by Joan Aguon Charfauros
Guam - 23-year-old Josh Pocaigue considered himself your typical island boy - indulging in the delicious Chamorro cuisine. "Living the typical Chamorro life - the fiestas, the get togethers, BBQ, beach BBQ Sundays," he told KUAM News.
This was the point Pocaigue acknowledged he needed to make a change, saying, "I realized the amount of food that I ate was making an impact on me as far as exposing myself to many health issues - I could have exposed myself to diabetes, high cholesterol, it was a lot of health issues."
Around Lenten season of last year, Pocaigue started by making the necessary changes to his diet - taking out rice, soda, and the junk food. "Just starting with dieting I started to see some progress so I wanted to kick it up a notch and threw in a little exercise," he said.
He participated in group fitness classes, saying, "I'm going to be honest with you when I first heard of Zumba, they were like you have to try and I was like no, I already know how to dance." A friend finally convinced him and boy, did his opinion change. "I fell in love with it. My God I felt like throwing up, I'm going full force going back and forth getting some water, wiping my sweat," he said.
From that moment, Zumba has always been a part of his workout regimen. Pocaigue eventually received his certification in Zumba and now teaches up to four classes a week, saying, "I like working out with a group of people who share the same passion and you feed off of other people's energy... if the person next to me is yelling and screaming, I'm gonna yell and scream too!"
The Yona resident says Zumba has been the most effective in losing weight - 85 lbs, to be exact. He offers this piece of advice for anyone needing that extra nudge to try a zumba class, saying, "In Zumba you are never judged. If you don't know how to dance, so what? As long as you are following and having a good time, that is all that matters...it's never to late change to a healthier lifestyle."
