I need help...

Hi Bonnie,

I completed my first triathlon this weekend, but I have been a fitness trainer for the last ten years and an aquatics trainer for twenty + years. A couple things come to mind after reading your post. 1) A lot of people go to the gym regularly and log miles walking, jogging, etc. but don't really make a lot of headway on weight. many things can contribute to this but two that I believe are critical are diet and they way you approach your workout. I always recommend that people undertaking a change in their physical abilities first seek a consult with their doctor to address cardio vascular and general health as well as testing for thyroid functioning. This helps with a piece of mind that you have a stable platform to begin working with.

Diet is probably the area where most people can see the most benefit across the board in the shortest amount of time. If you drink soda, even diet this is an area that can help decrease weight very rapidly. Generally a person who stops drinking soda and replaces it with water can see 10 lbs of weight loss in a month with no other changes. This may or may not be applicable to you, just talking in generalities. focus on eating healthier meals by avoiding fast food. Try to focus on eating healthier alternatives avoiding habitual snacking. This is something I still battle daily. I try to eat a solid breakfast with a light lunch and a supper that is somewhere in between. I like to snack through the day and it is a difficult habit to break. I primarily stock fruits and vegetables so that when I do snack it is something that is healthier than potato chips and dip. Again, these may not be applicable to you, I'm just talking in generalities from my own personal experiences.

Exercise! My ex-wife struggled with her self-image and would go to the gym religiously 4-5 days a week and showed no physical manifestation of change. I went to the gym with her and it suddenly became clear. She would jog 1-2 miles each day, but she did not push herself to be faster or to run longer. Likewise when she would do other workouts they were always to comfort level. She did the same routines day in and day out. Your body needs to be challenged in order for physical change to manifest itself. I recommend training by heart rate. General rule of thumb is to take 220 minus your age and this establishes your recommended maximum heart rate. This so a 40 year old would have a recommended maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute. If you can keep your heart rate at about 80% of this it is a good baseline for your workouts. 144 would be 80% and so 140-160 is a good starting place to achieve a training effect to start a physical transformation. As your body becomes more conditioned, you may be able to increase your training heart rate. Basically if your heart rate is below the 80% margin you aren't really kicking in your metabolism. I also will alternate the workout that I do. I do actual bike, stair climber, treadmill with varying inclines and speeds dictated by heart rate and I also will run 2-3 days a week. This change up keeps your body in a constant state of transition and will really fuel your metabolism. Start with relatively short workouts and gradually increase them and push the envelope. By pushing a little further each week you can really see some dramatic physical changes in your abilities and in your physical body.

Safety note! Always talk to your doctor before embarking on a drastic change to your workout regimen. everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for you. Hope this has been helpful.

I have never followed any type of training schedule... My dad was more of a just do it kind of guy and I have just faked my way through it... I swim until I die...bike till I die and shuffle/run till I die...then on race day I just finish.

Thanks so much. A few things... I do have doctor approval and I am as healthy as I can be... so that's nice. I have really bad knees for caring so much extra weight for so long so biking and running is a true struggle. I am sure the point of intensity is right on. I will look into it and see what I can do about that and maybe hire a trainer to help evaluate those things for me. Thanks again.

Hang in there, Bonnie! You are attempting more than 99% of people ever will so just remember that. And keep it up!!

Nick