intensive exercise program (more than 3 hours weekly) lost only half of the expected weight. It could be the case that they were thinking "I am allowed to eat more, because I work so hard on this program".

What do we learn from this?

It naturally doesn't mean that a light intensity program is best. It means if you are exercising hard, there are chances you might feel compelled to compensate and start eating more. So: If you are doing an physical exercise program, control your food intake as well- or you might not be capable to lose weight permanently after 40.

By the way: All exercise groups had a fundamental reduction in waistline circumference indicating healthy weight loss. Losing belly fat lowers the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Everybody is different- and you will need an exercise plan taking your specific situation into account. A good weight loss program should be adjusted to your particular situation.

Yoga for Weight Loss and Body Balance

I was recently asked by a friend whether yoga is a good way to lose weight, €“my answer was a resounding yes! While you will definitely want to incorporate cardiovascular exercise (such as dancing, jogging, cycling, or aerobics) to rev up your metabolism, a yoga practice can be a welcome addition to a weight loss routine, providing both physical and emotional balancing, strength, and joy.


The physical benefits of yoga are numerous:

•     * Many types of yoga, such as the vinyasa, power, and kundalini styles, are dynamic and flowing, bringing some cardiovascular exercise into the mix.

•     * All types of yoga help to build lean and long muscles, especially in places you might not have thought to work out, building a more balanced body as you lose weight and helping to burn calories, even when at rest

•     * The  flexibility yoga brings to the body is amazing-an added benefit  when engaged in strength training or aerobic exercise that can tighten the muscles, leading to injury.

•     * Many yoga poses-such as twists, back bends, and shoulder stands can balance the endocrine system, especially the thyroid, which can definitely aid in weight loss. Certain kundalini kriyas, or exercises are intended solely for weight loss

•     * A steady yoga practice can also stimulate and balance the digestive and elimination systems, allowing for optimum assimilation of nutrients, elimination of wastes, and reduction of water weight and bloating.

•     * Yoga puts a lot of focus on breathing correctly, which can release many toxins from the body, allowing all of our systems to function optimally.

Mentally and emotionally, yoga is a great match for someone trying to change patterns and habits.  When losing weight it is just as important to pay attention to the emotional body as to the physical. Much obesity and weight gain comes from being out of touch with the body and overwhelmed with emotions and stress, which allows us to make bad choices in what we eat, how much we exercise, the amount of sleep we get, €“how we take care of ourselves in general.

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Devoting yourself to a practice like yoga, which is all about awareness of the body and the breathe lets us get in touch with ourselves, what we want, how we feel, and ultimately why and how we eat. And as with all exercise, yoga can help balance the bodies neurotransmitters-such as serotonin, dopamine, and nor epinephrine low levels of which have been proven to increase hunger and cravings for sugars and simple carbohydrates as well as cause depression.

Yoga can also bring much spiritual joy to your life, letting you feed and take care of yourself in a way that has nothing to do with a dependence on food. It allows us to feel lighter, freer and in touch with the world in a way that is less complicated than most things in this world.
When starting a yoga practice, I recommend taking classes, as a teacher can correct your postures in a way that can'€™t be done while watching videos. Like having a personal trainer when exercising, having a yoga teacher can make your learning curve that much less steep.