JACKSONVILLE — Lauren

Well, what an amazing opportunity I’ve been given, and what a fun adventure this will be.

Starting today, I will work with Trinity Mother Frances Health and Fitness in Jacksonville to undergo a complete weight loss/get healthy regime.

The Daily Progress is partnering with TMF for Weight Loss Wednesdays, and they’re going to put me through the paces in every way.

I will begin today by meeting with Kolby Andrews at the fitness center. He’ll do a complete fitness assessment of me, so we’ll have a starting point.

I have to admit I’m not looking forward to this initial visit, as much as I like Kolby. It’s just always rough to face where you’re at. (It makes the getting to the other side much nicer, though.)

I’ll meet with Kolby one on one twice a week for training sessions. I can’t tell you yet exactly what he’s going to do with me, but I’ll admit it’s going to be tough at first because I am a total couch potato now.

I have a sedentary job where I sit for hours in front of the computer and on the telephone. I then go home and — you got it — sit and watch TV.

I have seen people work with a trainer, though, and gain so much strength and confidence. I’m looking forward to the initial shock of actual exercise wearing off and getting to that point.

In addition to my twice a week sessions with Kolby, I’ll have full access to the fitness center, so if I want to go more often, I can.

I can’t wait to get back into the water aerobics classes I was taking with my mom earlier this year. That heated pool is amazing.

I’ll meet with TMF’s dietitian once a month to discuss eating habits and diet.

I know the dietitian is going to give me not only guidelines of how I should eat in order to lose weight most effectively but to also be as healthy as possible.

Through the course of this, I’m going to refrain from giving my actual weight. Janet and I are going to compete to see who can lose the highest percentage of body weight by each following a different program. You’ll get an update on the number of pounds I lose each week, but that ratio of pounds loss to total beginning body weight is what we’re going to compare.

I posted on my Facebook status last night the basics of what I’ll be doing over the next three months, and the reaction I got from my friends was wonderful. I think they’re as excited about this (if not more so) than I am.

In fact, I said I get the time with the personal trainer, personal meetings with the dietitian and a free three-month membership to the fitness center in return for writing about my progress each week — I feel like Oprah!

Feel free to friend me if  you want frequent little day-to-day updates on how things are going. You won’t get all the tips and good information from my status updates as you’ll get in this weekly column (yes, I’m going to share with you what the TMF experts will have me doing), but you’ll get a little insight into how it’s all going.

Just search for my name — chances are I’m already friends with someone you know.

I hope you’ll each look for this column each week. This is something fun and exciting for me, for the paper, and, based on their reaction, the folks at TMF I’ve already talked to about it.

Next week, I’ll fill you all in on how my fitness assessment went, what sorts of fitness goals I’ve set, and how that dreaded first workout went.

Janet

For my weight loss effort I am planning to follow a tried and true system that has worked for me in the past. (Disclaimer: check with your doctor before following my plan.)

Three years ago I lost two and a half clothing sizes doing this. Since then I have gained one and a half back, but I am re-committed to getting that weight back off, and losing more beyond that.

I figure if I put it all out there, I will be forced to stick with the program, so here goes: I am 50 years old, 5 feet 2 inches tall, wear a size 14 and according to a friend’s Wii machine, I weigh 178.6 pounds and have a body mass index of 32.86, which is apparently obese. (stupid machine…)

My plan is simple, which is why I have been able to stick with it in the past.

I give up Cokes (my version of coffee,) fried foods, added salt and desserts six days per week, and one day per week (which for me is Sundays) I can have those, just not in excess.

This works because I am very picky about what I eat, and I will never count points or calories or weigh my food or eat only someone else’s food on someone else’s restrictive plan, and it keeps the cravings from becoming too severe.

I also walk on my treadmill six days per week. You should know that I have one bad knee due to an old softball injury (I thought I was quite the little jockette back in the day but I really wasn’t,) and I also have severe rheumatoid arthritis and some bone damage from it in my left foot, which limits my workout abilities as well.

The program started yesterday. I followed the diet plan. (I won’t bore you with a list of what I ate.) After work I walked on my treadmill. I walk a minute for each year of my age, so 50 minutes.

I walked at a speed of 2.5 mph. By the time I was done I had walked 2.08 miles and burned 215 calories and I had worked up a light sweat. (Not bad considering I hadn’t walked on it in nine months!)

I will continue at the same speed the rest of this week. Next week I will try to increase it to 2.6 mph. The goal is to get it to 3.0 mph and stay there.

The goal for me is to lose 12 pounds at a time in the short-term, because every 12 pounds is a roughly a clothing size on me.

The long-term goal is to lose down to a size 6… yes, that’s 60 pounds, which is right in line with where that annoying little Wii machine said I need to be.

 Can I do it? I don’t know but it will certainly be amazing to me if I do. I figure anything I lose is a win. And anything beyond the size and a half I gained back from the big weight loss effort three years ago is a bonus.

I invite you to anonymously join the friends who are on a weight loss mission with us, and track your progress with us each week.

I am the one keeping track of it for the paper, so I will be the only one who knows who you really are. Call or e-mail me. It will help you stick with your program.

Fitness Friends

    Friend            Program                Goal        Date/Status



        Friend A (50)        Wii Biggest Loser Challenge        31 lbs.        Start Date: 12-20-10 – lost 6 lbs.

        Friend B (26)        Weight Watchers Point Plus        17 lbs.        Start Date: 1-10-11 – good luck!

        Friend C (49)        Medifast Take Shape for Life        73 lbs.        Start: 9-10-10 – lost 35 lbs.

        Friend D (49)        Dr. prescribed diet pills        33 lbs.        Start Date: 11-11-10 – lost 17 lbs.

        Friend E (28)        Dr. prescribed diet pills        45 lbs.         Start Date: 9-15-10 – lost 30 lbs.