I'm a good specimen for this topic because I started playing DDR after puberty was over, and have made no other lifestyle changes other than DDR/Stepmania. I am 5'10 and I weighed over 200 pounds. I was never obese, but I was and still am overweight. I had tried several times to start one form of exercise or another but nothing ever stuck.
I started in March of 2007, and lost a small amount of weight during the following months. I was playing about 4 days a week on light and standard. When summer hit and I had a lot more free time, I started playing 6-7 days a week, and moved up to heavy. This is where I really started noticing the effects of the exercise. I probably got down to about 185 or even less, but it's hard to say how much fat I lost because at the same time, I got a lot more muscles in my legs (which I believe is from never using the bar or a chair, but please let's not start a bar/nobar debate).
Even though the amount of weight wasn't drastic, comparing myself with old pictures told the tale. I also have a noticeable increase in energy. I don't have any noticeable fat anywhere except on my gut which stubbornly persists, but is getting smaller. I gained about five pounds during the 2007-2008 schoolyear due to only playing 3 or 4 times a week. Now that the summer is here, i've been hitting the pad. My goals for the summer are to get down to 175-180 and to pass Maxx300.
The only lifestyle changes I made were that I've started playing DDR, and I cut out High-Fructose Corn syrup, which may or may not matter. Also, I find myself taking stairs more and going on longer walks with the dogs, but I attribute this to having more energy, and not to a conscious decision to be more active. |