"Dirty" Dancing?

Last week I received a vitriolic phone message from a man who was incensed that I teach "sexually provocative" dance at Richwood Presbyterian Church. After ranting about my sinfulness, he "insisted" that I cease teaching classes immediately and write a letter to the community via the Grant County News apologizing for leading the womenfolk of northern Kentucky astray.

Now, I could have called the fellow (who is not affiliated with the church in any way) back and given him a long lecture on the history and art of Oriental (a.k.a. Belly) Dance; it's ancient origins as a folk dance among women and men of the Middle East; the purposes of dance in general as a form of communication, et cetera, et cetera and so forth and so forth.

Instead I blocked his phone number, regained the blessing of church leaders to continue the classes, and called the sheriff to let him know about Boone County latest wacko.

But honestly, I was upset. I'm not in the habit of getting nasty phone calls. I, like everyone else, want people to think kindly of me, and to respect what I say and do. When it comes to any form of exercise, however, it is very easy to let the opinions of your family, friends, neighbors and even strangers stop us from doing what we love and what we need to do.

How often have you decided NOT to exercise because you didn't want anyone to see you in shorts? How often have you told yourself, "I look bad enough--never mind how I look sweaty!" How often have you decided to sit out a dance because you aren't a "good" dancer?

I can't pump up your self-esteem over the internet. I cannot cover your ears to the derision and scorn (real or imagined) that you hear from loved ones and strangers. But I can tell you with authority born of both research and practice that sometimes making a fool of yourself (or even incurring the wrath of the occasional nutjob) is the wisest decision you can make.

I saw a clinically obese woman walking in Edgewood last week. She was dripping sweat, the armpits and back of her t-shirt soaked through. She'd break into a half-jog for a few steps, slow down, then jog again. She was working to solve her problem and she was beautiful. I wanted to jump out of my car and hug her, but northern Kentucky doesn't need another wacko.

By the way . . . everyone is beautiful in dance class! This is the LAST week to register for classes beginning September 2, so e-mail me today if you want to join in!

My Life as a Guinea Pig

I am a member of the National Weight Control Registry, an ongoing study of over 5,000 people who have lost weight and successfully kept if off for a year or more. Periodically they send me huge surveys in which I detail the food I've for the last several months, my level of physical activity and other relevant lifestyle choices I make.

Every so often, they send me study results (which are often posted in major popular and scientific media). The latest data compilations from the NWCR show the following:

#1 "Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low-energy, low-fat diet." By "low energy," the researchers are talking about calories--not about how depressed you feel after gnawing your way through another stalk of celery. The bombshell here: thin people eat less than overweight people.

I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock.

This result explodes the fantasy that you'll diet dramatically, lose all the weight, then swing right back into a freewheeling, party lifestyle full of joy and pasta. The lifestyle changes necessary to lose and keep off weight are permament. You get to decide whether or not to continue eating next year's calories this year--and pay with years off your life. Or you can accept (as I have accepted and must accept over and over again) that wellness will take attention and effort your whole life long.

#2 There are "no significant differences in the metabolic rates of those who had never been overweight and Registry members . . . [showing] that having a lower metabolic rate is not a necessary consequence of losing weight . . . weight loss can be maintained primarily through diet and exercise and that weight gain is not due to problems with metabolism.

This result counters an excuse I hear a lot,

"I'm heavy because I have a slow metabolism."

(Actually, overweight people have a faster metabolism than their thin counterparts: It takes the body more energy to maintain a larger mass than it does a smaller one, though thinner people can keep a higher metabolism by maintaining muscle mass.)

At the heart of this excuse is the desire to blame the body for the decisions you make. It's your pancreas's fault that you cooked that microwave brownie, picked up the fork, dropped the fork and pushed it into your mouth with your fingers. It's your liver's fault you told your friend, "It's too cold to walk today."

I know there are subtle subconscious processes that undermine healthy decisions every minute of every day. But it is possible to override these messages and take the high (and hilly) road to health. Over 5,000 people have already proven it. You can be 5,001.

(P.S. You can join the study if you qualify! Don't qualify yet? Join Belly Dance classes and get yourself into study-ready shape.)

How to Lose Weight

All effective weight loss plans have certain elements in common. In order to lose weight, most of us need to take five steps in the following order:

1. Track your food intake. Write down every bite of everything, measuring your portions as you serve them. Data from the National Weight Control Registry (of which I am a member) shows that this one step is absolutely necessary (and for many people, all that is necessary to actually lose weight).

2. Control your food intake. Whether you count Weight Watcher points (the commercial program with the most proven data), count calories, count fat grams or count bites, you must set a limit and stay at or not far under it. It's trendy to refer to dieting as a "lifestyle change," but in the case of people who are overweight, it boils down to one thing. You must eat less food than you currently are eating.

3. Increase your cardiovascular activity. Walking, biking, swimming, belly dancing, you name it--you need to move in a rhythmic way that elevates your heart rate, brings you to a light sweat and uses up the excess calories you've already stored.

4. Increase your muscle mass. Aging and sedentary lifestyles lead to shrinking muscle mass and slowing metabolisms. What you deplete, you must put back! Strength training with weights, bands, calisthenics, walking hills, et cetera, rebuilds the muscles and create more "fat-burning factories" in the body.

While most personal trainers start right off with strength training for weight loss clients, I feel this is putting the cart before the horse. If your diet is too rich and you aren't even managing a little walk now and then, you may tone up with strength training--but you will not lose weight.

5. Reduce stress/increase flexibility. Practices such as yoga alleviate stress, which is often the catalyst for overeating. In addition, the reduced joint and back pain from a little stretching each day allows you to enjoy a more active lifestyle--spending weekends at the park with grandkids, for example, instead of on the couch in front of Seinfeld reruns. Will yoga alone use enough calories to lose weight? Probably not--especially if you eat back the calories you burn. That said, most of the thinnest people I work with are regular yoga practitioners and instructors.

Does this list look overwhelming? Are you irritated with me because I did not write anything you haven't heard before? Are your shoulders in your ears because you know you should pick up a pen and write down what you ate for breakfast (and early-morning snack, and late-morning snack, and early lunch and late lunch) but you just don't want to?

Okay. That's okay. Take a deep breath now. Then face your decision. You are either choosing at this moment to take step 1 and work on 1-5, or you are choosing not to. You are choosing to begin losing weight--or you are choosing to stay where you are at this moment. But there's one more thing you should know . . .

People who succeed at losing weight don't go it alone. They get help. They find walking buddies. They hire personal trainers. They take classes with friends. They attend support groups. They make the choice, then they structure their communities to support that choice.

Make the choice. Get support. Take the steps. Lose the weight.

You can do this.

P.S. Need a reminder to read your motivator? E-mail me at keri@radiantfitness.com to subscribe (or put it in your feeds list). Think I'm right on the money or full of baloney? Hit "comments" below to leave your two cents.