Have You Ever Tried...?

Get hooked on the Turbo KICK® high! With cardio kickboxing and body-sculpting dance moves choreographed to the hottest music mixes, you'll burn a ton of calories - and have a blast doing it! This high intensity, fast-paced class is offered at:

Kempsville | Wednesdays from 5:45 - 6:45 pm in the Gym

Williams Farm | Saturdays from 9:15 - 10:15 am in the Group Fitness Room (starting in April)

Instructor, Caitlin Scott says, "Five years ago I had a trainer recommend I try Turbo KICK®. I absolutely fell in love with the format, and it quickly became a part of my weekly workout regimen. It is a great cardio-pumping workout, and the best part is that it's FUN! Fun workouts are always the best workouts - come give it a try - I know you'll end up loving it too!"

As a drop-in group fitness class, Turbo KICK® requires a group fitness punch card or unlimited pass and a membership card. Cards and passes can be purchased at any recreation center.

Have you experienced the joy of losing weight, only to experience the disappointment of gaining it back shortly thereafter? About 95 percent of people on diets gain back the weight they've lost. This is largely because most diets require deprivation. And deprivation doesn't work.

The reality of it is, no one goes to bed skinny and wakes up fat. Most people gain (and lose) weight so slowly that they can't figure out why. Enter the 'Mindless Margin'. This is a zone of about 200-300 calories in which we can either slightly overeat or undereat without being aware of the small differences. While on a day-to-day basis, this may appear minimal, over the course of a year it could mean weight gain or loss of about 10 pounds!

There are plenty of ways to use this margin to your advantage and hardly know the difference. For example, while the two glasses pictured at right hold the same amount of liquid, they're not entirely equal. The brain tends to over focus on the height of objects at the expense of their width, so you're likely to drink more out of a shorter, wider glass. This is great if you're trying to drink more water, but can be problematic if you're trying to drink less soda. Putting sugary drinks in the taller, thinner glass will trick your brain into thinking you're drinking more, while actually sparing you some calories. By using visual illusions like this to your advantage, you could eliminate a couple hundred calories without even noticing!

For more ways to use this mindless margin to your advantage, check out "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink at your local library. 

Bow Creek Recreation Center is closed for a long-term modernization project.

Don't forget that your membership is good at all Virginia Beach Recreation Centers! If your usual center is closed for maintenance, take the opportunity to visit another center. Use this locator to help you find one!