I used to be one of those skinny women that everyone hated. I’ve never had a big appetite so I was able to eat whatever I wanted. My job kept me moving enough that obesity was never an issue for me.

Last year I left my fairly active job (as a cardiology technician) to take a different position in the emergency room as a coder. For those who don’t know, coding is a desk job. The only time I get up is to pee and to eat. I’ve also just started with perimenopause (the beginnings of the “change of life”) so my body has been falling apart little by little.

When I weighed myself after that first year on the new job, it shouldn’t have been any surprise that I had gained 15 lbs. It was! I don’t want moan and groan too much about it because I always swore I wanted to gain more weight. I was still within my normal weight range. Yet, I wasn’t happy with myself because it wasn't proportional. All of that new weight went to my midsection. I went for a physical exam and found out my cholesterol was borderline high. My doctor sent me for a Dexa scan (to check my bone density) and I am also starting with osteopenia. This is the beginning stage of the “old lady” disease where your bones can become very fragile. I knew most of this came from the years I did not eat well and didn’t get enough calcium in my diet.

One of the ways to fight this is to take calcium supplements and exercise so I made up my mind to start exercising.

Did I mention I loathe exercise?

There is a Curves less than a mile away from the hospital and lots of our staff go there (it’s for ladies only). One of my best friends joined and raved about it, so I decided to check it out. I figured it would be easier to work out if someone I knew was there.

I’m rather skeptical because I’ve joined spas before and never lasted long. When I was in my 20’s, I did Holiday Spas (which has since changed it’s name to Bally’s) and Spa Lady. I rather liked the weights at Holiday Spa but I always had to contend with the stinky men and the staff members weren't very helpful. I mostly swam in their pool and laid out in the sun.

What finally sold me on Curves was the way they let me join. You can join for a year for a cheaper rate ($29.00 a month) or you can go from month to month for $39.00. I liked the monthly plan because it gave me the opportunity to exercise without committing to it. The proximity of Curves to my work was also appealing. I don’t bother to change into workout garb like I used to when I was at Bally’s. I can leave right from the hospital, get there in 5 minutes, do their 30 minute workout in my uniform and then get the hell out of there. No fuss, no muss.

With the other spas, I had to go home, change and then head back out again. Now that I'm older, I know the drill. Once I get home, I'll get lazy and won’t go back out again. Curves seemed the quickest and most sensible plan to get my lazy butt moving.

Curves is fairly cheap because it’s a no frills place. The one I attend has one bathroom, no showers. There are two dressing rooms, a water cooler and wire cubbyholes to shove your things in. They have about 10 different machines, with aerobic type boards in between each one. It's all arranged in a circle. The idea is to walk in place on each board for 30 seconds until a voice comes over the speaker and tells you to move to your next station. You get on a machine and do this for 30 seconds and then go to the next board. You do two circuits of this, followed by a few minutes of stretching exercises and you're done. There are no weights so the machines aren’t heavy. They use hydraulic resistance for strength training. It is not terribly difficult to learn and it doesn’t leave me all achy and sore like other workouts do.

The concept is easy. You’re supposed to get up to a certain percentage of your maximal heart rate (70%), Any less and it’s not effective. Too much, and you’re supposedly burning muscle and not fat. They stop you about every 10 or 15 minutes or so (I’ve never timed them) to make you take your pulse to see how you’re doing. They have a big poster on the wall with your age and your desired target heart rate so you can figure it out pretty quickly and easily. The fitness instructors are there the entire time and are constantly asking you what “Color” you are. The heart rate chart has different colors for where you are supposed to be. They offer helpful tips on working the machines (which aren’t difficult) and how to get your heart rate to optimum level. The music’s fairly loud, but not so loud that you can’t talk to the person next to you. It’s the kind of music that gets you pumped up & motivated.

Another bonus is that there seem to be Curves popping up everywhere and you can go to other ones besides the one you join. Just ask and they will give you a travel card, which lets you visit other branches. They have an international website http://www.curvesinternational.com/ which lets you type in your zip code to see if there is a Curves near you. This is what I use to locate new ones when I go on vacation. I’ve also made it a point to visit several of the Curves near my house to see if they do anything different or better. There are minor variations, but they're basically the same.

I started in June 2003. I’m 5'6" and weighed 140 lbs. My waist was 32.5”, hips 40.5”, and abdomen 38”. My weight was normal for my height, but my belly was disproportionate to the rest of my body. I looked about 5 months pregnant and I’ve never had kids!

I averaged 4 days a week in the beginning but once school started back up (I also work full time) I dropped down to 3 days a week. During the holidays I only did 2 days a week. Now I’ve got a head cold so I’m in kind of a slump. I despise wintertime and have a hard time staying motivated until it warms up again.

It’s been a total of 7 months so far for me at Curves. I have lost a total of 5 pounds. For others who want to lose more, don’t be discouraged because that’s all I wanted to lose. I also kept a food diary at http://www.fitday.com which made me very aware of all the crap I was putting in my mouth. I’ve lost 2.5” from my waist, 3.5” from my hips and 2.5” from my abdomen. My body total was 12.5 inches lost. Unfortunately, one of the inches lost also came from my boobies. That one could have stayed. Otherwise I am happy with the results. I feel much better about myself.

I don't think Curves *alone* is the way to go if you want to lose a lot of weight. If you’re looking to lose more than 10 lbs, I recommend a sensible diet plan such Weight Watcher’s. Curves is a decent adjunct to weight loss but I don’t think you’ll lose a whole lot using this alone. If you’ve got the cash, do *both* Weight Watcher’s and Curves.
A few ladies who work out with me were morbidly obese and joined both programs and they really took the weight off.

I like the staff and I’ve gotten to know and like some of the other regulars who come in to exercise at the same time I do. I’ve never had the problem of anyone “hogging” a machine or having to follow someone who left a machine stinky and sweaty. Only twice has it been so full that I’ve had to wait for a machine.

If you are a serious workout buff or jock, Curves will probably not be enough of a workout for you. If you want big muscles or rippled abs, I doubt you’ll get those from Curves. However, I think it’s an excellent fitness center for beginners or for people like me who loathe exercising and just want to get in and get it over with as quickly as possible.

Lets face it; most of us don’t have time to exercise so we don’t. Hell, I’m guilty of driving around for an extra 10 minutes just so I can park closer at the supermarket. I’ve had to change my way thinking regarding a lot of things. Ultimately, it all adds up. Every extra thing you put in your mouth and every extra step you don’t take. So Curves is a pretty good deal for people like me.

The only negative things I have to say are these:
Although I loved their music in the beginning, I swear they play the same couple of CDs all the time so I’m getting tired of hearing them. They need new tunes.

The workout is also becoming routine and I don’t feel like it’s doing much for me anymore. I feel like I need to move up to something more challenging. I loved weight training in college and I miss that.

Do I regret joining? Not at all! It’s fun and it got me started back on the path to taking better care of myself.

Will I rejoin Curves when my yearly membership is done? I’m not sure. I like it, but I'm getting bored. I may look for something more challenging.


Recommended: Yes