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Swiss chard. Yum or yuck?
I used to be able to eat a whole bag of Doritos for dinner and not blink an eye.
Now, I throw some garlic and olive oil on this leafy fellow and I’m in heaven.
Is it the yoga?
I know some yogis that still eat and drink like they did in college and they claim nothing has changed. But for me, my tastes are totally different; other than the occasional treat (mostly involving dark chocolate) my cravings have been totally turned around.
I love green juice now, something that even a couple of years ago I would have choked on. I also really enjoy cooking fresh, simple meals, whereas before I would have done anything to avoid my kitchen. I’ve always been vegetarian, but eat a lot less dairy these days because I just feel like it weighs me down.
Is this something physical the yoga is doing to me? Am I more sensitive to feeling like crap, because most of the time I feel so damn good? Or I am just falling into the stereotypical yogi lifestyle because I want to sit around after Bikram and debate the best kale recipes?
So, now I’m curious to know what it’s been like for other yogis….have you found a difference in your food habits since doing yoga?
And if you want to share your favorite post-yoga recipe or recipe site…I wouldn’t hate that…. 🙂
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My eating habits changed as much but my drinking habits have changed dramatically since i started bikram 18 months ago. I was a drinker! I would drink 3-4 nights a week and multiple glasses of wine. A night out for me always included a minimum of 3 glasses of wine. I never thought I had a problem and I never wanted to quit drinking. But literally the day I started bikram I stopped drinking. I have no desire to drink. I want to. But I can’t. I see a glass of wine and it looks so good but the second I put it to my lips I know I’ve made a mistake. It tastes horrible and my body rejects it. It’s a miracle what’s happened and something I never thought would occur. I never realized i had a problem drinking until i stopped drinking. Every day I am amazed by what this yoga has done for my life. I am forever grateful.
Lorie – thank you so much for sharing. That’s amazing and I’m so glad you are happy and healthy! It’s so challenging to explain to people who think that yoga is “just exercise” – it is an all encompassing lifestyle! Namaste.
Yep, same for me: I used to like beers at the bar on the weekend, or a glass of wine once in a while. No more. Alcohol is repulsive to me now. It tastes exactly like what it is: poison.
Hello Lisa,
just like you I switched to simple natural things. Bikram yoga made me quit smoking and drinking, it made me enjoy green food, home cooked herbs and vegetables and realise that I do not need to eat animals to enjoy a delicious meal. I also avoid chemicals and drugs and just let my body rest when I am (rarely) sick.
The simple answer to your question in my opinion is that Bikram yoga teaches you that your body is not a dustbin and the more you take care of it the better you feel 🙂
I absolutely agree! Good for you for making such positive changes!
Funny, I had a similar convo with my hubby last night after yoga. He was asking me if I wanted him to make me this or that (chicken sandwich? do I want ice cream for dessert?) and the only thing that sounded good was a green smoothie. We don’t have a juicer so we throw spinach, apple, banana (pref frozen), frozen strawberries, shredded carrots and apple juice in the blender. Yum!! Like you, I would’ve gagged just at the sight of the mean green smoothie before my Bikram days. I love that my body craves healthier options with yoga. Lately I’ve been trying to listen to that rather than just telling it to shut up with a cheeseburger! LOL 😉
I totally agree – when I listen to my body I never regret it! I’ll have to try your blender smoothie…sounds great!
I hope so, because I eat a lot of unhealthy crap now and I am hoping to become much healthier (and no, it’s not just because I want to pass the medical exam for Canadian immigration), so it’s good to hear that, at the very least, these changes are common when someone has an extended practice of Bikram. ^_^
It seems to be the way of Bikram! I’m happy to hear of all these healthy conversions, too!
Same here. It’s hard to choke down most of the food from Whole Foods, yet I know that it’s supposed to be better for me.
Like Lorie, my drinking habits changed immediately. I was never a huge drinker, but I did enjoy a glass of wine or two on the weekends or with dinner during the week. Can’t do it. Not even a glass. It will have a negative impact on my practice the next day.
With food, my diet has changed a lot over the last two years. It has evolved slowly. When I decided to move towards being a vegetarian for my challenge I found it was easy to do. It was hardly the struggle I thought it would be! That still perplexes me. I rarely get any food cravings anymore, and I often shy away from food that is not nutritious. I have worked so hard in my practice that I don’t want to injest anything that will detract from it. I’m not perfect of course (I just licked icing off the top of two cupcakes yesterday), but this is my general approach.
You sound a lot like me in your changes. Even one glass of wine is killing me these days! So, I’ve just been avoiding it. But of course it’s good to not be perfect. Who doesn’t love licking icing?? 🙂
I believe that the fact that our bodies are cleansed through all of the sweating that is done in Bikram we are more sensitive to the toxic substances. I also feel more intune as to what my body thrives off of, and why should I not listen? I want to thrive and feel really freaken good every day!
Another thing to note is that we break down our muscles in class and whatever we eat after is what our bodies use to rebuild the muscle with. Do we rebuild with junk or do we build a fresh strong body without compromise?
I love the body that Bikram helps me to create, and I love reading your blog!! Thank you Lisa!! Indulge on the greens, you deserve to thrive!
That all makes a lot of sense to me! And thanks so much for all the good wishes – I really appreciate you reading!!
Bikram yoga (been practicing 5 days a week for 18 months now) and it has, through no effort on my part, totally changed my eating habits in the following ways:
– I no longer crave sugar, caffein, or alcohol
– I only want plants and smoothie and chicken and fish
– red meat once in a blue moon
– I no longer have to eat 6 times a day for glycemic purposes
– I eat at 7, noon, and 5
All this took place within the first four months of regular practice, and has become a life style. The part I like best is it was with no thought or effort on my part – it just happened!
So, that’s my story!
Fantastic! Yep, caffeine went out the window for me, too. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Enjoyed your Blog and interesting conversation.I am not a vegetarian and do take once a while glass of wine as a social drink. Hopefully some day I might realize that all that is not good for the body.Thanks Lisa for your interesting articles but my only concern is that if I m not eating Chicken then what food am I eating to get protein from vegetarian diet?keep posting and Namaste!!!!
Hey Rema, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Do what feels best to your body — but if you do want to try being vegetarian, there are plenty of ways to get enough protein for your body. Tofu, nuts, grains, legumes, beans and dairy (if you are not vegan) all have protein. You can always supplement with a protein powder if you are still concerned, but I get enough from the pure foods. I’ve been vegetarian for 30 years (since I was 3) and I’m in great health! Thanks for the encouragement and thanks for reading! Namaste!
It was actually because of Bikram that I was able to successfuly lose weight on Weight Watchers. it took some time, but my tastes definitely changed for the better. I will admit, though, that pizza is still my crack.
That’s great to hear! Congrats. Pizza is my weakness too. We have a pizza shop just down the street from us that has one with avocado and feta….drool. You gotta treat yourself sometimes!
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I’ve tried yoga in the past but never made a real habit of it. Last February my office offered a weekly yoga class that lasted three months and I really started to love it. In conjunction to yoga, I joined Weight Watchers and lost about 15 pounds or so. When my work yoga classes ended, I was craving more movement so I joined a local studio and got into creative core yoga and bikram yoga. I now practice around 3 to 4 times a week and I’m off of weight watchers, since I’ve gained the confidence to eat properly on my own. My body is craving lots of veggies and I too have stopped craving sugars and alcohol (I drank for fun on a weekly basis before all of this). I still have a lot of clean up work to do in terms what I consume on a daily basis (i’m down to about 2 cigarettes a day and I think that’s all mental anyways) , but I’m taking it all in stride. Its amazing how much I’ve changed in such a short period of time ❤
Oh, I love love love your story. Thanks so much for sharing it. Congratulations on moving towards more healthy choices! It really can change everything – in such a lovely way! Namaste.
Bikram ‘cured’ me of drinking diet coke. Had been quite addicted to it for at least 20 years and drank up to at least a liter/day. I had cut down a lot to only once every 3 or 4 days, but had a constant craving for it. After our first week of yoga the craving was gone and it has not returned in the past 14 months or so. Am now addicted to sparkling mineral water. 😉
That’s amazing!! Good for you. I’m hooked on sparkling water, too. I don’t know what I would do without my sodastream!Thanks for reading!
I am a soda stream junkie. I even take it on road trips.
I could not agree more with the original column. 15 months ago I was a total yoga virgin and made my first voyage into a Bikram studio that opened near my office. I had incrementally over the years got way more overweight than I ever thought I would, happened almost imperceptibly but there I was with quite the bulging gut. The extremeness of Bikram is what drew me in, it seemed like it actually could deliver the benefits promised IF I could actually commit to it. It was love at first (…or second) sight and I immediately saw that this would motivate me to change my diet,stop eating crap snacks and sugar and start committing to whole natural healthy food. No way was I going to put myself through this “hell” and then just sabotage the effort with a bag of M&Ms. I knew the only way to develop the stamina to get through the 90 min sequence was to transform my diet along with the yoga. While I’m still far from perfect and very much a work in progress, the last 15 months were a huge transformation from the person I was becoming to the person I want to become. Now I feel gross if I over eat or don’t eat well. Bikram for Life…it absolutely works if you work it.
What a fantastic story!!! Thanks so much for sharing – I’m so thrilled to hear that the practice has been so transformative for you. Bikram for Life!! I love it! Thanks for reading and Namaste!
I can still eat a whole bag of Doritos and not blink an eye. I’ve done Bikram for nearly a year, 6 days in a row. Still have the same eating habits. Nothing tastes foul. Having said that, I’ve always had a healthy eating habit, low-fat, low-salt, low sugar, lots of vegetables, lots of water, the occasional wine when I socialize, and the occasional craving for processed food. My downfall is portion size. I’ve always had a big appetite, even more so now after a Bikram session. My oh my, do I get hungry! So – although I would burn huge amounts of calories during a Bikram session, my intake of healthy foods have also increased. I’m just so hungry all the time …
Sounds like you were starting off from a really good place eating-wise – that’s awesome. I think it’s great that you are listening to your body, and eating what it needs! I feel like our bodies are really quite communicative if we just listen…
I have had a regular yoga practice for the last few years, but recently changed back to Bikram yoga. Since then, I noticed a big change in what I am craving for food. I didn’t even consciously try to change my eating habits, but – except for some chocolate – I don’t even want the unhealthy stuff anymore. My biggest craving now is plain coconut water 🙂
It’s funny how subconscious that change can be, isn’t it? I’m right there with the coconut water cravings – I just crave peach/mango flavor!
I know this is old, but it’s such a fantastic thread!!!! For a many years, this yoga just fueled my addiction to starving myself. Over the past 6 month or so, however, as I’ve become more aware of competitive yoga, and started connection with other practitioners and making friends at my studio, my attention has shifted from destroying my body, to building my practice. The more open I am to the full meaning, benefit, gifts of this yoga, the more able to fuel it I become. I am learning to notice, interpret, and respond to things like hunger and cravings. I am discovering, kind of for the first time, the world of food. And I love green stuff. Dedicated practice of this yoga, invited balance of all kinds, I think.
It really is all about balance and community. I’m so glad it’s been so healing for you! Thanks for reading and namaste.
Interesting thought. I’d love to know the answer.
I am not a veggi person. Been doing yoga for twenty days. Yes i feel different toward eating and was wondering if i was the only one ao thanks for sharing