My ultimate goal for weight loss is to be cute and COMFORTABLE by summer. I live in a town on Lake Michigan and surround myself with plenty of outdoor activities in the summer. My favorite activities are going to the beach, camping, hiking, disc golf, and music festivals. I took up hula hooping (hula hoop dancing) because it looked really fun and would give me something to do at these music festivals rather than just sit there. I love hooping. The time goes by really fast as I basically just listen to music and feel my body move with the hoop.

The bottom line...I read that hooping can burn 200-400 cals in 30 minutes. My hoop is weighted and I dance while hooping, so I guestimate I am closer to the 400 side. Last weekend I went on a terrible binge and failed to workout for like 3 days. When I resumed exercise Tuesday I threw in over 30 minutes of hula (otherwise I just jog, step, yoga with the wii). Each morning after hula I wake up to find a 1lb loss. I am eating OK (fruit/vegetable binge), but have slipped up on the sweets a couple times this week.

So what's going on? Is hooping a super exercise? Did the weekend binge shock my body and now restricted diet and exercise are more effective? Any ideas?

First of all I think this is really neat. I've thought about doing this myself, but can really only remember one time as a kid where I the hoop going. Every other time it just fell down, but I still loved the dang thing. Plus I think the weighted hoops that people put ribbon around and decorate are really neat looking!

As far as your loss is concerned I would say its probably that you shocked your body into a loss by consuming more calories. I found recently when I was really struggling with the scale not budging/fluctuating that I had a loss after being "naughty" as well. Sometimes your body needs this, however, too often isn't good for you (obviously).

A pound a day loss isn't very realistic nor is it healthy. I think you're seeing a loss after consuming more calories and working out more. You know how when you first start a diet you lose MUCH more in the first week or two than when you slow down to the 1-2 lbs per week? That's probably what your body is doing right now.

Either way, keep it up and CONGRATS.

Now, how do I learn to hula hoop? LOL

i believe what is REALLY happening is that you are still dropping the excess water weiht you prob gained from binging. Whenever i over do it big-time, the water weight will consistently fall off for a few days. Not to burst your bubble, but i dont believe you are dropping a pound of fat a day....

Hey Feral, I'm not sure if you have a Wii Fit, but there is a hula hooping game on there that is a blast! Especially when male friends get on it, LOL! But I can't hula hoop to save my life and I love that game if you're really interested!