JACKSONVILLE — Lauren

My arms feel like jelly and my legs do not want to work. This is what I get for not doing both my workouts last week.

The weather was something else, wasn’t it? It held up a lot of stuff, and it completely threw off our normal deadlines here at the paper. When I was facing an early deadline, going to the Trinity Mother Frances Health & Fitness Center wasn’t at the top of my priority list.

Watch me never miss another appointment there again. Well, maybe not never, but only a severe emergency will keep me away again.

Then, on the other hand, today’s workout wasn’t nearly as hard as my very first one.

In fact, today I walked nearly a mile (0.84 mile, in fact) broken up into two “chunks” of walking — 10 minutes to start my session with Kolby Andrews, my trainer, and 13 minutes to end it.

I remember when I started four weeks ago today, I could only walk 0.25 mile.

And remember my speed started at 1.5 mph? Today the slowest I walked was 2 mph, but I managed to walk most of it at 2.2 mph, and even did the last minute at 2.4 mph.

We did some arm exercises in between the walking — 45 repetitions of each of the exercises.

All in all, I’m pleased with how I’m doing.

I weighed on my scale, which was there at the fitness center. Unfortunately I don’t have a completely accurate weight because time of day and clothing I was wearing were different from my first weigh-in, but the scale shows I have lost at least 10 pounds.

This week, because I missed one of my workouts (and maybe why my weight loss has slowed some), I’m going to meet with Kolby for a third session. In fact, he told me today because I’m supposed to be working with him two hours a week, but our sessions usually last 30-40 minutes, we may just add a third session each week.

We also talked today about the importance of me getting in some extra movement at other times during the week, like going to use the pool on Sundays, perhaps, or actually, finally getting to the water aerobic classes like I initially planned (they begin at 8:30 a.m., though, and I’m just so used to sleeping later than that).

I am looking forward to getting into that heated, saltwater pool again soon. There’s nothing like getting into the water, and especially when it’s heated.

I’ve also been reading my homework Becky Monahan, my dietitian, gave me.

The last section I read described different eating styles — especially applicable to those with eating disorders. (And let’s not beat around the bush: It’s obvious I have an eating disorder. You don’t get to my weight at my age with the level intelligence I have by just “overeating”.)

I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food, weight and body image, like so many women have. I struggle with extremes when it comes to these topics. I either eat extreme amounts or go the opposite direction in the extreme by depriving myself.

I also have an unhealthy relationship with my scale … very unhealthy.

I either avoid it completely, as if not knowing how much I weigh will make me somehow weigh less, or I weigh constantly.

I had fallen into that trap: I would weigh as soon as I woke up, when I got home from work, on my way to bed, if I passed it while doing laundry. And of course every little fluctuation made me either elated or depressed.

It’s been a blessing to me to be free from my scale for the last week or so. (It’s one of those fancy, digital scales, so I took it to Kolby so he could play with it and figure out what all it will do.)

I take it home with me tonight, and I’m going to have to learn how to avoid its siren call to weigh in every time I look at it.

Next week I want to discuss the four eating styles I have read about and which one applies to me most (and what it means in terms of me trying to lose weight).

Janet

It’s been two weeks since I reported in to everyone on my progress. After the last update on January 26, I had a doctor’s appointment and I weighed there at his office and his scale said I had lost four pounds! That was on Friday, January 28. It was exciting for about four seconds, until I realized I was going on vacation the next day and would probably gain all of that back and more.

So, in the past two weeks, I have only walked on the treadmill twice, and that was last week after I got back from Galveston. I was pretty good on my diet but I did cheat a little while I was there. It’s so rare that I take a real vacation and actually go somewhere that I just couldn’t help but enjoy it to the full extent. I was good as far as when we ate seafood, I ate it grilled instead of fried, but I will confess I had a burger and fries while I was there, I did have some chips when we ate Mexican food and I did add salt to my food a couple of times. Oh, and I did drink a few cokes… sigh… my biggest weakness. Oh, and of course we had dessert. I had the best homemade gelato ever… it was a creamy almond flavor. Yum, yum. I have to admit, we ate well on this trip.

I went to the TMF Fitness Center here in Jacksonville Monday evening to do my official weigh-in and was pleasantly surprised to see I didn’t gain all of those four pounds back. I’ve lost two pounds since the official weigh-in two weeks ago. Also, my body mass index went down from 32.9 to 32.5. But my percentage of body fat went back up… from 41.8 at its lowest point two weeks ago, to 42.1… but it’s still below the starting point of 43.4. (It’s that gelato… I just know it!)

So the lesson in all this is… go on vacation and have a good time but don’t overdo it, and then rededicate yourself to the cause when you get back home. That’s what I’ve done and I have to admit, I am perfectly fine with walking on the treadmill each night and sticking to the food plan each day. I really do want to see some significant progress and I really do want to lose at least one clothing size if not more before this “challenge” is done. Hopefully next week I’ll have some truly motivating numbers to report.

Fitness Friends



Friend         Program             Goal         Start Date/Status

       

Friend A (50)    Wii Biggest Loser Challenge    31 lbs.        12-20-10 /lost 8.7 lbs. / no

update – technical issues with the Wii.

                       

Friend B (26)    Weight Watchers Point Plus    17 lbs.        1-10-11/lost 6 lbs. / 2 lbs. in

last two weeks



Friend C (49)    Medifast Take Shape for Life    73 lbs.        9-10-10/lost 45 lbs. / 3 lbs. in last two weeks



Friend D (49)    Dr. prescribed diet pills        33 lbs.        11-11-10/lost 22 lbs. / no

update due to day off from work



Friend E (28)    Dr. prescribed diet pills        45 lbs.         9-15-10 /lost 31 lbs. / no update due to the flu



Friend F (33)    Dr. prescribed diet pills        54 lbs.         12-18-10/lost 11 lbs. so far /  

lost 4 lbs. in last two weeks 

Tips from the experts

Becky Monahan, RD, CDE

Dietitian, Trinity Mother Frances Health System

Detox Diets: Truth or Fiction?



Detox Diets: Counter intuitive terminology

When consumers hear the word ‘diet’ they probably think ‘weight loss’, although the dictionary’s primary definition of diet is ‘what you usually eat’, your usual intake of food and drink.  And when consumers hear ‘detox’ they think ‘detox diet’, a term that has come to signify something curative.  Can what you eat or drink ‘cleanse’ your body of built-up toxins that purportedly inhibit weight loss? Is there evidence that ‘detoxifying’ is effective, and is it safe?

Toxins are byproducts of food, air and water.  Daily we process toxins and eliminate them through sweat, urine and feces.  Many people feel the need to ‘detox’ because they have an unhealthy diet.  However, even a healthy diet produces ‘toxins’, which we eliminate naturally as a part of the digestive process.

Marketing Madness

Type ‘detox diets’ into a Web browser, and up will pop more than 40,000 Web sites selling programs and substances that hold the promise for increased energy, newfound youthfulness and enhanced sexuality and potency, in addition to weight loss.  Detox appeals to consumers impatient for quick results, who buy in to advertisements for potions, pills or dried substances marketed to cleanse and purify the body.

Tell your clients to save their money…and their health.  The human body is a ‘detoxifier’ whose liver, kidneys, respiratory and gastrointestinal system all work together to detoxify the body daily.  Depending on a person’s usual diet, just making smart modifications can act as a ‘neutralizing’ diet.  Deciding to eliminate unhealthy foods is a great idea…but eliminating all food in favor of powders or liquids is not.

Most commercial detox diets and ‘programs’ are nutritionally unsubstantiated and do not provide even the minimal daily needs for calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrate.  By definition, then, a detox diet is not to be followed for any length of time.

Avoid programs that promote ‘cleansing’ substances to ‘purify’, ‘cleanse’ or ‘detoxify’…these are buzzwords for laxative and diuretic substances.

Recommendations

Fasting: Some proponents of fasting state that it ‘rejuvenates’ the body, and rests the digestive track, however it is never recommended for people with diabetes, pregnant women or for children or elderly.  Fasting is another term for ‘starving’ and most health experts would not recommend it. Fasting produces headaches, fatigue and ‘fruity breath’ from ketosis.  It’s not pleasant, and not healthful.  

Juices Fasts: Although juice provides energy from fructose (fruit sugar) and provides some vitamins and minerals, it is less than sufficient for sustaining health.  Some promote a couple of days freshly prepared juice and water, perhaps to psychologically prepare them for a healthy regime to come, but the fast should not last more than one or two days, and people as mentioned above, especially with insulin dependent diabetes should never fast…ever.

Cleansing products and supplements:  Many ‘detox’ regimes involve ‘cleansing the colon’ with herbal supplements that promote bowel movements. Citing ‘waste buildup’, these products usually contain laxative ingredients including senna, which may be habit forming.  Overuse can be harmful to the colon and permanently change the digestive track.

Colonics: Some detox plans promote ‘high colonics’, an enema-type procedure where a rubber tube is inserted into the colon.  This treatment carries high risk of damage from perforations. Regular bowel movements are important, but artificially inducing them is not advised.

Water: The most effective substance to include in a ‘purifying’ diet is water.  Most people drink less than the recommended eight 8-ounce glasses, and may suffer the effects of dehydration, including poor elimination and unhealthy looking skin.