Well, I lost 47" and 66 pounds, combination of Curves and WW. YMMV.
Ginger, that’s wonderful. But I think that taking out the WW element would have changed your outcome dramatically. I just don’t think the Curves program burns sufficient calories on its own to lose a significant amount of weight.
I used to do a 1 1/2 hour high intensity step/weight lifting class 3 times a week. I didn’t lose one pound until I joined WW and cut down on the food. Then it practically melted off.
Well, hell.
I have an appointment on Wednesday to check it out, but I doubt I’ll be joining after what I read here.
Grrr.
Well, at least I can get a month-long pass to Bally’s for $19 on the internet. And there’s one not even a half mile from here, and right across the street from work. I just need to get out to exercise and I can’t make myself do it if I’m trying to do workout videos here.
Thanks…I think…sheesh, leave it to the Dope to mess with my conscience;).
Ava
I have been going since February. I primarily signed up to tone up…not really lose weight. So far I’ve lost 16 inches and 2 pounds. I have been very pleased with the atmosphere and the ladies who are there. The staff has been extremely nice and helpful. They run promotions all the time, such as bringing a bag of groceries in for a local woman’s shelter got you half off the sign up fee.
I signed up for a year and plan to stick with it. I can definitely tell I am more toned than I was when I started.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 
If you haven’t got the motivation to do it by yourself at home, Bally’s isn’t going to help. You still have to do it yourself, unless you get a trainer over there.
BTW, I think you should be able to get a free trial month there. Poke around a bit more before buying anything.
That’s the thing - if I have to go somewhere to work out, i.e. I’m paying for it, I’ll go. I had no problem going to the gym in NYC when I first lost all of my weight. It’s when I come home and say “Okay, I’ll work out to a video” when I let myself…oh, check my email first, or do some dishes, or straighten the bathroom…whereas if I plan to go out somewhere, I can do it.
Congrats, Aries! That’s pretty great!
I’m just looking to lose 1 1/2 dress sizes in the next two months. I’ve done it before and I know I can do it again. I’ve lost lbs with WW Online, but I really want my flab to tone up a bit. I don’t want to look like I’ve got handles coming over the top of my (strapless) wedding dress. (Why the hell did I choose a strapless dress?).
Ava
I’ve never been a member of Curves but I just joined a similar gym. It’s called Ladies Workout Express. The workouts are 30 minutes each, the machines are double hydraulic so you get a workout both ways, the music changes all the time, the workout pattern changes from day to day and the membership fees are very reasonable.
I signed up for 3 years (the membership can be transferred to other branches). My membership costs are $29.95 per month. If I get 3 friends to sign up, my fees are cut in half (forever). If I get 3 more friends to sign up, my fees will get cut again.
Everyone there is really nice. I have bad knees and so far, nothing there has made my knees hurt.
I have no idea what LWE’s politics are like, you’ll have to check that out for yourself. I do know that I really enjoy the workout. If you actually work as hard as you can without hurting yourself, you’ll get a really good workout. I leave there covered in sweat every time I go.
So, if you have issues with Curves, this is another way to go. I wanted to join but I didn’t see the point of only working out for 15 minutes. This is perfect for me.
It wasn’t just 15 minutes. It was 24, with a cool-down stretching set that was about 5 minutes or so. I personally would go around the circle 3 times even after we had all 12 machines, so 36 minutes, then stretching.
Salon just wrote an interesting article about the Curves controversy. Though Salon is subscription only, I believe you can read the article if you are willing to watch a brief advertisement.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/05/19/curves/index.html
I’m a guy, but here are a couple of pointers to help encourage regular workouts, wherever you end up going:
(1) If they offer them, consider renting a permanent locker. You can keep your shoes and toiletries in them, instead of lugging them around. I also like to keep a couple of days worth of change-into clothes, so on my gym days I don’t have to worry about getting everything sorted out the night before. It sounds trivial, but I have found that anything to streamline the gym experience really works to make me go more consistently.
(2) Consider doing your workout in the morning, before you report for work. I found this REALLY helps me work out consistently. You don’t have to be worried about being too busy in the middle of the day to go during lunch. You don’t have to worry about being too tired at the end of a long day to go after work. I used to go to a corporate gym next door to my office during my lunch hour. My office moved to another location about a mile away. I didn’t want to keep going during lunch because the drive there and back would take too much time. So I started going in the morning, and found that I was much more consistent.