Yoga will cause you to eat less.
You have gone to the gym for years taken all kinds of aerobic classes and that has never caused you to change your eating habits. So how can yoga change your eating habits?
What is so different about yoga?
Increased awareness of your body
Yoga is different from other forms of exercise because it increases your awareness of your body and its responses. Once you have a established a regular and frequent yoga practice you will discover that you are becoming more in tune with your body. You begin to recognize the signals that your body has been sending you all along. Some of these signals will affect how you eat.
These signals are:
- I am full
- I feel heavy
- I feel good
Let us have a look at these signals.
1. I am full
This signal has always been there. As you become more in tune with your body you become more aware of the signals and you have an opportunity to either pay attention to the signal or ignore it as usual.
Start eating your normal supper and pay attention to your body’s reactions to the meal. At some point you are going to become aware that your body is telling you that it is time to stop because you are full.
Ignore the signal and you will feel uncomfortable and over full for an extended period of time after you have finished the meal.
Pay attention to the signal and stop eating when you feel full even if you have food left. You can have left overs later on.
Over time you will start to reduce the size of the portion that you put on your plate. This will happen naturally. You will not be forcing yourself. You are not eating as much anyway so why not put less food on your plate.
Stop eating when you feel full is one signal and the appropriate response. There is another signal to consider and it is know as I feel heavy.
2. I feel heavy
Eat a 14 oz steak with a large baked potato and sour cream. Your body although it enjoyed the flavours while you were eating, will probably feel quite heavy and sluggish afterwards. It is going to take time to digest this meal and while that is going on you will be feeling sluggish and heavy.
Overtime you body will train you to avoid the foods that produce this heavy feeling. A good reaction is to either avoid these foods all together or eat them in a reduced portion size.
The last signal is exactly the opposite of the heavy signal. It is finally a positive signal.
3. I feel good
Now think of a meal that you felt light and energized after you ate it.
This is a very nice feeling and your body will encourage you to eat more of these foods and less of the foods that make you feel heavy.
Summary
A yoga practice heightens your awareness of your body and its reactions to the foods that you eat. Depending on what you eat you will feel:
- full and stop eating
- heavy and want to eat less of a particular kind of food
- good and energized.
Over time you eating habits will change and what you eat will change because you would rather feel good after you eat.
Next Steps
The next time you eat a meal observe the reaction of your body and decide if you want to eat more or less of whatever it is that you are eating.
