I Tried Pilates For Six-Months Here Are My Results + Photos.
Have you seen the trends? Suddenly Pilates is more popular than ever. After seeing 101 TikToks about how transformative Pilates is, I decided to try it. Couldn’t hurt, right?
For context, I’ve been overweight my entire life it’s normal to me at this point, and I haven’t been trying to change it, but after the sudden onset of weird health problems and finding out I have Insulin resistant PCOS, I’ve been a little more motivated to get healthier even if that didn’t mean a change on the scale or in my pants size.
Pilates felt like the perfect place to start Its low impact, and I get to lie down on a reformer or mat for a lot of it. The perfect workout for an out-of-shape 25-year-old, right?
Here is what happened when I tried Pilates.
How I Found Pilates.
Early this year, I kept seeing TikTok after TikTok about how Pilates is good on the adrenals and how it’s better for your health than some other forms of working out. So my interest was already peaking. Everyone I saw online talking about pilates was super skinny, in great shape, and basically perfect, so I figured they must know what they are talking about.
Then we moved to a new town, and right next to my chosen nail salon was a Pilates studio (It’s a Club Pilates. It’s a chain there might be one near you!) and because the internet knows everything, I started seeing Facebook and Instagram ads for that very pilates studio offering a free class.
I ignored them for a few months.
Then slowly, I started feeling like the PCOS and random allergic reactions should be dealt with, and maybe Pilates was the place to start.
So I signed up for the free class.
At the time I signed up for the first class, I was still under the impression that Pilates was kind of like Yoga. Oh, boy, was I wrong. The night before my first class, I decided to look up Pilates workouts on YouTube, and I went from excited to nervous real quick.
I was so nervous because now I knew it was going to be a real workout, and I was going to have to do it in front of super fit and skinny people. I was out of shape, and in my mind, I was going to embarrass myself big time.
My First Class.
Right before my first class in May, I was wearing a size 20/22 with a 45-inch waist and 56-inch hips. (this feels like a very vulnerable thing to share on the internet, lol.)
I walked into my first class with the grippy socks I ordered overnight from Amazon, and I was excited to be there but also terrified of embarrassing myself.
Oh, boy, was I in for a rude awakening. I would have been embarrassed if I had the energy to think about anything other than how exhausted I was. I was sweating like a hog over a fire. I was shaking half the time. I struggled through basically every move the instructor taught. But at the end of It, I kind of wanted to do it again.
and because I don’t half do anything after my first class, I dove in head first and got an unlimited membership.
I went back for another class the next morning with a different instructor, and the playlist slapped, and the class was so much easier to get through. Then that first week I started finding more instructors and class types I really enjoyed, and I no longer felt like I was dragging myself to class.
After The First Class.
You should know that Pilates is expensive, which meant if I was doing this, I really needed to do this. I couldn’t justify paying over $100 a month on a Pilates membership I wasn’t using, so I started going about five days a week.
I tried stretching classes, balance classes, cardio classes, and basically everything my studio had to offer.
In the beginning, I did more balance and stretching classes mostly because If I tried to attend mostly normal reformer classes or cardio classes five days a week in the beginning, I simply would have passed away.
Then before I could even realize what was happening, it was getting easier, making me happier than I’d been in years, and transforming my body.
By the end of my first month, I was feeling a lot more sure of myself In class.
By the end of the second month, I was obsessed.
And now Pilates is probably 1/3 of my personality.
My Results
Now I’ve been going to Pilates 4+ days a week for the past six months, and my results shocked even me as I went to write this post.
Like I said before starting Pilates, I was wearing a size 20/22, and my waist was 45 inches.
I started with the goal of just getting healthier I didn’t necessarily do it to see movement on the scale or in my pant size.
But now I’ve lost over 20% of my body weight (over 60 lbs). I’m now wearing a size 14, and I’ve lost over 10 inches from each of my waist and hips.
I haven’t really done much shopping since I started Pilates because basically, all I wear are leggings and t-shirts, which you can wear through body changes but recently, I got curious about what size I would be now. I tried on a few pairs of jeans, and I now wear a size 14.
Wearing a size 14 is crazy to me because that’s the same size I wore in high school and in high school, I thought it was huge, but now I couldn’t be more excited to be this size.
In six months of pilates:
I lost 10 inches from my waist.
I lost 10 inches from my hips.
I lost over 60 lbs.
I’m now 3, or 4 pant sizes smaller.
Pilates has been absolutely life-changing for me.
In addition to Pilates, I also reduced my calories and found the right medications to treat my PCOS, but I wouldn’t have done those things without the confidence I gained from Pilates. I can talk about this stuff in another post if you guys are interested.
So, I’d say the hype is 100% accurate, Pilates has changed my life forever.
This felt like something worth sharing with you guys, even though it makes me uncomfy because, who knows, maybe Pilates could also be life-changing for you too.
The Before & Now Photos.
Okay, the moment we’ve all been waiting for here are some very un-aesthetic before and after photos because I didn’t really start this journey expecting to have an “after”. (I seriously can’t believe I’m sharing these photos on my blog.)
Want to know more?
I’d love to talk more about Pilates on the blog so if you have any questions or want more details on anything else I mentioned leave a comment below or use my contact form to reach out.