Client of the Month
Gene Clark
a.k.a. Mr. September
September 2015 - Part II
A year ago I was named Club Member of the Month for September. It's an honor to be asked back to share how things have gone since then. To recap, I lost 40 pounds, 9% body fat, and 2 inches from my waistline. Pretty dramatic changes from when I started training at NWWFC with Alta in January 2014. So, what happened next?
I kept at it, of course! I'd invested too much time and effort to lose this new me. (And I was having too much fun!) Having met the weight-loss target, my focus needed to shift to maintaining and improving my overall fitness level. At its core, my regimen has remained pretty constant. Keeping track of my calories and exercise (really important!), twice-a-week personal training sessions with Alta, her Wednesday-morning TRX team training, and cardio work on the remaining days. And yes, a rest day!
Early last August, I began a twice-a-week yoga practice to improve flexibility and body awareness, which complimented the training at NWWFC. It provided me with an awareness of breath, body, and motion that has informed my training sessions and helped me progress.
But as fall grew to winter, my focus faded slightly as the days grew shorter. The calorie and exercise tracking became a bit sporadic and sloppy, even as the workouts continued. And then, the holidays happened! Good times... and weight gain. In January, I had another weigh-in with Alta and found an increase in both weight and body fat percentage. Not a lot, but after the significant effort of the previous year, noticeable, especially to me. We set some goals for the next weigh-in and went from there. Well, let me tell you: Failure! Late February and my weight was stable, but the body fat had snuck a little higher. So I rededicated myself to the calorie and exercise tracking and looked for a solution to reveal itself. It did.
Running. Please know that I've never been a runner. Even in high school as a basketball player, running was not my favorite. Seriously, I really hated it. But something happened while walking the paths through Laurelhurst Park. I was power walking while all of these runners were passing me by. I thought I'd give it a try. You can do anything for 30 seconds, right? A short distance to begin with and let's see where it goes. Surprisingly, it felt good. And my new activity monitor with GPS (Fitbit Surge) was a real motivator! The time on the elliptical machine over the past year had prepped me for running and I was ready. So I ran short bits at first, stretching it out eventually to a few miles. Alta thought participating in an event would be motivating, so I trained for and ran my very first 5K and had such a great time that I signed up for another that same day. Now I'm looking forward to my first 10K in couple of weeks. A challenge, but so fun!
In addition, I cut out the late night snacking that had crept back in. Now my weight is below its lowest previous measurement and the body fat is going back down, too.
I want to tell you about a recent experience I had: It was a Friday morning in late August. My regular workout with Alta was happening in an hour and I was just not feeling it. My hip was a little tweaked from yoga the day before and my legs felt heavy from the training for the upcoming race. I always feel better after working out, I reminded myself, so just go do it. Changing into my workout gear helped reset the mind a bit, the pre-workout warm-up with the elliptical machine brought body and breath into focus, and by the time training began, I was ready. It was an excellent workout as usual, and when it was over, I was smiling.
I hope you're feeling it. My best to all who read this. Your effort is to be admired. Keep moving!
Thank you NWWFC, it's been another great year!
Gene Clark
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