It's Wednesday weigh ins! 2007-2022

[Kronk]

1/23: 196.8 17.1% body fat.
1/30: 196.0 16.6%
2/06: 198.2 16.9%
2/13: 194.8 16.4%
2/20: 191.8 16.5%
2/27: 192.0 16.6%

Goal: 192.0 15.3%

An up-and-down week. I ate way too much last weekend. Chinese Friday night (egg roll, scallion pancakes, sesame chicken and fried rice), big lasagna dinner on Saturday, sweet-and-sour chicken on Sunday. So at least I didn't gain any significant weight over the week. Still need to drop that body fat number.

 

[Art G]

I just joined a health club and met with a personal trainer yesterday. It seems everything I've ever known about dieting and working out is wrong. Some interesting strides they've made of late on muscle toning and building. It seems I am completely out of alignment. I wonder if I need a trainer or Pep Boys?

 

[Sarah in SC]

Art, I wouldn't have ever been able to keep the weight off if it wasn't for our 2x weekly personal trainer making us stay on track. I am a total cheapskate, but it is well worth it. If you have an SO, go together!

The protein powder is available at Wal-mart or wherever, get a small container to start in case you don't like the brand. I buy the one with the guy with huge muscles on it! <grin>

148 today. These weekends are pretty much eliminating the good stuff I do all week.

Kronk good job on the weight--the BF% is a pain--we are going back to get tested in the "egg" again in another month--I'll see how I've fared in the BF% department at that time. BODPOD

 

[Art G]

Sarah, may I ask how much you pay per session? I was a bit peeved that my "free analysis" was basically just a push to pay a personal trainer, but I have got to admit she sounded as if she knew what she was talking about. She also is willing to cook all my meals for a fee. That price seemed fairly reasonable.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Free analysis? That's like asking an orthodontist if your kid needs braces!

I pay for two private 1/2 hour sessions each week for two people. Our session payments also include our membership at the gym, which is an "ordinary folk" community gym. The trainer is a separate company, and they contract to use the gym and maintain an office there.

The sessions are $30 per person, so we pay $480 per person per month. My boss pays for mine, so our own out of pocket is $240 a month. I can say in complete honesty that there is nothing else in our budget like this! If we still had a mortgage, or owed on cars or paid for cell phones, cable tv, or what-have-you, we'd never justify it. But, it has paid off in the form of 60lbs of weight lost for each of us.

Our trainer is a [SIZE=-1]Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with certification from [/SIZE]the National Strength and Conditioning Association[SIZE=-1] and received his [/SIZE]athletic training certification (ATC) through the National Athletic Trainer’s Association. Be sure that you are paying for a trainer that has real training, not just some weekend classes.

If it helps to have someone cook your meals for a while, then go for it. I know from experience that the only path to change is to change your habits. I write down in a little book just about every day what I've eaten and how many calories it was. Plus I get on the scale every single day. I know now that these changes have to be for life. Be sure that she teaches YOU how to cook healthy meals, too!

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Back to 138, lost that pound I gained last week. Am drinking more water, walking and staying away from chocolate!

 

[Insanity]

Feb-27-08: At 170.5 lbs, BMI of 25.9
Feb-20-08: At 170.5 lbs, BMI of 25.9, Hips/Waist: 36-3/4"/34-1/4" (93%)
Feb-13-08: At 172.0 lbs, BMI of 26.1
Feb-06-08: At 174.0 lbs, BMI of 26.5
Jan-30-08: At 172.0 lbs, BMI of 26.1
Jan-23-08: At 173.5 lbs, BMI of 26.4
Jan-16-08: At 174.0 lbs, BMI of 26.5
Jan-09-08: At 175.0 lbs, BMI of 26.6, Hips/Waist: 37"/35" (95%)

At 175 lbs this morning with a waist measurement of 35 inches, BMI of 26.6 and waist-to-hip ratio of 95%. My goal is to get into the healthy weight range again by getting my BMI under 25 or my waist-to-hip ratio under 90%. At 5'8" with hips measuting 37" that makes target weight 164.5 lbs and target waist measurement 33.25". 10.5 lbs and 1.75" to go.

 

[Art G]

Thanks Sarah. I know the girl I spoke with is studying kinesthology (did I spell that right?) and nutrition, and like I said, she impressed me with her knowledge. However, she wanted about $65 per 1 hour session and this seemed a bit high, especially when she's recommending two to three sessions per week for my son and I.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Art, think hard about doing 1 hour sessions...frankly after a 1/2 hour, I'm bushed, and if I were paying for an hour, I'd feel that I'm not really getting the full value of the session. Why not try 1/2 hour sessions instead? Our trainer recommended them for that reason. They have very few clients (almost none) that do a full hour. I know, I'm in the gym every day!

 

[Art G]

Sarah, she never mentioned a half hour session. The place is so big, I'm not sure we could move through the machines in a half hour.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Wait, she wants you to pay her for you to work on machines? Like a nautilus thing? Hmmmm....I'm not liking that. Our trainer does very little with any sort of machines, except the cable crossover weight machine where we do a few things like hi-pulls and squat pulls and the like. I've never used the nautilus stuff before--I get on the rower, treadmill and elliptical on the days I'm not with the trainer.

 

[Art G]

LOL! I have no idea what she'll want me to do. I do know I have lower back problems and she says she can work out the pain. She talked about exercises to use and others to stay away from. I guess without paying her, they'll stay her little secret.

 

[Sarah in SC]

How about she offers you a discounted or free first session? I just am wary of the value of showing you how to work on a machine--I have bad knees and my elderly DH (45) has shoulder issues, so we work around those as well. We do a lot with free weights.

 

[Art G]

They offered an introductory $99 for the first two hours, which I gave to my son to use. I thought I could split them between the two of us, but his first hour was spent collecting data and little else. So far, my radar tells me that while it may be worth it, they're not going to do much until they hook us. I tend to resist this sort of selling technique.

 

[Rambler]

2/20 238
2/27 233

First couple of weeks doing Atkins really pulls it off fast. I know most of it is water, so I am drinking lots of it to stay hydrated. Hope I am fully into it by the time I leave for the US and Europe next week. (I'll be buying some protein bars in the US to take with me so that if I have to push away from the table in Europe I'll still have a snack that fits in with the Induction Phase).

I was able to fit in a suit today that I could not wear two weeks ago! Yeah!

R

 

[Art G]

Good job Rambler!

 

[Alan]

Well done Rambler, I'll bet getting into that suit felt great.

Art, I've been reading your discussions on the trainer. Here is my 2 cents.

We have joined a couple of YMCA's in the last few years as we've moved and that comes with a free session with a trainer to set you up on the machines and both DW and I found the sessions very useful - I do believe it is worth getting some instruction on proper use.

In January we moved to an apartment complex that has a fabulous fitness room including lots of machines plus lots of free weights and there is a resident trainer who offers a free session. DW and I took him up on this (we got 2 x 1 hour long sessions) and we decided to sign up for 8 paid sessions at $26 each per hour. We are half way through and it has been well worth it so far. Virtually all of it is free weight training. We have done 2 sessions per week for 2 weeks, each session taking 90 mins rather than an hour. He then has us doing the program he has established by ourselves for the next 4 weeks. He is always there while we are doing it ourselves, available to answer any questions. At the end of the 4 weeks we will get another 2 weeks of 2 lessons per week. We are very pleased so far. It is a pity your entry fee is so high to see how you would like it.

 

[Rambler]

Well done Rambler, I'll bet getting into that suit felt great.

Sure did!
Now I have 7 or 8 suits I can wear to w*rk, instead of just 3.

Thanks for the support guys!

R

 

[FinanceDude]

2/20 238
2/27 233

First couple of weeks doing Atkins really pulls it off fast. I know most of it is water, so I am drinking lots of it to stay hydrated. Hope I am fully into it by the time I leave for the US and Europe next week. (I'll be buying some protein bars in the US to take with me so that if I have to push away from the table in Europe I'll still have a snack that fits in with the Induction Phase).

I was able to fit in a suit today that I could not wear two weeks ago! Yeah!

R

Good luck,Rambler!! I weigh about the same as you, and I am trying to get down to 220.........

 

[Art G]

Any thoughts on this, my son has a body fat index of 12%. This new personal trainer says it should be at 7%. Does that seem too low?

 

[Sarah in SC]

At the risk of being very picky, just what sort of measuring device is she using? No, he does not "need" to be at 7! Under 18% is considered normal and health, as a general rule. Performance athletes are generally under 10%.

Need to watch out for these measurements when taken with bioelectric impedence devices and such (like the fancy Tanita scales). They are not particularly accurate, but are helpful for benchmarking. The "gold standard" of course is hydrostatic weighing, but harder and harder to find. The caliper method, when done by someone trained in their use and using professional quality calipers, is very good (think of the phys ed dept at a good college). The thing you grab with both hands and it spits back a body fat percentage--ridiculous!
For the record, I used the Bod Pod at the Citadel here in Charleston, this device works like hydrostatic, but it uses air displacement instead of water displacement. If your city has one, it might be worthwhile to get an accurate reading. Our plastic inexpensive calipers were off significantly from it.

 

[Art G]

I didn't see what she used to measure.

 

[Kronk]

Sounds awfully low. How old is he? Does he look pudgy (can't imagine he does at 12% fat)? What's his goal, get in better shape, lose weight, compete as an athlete?

 

[FinanceDude]

Any thoughts on this, my son has a body fat index of 12%. This new personal trainer says it should be at 7%. Does that seem too low?

Yes, it does. When I was a college athlete (track and cross country), running 50-60 miles a week, and weight training, my body fat was 10%.

I started training for marathons, and upped the mileage, more weight training, and supplements, and I got down to 6%, but I looked like an anorexic........

12% is pretty darn good for a male.

 

[Art G]

Sounds awfully low. How old is he? Does he look pudgy (can't imagine he does at 12% fat)? What's his goal, get in better shape, lose weight, compete as an athlete?

He's 16 and has recently lost a pretty fair amount of weight. I think he's pretty thin, but he thinks he needs a six pack to work as a life guard at the local water park. I've been trying to convince him that now he needs to be more concerned with beefing up and less about losing weight. He's been on Atkins pretty strictly for the last few months. The personal trainer told him he wasn't eating enough and needs 2800 calories a day. That seemed pretty high for someone trying to drop body fat.
I don't know if I should just trust these people to do what they do, or intervene?