Yesterday on Good Morning, America, I saw a personal trainer talk about helping his clients lose weight. I think his name was PJ James, but don't quote me on that. His thing was that he wanted to get into the head of his overweight clients, so he went from being incredibly physically fit to packing on 90 pounds. I don't remember how long it took him to gain it, but he took it all off in just six months. I did a little googling and learned that he is not the only one to have done this and document it, but I'm writing about him because he's the one I saw on TV yesterday.
I think that he was able to take it off so fast because he's relatively young, probably mid-thirties at most, and his body had always been in shape. I'm not sure any of his clients would fall into that category! Still, he said some interesting things about this project.
First, he said he was surprised about how many psychological issues he had to deal with as an obese man. I think that was a good lesson because I don't think people who have always been a normal weight "get" it at all. He also had food cravings to contend with for the first time in his life. I have read some things about leptin and other hormones in fat and brain chemicals that cause overweight people to feel hungry more often and to have more food cravings. I was glad to see him mention that.
Second, he said he lost the weight with a combination of four basic things, and he now uses that knowledge to help his clients. His ideas are not crazy or too far out there. In fact, they are logical and seem very accessible. I'm already doing two of them most of the time, and part of the other two some of the time.
Here is his four-pronged approach:
1. Eat a sensible diet, well-balanced, and moderately low calorie. Well, that's what I always try to do. At least he wasn't promoting something whacked like the grapefruit diet or supplements.
2. Drink a lot of water. He didn't claim it would help your weight loss, which some plans do, but instead he said it is good for overall health, hydration, and skin elasticity. I believe that all to be true, and as an older woman on pills that cause dryness everywhere, it's really important.
3. Do four 50-minute strength training workouts per week. Well, right now I'm doing three 20-minute workouts. I used to do about 40 minutes when I did three sets of 20 reps on 9 machines. I stopped going to the gym for awhile, so now I'm working my way back up. I'm currently at 2 sets of 15 reps on some machines and 2 sets of 20 on others. Even when I get back to three sets of 20, I can't make it take 50 minutes. I'd have to add another machine or two or do something with free weights to get a 50 minute workout. Mark and I try to go together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To make four workouts, I could probably go one weekend day as well. Actually, he probably has his clients do all upper body two days and all lower body the other two days so there are not two identical workouts back to back. I'd have to change everything to do that because I do both on the same day.
4. Do a 15 minute fasting cardio activity first thing every morning. He said that the fasting part is important because you are burning stored fat. He also said that it revs the metabolism for the rest of the day, which I had heard before. I usually take a 20 to 30 minute walk about four or five days a week with Mark, usually in the late afternoon after our weights. I don't think that the 15 minute fasting cardio should replace that, but it makes sense to get out there first thing in the morning. In fact, walking for only 15 minutes didn't seem like too hard a thing to do. So this morning, I did it. I had two cups of black coffee, sitting on the lanai, talking to Mark, and listening to Good Morning, America. Then suddenly, I decided to get up, put on my shorts and t-shirt and sneakers, and head out the door. I walked briskly for 15 minutes in the cool but humid air. I was soaked with sweat when I got back and was happy to take a shower. I also felt proud of myself for doing this. Of course, the proof will be if I do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...
Later today, weather permitting, Mark and I are going mini-golfing before we eat dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes, a really cool self-serve salad bar type restaurant. Of course, in addition to the huge salad bar where you start the food orgy, there is a potato bar, a bread bar, a pizza bar, a soup bar, and a dessert bar. OY! Just like going on a cruise! To get a meat item added to your salad costs extra. No problem. I wouldn't order that anyway.
Once a month on a Tuesday night, our synagogue has a deal with Sweet Tomatoes where for everyone who comes in with the synagogue flyer, the restaurant will give 15% of their tab back to the shul as a donation. Mark has done it once or twice already on Tuesday nights when I had Starliters rehearsals, but now I'm available to go as well. It's a great restaurant with the potential to eat low-cal, low-carb, and healthy. There is also the potential to overeat on pizza, potatoes, and dessert. I went to this restaurant with our friends Barb and Al once a few months ago. I was feeling very in control that night, so I did not go to the "bad" bars. I hope that control sticks with me tonight.
Tomorrow is weigh-in day. Currently, I am the same this morning as I was last Wednesday. I don't think that's too bad considering we had the mini-vacation this week and Shavuot. If I don't blow it tonight at Sweet Tomatoes, I should be fine tomorrow morning on the scale. I'll let you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment