So, I met with personal trainer chick. And while I'm still a bit dubious about the whole personal trainer concept (not its effectiveness, but I think I have these assumptions in my head about what kind of person has a personal trainer, and it's an indulgent, Hollywood sort of person, which isn't how I usually think of myself, but I'm trying to think of it as closer to having a very attentive doctor instead, which seems to help a little), this girl is, so far, great. She seemed smart, on the ball, was willing to explain everything, in detail, which I really appreciate. And while she certainly looked very fit, it was fit in a mildly-muscled, on the slender side, healthy kind of way, rather than painfully skinny. I think I was worried that she would be painfully skinny and would just mock me for my complete inability to have bones sticking out all over the place. But no -- she looked great, and if my body were in that kind of shape, I'd be very happy.
She thought my goals of losing 30 pounds by December, getting stronger, and not huffing running up a flight of stairs were sane and totally do-able, which was reassuring. Apparently she gets a lot of people who have very unrealistic goals and she has to talk them down. Interesting. Here's what she wants me to do:
- meet with her once a week for a workout session and check-in
- 30-45 minutes of cardio, 5 days a week (ideally 45 minutes for ideal weight loss)
- weight training, 3 days a week
- rest, 2 days a week
- on the days I come to the gym, eat about 1300 calories
- on the days I rest, eat about 1000 calories
- eat more leafy green vegetables; consider switching to brown rice, whole grain bread
- drink 70 oz. of water a day (!)
- distribute my calories in 5-6 small meals through the day, starting with BREAKFAST, which I am not to skip, and four cups of tea apparently does not constitute breakfast, despite having about 100 calories total :-) A piece of fruit, a half-bagel with a little butter, some cereal, an egg with a slice of toast -- those are apparently more appropriate breakfasts. Who knew?
I'm going to try this for six weeks and see what happens. If any of you want to try it along with me, feel free. :-) Today, I did 35 minutes of interval training (walk a little on the flat, walk a little on the incline, up and down every five minutes, increasing speed slowly until I was actually jogging for a few minutes near the end) on the treadmill, and felt distinctly woozy afterwards. I've also only eaten half a banana and two cups of tea so far, so I'd better go fix that. Another half a banana, a slice of toast, more tea. And then I might actually get some work done. :-)
The water thing sounds like a lot, but it’s a not-uncommon part of weight loss plans. I did Weight Watchers for about eight or ten months, and they recommend about that much water. It’s hard to get used to, but once you’re used to it, you’ll be crabby if you don’t get an enormous amount of water each day.
(also, it’s easier to drink that quantity of water when it isn’t refrigerated. I leave my water-filter pitcher out on the counter.)
Congrats, that sounds like a great plan. The 5-6 smaller meals a day (I space mine out every 3 hours) are very good (but makes eating with others hard).
The first 2-3 weeks are the hardest. If you stick with it until 6 weeks are up, I’ll bet you’ll be happy with the results. And lifting weights is great for women, it helps stimulate bone growth as well as muscle growth.
tb