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Lose Weight (And Lots Of It) With Pilates and Running After Your Kids: NOT!
By Christina | September 25, 2009
Pilates has been the rage for several years now with celebrities and the mainstream public alike. Pilates is an excellent form of exercise which can lengthen your muscles, increase your flexibility, and strengthen your core. What Pilates is not, however, is the miracle weight loss wonder that celebrities tout it to be. Who can forget Star Jones on The View losing 100 plus pounds? How did she do it? Pilates, of course (and maybe a little gastric bypass surgery thrown in as well)! Madonna, who is really just one big muscle and exercises constantly, attributes her body to Pilates too. All Pilates, huh? My favorite is Jessica Simpson who was recently thrown under the bus for her most recent weight gain, gave a shout out to Pilates for her new slimmed down physique.
I love Pilates and think it has its place in a well-balanced exercise program. But, for weight loss alone, I find these claims highly unlikely. A complete exercise program for maximum weight loss works your cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, balance, flexibility, and core conditioning. An hour of Pilates burns less than 300 calories an hour and does not condition your cardiovascular system at all. Specifically for weight loss purposes, cardiovascular exercise in which your heart rate is elevated needs to be present.
It is a disservice to people desperately struggling to lose weight to see celebrities lie about the means to which they were successful. The fitness magazines are no different with their features success stories of “regular people” who have dropped major pounds. The weight loss myths that are propagated through these magazine stories are not helpful to the people at home wanting to replicate the successes of what they see in others.
How many times have you seen celebrities, especially, give birth and the next week be thinner than they were when they were pregnant? Besides making me sick, I love the reasons given for their rapid weight loss. It’s always breastfeeding and running after the children that’s responsible for their successes. I breastfed all 3 of my children and run after them all the time. I can personally attest this method of rapid weight loss is a bunch of bunk. By not sharing the truth about their diet and exercise secrets with mainstream America, people are left confused as to why their results aren’t the same when they are doing the same routine that celebrities purportedly do.
In the most recent issue of Shape magazine, there was a weight loss success story where a person lost 70 pounds by “walking to do errands, parking in the furthest spot in the lot, and going up and down the stairs in her house.” Don’t get me wrong, kudos to anyone that loses 70 pounds. But, if you are sitting at home trying to lose 70 or more pounds yourself, DON’T BE FOOLED! It is terrific advice to lead an active life, but if weight loss is your goal, emulating this prescription for success won’t quite cut it.
It astounds me that people of all walks of life are still in the closet about how they truly successfully lost weight and kept it off. In this world of TMI, when people share every nuance of their life with each other, it is a sad reality that people are so private about how they lost weight when it could really make a difference in other people’s lives who are struggling with the same issues. My grandmother always said ‘I was born on a Tuesday, but not last Tuesday.’ We are not dumb. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Lasting weight loss requires a healthy balanced diet and regular moderately intense exercise, the more intense the better. Especially if it’s Pilates!
Topics: Pilates |
