Comments on: Disabled vet transforms himself though yoga

By: agthorn1981

agthorn1981 — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:05:00 +0000

a) Weight loss is never 100% fat. Water, connective tissue and muscle are also lost to a varying degree. b) 2000 calories is bunk for 99% of people. This guy likely had a BMR of about 2300 calories, and a maintenance caloric need of nearly 3000 at his starting weight.

By: Julie Cotton

Julie Cotton — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:50:00 +0000

Depends what kind of yoga you do, how much you do, and how you chose to practice. I am a former gymnast, triathlete and long distance runner, now retired from those sports. I do very active vinyasa yoga now, and I lost some extra lbs after I quit running. I didn’t start with a big weight issue, but after two foot surgeries and constant hip problems, yoga was almost a miracle for my joints, too (and yes, I had good form, coaching and gear, that wasn’t the issue).

If you are HOLDING up your body weight up with your core muscles, like this man in headstand, and many of the other poses that take core, leg and arm strength, you are building a lot of strength and endurance. Transitions, not the poses themselves also take balance and strength, and are often more challenging than the pose itself. I haven’t seen a gym in years and still have people who approach me and ask me “what I do for my arms”. Try practicing for 90 minutes 3 times a week, and then we can compare notes. Another female athlete with a (very nice, accurate) heart rate monitor in class has burned 500+ calories a class – though she is a tall woman.

The beauty of yoga is that it is always accessible, and asks you to test your limits, but not to try to reach some ideal. This man shows how that progress can work, though I might not have encouraged him to fall in headstand too often… rough on the neck. Anyhow, yoga is a practice, not a perfect, and it is spiritual in that it asks you to work on yourself first, without comparison to others. Sure, many yogis have other related habits that stem from their practice, but it’s accessible to anyone who wants more inner strength, peace, and balance – inside and out.

- M.S. in biological sciences, yoga teacher in training.

By: Janet Kightlinger Bowser

Janet Kightlinger Bowser — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:15:00 +0000

Any movement beats sitting on the couch or sleeping all day. Yoga helps remove the pain associated with movement, making it more enjoyable to get out and enjoy life.

By: Janet Kightlinger Bowser

Janet Kightlinger Bowser — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:11:00 +0000

It’s unfortunate. I am Christian, but love yoga.

By: Joshua Bardwell

Joshua Bardwell — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:39:00 +0000

Careful with your pronouns! We have no idea what Soni Pitts’s heart does during yoga.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:14:00 +0000

Charity Kidd, he’s a lost cause. If you dare even just try to give just an ounce of constructive criticism to this person, you’d get your ass handed to you. He’s a sad case.

By: Charity Kidd

Charity Kidd — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:18:00 +0000

Its a shame that you would down someone who is evidently doing worse than yourself. Regardless whether he is doing it to himself or not, we should help lift others around us.

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:38:00 +0000

That is a Western reinterpretation of classical Indian texts. Yoga is about the development of the senses – not the same thing as mind/body awareness, really.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:23:00 +0000

And yet, it’s been studied with actual monitoring equipment and, no, your heart rate doesn’t consistently rise to aerobic level.

By: AviSolomon

AviSolomon — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:12:00 +0000

Trataka!

By: Soni Pitts

Soni Pitts — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:56:00 +0000

Anyone who thinks yoga doesn’t get your heart rate up has never done a fast-paced vinyasa class. More than a few times I’ve had to stop and hold down-dog just to catch my breath. And no, I’m not that out of shape.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 05 May 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Signed, ex-scientist.

Well, if you’re basing your conclusions on your own sole anecdote, I can understand the signature.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:51:00 +0000

I have students that can do things like that. They’ve all been professional dancers or gymnasts who started practicing as children. Good for her that she can do that, but yoga’s not a competitive sport. It’s about mind and body awareness.

By: Michael Helm

Michael Helm — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:23:00 +0000

I am another one data point of disagreement.
I did all that aerobics stuff – got fatter.
Did yoga – lost 70#. Not as dramatic as Arthur’s story, but I can relate. I say there’s something wrong with the science, if “science” is saying you can’t lose weight via yoga.

Signed, ex-scientist.

By: Tom Wood

Tom Wood — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:31:00 +0000

Agree. I just worked off 55 pounds in 15 months, so about 1 pound a week, and it took a LOT of activity and an aggressively controlled diet plan. 1200-1500 calories a day is the recommended minimum intake to stay healthy, and even that is tough. I inline skate 15 miles a day in hilly terrain plus control calories, and a pound, pound and a half, a week is about tops for a loss rate. Fixing a water retention problem might explain some, but is that attributable to the yoga?

By: Lenore Glover

Lenore Glover — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:17:00 +0000

HOLY SHIT. He teaches Yoga For Regular Folks at my gym. Art is freakin’ awesome!

By: Dawn Meinhardt Herman

Dawn Meinhardt Herman — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:43:00 +0000

man i want to do that

By: Dawn Meinhardt Herman

Dawn Meinhardt Herman — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:22:00 +0000

no a vet is a person that fought for our country they are called veterans ;]

By: starfish and coffee

starfish and coffee — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:33:00 +0000

wow.
so how does one get to what you see in the vid? i.e. how many hours a week (day?), how many years? despite hardly any visible muscle she must be strong as hell.

wish I hadn’t read the youtube comment thread though… depressed by how the merest flash of female skin gets the online misogynists going…

By: Snig

Snig — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:42:00 +0000

Or he could have been eating 4,000 calories a day, then went down to 2500 calories a day. Also may have been having congestive heart failure (with significant fluid retention), or poorly controlled diabetes. If those resolved, that could have contributed to his dramatic weight loss.

By: Snig

Snig — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:31:00 +0000

Had a tai chi teacher who had a badly fractured knee, his ortho told him if he was lucky, he’d walk with one cane, but most likely need two for the rest of his life. Rehabbed himself with tai chi, never needed a cane, could do jumping kicks, low squats and hold one legged postures longer than students half his age.

By: Snig

Snig — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:19:00 +0000

Talked once with a former large animal vet about why she’s no longer a large animal vet. The large animals don’t always know that the vet means them well.

By: BeximusPrime

BeximusPrime — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:59:00 +0000

I wouldn’t be too fussed about getting a dedicated yoga teacher. There are so many styles and variations that it’s probably better to try a variety of classes so you can find the style that suits you.

This is what I’m working towards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loszrEZvS_k Getting weird looks at the gym, but not a single fuck was given (:

By: samhandwich

samhandwich — Sat, 05 May 2012 05:56:00 +0000

Yeah, something doesn’t add up here. I believe this guy made an amazing effort and achieved amazing results…but he lost an average of 3.5 lbs per week for 10 months? From yoga? And why exactly would yoga instructors turn him away? It’s a really inspirational story, but I’d rather be a bit less inspired and get the omitted details.

By: Andrew Hooplah

Andrew Hooplah — Sat, 05 May 2012 05:46:00 +0000

With all due respect, this is simply untrue. While beginner yoga can be very slow and methodical, there are certainly faster and more intense varieties (e.g., asthanga, bikram or hot yoga) that can be quite aerobic and feature faster transitions from pose to pose with fewer and shorter rests overall. If you push yourself, you can definitely get your heart rate going.

You can also increase your body’s daily caloric requirements (and thus lose weight) by increasing muscle mass, which yoga and other relatively low cardiovascular sports, like climbing, definitely help you to do.

Also, as a point of interest: Cf.: http://www.weighthacker.com/2012/04/26/how-to-use-non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis-to-almost-effortlessly-lose-weight/

By: Tom Wood

Tom Wood — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:46:00 +0000

140 pounds lost at 3500 calories per pound (of fat) is 490,000 calories that were either burned off or not consumed in 10 months, or say, 310 days. That’s 1,580 calories average per day that were burned off during that time. The average daily requirement to maintain body function at rest is 2,000 calories which means he either consumed only 420 calories per day, or did enough exercise to achieve the same net result. This isn’t plausible.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:34:00 +0000

I’m not saying that it isn’t good exercise, but it doesn’t take weight off like getting on the elliptical or build muscle mass like resistance training. It’s a holistic package of better breathing, relaxation, muscle tone, flexibility. If you only do yoga and you don’t make any other changes to diet and exercise, you won’t see much in the way of visible change. I have yoga students who have been practicing for years, have a strong yoga practice and still weigh 250-300 pounds of not mostly muscle.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:00:00 +0000

The video is unalloyed goodness, but the website in the youtube link comments (diamond dallas page) is, uh, weird.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:53:00 +0000

Steppin’ into Eden… Yea, brother…

By: Petzl

Petzl — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Learning yoga, leaving JW… it’s a win/win!