17/11/2022
Is Pilates good for losing weight? someone asked me recently.
Let me break it down.
FACT: To lose weight you have to spend more energy than you consume.
FACT: 1 kg of body fat is approximately 7700 kcal.
As I always say to my clients: it’s just about doing the maths, the answer is there. 👩🏼🏫📈📉
DIET:
To lose 1 kg of fat, you have to “remove” 7700 kcal. (MUCH harder than gaining a kg by overeating by 7700 kcal, which can be done with ease and pleasure in just a few days!).
To SAFELY reach a deficit of 7700 kcal, it is recommended to cut no more than 5-700 out every day out of our regular requirement (between 1800-2500, depending on various factors).
EXERCISE
Simplified: increased movement and heart rate makes the body burn more calories than at rest. (That doesn’t mean that a very high heart rate burns lots of fat, but that’s for another day to discuss.)
So to speed the weight loss process up, choose a form of exercise that you enjoy, and you can reach those 7700 kcals of energy expenditure much quicker than if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.
(Having more muscle mass also makes you burn more calories, and a great posture can change your appearance even without weight loss.)
Some examples of calorie expenditure per hour:
Swimming: 4-700
Jogging/running: 5-800
Brisk paced walking: 250
Cycling: 4-700
Zumba: 3-400
HIIT: 5-600
Strength training free weights: 150-400
Pilates: 150-350
So yes, to this end, even if you didn’t change anything about your diet and started doing Pilates 3x per week, you would lose 1kg in around 10 weeks, but a stone (6.35 kg) would take a year to shift.
However if you did a mix of Pilates, cardio, strength and mobility exercises, in combination with healthy eating, well then you are really onto a winner!
To lose stone in a couple of months is a fair and realistic goal.
But the benefits of exercise are of course not just about losing weight.
You will sleep better (which results in less cravings for unhealthy snacks in the day), improve your posture and flexibility, become stronger and faster in your movements, improve your mood and focus, prevent injuries, and generally enjoy life so much more.
MORE LIFE ❤️🤸🏼♀️🧘🏼♀️
