Although I think this picture makes me look especially large and unattractive, and I can't believe I'm posting it here... seeing this in the mirror day after day is likely what inspired me to take it to the next level this time around.
Like many that struggle with weight, my past is riddled with small successes and bigger failures at commercial diets like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. I cannot say what made it different this time, but I am more committed than ever. As much as I hate to say it because I feel it will jinx my progress, it actually seems pretty darn easy this time around.
Simply put, I have been watching what I'm eating and I started exercising. I have not changed my diet per se but the portion sizes are considerably smaller. If I want a cookie, I'll have a cookie... If I want pizza, I'll eat a slice... I won't ever say 'no' to an Indian paneer dish with lots of cream. I find that if I eat a lot of salads or low calorie foods it feels like a restrictive diet that I can only maintain for so long. I now realize that I have to eat like this for the rest of my life and you know what, that's not such a bad thing! Like I said I am still indulging in everything that I love but I just don't do it every day. I don't want to even think of the number of calories I was consuming on a daily basis pre-January-2012. One thing that has been instrumental in helping me track all aspects of my progress is MyFitnessPal. It's a website and a mobile app for tracking calories and exercise. It's been dubbed "Facebook for Fat People" as it also provides forums for social networking. That name is misleading though because the members range from personal trainers to folks that need to lose 100lbs or more. I would highly recommend it if you're looking to manage your weight.
In addition to watching my calorie intake, I have added exercise back into my life. I'm no stranger to working out, but the past couple of years have been a little tough. Upon turning 40, I had the bright idea of running my first ever half marathon. As a result I ended up with a bad case of plantar fasciitis that left me unable to run for about a year. This is where I packed on the pounds and accepted defeat by announcing that I was "embracing my fatness" while shopping at Fashion Bug for the first time in my life. After more than a year like this, it was difficult getting started in the gym as you can imagine. I signed up for a group fitness class that met at 9am on Monday through Friday. Because of this class, I would literally feel compelled to show up and put forth some effort at the cardio and strength exercises. I definitely credit this class for helping me prioritize fitness in my life once again.
Working at the gym entitles me to an employee discount for most things and I made up my mind I wanted to try personal training. I started with one trainer in March, but only had a couple of sessions with him before he was promoted. It worked out great because there was a another trainer that I had been wanting to work out with. I've been working with that trainer now for the past 5 months and in that time I have learned a lot about strength training. Since money does not grow on trees, I have to give up this personal training that I've become so fond of. I know that I have the knowledge now that I need to continue this on my own. My trainer asked me a couple of days ago to send him Before and After pictures with a short paragraph describing my progress so that he can add it to his portfolio. I got a little carried away and it ended up being more of a booklet. What follows is my client experience with Lawrence...
I started this journey in January deciding to do it without the help of a "diet". After roughly three months, the scale started to level off as it had in all of my previous attempts to drop the extra pounds. Doing this on my own without the advice or support of a commercial diet, I had been reading A LOT about the science of calories in vs. calories out and how our body reacts to both food and exercise. From the research, I knew for sure that I needed to add strength training to my regimen. I did not want to tackle this alone. I trust myself with cardio workouts but figuring out what to do with the dumbbells and weight machines... well that was out of my league.
Lawrence was just what I needed to kick start this phase of my weight loss journey. He was coaching the T.E.A.M. Fitness class that met during the time that I would routinely be in the club and the ladies in the class kept boasting about the excellent training they were receiving. I could see that they were doing a lot of strength exercises, so I asked Lawrence if I could try out a class. During that class, we were spread out on the circuit machines. In my previous T.E.A.M. class experience with another coach, the weights were fixed on each machine and then the students rotated among them in intervals. This means that each student regardless of ability lifted the same amount of weight. However, in Lawrence's class he encouraged, if not insisted, that we set the weight according to what we could handle as individuals. At least 2 times during that one hour class, he came over to me and said "I think you need to add a plate". Somehow just by watching my movement he KNEW that I was loafing. Now I'm new to weight lifting, so maybe this is common, but for me I saw this as a special gift. He could sense by watching my muscles, my face or something that I was not pushing to my full potential. Immediately after that T.E.A.M. class I knew I had to get some personal training sessions with this guy.
Excited but nervous I set up some training sessions with Lawrence. At the first one, he got me on the scale. This industrial strength scale measures weight, lean body mass, body fat percentage and percentage of body water among other things. It's quite fancy and even tells you your body fat in each appendage. Lawrence though concentrated on just one figure when the display lit up; my body fat percentage. He didn't care one iota about the number of pounds it registered even though I was elated since it was down from the week before. He had me focus on weekly goals of lowering my BF% and told me not to worry about my actual weight. He was absolutely right and hearing it from him made it sink in a little more with me. Although I think I'm still too focused on the scale, to this day when I see an increase or a plateau it's his voice I hear in my head reminding me that this is not the number that's important.
After working with Lawrence for a few weeks, I started to get a lot of compliments and inquiries about my weight loss. It always surprised me because I knew that I had dropped significantly more weight in the first 3 months before training with him... why were people just starting to notice now? When I look at the progress pictures it is obvious to me. My body is finally starting to take the shape of an athlete. My waist is coming back and my quads have some definition again. My chubby cheeks are less chubby. Although the number of pounds lost is small, my body composition is definitely changing in a good way. I am putting on muscle while losing fat.
Lawrence's style of training is so refreshing and far from traditional. You should not go into it expecting a workout consisting of 3 sets of 8 repetitions on such and such machine. No worries though, you can get that sort of thing from a book or the Internet. What Lawrence provides you cannot get anywhere else. No two workouts are the same; he will push you to your limit; he believes in working a combination of muscles in each exercise (compound lifts), rarely just sitting you down on a machine to work, for example, your inner thighs. A typical conversation during a workout would have me proclaiming "30 of these with this much weight? Are you kidding me?" and him replying "Negative". :) I never know what to expect, I do know that I will love the workout, I'm always sore the next day and it feels great! Lawrence has given me the confidence to lift heavy... he really has taught me just how strong I am. I have learned a lot from him during the last five months and now it's time for me to try it on my own. If it doesn't work out, I know what I'm asking Santa to bring me! Actually, even if I do well I think "PT Sessions with Lawrence" will inevitably end up on my wish list.
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And just for kicks, I will include the full Before/After comparison. The "Before" photo in this comparison was taken in early February about a month into my journey and already 10lbs down.
This journey is far from over as I still fall under the "Overweight" category according to my BMI, but I am feeling a level of fitness that I haven't felt in a long time. I am enjoying working out and am looking forward to what the future holds. I cannot ever forget to keep exercise and diet at the top of my priority list.
Thanks for sticking around 'til the end. I know it was quite long, but I wanted to get this documented. :)
