Can meditation help you lose weight?

[greggorious]

Just thought I'd ask

[Coyote]

Maybe in the sense that when you are more mindful you are less likely to overeat, especially if you are keeping the 6th precept and/or see the benefit in eating only what you need.

[Spiny Norman]

Just thought I'd ask

A lot of walking meditation would be helpful.

[Mojo]

Burning more calories than one consumes is the only long term weight loss solution that I'm aware of. My understanding is that meditation slows the body's metabolism so on one hand I can see how it might put a damper on weight loss if eating/exercise habits aren't changed. If somehow one could use meditation to gain insight to the psychological roots of why they overeat or avoid enough exercise and then work diligently to resolve those issues, then I suppose it might. This is all theoretical on my part. I'm still trying to motivate myself to start meditating again after a 9 month hiatus that has been accompanied by a 45 pound weight gain. And though that might look like a cause and effect relationship in light of this particular conversation, I can tell you that its laziness on my part that has contributed to both.

[daverupa]

When physical food is comprehended, passion for the five strings of sensuality is comprehended.

[m0rl0ck]

Meditation can help bring your entire body into better balance. There is some evidence that it is even helpful in alleviating diabetes to some degree.
http://www.diabeteswellbeing.com/medita ... betes.html
I wouldnt think that meditation alone would be enough though.

[convivium]

it can help you do the things you need to do to lose weight if you lack self discipline. otherwise, it has nothing to do with it. exercise as intensely as possible, be active, eat like a bodybuilder (Paleolithic diet, 6 or 6 meals a day is great foundation). follow an ncaa certified cutting plan on oneresult.com on bodybuilding.com. make it part of your way of life.

[Billymac29]

Can meditation help you lose weight?
by greggorious » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:41 am

Just thought I'd ask

other then mindful eating...... no

[fig tree]

Meditation has been used as an antidote to "stress eating". The idea is to relieve stress before eating.

Fig Tree

[Ben]

The most effective way to lose weight is to maintain a calorific deficit so that calories burned is greater than calories eaten. I have received a lot of benefit by using the iphone/android app and website: myfitnesspal which has helped me to develop fitness and lose fat over the past three or more months. I do it as part of a total wellbeing "package" that also includes meditation and good sleep hygiene and is sustainable in the long run.
You can use meditation to counter craving (to over eat) and eventually it will be the only solution. But in the short term if you are looking at increasing your health and wellbeing and shed some excess fat than you should adopt a whole of life approach that includes a calorie controlled diet and an exercise regime that has regular periods of intense cardio-vascular and strength training.
kind regards,

Ben

[corrine]

It is much easier to restrict calories and thereby loose weight by simply eliminating processed food from one's diet. Simple food, fruits, veggies and whole grains, prepared simply with no added fats, can be eaten in larger quantities with fewer calories. Really, you can eat carrot and celery sticks with almost no restrictions. It is concentrated calories, found in fast food and fried food, that cause weight gain. Eating unprocessed foods may also help to eliminate cravings for fat, salt and sugar, as one's palate becomes accustomed to basic tastes and eating for health rather than cravings. Meditation may help one to concentrate the mind on what is important and also to discipline the mind so that it is easier to emotionally 'walk away' from stress eating. From a personal stand point, when I am meditating regularly I find that I am living more mindfully, which helps me to avoid many forms of self indulgence, including over eating and the eating of food that is not helpful.

corrine

[polarbuddha101]

You may want to consider cutting bread out of your diet if you're trying to lose weight.

[convivium]

my 60 year old mother follows my advice above (as taught to her independently by the healthy way) and she has lost tons of weight for the first time in her life and is keeping it off. i myself am in better shape then i have ever been in my life. what everyone else has said is subsumed in what i already said. oneresult.com is probably where i would recommend you go, given that i don't know your age or body type and they have free custom plans. moderate intensity cardio 40-50 mins a day, adequate caffeine, and a paleolithic diet more than 3-4 times a day will get you a long way.

[alan...]

meditation will help in sticking to a permanent change in diet and lifestyle. if you learn to control your urges by sitting and walking meditation you will stick to your diet and exercise routine and lose weight.

[convivium]

oh yeah, and WATER!!! you won't have urges if you cut out sugar and flour etc. with a paleolythic diet, with meals taken frequent enough (up to 7 times daily) to get your metabolism going. q.e.d.

[Digity]

I think the practice as a whole should do this. The Buddha did say that we should be moderate in our eating. If you eat mindfully then I think it's hard to just pig out on food. By eating slowly and mindfully you tend not to over indulge. However, I usually tend to eat without much thought or mindfulness and notice that's when I tend to over eat.

[lojong1]

Didn't Paramahansa Yogananda say he could choose his weight with a thought?

[lojong1]

http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/09/06/m ... instantly/
excerpt from 'Autobiography of a Yogi'.
"‘Really, it has been your thoughts that have made you feel alternately weak and strong.’ My guru looked at me affectionately. ‘You have seen how your health has exactly followed your subconscious expectations. Thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. The human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God. I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass.‘

"Knowing that Lahiri Mahasaya never spoke idly, I addressed him with great awe and gratitude.: ‘Master, if I think that I am well and that I have regained my former weight, shall those things come to pass?’

"’It is so, even at this moment.’ My guru spoke gravely, his gaze concentrated on my eyes.

"I instantly felt an increase not only of strength but of weight. Lahiri Mahasaya retreated into silence. After a few hours at his feet, I returned to my mother’s house, where I stayed during my visits to Banaras.

"My son! What is the matter? Are you swelling with dropsy?" Mother could hardly believe her eyes. My body was now as full and robust as it had been before my illness.

"I weighed myself and found that in one day I had gained fifty pounds; they have remained permanently."

[drifting cloud]

Just thought I'd ask

Are you asking if you are going to magically shed pounds simply by sitting on a cushion? The answer is probably no.

If you are asking if meditation can help you become more aware of your eating habits, help you build up the mental strength to overcome unskillful eating habits, give you a source of ease and happiness that surpasses the pleasure you get from eating, make you less inclined to eat overall, then I think the answer is yes, meditation can help you do all of this, which is conducive to weight loss.

[convivium]

i didn't mean to suggest that coffee is a good caffeine source.