Will Doing Pilates Help Me Lose Weight?
                  by Paul Meripol

Practicing Pilates, especially as a beginner, is not a particularly cardiovascular activity, and so, not a huge calorie burning activity.  Of course, any movement is good movement, and doing Pilates is certainly a lot better than just sitting on the couch watching television!

But time and time again, I see clients who have been doing Pilates for a while losing weight and losing sizes.  There is a magic moment that I have talked about with other teachers, and they all recognize it and have seen it too.  A client comes to me for the first time, and it’s clear she isn’t comfortable with her body. She comes to the studio in loose fitting tee shirts and sweat pants.  For some period of months or maybe even longer she continues to dress like that.  Then, the magic day comes...  She comes in the door wearing chic and snug workout gear.  She has been shopping!

Pilates for many serves as a gateway into a new way of perceiving themselves and their bodies, and passing through that gateway can be profound.  Little changes start accumulating, and taken together they are huge.  We make some changes in our diets or we start another exercise program, because Pilates has shown us just how good exercise can feel.  Because we feel stronger, fitter, happier; we respect our selves in new way, and the weight loss seems almost a byproduct of that.

Is it really that easy?  Well, maybe not.  But, I have seen it time and time again, and I know it happens.

Something else happens too.  The further you progress in your Pilates practice and the deeper your understanding of the practice is, the more cardiovascular and heart-pumping the workout becomes.  There is no workout any more difficult and sweat-inducing than a really excellent, advanced, mat workout that leaves you trembling at the end.  Then, Pilates really is a weigh-loss exercise routine.

So does Pilates help you lose weight?  I say yes!