Pilates and Weight Loss: The One Thing You Need to Know

I already mentioned that Byootifull is about working out the body, mind and spirit. But since I am an experienced pilates instructor, I thought I might as well get this comment out of the way...

You've done your homework, read up on the many celebrity bodies rehaped by pilates and are ready to take the plunge yourself. You walk into your chosen pilates studio and declare: "I heard pilates makes you skinny and I want to lose weight."  As a pilates business person, I feel a brief temptation to say, "Yep, that's right.  Sign up here for a package of a million sessions and let's go!"  But as an informed movement specialist and conscientious individual, I actually tell you "Pilates will make you look slim and trim but it is not just a weight loss program."

​Get off the scale, get into your body

So then what is pilates all about and why is it so good for you? Pilates is a total body conditioning system that increases your strength and flexibility. Pilates may make you look leaner because your muscles will become more toned. However, it is not designed specifically to be an aerobic activity. Aerobic activity - activity that gets the heart rate up and burns calories - is the key to losing weight. 

The Key to Weight Loss

For those of you specifically interested in calorie burn, this is the one easy formula you need to remember:

Calories IN  <  Calories OUT = Weight loss

Whatever activity you choose, you will lose weight if you burn more calories than you take in.  

You could spend all day lolling around on the couch and still lose weight. Think about those days when you've been sick in bed for a few days with a stomach flu. You don't move much but you don't eat much either and when you finally get up you are gaunt and lean looking.

I am not advocating the couch potato approach to fitness. My point is there's no magic to weight loss. Burn more calories than you eat. That's it.

If pilates helps you burn more calories than you take in, then yes, it can be part of an effective weight loss program. If you do it right, pilates will make you will look and feel slimmer even if you do not lose any weight. The key is practicing the precise technique required to do the exercises correctly. 

One of my clients started regular pilates lessons with me, two to three times a week, in October.  By the time she had her family over for Thanksgiving dinner, her relatives were asking if she had lost weight. I promise, if you do pilates the way it was designed, your friends and family will start asking you how long you've been dieting, even if you haven't. Not that you should be aiming for skinny! Aim for powerful, beautiful, graceful, elegant and you will see a leaner you emerge along the way