Slim Down Your Body With Yoga

Lose stubborn fat and tone up all over with this fast, easy plan
Yoga is a known stress buster, but it's also one of the most effective workouts for fighting stubborn fat stores, especially the ones that crop up after age 40. Yes, you can use yoga for weight loss. The reason: Studies show that yoga lowers levels of stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity a signal to your body to burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat. The following yoga poses for weight loss will do just that while firming up your arms, legs, butt, and abs. Start now to see weight loss results in as little as 3 weeks.

Workout at a glance

What you need:  A yoga mat or carpeted space

How to do it: Follow this routine at least 3 times a week, holding each move 1 time for 3 to 5 deep breaths, unless otherwise noted. Start with the Main Move for each exercise. If it's too difficult, do the Make It Easier variation. If it's not challenging enough, try the Make It Harder option. For faster results: Hold each pose for 5 to 8 breaths and increase repetitions (where noted) by 2 or 3.

MAIN MOVE: Crescent [Firms abs, hips, and thighs]
Stand with feet together, toes forward, and arms at sides. Inhale and raise arms overhead, reaching fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and bend forward from hips, bringing hands to floor (it's okay to bend knees). Inhale, and as you exhale, step right leg back into a lunge (left knee bent about 90 degrees, knee over ankle; right leg extended and on ball of foot). Inhale and raise arms overhead; gaze forward. Hold, then return to standing and repeat, stepping left leg back.

Make it Harder: From end position, inhale and arch torso, arms, and head backward, gazing at fingertips.
Make it Easier: Lower right knee to touch floor as you step back into a lunge, and rest hands on left thigh.

MAIN MOVE: Willow [Firms sides of abs]
Stand with feet together, arms at sides. Place sole of left foot on inside of right thigh, knee bent to side. Touch palms in front of chest for 2 breaths. On third inhale, extend arms up, fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and on the inhale, bend torso to left. Inhale and straighten. Repeat 3 to 5 times, pressing foot into thigh; switch sides.

Make it Easier: Keep left foot on calf or touch toes to floor for balance.
Make it Harder: Close eyes as you balance and bend. 

6 Weird Ways Your Environment Affects How Much You Eat

Check out more strange things that can affect how much you eat without you even realizing it:

Where you're eating
Even if your food doesn't taste so good, you might continue choking down depending on your environment. A Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin study showed that people ate the same amount of popcorn in a movie theater, whether it was old and stale or fresh and just popped. "The results show just how powerful our environment can be in triggering unhealthy behavior," study researcher David Neal, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, said in a statement. "Sometimes willpower and good intentions are not enough, and we need to trick our brains by controlling the environment instead."

What your friends are ordering
Are your friends getting the fries or the salad? It could have an impact on what you choose to order, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association. Researchers found that peer pressure did seem to have an effect on what people ordered at a restaurant. "We want to fit in with the people we're dining with," study researcher Brenna Ellison, Ph.D., a food economist at the University of Illinois, said in the statement.

The size of your wine glass
To curb over pouring of alcohol, consider opting for a slimmer wine glass, according to a Iowa State and Cornell study. Researchers found that certain factors tend to increase the risk of over pouring, such as pouring into a glass held by a person (instead of when it's on a table), pouring into a wider glass, and pouring into a glass that doesn't match the color of the wine.

The ambience
Harsh lighting and loud music could be spurring you to eat more calories. Cornell researchers found in a Psychological Reports study that when lighting and music were made softer in restaurants, diners not only ate fewer calories, but also enjoyed their food more. "There are clear implications for restaurants wishing to help consumers slow down and enjoy their food. Yet there are also implications for consumers who want to eat less," the researchers wrote in the study.

What's visible in your kitchen shelvesYou're most likely to eat the first thing you see in your kitchen cupboards or fridges, according to another Cornell study. "It's not just where we place our food in the cupboards or in the refrigerator," Wansink, the author of this study, previously told HuffPost. "It's whether we have a cookie bowl sitting out instead of a fruit dish. It's all these factors, that we think we're too smart to be fooled by those end up being our demise."