Beat the Bulge With Dance

And you can dance. Okay I just wanted to say that. A line from a Madonna song.  Am I dating myself with this admission? I could dance around the fact that the Madonna craze wasn’t in my formative years and that I just discovered some of her great hits recently, but I’m pretty sure that we’d all know that’s pushing it. But it isn't limited to Madonna. I've been known to move to the sounds of Beyonce, Katy Perry even The Fresh Beat Band and Wow Wow Wubbzy.

Many people have asked me how I have kept off the 100 pounds I had to lose after the birth of my daughter and becoming ill with Preeclampsia. One thing that that has helped is dance. And while I am a fan of formal classes like tap, jazz and hip hop or the recent fitness craze Zumba that isn’t what has done it for me. It has simply just been kicking up my heels and dancing. Kicking off my heels is more like it when I’m hanging out with my other mom friends and dancing the night away.

But my absolute favorite form of dance is the freestyle that my daughter and I do about 10 times a day. She absolutely loves to bust a move to any good beat. And nothing makes her happier than when I join in.

Dancing is a fantastic form of exercise that can burn as many calories as walking, swimming or bike riding. Not only will you tone and tighten your muscles you will raise your heart rate through movement. The best way to truly burn calories is to do a half hour of sustained dancing at a time.

My daughter can really go. I wonder if I will be one of those Dance Moms as she grows older? Who knows. 

Enter the Dance Moms Sweepstakes and you could win a dance video game and console, plus $500!

And tune in to "Dance Moms" Wednesdays at 10pm/9c on Lifetime.