Saturday, May 3, 2008
From Fat to Fit after Forty
Welcome to my blog "fit after forty," or rather I should be calling this blog "from fat to fit after forty." I've decided to share my trials and tribulations of my life long struggle with my weight in hopes of giving encouragement to others and create an outlet to share what I am doing to get "fit after forty."
I will only mention a few things about my past struggle with weight because I think this blog should be more about the present and future. As with so many of my readers, we have "been there and done that."
Starting with my first diet in college, I called it "Sick of Salad Nemia." I ate mostly salad and did alot of walking and lost alot of weight before my wedding. Then the weight crept up on me again, and I think I took a couple of aerobic classes a couple days a week and lost a few pounds only to gain it back again. Then there was the weight loss programs like Richard Simmons, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, low-carb, South Beach and all the ones with pre-packaged meals (yuck by the way.) Then how about the weight lifting and exercise equipment purchases over the years - the infomercial line of sit up machines, thigh busters, butt busters, stair steppers, bike machines and that rope thing that hooked up to a door handle. There was the gym memberships that I think I joined about 4 different ones, which I dropped out after a few months. I still get caught up in the low-fat, low-carb and diet food labels at the grocery store. And don't get me started on the diet pills taking up whole aisles at the drug or vitamin stores. I bet I have spent over $20,000 in my lifetime directly relating to loosing weight!
For goodness sakes, it is about time to just stick with something already!
My first blog posting is just three months after taking a 12 week -5 days per week aerobic and fitness class in my home town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I'm almost afraid to say it out loud, but I think it is going to work for me this time. This program has all the pieces that I need to stay motivated. First, it is convenient and right on my way home from work. The class that I take starts at 5:30 pm. Second, Jamie, the instructor at Steele Studios is really a motivator and changes up the classes all the time so I don't get bored. Third, they actually measure results. This is the first program that I've ever taken that measures more than just weight. They took a look at body fat, body measurements and even tested us on flexibility and strength. After 12 weeks I could see an improvement in the body fat going down and I was able to do more sit ups and push-ups.
In the first 12 weeks, my biggest challenge was controlling my appetite. This class burns like 600 calories and I would go home some nights and practically eat a whole ham! Man, was I hungry. I could tell that I was getting alot of muscle and I started to think I was turning into a football player, which was not the look I was going for. But I stuck with the first 12 week class and you can check out my results in my video diary.
I will only mention a few things about my past struggle with weight because I think this blog should be more about the present and future. As with so many of my readers, we have "been there and done that."
Starting with my first diet in college, I called it "Sick of Salad Nemia." I ate mostly salad and did alot of walking and lost alot of weight before my wedding. Then the weight crept up on me again, and I think I took a couple of aerobic classes a couple days a week and lost a few pounds only to gain it back again. Then there was the weight loss programs like Richard Simmons, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, low-carb, South Beach and all the ones with pre-packaged meals (yuck by the way.) Then how about the weight lifting and exercise equipment purchases over the years - the infomercial line of sit up machines, thigh busters, butt busters, stair steppers, bike machines and that rope thing that hooked up to a door handle. There was the gym memberships that I think I joined about 4 different ones, which I dropped out after a few months. I still get caught up in the low-fat, low-carb and diet food labels at the grocery store. And don't get me started on the diet pills taking up whole aisles at the drug or vitamin stores. I bet I have spent over $20,000 in my lifetime directly relating to loosing weight!
For goodness sakes, it is about time to just stick with something already!
My first blog posting is just three months after taking a 12 week -5 days per week aerobic and fitness class in my home town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I'm almost afraid to say it out loud, but I think it is going to work for me this time. This program has all the pieces that I need to stay motivated. First, it is convenient and right on my way home from work. The class that I take starts at 5:30 pm. Second, Jamie, the instructor at Steele Studios is really a motivator and changes up the classes all the time so I don't get bored. Third, they actually measure results. This is the first program that I've ever taken that measures more than just weight. They took a look at body fat, body measurements and even tested us on flexibility and strength. After 12 weeks I could see an improvement in the body fat going down and I was able to do more sit ups and push-ups.
In the first 12 weeks, my biggest challenge was controlling my appetite. This class burns like 600 calories and I would go home some nights and practically eat a whole ham! Man, was I hungry. I could tell that I was getting alot of muscle and I started to think I was turning into a football player, which was not the look I was going for. But I stuck with the first 12 week class and you can check out my results in my video diary.
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