Relax to Lose Weight
By Barbara (Bobbie) Purvis
I know Tai Chi is not as popular as many of the high intensity workouts you’ll see promoted on TV like P90X or Insanity, but it really DOES produce RESULTS, but in a DIFFERENT way. Tai Chi works from the INSIDE out!!! You won’t see SUDDEN MASSIVE weight loss or get the SUPER BULKY or SUPER CUT musculature of a weightlifter or a gymnast.
Most of the long-term Tai Chi practitioners I know – those who practice regularly – have FIRM, LEAN bodies, more like a swimmer – oh, wait – that’s because they actually ARE swimming, only through the air with gravity and their own body weight providing the resistance instead of water. Because in Tai Chi all of our movements use our own body weight, the nature of the practice is to “balance” deficiencies and to TONE rather than to build bulk, so it doesn’t go to extremes.
After I began a traditional style of Tai Chi about four years ago, I had a steady DOWNWARD trend in my weight (about 20 pounds) along with a steady INCREASE in strength, balance/stability, endurance and a happier, calmer, and more peaceful outlook on life.
I FINALLY feel like I’m at least headed back in the same direction of the level of fitness I had when I used to run five miles a day. Who knew it could be this simple?
I don’t have a lot of weight to lose – although ultimately I’d like to see another 15 or 20 pounds gone, and it would be okay if I gained 5 to 7 pounds of muscle. I have learned that building muscle is important to weight loss because it will make it easier to maintain your weight long term, so that a single overindulgence will not totally derail your progress if you have good body composition (proportion of lean body weight to fat).
I’ve noticed that my weight loss cycle goes like this: one week I’ll lose a little fat (maybe 2 or 3 pounds), the next week I might add a little muscle (gain about 1 pound), have a week or so when I neither gain nor lose, then start the cycle over again. I may not have lost a ton of weight, but I’ve steadily dropped SIZES since my BODY FAT percentage has changed more dramatically than the actual numbers on the scale.
I have to be careful with the consumption of carbohydrates and ensure that I get enough protein, but generally, I don’t do extreme things with my diet; I just eat normally, usually four smaller meals a day including a Green Smoothie that I created using unsweetened almond milk, some protein powder, and either a green powder or fresh greens like Kale, spinach etc., and for sweetness a little stevia or a small amount of fresh fruit.
What got me thinking about Tai Chi and weight loss was an article titled: “Want to Lose Weight? Relax” written by Khandee Ahnaimugan. It doesn’t make any dramatic statements, just good sound advice.
You can find it here: http://huff.to/12cIzAh