PAYING FOR ZUMBA CLASSES TO SLIM DOWN?

A FEW months ago, our sister, came home telling us about her Zumba classes here in Port Moresby.

Yes, she also needed to slim down.

Sometime later the sister-inlaw also joined the Zumba group.

I do not know how much they are paying for each day’s session, but I think they paid a lot.

Such activities in a developing country like PNG (where 90% of the people live in the villages or rural areas) exist only in the cities.

I often thought how illogical it is - trying to slim down by paying someone else to motivate you through music, dance and exercise.

But then I realized that the two ladies were not like others who had participated in sports when they were younger and those others would know the simple exercises of push-ups, sit-ups or just running to either maintain their form - or lose a few kilos.

Of course, being careful about what you eat and how much you eat is another point that has to be considered.

The ladies said a few men were their classmates in their Zumba lessons.

We thought that was funny.

Personally, I cannot understand why I should pay someone else to slim down – having someone else supervising me?

I reasoned with myself that since I had participated in sports when I was younger, if I wanted to slim down, I do not need another person to fix that up for me – which also means, having to pay him/her some money.

If I was back in the village, I would take time out regularly on most afternoons where my nephews or cousins would be juggling a soccer ball and I could be with them – apart from doing chores around the house.

But for us in the city, we may not have the time and the place and therefore we must come up with plans to do exercises to help us maintain a good form.

For some it could mean, a small jog in the afternoons. For others, it could mean taking a walk over a few kilometres.

And for a few, it could mean just stretching and doing a good number of sit-ups and push-ups. (One missionary I knew used to do that every morning. But then, he was a former military guy.)

Really, I cannot imagine myself paying somebody else to help me slim down.

I should just make time available and go through some simple routines which I should continue on a regular basis.      

Learn to exercise while you are young. And try to maintain exercising as you grow older. It helps in a lot of ways.