How I'm planning on getting down from a size four, to a size two, or in other words, from 129 lbs to 112 lbs: There's got to be an overwhelming reason. My desire is to be small enough so my partner can lift me above his head with one arm. I cannot be heavy for his plans.... I will exercise the same; however my eating will have to be changed pretty radically. I have a tremendous amount of muscle underneath a layer of fat. Plan: I will eat three good meals a day, and cut in half the quantities I used to eat. I'll also start staying away from high-fat proteins like bacon, sausage, and ham. My sugar intake will be kept at an absolute minimum. I will have no pastas, very little breads, and virtually no fats. My fat-burning tool will be combining proteins and complex, fibrous carbohydrates like green, orange, red, and yellow vegetables.

What is the difference between Puerto Rican style, Cuban style, LA style, New York Style, Israeli Style, Colombian Style Cuban Style, and the New Millennium Style? Well, let me explain. The Puerto Rican style can be danced on the "One" or the "Two" beat of the music, but it involves a tremendous amount of very technical footwork ("Solo" if you’re from LA, or what they call "Shines" in New York.) There is more an emphasis on footwork, than in New York style; however, in recent years this can be argued by many Mambo maniacs in Manhattan. In New York style, there is a strong Latin Hustle influence. My guess is that in the disco craze of the late 70’s and early 80’s, when Eddie Torres was one of the only instructors in New York, single-handedly holding the torch of "Mambo Dance" with Tito Puente, Salsa dancing almost completely grew extinct to the Hustle dance. Because of the great Hustle craze of that area, many Hustle dancers incorporated a lot of their moves into the Mambo style during that slow transitional period back to Salsa music in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Because Salsa is such a diverse dance, and there are no real "rules" of style, once you learn any style of dance, you tend to stick to that style when transitioning to Salsa. I found this to be true in California. The primary influence in Los Angeles is West Coast Swing and Latin Ballroom. Many of the showy tricks and Caberet moves are taken from Swing and Latin Ballroom, which is very prevalent and highly competitive and influential throughout the Mid and West Coasts. Unlike Miami, there are not many Cuban immigrants in Los Angeles; hence the Salsa dance style is predominantly a hybrid of Swing, Ballroom, and a soft Puerto Rican style. In New York, however, because of the high concentration of Puerto Rican immigrants, the Puerto Rican style is much like that of what is now New York style, Latin Hustle, or what we call "Mambo On-Two" (see my Steps explanation at ../stories-s/steps.htm). The fancy footwork (shines) is really starting to become very strong in New York because of this influence. It is almost an even match now, whether they do more shines in New York than Puerto Rico.