Day One - May 19, 2008                    Six Weeks – June 30, 2008

Height 4’11                                         4’11

Weight 167                                         167

Circumference Measurements

Bust 40                                                40

Bicep 12 ¼                                          11 3/4

Umbilicus 38 1/4                                 38 1/4

Hips 45 ½                                            43 1/2

Quad 24                                              23

Calf 14                                                            14

Body fat% 38.2                                  35.5

Total loss N/A                                     2.8%  and 3 ¾ inches!

Way to go!!!

Getting fit can save your life but getting thin can kill you.  How’s that for candor?!  Actually there are variations of both.  Fit and fat IS BETTER for you than thin and unfit.  IT is the hope of all trainers that our clients set health based goals.  It is the plight of all of our clients to have aesthetic goals.  It is our job to settle in the middle and hope that you get to your “best body, high school weight, wedding day weight, etc” by using a health based approach.  Crash dieting and exercise bulimia are NOT health-based!  It is ideal when our path gets you to your goal.

At this point we have completed 6 weeks of training.  During our consultation Stacy and I discussed that 6 weeks should be enough time to feel different but not necessarily look different.  I am always nervous at this point.  We both have great expectations for all of our efforts and today is the day when our work is put to the test.  Stacy has done remarkably well with her food diary, her cardio and her resistance training. She seems to be on the path to success.  Her car should be running smoothly down the road to a happier, healthier life!  BUT, her expectations are very high and I don’t want her to be disappointed.  She is truly doing all she can and should be doing at this point.  From a psychological standpoint, Stacy had a bad food day and moved right past it!  I asked her to blog about it so that people can understand what that is like.  It is important to see that success does not require perfection.  When you make a mistake move on and learn from it and it will not derail you.  Don’t wallow in the “why.”

Today after we measure we will discuss the cardio/endurance phase of her program that is coming up next.   This week we will begin changing the repetitions and pushing her strength limits, so that I can determine a safe weight for her to lift at higher repetitions while still being challenged.

For the most part there are no physical reasons that my clients cannot lose weight.  Ten times out of ten it is literally all in their head.  The force that drives the decisions they make about food and exercise are strong and each person is motivated for different reasons.  Oftentimes the level of commitment drops dramatically because it is so high in the first stage of weight loss.  It takes a lot for someone to commit to a full exercise program and nutrition regimen.  So many people want to lose weight for so long that by the time they actually make it to the gym and join they are overwhelmed with a sense of commitment and they take on too much in order to see results quickly.  Unfortunately, almost every rapid weight loss success I have seen has turned in to a long term nightmare.  A personal trainer and/or nutritionist can help you do set individual goals and realistic expectations for yourself.

Stacy finally asked me why I was telling her no to all the questions she has about exercising outside of her workouts.  She was disappointed when I was not overjoyed at her decision to add multiple resistance exercises to her weekend cardio routine.  She had a difficult time understanding why I would not ask her to do more.  So, here goes.  WE have danced around the subject of her yo-yo past and I don’t want to embarrass her or show a lack of faith in her ability to get it right, but it is definitely the main concern I have for her.  We talked about the psychology of her commitment now and in the past.  I want her to know that I have faith in her, but to recognize that she cannot commit this much time and effort to her weight for the rest of her life.  It is too much to maintain forever.  I am trying to give her little tidbits of information about my lifestyle habits, my cheat days and slip ups.  At this point she thinks I am just lucky to be able to have those days, but I think she is realizing that I am just balanced in my approach. 

More lunges and more “stretch and load” exercises that are making her sore!  Sore means progress, I like it!  Our workouts are still in order 15 -12-10 and increasing weight each time.  Her body is broken down into opposing muscle groups.  Chest/ Back, Bicep/Triceps, Hamstring/Quadriceps, etc.  and each pair/group is exercised on different days.  Her balance has really improved.

Losing weight is easy.  Give up eating for a few days and watch the scale drop.  The most difficult part of losing weight is keeping it off.  There is a reason that there is a new fad diet every week.  My standard answer for all questions regarding fad diets and new exercise equipment is “Yes, it does work.  Everything works if you actually do it.”  What is the best piece of home exercise equipment to buy?  “The one you will use.”  What is the best diet for weight loss?  “The one that you will actually follow is the best one.”  Unfortunately friends, there are no shortcuts to long term weight loss success!  NONE.  I will never forget going to a lecture when I was studying nutrition and hearing the doctor say “ I just want a t-shirt that says ‘It’s the calories dammit!’”  I love it!  A combination of a balanced diet and consistent cardiovascular and resistance exercise is the best way to lose weight.  I know, boring. 

Stacy is recording her food intake on myfooddiary.com, she is lifting weights with me 3 days a week for an hour each time and she is running/walking 2 times a day for 6 days each week.  What is the number one question she is asking this week?  “What else can I do to speed up this process when I am on my own?”  AAHHHH!  What else?  This is a classic move for a yo-yo dieter.  Her incoming commitment level is high and she wants more results NOW.  Unfortunately, long term success does not work in short term rapid gains.  Stacy keeps commenting on how weird it feels to try on clothes in her size now when she actually feels like she is 4 sizes smaller. There is some good news.  The exercise and the eating well is actually making her feel better.  The difficult part of this process is staying committed when there are no visible results.  The feel good wears off when the look good doesn’t fall closely behind.  Maintaining one’s weight doesn’t feel nearly as rewarding as losing 20 pounds.  And exercise doesn’t sound like fun if the scale doesn’t reward you.  For now, I am just telling her no when she asks “can I do these at home?” or “are you sure I shouldn’t eat less?”  Next week we will talk more candidly about why all those things are bad ideas at this point.

Workouts are still descending in repetition and ascending in weights.  Stacy is starting to develop noticeable muscle tone in her arms and calves!  She is starting to appear to stand taller and she is beginning to look different.  She sees a lack of progress; I see something exciting starting to happen!

Finding someone you enjoy exercising with is another important tool for success in weight loss.    Before beginning a lifestyle change it is important that you have the emotional support of the people in your life.  It is even better if you can gain the physical support. A good personal trainer offers professional knowledge and expertise but, sometimes, even more important that, that we offer accountability and friendship.  I consider my clients to be my friends who rely on me when they cannot necessarily rely on themselves to be consistent with their commitment to live a healthy life.  We all have people in our life who act as personal trainers.  Find out who those people are in your life and ask them to encourage you while you make you lifestyle healthier.

Stacy has a great support system in her life.  Between her encouraging husband, her 8 children who are impressed by her efforts and her dogs that run her around the park, I hardly have to work on the support part!  But, nevertheless, Stacy and I are becoming fast friends.  She asks many questions about why and how we are doing exercises and how far in advance I know what our workouts will be.  I love her questions.  I have such excitement for knowledge about what I do and the people I work with.  Because Stacy’s support system is so strong we are able to focus more on the teaching aspect of what personal training is about.    

This week in training we are still focusing on strength and we are advancing the level of difficulty by increasing the weights and pushing her to failure at the end of each exercise.  I am testing her strength of mind and muscle.  She is, of course, passing with flying colors.  Not without noticing, but without complaining!  We have added lunges to her program - OUCH!  I think she had the lean and fall syndrome after Wednesday’s work out.  You know, where you lean and fall every time you need to take a seat… I promised her that the soreness is never as bad as that first time! 

It is important to realize that just because you are getting stronger does not mean you are getting BIGGER.  Your body’s ability to grow in size is determined by your genetics much more so than your trainer.  This week Stacy will be working on increasing her strength.   These workouts consist of breaking down the body into three major muscle groups for three different workouts and performing ascending weights with descending repetitions.

I consider Stacy to be an advanced beginner.  Although her body has experienced many of the things we are working on through marathon training and working with other personal trainers, she has not been able to maintain the level of fitness over time.  Her mind and her muscles are experienced but overall she is deconditioned and has been sedentary for a few years.  We will introduce free weight this week in order to begin the challenge of balance and control while weight lifting.

I have created a perfect structure MONSTER!  Stacy is ALL over myfooddiary.com and handling the recording process VERY well.  I love it!  She is quickly learning how bad some of her choices were.  She is making a game of discovering new ways to create 300 calorie meals.  I think I can really learn something from her! 

Muscle tone is an essential part of weight loss success.  Although most of us are not interested in growing hulk-like in stature, it is important to increase the percentage of your body that is made of muscle.   When fat is at rest it burns NOTHING, but muscle actually burns calories when you are at rest.  Therefore, the higher muscle composition you have and the lower fat composition you have the more calories you burn while you do anything, even sleep!   

This week we will begin strengthening the hot body Stacy has hidden under her stress and weight management excuses.  We both know it is there! So, we will work on more muscle tone in the gym as Stacy works on uncovering it with her nutrition. 

I am excited to see Stacy’s enthusiasm for structure.   I believe that it is impossible to be successful in meeting your goals without a plan.  Her plan will start with homework regarding her nutrition.  For most everyone, the most difficult part is getting a handle on what, when, and how they eat.  Stacy will first need to take an honest look at what she eats before making any changes.  I am advising her to use www.myfooddiary.com to log all of her food and exercise.   This will be an interesting part of Stacy’s self-discovery.

It took a few weeks to get started with our mismatched schedules, but we are on our way!  Stacy is definitely highly motivated.  She has her heart rate monitor and is logging her food right off the bat, I love it!  During the first few weeks I recommended to her that she learn about her habits and not try to change anything yet.  I am having her record her food and wear her heart rate monitor during ALL exercise.  I will be reviewing her food diary and her heart rate with her as we go.  I do not like to make dramatic changes in my clients’ habits.  I do not believe that long term success is made through drastic changes.  Baby steps!

Our first week of exercise will include 3 workouts, all of which will be total body.  We are reviewing proper form and general familiarity of the body.  I need to learn about Stacy’s work ethic, strength and limitations before we focus on individual muscle groups.  Small things, like whether or not someone shows up in time for their appointment, their description of their eating habits, how much “homework” they do, etc can tell me alot about how quickly someone will be successful in meeting their goals.   

Sample workout week one:

3 sets of 12

Quadraplex

Push Ups (modified if necessary)

Lat Pull down

Sit Ups

Seated Biceps Curls

Bench Dips

Upright Row

Today I met with Stacy for the first time for our consultation.  She was referred to me by a friend of hers who is a client of mine.  The consultation is an interview process for both the client and the trainer.   It is important for you to be comfortable with your trainer, as you will be sharing many hours and a good bit of personal information.   

Stacy is an excited and motivated person.  I think her attitude is great and her level of commitment is high.  I am concerned that she has lost and gained weight through yo-yo dieting and intense bursts of exercise in the past.  As with most people Stacy has found it relatively easy to lose weight in the past, but KEEPING it off has been a challenge.  I am excited to get started with her and see what she knows and ehat she has to learn!

I began training in college as a student.    My job criteria sitting at the graduation ceremony was short:

1. Use my degree

2.  Make 10% more money than I did personal training

3. LOVE my job 

What was a job became a career after a short stint in the field of public relations.
After 6 weeks job criteria list changed by 3 and grew by 1.

1. NO panty hose

2. NO cubicle

3. NO rush hour. 

4. LOVE my job.

It was then that I realizd that personal training is my dream job.

Personal training and a quarter-life crisis took me to the mecca for both, Los Angeles, where I worked in the land of beautiful people who consistently requested unattainable results for their next casting call.
A twist of fate dragged me back to Texas to work for some former clients in Hamilton, TX managing and training at a small facility on the town square.  I had no idea at the time what a valuable opportunity my friends had offered me!  The people there were a family for me.  Fitness in the Square, our gym, was a beautiful life experience, but no place for a city girl.  So,  we sold the gym to the Hamilton County Hospital in hopes of their developing a cardiac rehab program and looked ahead to bigger and better things.

“Houston we have a problem…”: FATTEST CITY IN THE NATION.  If you build it they will come.  They being the trainers.  I am overjoyed to have found my place here in Houston.  I am blessed to have made a difference in the lives of friends and clients here in Houston.  My new project with Stacy is exciting and challenging for both of us.  I hope you will enjoy following us on her journey to a healthy lifestyle!

I encourage you to try something new, to challenge yourself in a new way.  If you are a couch potato, try to walk tonight.  If you are a walker try to jog for 1 minute tonight.  If you are a jogger, pick up the pace today.  If you are a runner, try riding a bike after your run.  If you ride a bike try to swim…  You get the idea.  It is not important that you win, it is important that you try. 

“Life is a journey, not a destination.  Enjoy the moments.”