The widespread benefits of Yoga never cease to amaze us. Here’s a story of Shalini Pillai, a working professional residing in Dubai who adopted Yoga to lose weight and manage her medical conditions.
The Beginning
Shalini Pillai had a tough time when it came to losing those extra kilos until she came across HealthifyMe. Shalini was 10 kg over her ideal weight. Her main fitness goal was to be able to get to that stage where she wouldn’t have to worry about being overweight. Achieving this goal became all the more important for Shalini after undergoing a major surgery in July 2016. The bed rest and medication that followed resulted in excessive weight gain and aggravation of other pre-existent illnesses.
Even after trying several methods to lose weight, aerobics, cross training, and walking to name a few, she wasn’t able to lose weight. When nothing else worked she turned to yoga to lose weight but didn’t see any results whatsoever. Suffering from PCOD, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and asthma, Shalini had a tough time working out and balancing her diet, but this never wavered her belief that she will be able to lose weight. Taking baby steps, she decided to start by keeping track of her daily calorie intake, by downloading the HealthifyMe app.
Giving Yoga Another Shot
After using the app for a few days, Shalini received a feedback call. On speaking to the customer service executive, she discovered that she could avail the services of health and fitness coaches according to her requirements. Inclining towards yoga, Shalini picked Sridhar Ravi as the yoga coach and Suganya Arivazhagan as the diet coach. From then on there was no looking back.
Since Shalini was suffering from asthma, she could never engage in high-intensity workouts. This was one of the main reasons why she chose yoga to lose weight. To begin with, she started doing Surya Namaskars under the guidance of Sridhar and was able to do 60 – 70 repetitions at a time. Although Shalini’s body was stiff when it came to practising asanas, Sridhar steadily helped her ease into the routine. Now she performs Surya Namaskar with variations that include asanas like Virabhadrasana 1, 2, and Trikonasana.
“When they say customized routine, they actually deliver what they promise. In my case, Sridhar came up with a yoga routine that took into consideration my severe case of asthma. After following the prescribed routine for a month I noticed that I lost 2 – 3 kg every week. Yoga not only helped me lose weight it also helped bring my asthma under control and get rid of the back pain I was suffering from. That’s when I realised that with the right guidance you can do yoga to lose weight and see remarkable results. Having Sridhar and Suganya as my coaches were the best thing I could ask for! I have never seen anyone who is as understanding and motivating as them. Whenever I had an issue with respect to my workout or my diet they would always have a solution ready. This made it very easy for me to stick to the path of losing weight.”
A Well Balanced Diet
When it came to altering her diet, there was good ground already covered because Shalini was never a fan of junk food. Suganya helped balance out the diet based on her daily calorie requirements. This was a much-needed change for Shalini since she was consuming the right amount of protein, fibre and carbohydrates that her body needed, hence the absence of change in weight despite all her efforts.
After following the suggested diet and yoga routine for a month Shalini started seeing a difference. After coming down to 80kg, she hit the dreaded weight loss. “I desperately wanted to break this plateau and nothing seemed to be working. My usual routine of 2 hours of yoga and 1 hour of walking had no effect, neither did the changes made to my diet” says Shalini. This triggered Suganya to take a completely different approach where she suggested that Shalini consumes more than her daily calorie limit which was 1300. This technique of eating more than the limit actually helped her break through the plateau and resume the weight loss journey.
“I am very happy with the results I have seen in the past six months. Although the rate at which I’m losing weight has slowed down, I don’t mind. I’d rather lose weight gradually than speed up the process and incur any further health problems. Words are not enough to describe and appreciate the effort and dedication put in by Sridhar and Suganya! Thank you HealthifyMe. I would like to leave you all with a piece of advice, start doing yoga to lose weight and eat mindfully. If you require guided assistance, HealthifyMe is your guy!”
Disclaimer: Shalini lost weight and cured her illnesses with the help of a personalized diet and yoga plan. Results may vary for you.
Shalini lost 14.7 kg in 6 months by adopting yoga and following a balanced diet. If you are facing the same problem, our coaches are here to help you.
