Zumba - Joining the Party!

by Kathi MacNaughton
(Boise, ID)

When I decided at the end of December 2009 to finally take control of my life once again and lose some weight, I joined our local YMCA, as it is just up the road and has wonderful facilities. They also offered a lot of different classes, which was especially appealing, as I don't really enjoy slogging away on a treadmill or whatnot.

When I first got the schedule, I saw something called Zumba, and in reading the description, I saw it was something like Latin hiphop that is dancing, but also fitness. Sounded interesting. To date, my favorite exercise ever was Jackie Sorenson's Aerobic Dancing, which was huge in the 80s but has since died out I believe.

I love to dance. For quite a few years, I did a lot of country line dancing, which along with karate, helped me lose 20 pounds without even trying to diet or anything else. But when I moved west to Idaho in 2005, we found that line dancing isn't that big out here.

So when I heard about Zumba Fitness, I thought it was worth trying. One session, and I was hooked. We have a fabulous teacher named Crystal who makes every Zumba class a true party. You feel such joy in shaking your booty... and I have NEVER been much of a booty shaker! :)

Bottom line... Zumba is great fun and it's also a fabulous workout. Supporters claim you can burn as much as 1000 calories per 1 hour class, depending on how much intensity you dance with. I'm guessing I'm burning around 400 or 500 calories.

I know one woman who lost 60 pounds in 4 months doing only Zumba 4 or 5 days a week. Another lost 70 pounds in a bit over 6 months. Impressive, huh?

I highly recommend you take a Zumba fitness class, if you haven't tried it before. I even got my 2 grown daughters in Texas hooked on it. Anyone can do it and the classes are very non-judgmental. You're just there to have fun (and get fit in the process). You can just Google Zumba to learn more at their official website.

And if you're too shy to go to a class, then try one of the DVD products available at their website. My daughter got them and loves them. She says it's almost like being in class!

Sorry if I sound like a commercial... I just love Zumba!

Kathi MacNaughton: Womens-Weight-Loss-Success-Stories.com