What's your opinion on Zumba?

C

chita

New member
I'm not sure whether this is the right forum to place this thread it, but oh well lol. I've tried Zumba once, and I did enjoy it, but I would like to know if anyone else has tried it and if it worked for them. I want to continue doing it, but only if I know it's worth my time. :) Any input?
 
I haven't tried it yet myself, but have heard that it's a lot of fun. Whether or not it will work for you really depends on your goals. If your goal is weight loss, then yes, it might work if you do it often enough, but you will likely have to supplement it with exercise on other days. How many days per week were you thinking of going?
 
The gym I go to only offers 3 days a week, so I try to make all those classes. I'm not going to do Zumba on its own though, on days that I don't do Zumba, I do cardio/weight training. :) I just want to know how Zumba aids in the process of losing weight.
 
That's good that you're doing cardio and weight training outside of the Zumba classes. For the most part, I believe that Zumba is aerobic (cardio), but there are some versions of the class that incorporate resistance training as well, so it just depends on the specific class that you're taking. Aim for doing some resistance training 3 days per week and cardio on as many days as possible. How much weight do you want to lose? Those who are looking to lose weight typically should aim for between 150-300 minutes of activity per week, depending on what your starting point is.
 
I'm looking to lose around 20 pounds. I do 300+ minutes of cardio a week, and 150+ minutes of weight training. I don't know if that'll be enough.
 
I think if you're doing that much activity, you should see results! Don't forget that your overall diet is a large part of your weight loss strategy, so no matter how much activity you do, if you're not watching what you eat, you are bound to have some difficulty losing weight.
 
Hmm, I think I am eating properly, but I'll try to amp it down a little. Thank you very much!
 
If you don't mind me asking, what does a typical day look like for you food-wise?
 
For breakfast, I usually eat an apple + a banana + milk. As for lunch, it varies, sometimes a vegetable platter with hummus dip, turkey sandwich, some chicken (baked) etc. As for dinner, I'm taking more protein in, mainly for now just eggs + chicken, and usually a cup of rice. However, I do not consume as many vegetables as I would like to at dinner, so I'm going to try to change that. Although today, I had soup for dinner with gallops of vegetables and chicken, so hopefully that's a little better than what I usually eat.
 
There are probably a few things you could do to tweak your nutrition, but I think you're off to a good start. A great guideline is the new USDA Food Plate, which is replacing the Food Pyramid in the US (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/). This works well for lunch and dinner, but for breakfast you might want to proportion your plate more like 1/3 fruit, 1/3 grains, 1/3 proteins. Use dressings, sauces, oils, and salt very sparingly. And keep in mind that these 'plate' guidelines are for an 8 inch plate, not the 10 or 12 inch plates that are more commonly found in homes and restaurants nowadays :)


There are quite a few good databases out there where you can look up the nutrition data of foods, but here is just one, if you're interested: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
 
No problem, good luck to you!
 
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