Susan’s Success Story

Susan, a Forever Fitness client, comes to the 40+ Fitness Podcast to share her success story.

Susan reflects on her decision to work on her health and fitness when she turned 43.  She started by walking during her daughter's practiced volleyball.  She progressed from that to a group class after a friend won a free boot camp program and gave it to her.  She discovered that being in a community made doing the exercise much easier.

When she began focusing on weight lifting, she noticed how seeing others working hard gave her motivation to push herself.  She joined Forever Fitness Personal Training when she was looking to accelerate her progress.  She didn't always like the recommendations but she saw the results. Having a coach motivated her to push on.

Having a thyroid issue has always made it easy for her to gain weight.  Through managing her food and exercise, she managed to lose 40 lbs.  Her doctor was very impressed.  Her blood work looks much better and her need for thyroid meds has reduced.

Do you have patience, persistence, and progression

It’s time to check in with clients, John and Tammy. Their journey has been one of patience, persistence, and progression, and they’re not done yet.

Tammy mentioned that while she was on the treadmill, she was watching her heart rate. She can actually gauge the intensity of her workout based on her heart rate. The maximum heart rate to achieve during a workout is calculated by subtracting one’s age from 220. Of course, there are varying levels that can be achieved depending on where one’s heart rate falls. In an aerobic state, the body is getting plenty of oxygen and burning fat. In a more intense anaerobic state, the body burns sugar and not so much fat. In either case, the body is burning some fat. While Tammy was on the treadmill, she noted that her heart rate did not exceed 110. This may indicate that she should add intensity to her workout to give her a greater challenge. This will allow her body to respond by burning more fat. However, any physical activity is burning calories and improving her cardiovascular health.

Tammy explained that she was unable to do squats like John, but that she used dumbbells and did the leg press. In doing the leg press, it is important to be cognizant of form. She will want to ensure she has a solid base and keeps her knees from extending beyond her toes. Doing this exercise will help to build her strength.

Finally, Tammy wondered about the inside of her thighs, which have begun to droop since losing some weight. Fortunately, skin is very elastic and may retract over time. Though some areas of loose skin may not go away completely, this can be aided through using moisturizer and building muscle in these areas. If those alternatives do not fix the issue, skin removal surgery is always an option in extreme cases.

John and Tammy are getting stronger and building endurance every day. As they continue along their fitness journey, their success is evident in the patience, persistence, and progression they have displayed thus far.

Do you have patience, persistence, and progression

Stepping it up

Music: Ben Sound Royalty Free Music

Tweaking to fit

In this client episode, John and Tammy evaluate their progress thus far and consider tweaking their program just a bit. They’re making progressions and improving their form, but they realize that alcohol consumption is also part of the equation. After all, alcohol calories are sugar. In the future, they will need to look at their volume and manage it against what other sugars they are consuming. Another important factor to consider is water consumption. They will want to keep drinking water to counteract the dehydrating effect with alcohol.

When evaluating their diet, John and Tammy recognize they are eating a lot of basic carbs—essentially eating a basic American diet. This will be one of the areas to tweak. They will reduce their carb intake, and once they start lifting weights, shift more to protein consumption than the carbohydrates.

Regarding their exercise plan, John is noticing his knees are more flexible and he’s having less pain at work. He’s doing push-ups, but would like to do more upper body work. Another tweak will involve starting push-ups in the standard position, not on his knees, and then dropping to his knees when he begins to struggle with his form.

Tammy mentioned she was having a bit of trouble with squats. While she is holding onto a chair to keep her balance, she will now try using the chair as part of her squat. She will adjust her positioning so that when she squats, her bottom will touch the edge of the chair, which will help take some of the pressure off her legs.

The key is to build the basic foundation and continue tweaking along the way. In the beginning stages, it will seem like progress is limited when you can only complete a small set. However, as progression grows, John and Tammy will be able to take on more reps and see a real improvement.

John and Tammy commit to health and fitness

Progression for results

Meet my clients John and Tammy

In this episode of the 40+ Fitness podcast, we meet two Forever Fitness clients, John and Tammy to talk about committing to health and fitness.

Tammy and Allan discuss the nature of a commitment to health and fitness, relating to the same emotional and life-long commitment you make to your spouse (John and Tammy were recently married). However, the health and fitness commitment is not something that you should not do for your spouse, or anyone else. It is an expression of true self-love. A commitment to health and fitness is personal.

Allan believes that making a verbal commitment to oneself is important. Allan suggests Tammy and John write his or her vows read them and feel them from the heart.

Tammy was very uncomfortable saying she wanted to look better. Allan points out that when you take care of yourself and your body is healthy inside and out, you already look better. One can’t look better unless he or she is healthy. Tammy finally clearly and confidently says she does want to be healthy and proud.

John goes next. He is inspired to push hard for reaching his health and fitness goals. He is ready to make this commitment loudly and clearly. John wants to have a long healthy life, which is why he agreed to work with Allan.

If you want more information about working with Allan, go to Forever Fitness.

John and Tammy commit to health and fitness

Music: Ben Sound Royalty Free Music

Habits and failure

A commitment to creating a fitness lifestyle is all about establishing habits and lessening the chances of failure. To be successful, a person’s “why” has to be at least partially for him or herself. This is critical to establishing a new self-relationship.

Consider Sandy, who has been featured on previous episodes. Sandy was establishing healthy habits and taking action. She was eating better, staying active, and drinking more water. All of this was allowing her to play with her grandchildren just the way she had imagined when she set out on her fitness journey.

In this call with Sandy, she considered next steps in her journey. She needed to develop her goals for the short-run. What did she want to accomplish in the next six months? These goals were to be measurable and attainable, and she seemed ready to get started.

She also recognized that she needed to drink more water. Sandy had a history of joint issues. Though her increased water intake was helping, but even more would be needed to get her to full hydration. This would allow her to avoid additional pain and problems in her knees. These added fluids would also help to flush toxins out of her system both quickly and efficiently.

Overall, Sandy was making progress. She was losing weight and getting stronger. She had increased endurance and was even getting compliments on her physical changes. However, unexpectedly and unexplainably, she dropped out of the program at Week 7.

Emotional roadblocks can be a tough obstacle to overcome. They have the power to derail previously established habits and threaten failure. This is so very important and will be discussed on the next episode.

Working with a personal trainer

Emotional roadblocks in health and fitness | Ellen Shuman

Music used for the podcast Intro and Outro: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

My client Sandy makes the commitment

Commitment is the first foundation to meaningful change. A perfect example of commitment is Sandy, a client from Episode 2. She has her own approach to commitment, which she described when we spoke recently.

When asked about what commitment meant to her, Sandy revealed that it really stuck out to her because she felt that she hadn’t really loved herself since her heart attack. Though she didn’t really love herself, she did like herself, which prompted her to make the commitment.

Like any relationship, when you meet someone for the first time, you likely don’t know the person well. You have to create that relationship. Sandy realized that perhaps she did not know herself as well as she thought, and it was time to create a new relationship with herself.

In making a commitment, you must have a “why”. Why do you want to have a relationship with yourself? Why put yourself through the strict diet and fitness lifestyle? Sandy’s “why” was to be a better version of herself.

The next question of making the commitment is the “what.” What do you want to achieve by making a commitment to this new lifestyle? Sandy’s “what” is being healthier and more active, which allows her to play with her grandkids.

The final question is “how.” Everyone must have a unique how that fits their lifestyle. Sandy’s “how” involved cutting out sugar, which was a difficult task because she was previously addicted to Dr. Pepper. However, after a few days of cutting out the sugar, she didn’t feel so sluggish. She actually felt more alert throughout the day.

Sandy is living proof of the power of commitment. By making one simple change, she was already feeling better and was committed to moving more. Her body was already giving her positive feedback.

Are you ready to make a commitment like Sandy? Visit Forever Fitness to gain access to resources that will help you stay on track and eat right.

Working with a personal trainer

Music used for the podcast Intro and Outro: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Working with a personal trainer

Today we meet Sandra, a 54 year old ex-Marine and grandmother, who is looking to make healthier habits part of her lifestyle. By working with a personal trainer for the next ten weeks, Sandra is hoping to improve her health, fitness and activity levels so keep up with her grandchildren in the years to come.

Sandra describes herself as never being a “fitness person” and exercise was “never her thing.” Then when recovering from a significant heart health issue, she now eats healthier and limits fast food, but she loves to drink sugary soft drinks throughout the day.

Before Sandra embarks on this fitness journey with her personal trainer, we discuss goals and the core concepts of her personal training program. She will need to examine how much sugar she consumes on a daily basis. We also discuss the correlation between fat loss and the food and drink we all consume. Her personal training program will be designed with accountability, such as logging all of her food intake. Sandra will also need to have patience and a positive attitude as we approach changes in small, incremental steps.

Join us weekly as we follow Sandra for the next ten weeks (Tuesdays) as she navigates the experience of working with a personal trainer.
Music used for the podcast Intro and Outro: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Working with a personal trainer