How to Look Skinny with Pilates Without Losing Weight
A lot of newbies come into pilates and say “I’m here because I heard pilates makes you skinny and I want to lose weight.” As a business person, I should say, “Yep, that’s right. Sign here for a million sessions and let’s go!” But as a movement specialist and conscientious individual, I end up saying “Pilates will make you look slim and trim but it is so much more than just a weight loss program.”
Whatever activity you choose, you will lose weight if you burn more calories than you take in. Let’s review the very simple formula for any weight loss:
Calories IN < Calories OUT = Weight loss
If you spend all day lolling on the couch but don’t eat anything, it’s still possible for you to lose weight. Think about when you’re 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.
My point is there’s no magic to weight loss. Move more than you eat. That’s it.
So if pilates helps you burn more calories than you take in, then yes, it will be part of an effective weight loss program. But perhaps more importantly, even if your weight does not change, you will look slimmer as a result of performing pilates exercises well. You will get so much more out of your classes if you remember that and focus on your technique. I promise, if you do the technique well, your friends and family will start asking you when you lost weight, even if you haven’t. This happened to a client of mine who started pilates in October. By Thanksgiving her visiting relatives were asking if she had lost weight.
Approach pilates as you would approach learning any new technical skill. Focus on trying to master your skill. You don’t ever have to actually become a master but your body will start to reflect your effort. Don’t just aim for aesthetic effect. That’s like learning to swim so you’ll look good in a bathing suit. You’ll look good in that bathing suit when you become a good swimmer. Train like a master and you will start to look like one.
Look at dancers. Dancers don’t start dance training at age four to become look good in their jeans. Dancers dance to master the skill of dancing. They practice specific movements over time. They move with strength, power, grace and beauty until it becomes second nature. They execute each movement with focused concentration so that each repetition is better than the last. Through this highly coordinated effort of mind and body, they sculpt their physique into the spectacular dancer’s form that is also, by the way, slim.
I had a woman come into the studio who said she wanted to do pilates then peppered her exercises with statements like these: “I don’t need instructions. I don’t need to do it correctly. I don’t want to become a pilates master. I just need to do some kind of exercise.” Wow. My successful clients aim for perfect and often land at great. I applaud them. This woman had barely started and was already aiming the bar low. That didn’t give either of us much room to play with. I could tell she wouldn’t last long in the studio. After a few weeks of dainty flopping about, ignoring my instructions and disinterested sighing she stopped coming. If I were her, I would have stopped too. As I said earlier, pilates is not magic. The amazing benefits you get from pilates require concentration and genuine effort. If you can’t commit at least that to your own body, pilates won’t give you much back.
If you want easy exercise that doesn’t require thought, try running outside or on a treadmill. It’s free (outside) and even though good runners do have form, if yours sucks you’ll still get some cardio benefit and burn calories. You won’t strengthen your core or improve your posture. You might even rack up some bonus hip, knee or back pain. But if you really want to put as little thought as possible into your body conditioning, you’ll probably enjoy that activity more.
Otherwise, stick with the physical and mental challenge that pilates offers. When you are in class, make it your goal to aim for perfect. That way if you fall short, you’re likely to still be very, very good. You’ll look longer and leaner even if the scale doesn’t budge. That focus on the true purpose and benefits of pilates will get you the amazing results for which pilates is famous.