Shake it with Paloma

What is ZUMBA?!

ZUMBA is a fusion of Latin and International music - dance themes creating a dynamic, exciting, effective fitness system!

Zumba combines high energy and motivating music with unique moves and combinations that allow the Zumba participants to dance away their worries. It is based on the principle that a workout should be "FUN AND EASY TO DO" in order for Zumba participants to stick to the Zumba fitness program to achieve long-term health benefits. Zumba is not only great for the body, but is also great for the mind. It is a "feel-happy" workout.

Why you want to do zumba?!

Zumba is fun, different, easy, exotic, and is rapidly becoming the next fitness sensation!

Who can do zumba?!

ANYBODY that loves to dance, have fun and shake it!

What you should bring and wear to a zumba class?

I strongly recommend to bring a bottle of WATER, wear comfortable shoes and streach breath through clothing.

And most important bring lots of energy and a big desire to have FUN!

Go to the official zumba website

Hi my dear Zumbadores!! I want to share with you the tips that helped me loose 20 lbs and stay there!

1- Drink water! Our bodies are up to 75% water! You should drink at least half of what you weight in lbs in ounces of water daily. For example if you weight 150 lbs, drink 75 ounces of water EVERY day!! Keeping yourself hydrated is extremely important! You will sweat more, your skin will look nicer and you will feel better!

2 - Moderation is the clue! Eat in moderation. Don't stuffed up yourself until you feel like you can't eat more. Always seat down to eat and take your time. Taste and enjoy every bite of your food. Chew every bite at least 20x!! Drink a full glass (8oz) of water 20 mins before eating. Many times we confuse thirst with hunger.

3 - Eat snacks! Before I thought that I only should eat my 3 meals and that's it. I was wrong! To keep your metabolism up you should snack. Eat something in between your main meals every 2 to 3 hours. Fresh fruits like oranges, strawberries, watermelon are great snacks. For protein nuts like almonds & walnuts are good and they contain Omega 3.

4 - Eat more veggies & fruits and less bread! Vegetables could be very delicious when you know which ones you like the most and have a good recipe. For example try a thai veggetable soup, hmmm yummy! Or just add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper to any salad, you'll taste the difference! For fruits choose the seasonal ones, fresh is always better! And when you eat bread try to choose the whole wheat & grain ones.

5 - Variety! Make your meal colorful! Make sure you are eating your veggies, as well as your protein, carbs and yes your sweet stuff too :) But everything in moderation like I mentioned before.

6 - Reward yourself. My big problem was that I couldn't crontol my sweet tooth. So I cut back on sweets but I didn't eliminated them completely. Now I reward myself. So If I'm a good girl and I do my workouts at least 4x a week and eat my veggies every day then I can have that piece of cake or scoop of ice cream by the end of the week ;-) And now instead of eating a whole candy bar after my meals, I eat a 2 or 3 small cookies or a half of ice cream sandwich that totals 200 calories or less :)

7- Move and shake it more! Do a cardio activity like zumba at least 3x times a week and strenght training and stretching at least 2x a week. You don't have to do a full hour if you don't have time. Do at least 20 mins. Something is better than nothing! Play more with your kids, find a sport you enjoy practicing, get a workout buddy, mow your grass!! And come do Zumba with me!!!
:-D

Link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=u5JmPXvdCuA&mode=related&search=

Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/features/zumba/index.html

Go to this link to learn the basic dances that we do in Zumba in a very simple & easy way. I hope you find this helpful!