New Year’s Resolution

We all make these but how often do we actually follow through on our New Year’s Resolutions. Well this year like every year I made the resolution to get in better shape. So on January 2^nd I went to the gym and it felt great, but then I didn’t go again until the next week. It’s so easy to make excuses like I ‘m tired or one day off won’t hurt, but those days add up to weeks and months. Well anyway I went to the gym off and on until February 27^th. February 27^th was a day of reckoning for me. I really don’t know what got into me, but I finally decided that I was going to make a commitment to becoming a better me. I had seen signs for personal training sessions for only $25/session and finally called up the place to get more information. The name of the gym is Precision Fitness and Buddy (my trainer) is the owner of the Redondo Beach location. Buddy asked me to come in and check out the gym. Precision Fitness is not a regular gym, it’s a private gym but there is no membership fee. Basically the concept is group training, Buddy trains between 3-5 people at the same time and this is how they can offer $25 or less per session. Well I don’t want to bore you with gym facts, if you would like to find out more check out the website www.pfitness.net.

Ok so now to the exciting news, it’s been 2 months and I am still going strong. This has probably been the hardest commitment to keep since I am accountable only to myself. When I stared on February 27^th I weighed 147lbs with a BMI of 25.92% which was 38.11 lbs of fat and 108.89lbs of muscle. I have never been concerned with weight as long as my clothes fit, but I had noticed that my clothes were not fitting like they use to. Well I started working out with Buddy twice a week at 5AM; oh did I mention I am NOT a morning person. So not only was I committing to working out I also had to get up at 4:30am. Buddy said he would measure my progress about every 2-3 weeks to make sure I am on track. My goals included strength training with Buddy 2 times a week followed by 20minutes of cardio and my nutritional goals were to eat 120g of protein, 90g of fat and 100-150g of carbohydrates. I was also given a nutrition journal to track what I eat. On March 17^th I had my first checkup coming in at 146lbs with a BMI of 22.02% composed of 32.14lbs of fat and 113.86lbs of muscle. WOW I had already lost 5.97lbs of fat and gained 4.96 lbs of muscle. This was so exciting to actually see that already in a short time I had made progress. But I knew my eating could still improve so I took on another challenge.

Nutrition is its own beast for me. Both my parents emigrated from India and were skinny tooth picks growing up, but they didn’t have McDonald's around the corner. I grew up in a South Asian household where you always had to finish your food, but not over eat. Yeah right is that even possible? We always had big meals and we ate late in the day. My brother and I have always had weight issues. I started working out in high school and have always had to keep active to maintain a healthy weight. Food has always been a struggle for me and I knew that if I wanted to continue to see results I had to reformat my eating habits. I LOVE CARBS! I can not even tell you how much I love carbs. I knew I would have to cut back but Buddy made it easy for me with a simple tip. He told me I could have carbs, but to get them through whole wheat items and fruits. Well this was not as hard as I had expected. Another thing I realized was its not easy to eat so much protein. I started drinking protein shakes but not regularly and this showed on my next check-up.

On April 2^nd I weighed in at 143.5lbs with a BMI of 19.64% composed of 28.18lbs of fat and 115.32lbs of muscle. So I had lost 3.96lbs of fat but only gained 1.47lbs of muscle. Since than I have been getting in more protein and training with Buddy 3 times a week. My next checkup is today, I will post my results very soon.

Also just so you know I do have my reward days where I eat whatever I want and guess what everyone needs that to stay on track. One thing I've learned is that there is no finish line to cross. I have made a life long commitment to improve and maintain my health. So I challenge all of you to make the commitment! I promise it will be the best thing you ever do for yourself, guaranteed. :)

Posted by: Rashi K.