I have always had trouble losing weight. It’s a battle that is hard won no matter what the commercials for the latest fat burning pill or metabolism boosting supplements say. I have to keep telling myself that the solution will not come out of some cleverly packaged capsule or beautifully designed box. Such a shocking concept! I realized I couldn’t afford WeightWatchers anymore so I did a few things on my own. I joined myfitnesspal for the support, and started talking to my coworkers who I know were working on losing weight. I needed a program that would work for me with the amount of time I had available and hopefully get results I could see. I even talked to a personal trainer at my gym to see what he thought since I had been working out full tilt without seeing changes. He told me that I was probably working too hard and burning the wrong calories, carbohydrates instead of fat calories. I wasn’t about to brush off the type of advice I had been looking for, so I continued asking questions. Within 30 minutes I was signed up something I had never heard of before: New Leaf Metabolism testing.
I presented myself at the gym at the appointed hour, a time I often refer to as the butt crack of dawn, unsure what to expect. We sat down in a consultation room and talked about the program and what this test was about. Today we were going to do my resting metabolism test to determine how many calories I burn daily based on my lifestyle, height, and weight. The machine measures how much oxygen you inhale and how much carbon dioxide you exhale, so you have to wear a mask. In the interest of conquering my fat deposits, I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with. I wasn’t expecting it to look like some sort of fetish mask! It reminds me of the characters (called snowths apparently) from the Muppets that were in the Mahna Mahna song! I went through it, and the first test was just me sitting on a chair, breathing, for 20 minutes. Exciting right? I made the second appointment for later in the week, dreading having to exercise with the stupid thing on.
When the second appointment came I yet again forced myself out of a nice warm bed at the butt crack of dawn. I was determined to see this through. The exercise part wasn’t too hard, more annoying and slightly embarrassing. I had on my regular baggy gym clothes, a Polar Heart Rate transmitter, and that stupid mask. I wonder what the people that stared at me were thinking, probably something about that poor woman who has obviously lost her mind I imagine. I got on the treadmill and started walking at an easy pace, hoping that this wouldn’t be too bad. Instead of increasing the speed, Sam the sadist increased the incline until I had to hold onto the bar with the heart rate sensors so I wouldn’t land on my face. I reached my limit, where I was started to have some difficulty breathing, at the 15% incline and a Heart Rate of 178. It was over in about 15 minutes, and I was never happier then when the mask came off. My results indicated that I burned the most fat at a heart rate between 121 and 131, which is a lot lower than what I had been working at. Sam the sadist then printed out my 12 week program and explained the purpose of the program was to increase the heart rate where I burned more fat than carbohydrates. I committed to working out 3 days a week on my cardio for 30 minutes a day. Sam the sadist recommended that I take advantage of the free consultations with one of the personal trainers to create a weights program that complimented the cardio.
The following day I had an appointment with one of the other fitness gurus, and we created a program. I told him what I had at home and what I was willing to invest in equipment; he nodded sagely and indicated he understood my dilemma about coming to the gym every day. He had a 2 year old after all at home himself and understood such things. We created a program that could be done in 30 minutes with a stability ball, floor mat, and my interchangeable weight dumbbells. He requested that I come back in a few weeks so we could change the program as necessary and reminded me about the free childcare with combat ready caregivers.
I started my New Leaf training program on Monday last week and so far I’m losing inches instead of pounds. You can see my progress on the little badge provided by myfitnesspal, and my ultimate goal is to be in my healthy weight range of 125 – 169 lbs. Previous experience tells me anything under 140 makes me look anorexic, so I think 150 is a good overall goal. I have just over 50 pounds to lose, so let’s get this show on the road!
“As I ramble through life, whatever be my goal, I will unfortunately always keep my eye upon the doughnut and not upon the whole.”
Wendy Wasserstein
Ciao
No comments:
Post a Comment