Yoga makes big news this week.

A study came out this week that said women who wanted to lose weight should ditch their diets and learn to relax instead. What???!!!

Really! A two year study at the University of Otago in New Zealand divided 225 overweight women into three groYoga has many health benefits for us all.ups, according to the paper in the journal, Preventive Medicine.

* The first group took part in yoga, meditation, and positive visualization.
* The second group focused on physical exercise and nutrition.
* The third group received nutrition information in the mail.

Dr. Caroline Horwath, who was the study co-author, said all three groups managed not to increase their weight during this study. However, the most striking results were for the first group. They had an average weight loss of five and a half pounds. She added that at the end of the two year study, these women were the only group to maintain the psychological and medical symptom improvements. "By learning and practicing relaxation techniques as part of a wider lifestyle change program, women have effective tools to manage stress and emotions without resorting to unhealthy eating.", she believes.

Not surprisingly, the researchers also found that the volunteers with a "weight focused mindset" were more likely to lose interest in the study and drop out.


Before we all go out and replace our cardio, resistance training and clean eating with a sticky mat and yoga class, I want to point a few things out. First, the successful group lost five and a half pounds over 2 years. If they needed to lose 30 lbs. or so, five and a half pounds is a drop in the bucket especially over 2 years! The third group received nutrition information in the mail. That's it. We all know where that's going to go. The second group focused on exercise and nutrition. That is not very specific, so I really don't know what that really entails. Hmm.. Maybe we need to rethink this.

Let me tell you what I know. For me and for many, many clients and people I know, clean eating lifestyle changes and regular, consistent exercise has been the way to huge body composition changes and health improvements. It works!! I can think of some people who, for whatever reason or lot in life, just cannot bring themselves to make these changes. For these people, I think this study can be a real answer toward making healthy, positive changes in their lifestyle. That can be a positive and successful route after many unsuccessful attempts with diet and exercise. I know just yoga and meditating is not going to keep me, at 46 years old, at 15% body fat and a size 2 especially after having 5 children. However, there are so many people out there that need something, anything to turn the tables of ballooning weight and increasing health problems. Their goals are not the size 2 or ripped abs. They just want their health back. They are searching for quality of life. For this person, the study is a big revelation and is worth pursuing.