Qigong for Weight Loss

Try this FREE Qigong for Weight Loss video. Qigong for Effective Weight Loss by White Tiger Qigong’s Senior Instructor, Natalia Kolesnikova.

Are you wondering why Qigong for Weight Loss is very effective? Have you tried different kinds of weight loss routines but never really worked? Do all the weight loss routines you tried only for the short term and fail in the long run? Do you know what is more effective than pills and other alternative scientific methods for weight loss? I’ll give you a clue, it is a practice of movement and meditation that helps release blockages in the body to cultivate fresh energy. 

Yes, of course, you are right. You already read it in the title and the intro of this blog. It is Qigong. If you want to learn why, you can read until the end of this blog. 

Weight Loss Practices – How and Why they are not as Effective as Qigong

The problem with weight loss is that it is significantly harder to lose excess body fat for most, and there is a high risk of getting back the lost weight. 

Strenuous Exercises 

Strenuous exercises like high-intensity training, athlete’s training, weightlifting, and others require a lot of energy. Most of the time these physical activities expend a lot of energy. It is true, of course, exercising has really good benefits. Exercising can help you maintain your weight, improve cardiovascular health, improve your immune system, and increase good mental health. However, according to Business Insider, it is also very much possible to do it excessively. Anything done excessively has negative consequences. Excessive exercise can have negative effects on the body and brain. 

A study has compared the risk of death for those who run moderately, don’t exercise, and those who run at a faster pace. It is not shocking that those who run light or moderately have a lower death risk compared to those who don’t exercise. However, in an unexpecting twist, a percentage of those who ran at a faster pace more than three times a week had an equal death risk as those who don’t exercise. This shows that excess and too intense running seems to cancel out some of the health benefits gained from regular running.

It also shows that regular strenuous endurance exercises may likely lead to heart damage to some such as heart rhythm disorders and enlarged arteries. Professionals say that extreme endurance puts excessive pressure on the cardiovascular system. A study has shown that continuous strenuous exercises can alter the heart by thickening the heart’s muscle walls and inflicting scar tissues.

Risk of Regular Strenuous Exercises to Genders

For females and males, there are also significant consequences for regular strenuous exercises.  For females, regular strenuous exercise the risk of heart attacks and strokes rises for women who do regular strenuous exercises. This shows that excessive extraneous exercises do not benefit more than light and moderate exercise, it actually can be riskier. For males, regular strenuous exercise has been proven to minimize libido production. This is likely because of physical fatigue and lower testosterone levels.

For both females and males, regular strenuous exercises create more risk of injuries such as tendonitis and stress fractures which are a result of repetitive pressure and trauma to the body. The immune system also may receive more negative consequences since the body is under too much stress. Moderate exercise can give more improvement in the immune system while excessive strenuous exercise can give more negative results. 

Extreme Diets 

According to the Lindner Center of Hope, in most instances, diets fail. When diets fail repeatedly, it lessens the possibility of lasting and successful weight loss. Chronic dieting also causes psychological imbalances such as anxiety and depression. It affects one’s self-esteem which may lead to loathing oneself and leads to some eating disorders. This also leads to negative feelings of guilt, self-blame, and irritability. It also diminishes mental functions such as concentration and focus. Aside from that, chronic dieting also leads to fatigue. 

Psychologically, dieting has some negative effects. The restriction during dieting may cause increased cravings for food, resulting in overeating and binge eating. Overall, dieting can also cause some unhealthy biological alterations in body composition. Some of these alterations include hormonal changes, decreased bone density, irregular menstruation, and a decrease in resting energy consumption. 

Extreme dieting leads to a lowering in the base metabolic rate. When this happens it means that one consumes less energy at rest, which means you need less energy to maintain your current weight at the end of your diet. So, once you return to your normal diet, it is easy to gain back the weight you lost and maybe even gain weight above your previous weight. 

Diet Pills 

Diet pills can be found easily on the counter and are in a variety of forms, shapes, and sizes. Using diet pills for weight loss can have different consequences. Companies who create and distribute weight loss pills promise results such as the following:

• Limit food cravings
• Feel full easily
• Increase metabolism
• Decrease the production of fats 
• Limit your body from absorbing fats from the food you consume

If these diet pills are so effective, what makes them dangerous? Even though these diet pills are very effective they can have very bad side effects. These side effects include the following:

• Increase heart rate
• High blood pressure
• Agitation
• Diarrhea
• Insomnia
• Kidney problems
• Liver damage
• Rectal bleeding

Some ingredients have been banned by the FDA because of their harmful effects. The benefits of these ingredients are surely not worth the negative side effects it brings to your body. 

People with eating disorders only focus on losing weight without being worried about the consequences. Even if they are aware of these consequences they are only obsessed with losing weight rather than being healthy. It is easy to use these pills in a very deconstructive manner and in the end, may also even lead to addiction.

Medical Practices 

For severe weight-related health problems, different medical procedures can be done. These medical procedures are also very effective such as Bariatric surgery. These surgery procedures include altering the digestive system. Bariatric surgery are options for those who are having health complications due to weight-related issues. These patients usually have tried different options such as diet and exercise but failed in getting long lasting and successful results. These surgeries are effective however it comes with great risk and side effects and costs a lot of money. 

According to UPMC, the most common risk and side effects of Bariatric Surgery includes the following: 

• Acid reflux
• Anesthesia-related risks
• Chronic nausea and vomiting
• Dilation of esophagus
• Inability to eat certain foods
• Infection
• Obstruction of stomach
• Weight gain or failure to lose weight

It can also have some long-term effects such as: 

• Dumping syndrome (a health problem that can cause nausea and dizziness)
• Low blood sugar
• Malnutrition
• Vomiting
• Ulcers
• Bowel obstruction
• Hernias

There are many more underlying risks with Bariatric Surgery including risk of gastric bypass which can lead to major risks such as internal bleeding, blood clots, organ injury, stomach or intestine ulceration, vitamin and iron deficiency, and many more. 

Weight Loss and Science

The formula of weight gain is pretty much simple: 

Energy Intake > Energy Expenditure = Weight Gain

When the energy intake is greater than energy expenditure, there will be weight gain. 

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an effective weight-management program must help prevent undesirable weight gain from excess body fat.   The main objective is to enable an environment that nurtures maintenance of a healthy body weight and body composition. 

Being overweight and obese may be a result of many things. It may be a result of both genetics, behavioral, and environmental factors. This is why, even for professionals, it is a challenge to find a specific, permanent, and effective strategy for weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Studies by Adersen et al., 1988 & Wadden et al., 1989 shows that the percentage of successfully maintaining weight loss has been estimated to be about 1 to 3 percent. 

Although it is true that genetics play a major role in the main causes of overweight and obesity, it cannot be pointed out as the major reason for the increasing number of overweights observed in the U.S. in the past 20 years. Lifestyle does play a major role in affecting these increasing numbers. The U.S. population has been observed to eat too much and have little physical activity. Therefore, the energy intake is greater than the energy expenditure. This is what professionals are trying to focus on to help create a more optimal weight management strategy.  

Using Qigong for Weight Loss – Why is Qigong SMARTER THAN SCIENCE?

Now that we know the consequences of different weight loss techniques, why is qigong better than all of these? Is qigong smarter than science when it comes to weight loss? Qigong, as we have mentioned earlier, is a practice of movement and meditation that helps release blockages in the body to cultivate fresh energy. It is a very effective exercise that is moderate and gentle, yet it targets the entire body. 

Qigong for Weight Loss is Gentle and Moderate 

Unlike strenuous exercises, qigong does not overwork your body, and therefore prevents overfatigue. Qigong helps cultivate energy while doing the movements by opening up the energy channels, releasing blockages and stagnations. These blockages and stagnations may be in the form of fat cells from the excess energy pent up in the body. Therefore, qigong both prevents the negative consequences of doing regular strenuous exercises and at the same time, have more benefits by cultivating more energy and smooth energy flow in the body. 

Qigong’s Effect on One’s Sense of Hunger and Eating Behavior

A study by Voroshilov, P. MD., et al., has proven that the sense of hunger which has a very big effect on one’s eating behavior can be consciously controlled through qigong breathing. One’s sense of hunger can be diminished and even suppressed significantly. It shows in their study that those who mastered the breathing practices in qigong helps one to limit overeating and obesity. It also helps diminish stomach acidity, which then helps reduce mucus rejection when one has abstained from food for a particular time. Effects also include decrease in the intra-abdominal pressure and faster movement of the stomach acid contents to the intestines. The effect is greater for those who are feeling hungry. The study also noted that if one ate before doing the breathing practice the effect is less or none. 

Based on this study qigong breathing is highly effective in suppressing sense hunger at the same time without the negative side effects of diet pills and the possibility of relapsing from extreme diets. It is a more natural way to help one control eating behavior. 

Using Qigong for Weight Loss is Natural and Less Stressful

Qigong exercise allows us to move in our natural form and alignments. For extreme cases medical procedures may be the only option. However, for long term weight maintenance for post-surgery, qigong is also very efficient and effective. Ones the medical procedure is over, and you have already reached your weight goals, most people think that it is already over. However, the real deal is maintaining the weight after the procedure. Some people may have a hard time finding a practice or workout that they will enjoy.

A lot of times, when people think about weight maintenance practices or working out, they already start to dread it. If this is the case, it will be difficult to maintain after operation weight goals. Qigong, being a balance of movement and meditation, is both an exercise and stress reducing practice. Doing qigong is more enjoyable and has less pressure than most of the other more intense workout programs. So, it will help one enjoy the process of weight maintenance. It will easily and seamlessly become a lifestyle if you just enjoy your exercises. 

Why is Qigong for Weight Loss THE MOST EFFECTIVE?

Let’s summarize some of the points because qigong for weight loss is the most effective procedure.

• A deep overall workout

• Releases blockages and stagnations in the body stored as fat cells 
• Highly effective in reducing sense of hunger

• Incorporates breathwork that helps burn excess weight by adding heat to the body

• A gentle and effective exercise

• It FEELS good 

• It limits fatigue 

• Strengthen the body at the same time 
• Helps gain muscles
• Increases metabolism 
• An enjoyable less stressful and pressuring workout

Qigong for Weight Loss Courses

Now that you have learned how effective qigong for weight loss is, you can check White Tiger Qigong’s courses that will surely help you with your journey. We have 8 Trigram Qigong which is a flowy and gentle qigong. This is good for those who want to begin their qigong for weight loss program. For those who are looking for a deeper and more dynamic workout you can also try the 5 Element Qigong and the 5 Animal Qigong. Click the banners below to learn more.