Hello doctor, I am 20 years old. My height is 5' 2" and weighs about 75 kg. What are the yoga I could do to reduce weight? How many days a week and for how many hours shall I practice yoga?
Hello. According to your height and weight, your BMI (body mass index) comes out to 30.24 which is considered to be a clear case of obesity for Asian population according to the latest guidelines. If you are really willing to lose weight, then you just need to understand that weight gain or weight loss is simply due to a balance between calorie intake and calorie requirements. The second most important point is there are no short cuts to weight loss. The ideal recommended weight loss per week can be approximately two kilograms. So, you can expect approximately 6 to 10 kg of weight loss in one month. Weight loss for the first two weeks is always easiest. The main difficulty is in the second and third months. Plan and follow any weight loss strategy for a minimum of six months. Go for yoga a minimum of one hour per day and five days a week. An ideal recommendation will be two hours of workout per day. One hour can be given to yoga and another one hour can be reserved for jogging, running, walking, dancing, exercise or any other physical work out. Some practices which are useful for weight loss are jogging, jumping, spinal twists, back swing, hip twist, forward and backward bending, side bending, Parivrtta trikonasana stretch, dynamic suryanamaskara, chakki chalanasana, bhunamanasana, chapaati making, dhanurasana swing, salabhasana, alternate bhujangasana and parvatasana, navasana, navasana swing, paschimottanasana stretch, halasana, alternate paschimottanasana and halasana, cycling, eka pada uttanasana and dwi pada uttanasana, side leg raising, naukasana, naukasana swing, kapalbhati kriya, jala neti kriya, laghu shankha prakshalana, vamana dhauti, nadi suddhi pranayama, bhramari and surya anuloma viloma. It is not advisable to start with these practices without guidance especially in the beginning. Suryanamaskara is especially beneficial. Start with three rounds per session and keep adding one extra round every third day till you reach ten rounds per session. Dietary modification is a must for success. You can follow different diet plans. For example, one week liquid-only diet, another week fruits only diet. Becoming very strict with one diet plan makes it difficult to follow. Go for food items which are bulky (more volume) but with less calories, for example, fruits and salads instead of an item which are have condensed calories and but less bulk like sweets. All the information is relevant to you as long as you are not suffering from any other ailment. It is worth to check your thyroid status if you have not done it already.