JACKSONVILLE — Lauren

I feel a bit alone this week. First, Janet is on vacation this week. You’ll hear from her again next week, though, when I’m sure she’ll fill us all in on how she did sticking to an eating plan while on vacation.

Also, I just got back from what was supposed to be my workout with Kolby Andrews at the Trinity Mother Frances Health & Fitness Center, but he was out because of an emergency illness in the family. (Please keep him and his family in your prayers.)

When I got to the fitness center and asked where Kolby was, my first thought when I heard he wasn't there was, “Sweet! A day off! I can go back to the office and get work done.”

Then that little voice in my head — the good, sensible, responsible one I sometimes want to strangle — said, “Oh, no, Lauren. Just because he's not here doesn't mean you can take time off.”

I'm proud to say I not only STARTED the workout Kolby had planned for me today (because, let's face it, sometimes starting is the hardest part), but I also finished the entire workout he had planned.

On Thursday Kolby told me that we would see how I did walking a mile today. He assured me no matter at what pace I had to go or how long it took, we would just set a benchmark for what it took to make it to the mile mark.

To be honest, he had warned me when I started with him that we would try it at some point. I really thought it would be way down the line, though — like after a month of working with him or something.

Considering I only walked a quarter of a mile our first workout two weeks ago, I was intimidated.

I did it, though! I walked the entire mile at 0.7 mph faster than I walked at my first workout, and I did it in less than half an hour! (The stopwatch on the treadmill said it took me 29 minutes and 12 seconds, but that included about 2 minutes of water-sip breaks. I would stop at every quarter-mile mark for anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute and catch my breath and get a few sips of water.)

For those of you who workout on a regular basis or who even does so intermittently, walking a mile in half an hour probably sounds a bit laughable. Bear in mind, though, when I started two weeks ago, I was completely sedentary.

At the time I started, I worked 10-12 hours a day sitting in front of a computer, with very few breaks to even get up to walk to the ladies room and back to my seat. After that long, hard day of work (which, while my job isn't physically taxing, it is quite a mental workout), I would walk to my car (maybe 30 feet from my chair), drive to my house, walk from my car to my recliner (another 30 feet or so away), and sit.

That's about it.

Now, even though I'm still red-faced from my walk today, I'm contemplating going tomorrow and doing it again on my own.

I don't know at this point how much weight I have lost total (Kolby has my scale from home trying to figure out all the bells and whistles it includes), but I can tell a huge difference in myself in just two weeks.

When I stand up from my chair at work to walk, I don't have to wait a moment or two, waiting for everything to get lined back up and not hurt.

When I walk from my car into a store, I don't get as out of breath as I used to.

Just two weeks, and my life is already very different.

This arrangement the Daily Progress made with Trinity Mother Frances lasts for three months — my meetings with Kolby, appointments with Becky Monahan, the dietitian, my membership at the fitness center are all courtesy of TMF for three months.

But I already know I'm going to continue it all after the three months is over. That's how different my life already is.

Walking into a place like the fitness center is really intimidating if you've never been to something like that before — and especially if you're at all overweight or have “body issues” like I do.

You don't want to be in there with people looking at you, watching you strain and sweat. That's how I felt that first appointment. I was intimidated.

This next sentiment is for all of you who feel the way I felt at first: Don't let the intimidation stop you.

The people who work there have one mission: To help their clients improve their health. Your goal may be to shed pounds. It may be get stronger. It may be to do both. You might want to increase your endurance. Whatever your reason, if you talk to one of the TMF experts, they're going to do whatever they can to coach you, encourage you, and cheer you on.

And not only do they do it with a smile, they make sure you're smiling when you leave, too.

Tips from the experts

From Becky Monahan, RD, CDE

Dietitian, Trinity Mother Frances Health System

Carbohydrates make you fat- limit them or avoid them

Carbohydrates are necessary for our brain and nervous system to function. They are also our body’s number one energy source.  With too little or no carbohydrates in our diets, we will have very little energy and poor mental function. In fact 50-55% of our daily calories should come from carbohydrates.  The majority should come from complex and whole grain sources (breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables) rather than simple sugars (sweets, sweetened beverages)



Some foods make you burn calories

Celery, grapefruit, etc will not make you burn calories and lose more weight. “Negative” foods (foods that cause you to burn off more calories than the calories you get from eating the food) simply do not exist.



Milk and milk products make you lose weight

More than a dozen studies show no correlation between dairy intake and weight loss and the prevention of weight gain



Eating after 7 or 8 p.m. makes you gain weight

It makes no difference what time you eat. What matters is how may calories you consume vs. how many you burn off through activity over time



The less fat you eat, the better

Fat, when eaten in moderate amounts, is important for our health and aids in weight loss, helping to increase our feelings of fullness. However, remember for every 1 gram (g) of fat contains 9 calories, while 1 g of carbohydrates or protein only contain 4 calories; so, it is easy to “overdo” the fat.



Drinking lots of water helps to “flush fat” out of your body and leads to weight loss

Water has no real impact on weight loss, although it is important to overall health.  Drinking ice-cold water also does not increase calorie burn.



The combination of foods that you eat really matters-for example, do not eat carbohydrates and protein at the same time

The combinations of carbohydrates, fat, and protein that you choose do not make any difference in weight loss. The only thing that matters is how many calories you consume vs. how many you burn.



Muscle will turn to fat if you stop exercising

Muscle can not turn to fat. It is not physiologically possible



Snacking will make you fat

Snacking will not make you fat if it is done right. The total amount of calories matters, but you can split your food up any way that you would like. Some people enjoy eating three large meals/day, while others prefer eating six small meals/day.

From Kolby Andrews

Fitness specialist TMF Health and Fitness

Exercise can be intimidating.  I think that the scariness is an unfortunately big barrier between people and a healthier lifestyle.  The facilities can seem big and scary.  The equipment can seem big and scary.  Even the people can seem big and scary.  Just like many other health related fields, all of the technical and anatomical terms that are thrown around the world of health and fitness can disinterest some people and leave them with more questions than they started with.  But the jargon doesn’t have to be that complicated.  All you have to remember is to stay FITT.

FITT is an acronym that stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type.  These are the basic terms that most professionals use when giving exercise advice and prescriptions.  Frequency usually means how many times per week and exercise should be done.  Intensity means how fast, how heavy, what heart rate, etc.  Time means how long should the exercise last.  Type means the modality of exercise that is to be done.  This could be a vague cardiovascular or strength training.  It could also get as specific as saying treadmill, bike, or pushups.

    An example would be that you should walk on the treadmill (Type) at 3.0 miles/hour (Intensity) for 30 minutes (Time) 4 to 5 days per week (Frequency).  This type of prescription is how all exercise plans are set up whether it is cardiovascular, strength training, flexibility training or any other.  Trying to keep it as simple as possible is how I try to slowly introduce people to the world of exercise and make it less intimidating.  Next time you start a new exercise plan or just want to change your existing plan around, keep with the FITT method and as always ask for professional help if needed.  Being intimidated is not a good reason to say no to a healthier lifestyle.