Thread: Prevention bd article

The Slim-Down Shimmy - MSN Health & Fitness - Women's Fitness

What do y'all think?

<sigh>
To each his own, but I'm so tired of hearing about this "belly dance to slim down" stuff. I feel somehow that it cheapens the art.

Yes, ART! I happen to be a large woman myself and belly dancing is a major component of my lifestyle, but I NEVER think it as something I'm doing for the purpose of losing weight or "getting in shape." It's a form of creative artistic expression that I deeply love, and THAT is why I do it.

Rosette

If belly dance is a way to get a woman active, improve her circulation and flexibility, and enhance her own self image then I think it is wonderful! Shimmy drills are aerobic and for someone who starts out inactive it may be a great, low impact way to get them moving.

Belly dance literally saved my life and I mean it. I was a gym rat, fit and healthy until I developed acute anxiety (panic disorder). I was put on Paxil and while it was a miracle in helping me deal with the panic, it caused a weight gain just as the warnings say it might. Eventually I gained 50 lbs. As a result of the panic and the medication I went to the gym less, stayed inside safe and secure more, and the drug adjusting my serotonin levels took away some of the craving and need for exercise. Then injured myself in the gym one of the irregular times I went. I quit lifting and cardio. A year later I was over 230 lbs and sick. That is when I started belly dance, not as an art form but as a way to get moving again.

And I did lose weight, regain strength and flexibility, gain self-confidence, and returned to the gym. In January I got off Paxil for good and have lost another 25 lbs and am on my way to being back at a normal weight.

If it wasn't for shimmies, I don't know where I would be now.

Souzan

Some say that belly dance doesn't promote weight loss, that it isn't aerobic enough (doesn't get the heart rate up enough). It has to be better than doing nothing, though and is low impact.

It is an art and a form of expression first and foremost, as you said Rosette.

I have nothing against larger individuals who take up dance for either art or exercise. This article is terribly misleading, though. It feeds the public's misunderstanding about what a dancer looks like, and it also encourages the idea that you can spot reduce. Many very good professional dancers have a little jiggle around their midsections, and it is not for lack of practice. You are not going to get "that flat-bellied look you crave" just from this routine, even if you do hip circles and snake arms for 15 hours a day, and definitely not if you are doing it for 15 minutes a day. It's fine that they incorporated a few dance moves into an exercise routine, but they may as well print an article next month called "The Lavender Cellulite Blaster," where you can learn how to magically un-flab yourself in 15 minutes a day using exercises inspired by shades of light purple crayons. The only positive I see from this sort of attention is that it might encourage a few people to sign up for a real dance class--otherwise it's garbage.

Great story Souzan! Congratulations!

I enjoy the art of bellydance; I also enjoy all the other benefits associated therewith. I doubt if anyone can disagree with the weight loss\ body shaping benefits of the dance.

Some say painting is a great relaxation tool, it does not follow that because it is relaxing it somehow makes it less beautiful or cheapens the art.

Oh I don't deny the physical benefits, not to mention the emotional ones. It's seeing belly dance marketed specifically as a weight loss method that irks me. And I have seen new students come into a class and express disappointment and loss of interest because the instructor (though happening to be a great dancer and teacher) is not thin - thus showing that belly dancing "doesn't really work".,m::
R

You know, they used to market those wobble plate things for people to do exercises on here a few months back. They'd have some gym bunny girl with all five percent of her body fat shaking about while she was doing squats, effectively shimmying while exercising through the power of science, saying "and I can tell that with this wobble plate thing my love handles will soon be melted away!"

Uh, no they won't.

People lose weight through BD because: they are dancing a hell of a lot; they become more body/weight aware and are more careful about what they eat; they haven't exercised at all and their body has reacted with shock and dropped a few pounds.

I do argue that all people definitely become more *toned* through BD.

Actually, one of the best ways to lose weight and stay fit is to find a physical skill you enjoy and strive to improve continuously. That can be tennis, karate, ice skating or bellydance. As long as you learn to enjoy movement. Lots of heavy people dislike their bodies, learning a skill can help improve that feeling.

Any exercise you get on top of your normal routine is going to help with weight loss. For most people, adding half an hour on the tredmill every day is harder to keep up than something they really enjoy and want to learn.

Souzan, what an inspiring story. I'm glad you're doing well now. Congrats.