Personal Story

This is Veronica Ernest. From the time I met my husband to the day my first child was born I had gained about 100 pounds. I couldn't move or breath and I didn't like the way I looked. I wanted to be able to play with my son so I decided to lose weight. I lost about 35 pounds in a year and a half on my own then, I joined weight watchers. I learned to eat healthy and exercise and I lost 18 pounds in ten weeks. I got pregnant with my second child and gained 40 pounds. Six weeks after she was born I joined weight watchers again. I've lost my baby weight plus 20 pounds, and I've kept it off. I'm not writting this because I I'm trying to get people to join weight watchers, I'm just saying it helped me.My friend, Rachel Page, told me about Zumba and after the first class I was hooked. I've been going to the classes about three times and week and doing other cycling and strengthening classes and my body has toned up and changed like I never thought possible. I feel so strong and I love my new muscles. I love the energy I have. I especially love the looks I get from people I haven't seen in awhile.I know people look at me and think that I've always looked this way and that I've always had this much energy but its not true. I've attached a before picture and you can see my after at Zumba!

Zumbalicious!

Here is our new routine! I mess up twice but I think you can get the hang of it. Have fun learning this in the comforts of your own home and next week you can show off your stuff!

Calories needed to lose weight

There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. (On average 75% of this is fat, 25% lean tissue) If you create a 7000 calorie deficit you will lose two pounds and so on. The calorie deficit can be achieved either by calorie-restriction alone, or by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is best for lasting weight loss. Indeed, sustained weight loss is difficult or impossible without increased regular exercise.
If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.
An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start. You may increase this depending on your weight loss goals.
The best thing to do for your body is to watch what you eat. You need to write down everything you eat in a day so you can look back on it and evaluate your food intake. Make your self a food log and keep track everyday. Make sure you are eating 6 times a day rather than 2 or 3 times. The more you eat healthy foods all day long the faster your metabolism becomes. Don't starve yourself from treats. Eat one small one a day or wait till the weekend and reward yourself for how good you did during the week. Make sure you cut back on the carbs and sugars. A good rule of thumb is don't eat them after 4:00 pm. Eat your bread for lunch but stay away from it at dinner. Same goes for your treats during the week. Have one after lunch but hold off on the sugar after dinner. The last important thing is drinking tons of water. You will not lose weight if you are not drinking enough water everyday. It is essential to weight loss. Get a larger water bottle and commit to drinking it and filling it up 3 times a day. These guidelines are not to difficult and if you drink your water and keep a food log you will see results.