Читать книгу Look 15 Years Younger: The 15-Minute-a-Day Yoga Plan - Barbara Currie - Страница 11

People frequently ask me this question: ‘If yoga doesn’t burn fat, then how on earth am I going to get slim?’

In yoga, we don’t huff and puff with repetitive movements to burn off calories and fat, but instead we work on fine-tuning the entire body, helping it to relaxed, vibrant, positive health.

By working the entire body we stimulate the glands – the Shoulderstand, Fish and Cobra in particular are excellent for stimulating the thyroid gland in the neck, which of course can help energize a sluggish metabolism.

As the body’s health improves you will find that your appetite becomes naturally controlled, as your appetite-regulating system works better. You will start to eat less and change to healthier foods. It is difficult to believe, but yoga actually does change your taste buds. Pupils frequently tell me that junk food that they thought they couldn’t live without now has lost its appeal. As you become healthier, calmer and more relaxed, you will find that you stop ‘tension-eating’ i.e. grabbing high-calorie snacks at all hours of the day and night.

Yoga’s slow stretches give the muscles a beautiful long, lean toned shape, these weigh less than muscles toned by muscle building exercise systems. All this will result in a gradual, natural and healthy return to the best shape possible for your body type for life.

Most people find that gradually over the years their weight normalizes with continued yoga practice, and it does lead people to start considering their diet. They start feeling better and focusing on health, and this leads them into a brand new way of eating. Some pupils, however, have been steeped in bad eating habits for so long that they need a lot of guidance before change can be effected. Because of this I offer the following advice.

1. DON’T EAT STANDING UP

Obey this rule for one week and see the difference! So many people constantly nibble, eating on the go, eating between meals, eating the kids’ leftovers, ‘tasting’ as they cook the dinner, etc. This means that they are never really hungry and are always amazed when their skinny friends say, ‘I’m starving’ and sit and eat a good meal. When you stop picking and nibbling, your appetite will become fìne-tuned and you will enjoy your food so much more. Everything tastes great when you are really hungry. You will also know exactly what you eat and stop kidding yourself that you eat like a bird.

2. NEVER EAT BETWEEN MEALS

Again, a continuation of the rule above, this stops the constant nibbling and snacking. When you sit down and eat three meals a day calmly and slowly with nothing in between you will find it makes a huge difference to your weight and the way you feel. You will feel so much more in control!

3. NEVER MORE THAN HALF-FILL YOUR STOMACH WITH FOOD; LEAVE A QUARTER FOR FLUID AND A QUARTER FOR DIGESTION

This is brilliant advice from yoga’s ancient texts (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.58). Now let’s recap – if you don’t eat standing up and don’t eat between meals, you eat slowly and calmly, and never more than half-fill your stomach with food, you will normally find any excess weight slipping away naturally.