[purpledaisy]

Today was my 4th day in a row to visit the new gym near my house.

I'm thinking the personal trainer guy was trying to BS me during the free health assessment that came with my paid membership.

OK, a little background.

I'm 46 now, 5'0" tall, and 214 lbs.

My highest weight was 230.

I'm small-framed and looked/felt my best around 110 lbs.

I've lost about 19 pounds in the last 4.5 months by watching what I eat and not having Coke very much.

I told the personal trainer that, for the 4 days I've been going to the gym so far, my goal has been to keep moving for 1 hour. For example, 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the bike. I'm going at a slow pace because I have not done any regular exercise since high school. I figure whatever I can do now is an improvement over my usual evenings of sitting on the couch.

He told me I'm not doing any good by keeping myself moving for 1 hour.

He said the only way I will see a difference is if I use weights and the machines.

Then he had another trainer take me out and do some weights for 30 minutes, and then he took me back to the first guy who went over prices for personal trainers.

I told him it's already a stretch for me to pay the gym membership each month and I can't afford personal trainer sessions, and he acted like I wasn't going to get any results by coming in and doing the bike and treadmill.

I think he's giving me a bunch of BS.

I know people who have lost a lot of weight by walking. One friend lost 80 lbs. by walking 2 miles a day.

What do you think? Is he just trying to sell me something else? Or will I really NOT see a difference?

[Anika.]

No you will see a difference I am sure. Go at your own pace at your own comfort level. Sure having a personal trainer might help, but it's not really like you need to have one either. With all the info online.

What might happen is that your body will get used to the bike and treadmill so your weightloss might slow down. In which case you can increase the speed or the incline with the treadmill. Also you might decide later that you want to build more muscle or tone you muscles. Then the weights can be helpful, but there are other ways to do that too.

Do they have classes at the gym included in your membership? Like zumba, or spin classes that you might enjoy. Don't worry about that guy, you are doing this for you!

And PD really awesome!!! Day 4 .. Wow. I am happy for you, and congrats on the weight loss and hard work.

Just try to keep the gym something you want and enjoy so you don't begin to hate going.

I think sometimes they get it stuck in their head that there is only one right way to do the gym. There way might be more optimal, but your way can also work, you didn't say you wanted to be ripped or anything, just to loose weight. And yes they are trying to sell the personal trainer, it's their product so to speak. I'm sorry he was so discouraging, but I'm not buying it either.

[Seaswept]

Purpledaisy: I agree with Anika completely... and am very impressed ...i've been procrastinating !!

[eskielover]

.......he's definitely trying to sell you something....his personal trainer services.

I know from personal experience that when your weight is high & you just start to move gain, the weight starts to come off......even without a gym....so you add that to your activity & it's going to boost your metabolism & also wear off the calories more than you put into your body.

I had really bad migraines 24/7 until I finally got the pain under control with a pain specialist.....I couldn't even get out of the house because of the pain. Light was horrible on my eyes, forget smells & I was just too sick most of the time to even get out of bed.....so I got the pain under control December of 2003.....I decided to take a few interior design classes at the junior college, ended up being treasurer of the on campus interior design club & the representative with the professional interior design associations. Started being able to ride my horse again.....went out to the ranch again constantly. My normal weight all my life was around 105 at 5'2".....had a time with anorexia in 1995 & lost a huge amount of weight & constantly in the hospital with central line IV nutrition. When the migraines got so bad was when the weight started climbing on with my lack of activity so I had gained quite a bit of weight the end of 2003. Just the moving around I was then able to do caused me to loose at a safe pace of 5 lbs/month. Only problem I had was that I was also on foal watch with my mare & sleeping in the back of my jeep at the ranch right at the time we had a huge forest fire....ended up with a massive asthma attack & bronchitis & in the hospital for 10 days......right after my mother had her cancer surgery. Everything I ate tasted like forest fire smoke, then I ended up with mild sun stroke after getting out of the hospital & back out in the 100F temps of the California desert.....my foal was born, then she injured her leg at 3 weeks old & nursing & caring for her several times a day & then my mother started declining in her health & stress big time set in & my controlled weight loss went into major uncontrolled weight loss & then I went through a trauma with the home care person who was caring for my mother & the massive uncontrolled weight loss ended up even greater until by the end of that year, I again ended up in the hospital with anorexia.

The point however really is that you don't need a personal trainer to loose weight.....activity really is all you need & to keep pushing your activity when you come to what feels like a plateau increase your activity level or find a different exercise that you enjoy doing to add into your routine because your body has built up stamina

[spoiltmom]

Cardio alone will make you lose weight BUT weight lifting will tone you and raise your metabolism. Ideally you should do a mixture of both.

[purpledaisy]

I'm thinking I'll just do what he showed me, but do it without him. Without paying for a personal trainer.

I'll just come in, do the elliptical machine to get my heart rate up, and then go to the area of the gym where they have the medicine balls and mats (off in a corner) and do the stuff he showed me. Do it a few times, and then go back to the treadmill and/or stationary bike.

I have no problem with doing the moves that I showed me. I just can't handle paying for one of their personal trainer packages each month on top of the gym fee.

[spoiltmom]

I'm currently doing the Chalene Extreme program to work on my muscles and my cardio comes from my treadmill. I do it all at home. Chalene is a DVD program by Beachbody.

[hamster-bamster]

Weight lifting is icing on the cake, to get a better muscle definition etc. To improve the mood and get the heart health benefits, cardio is sufficient.

You are being very ambitious by going from zero to 1 whole hour!

[spoiltmom]

Yes I agree with Hamster. When I started out I did good to go for 30 minutes. Heck, after 15 I really couldn't breath good. LOL

[purpledaisy]

Thanks for the info and the encouragement, peeps.

I woke up so sore today! Decided not to go to the gym today. They did tell me it's not good to go every single day. Need to give the bod a chance to rest.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by purpledaisy

Thanks for the info and the encouragement, peeps.

I woke up so sore today! Decided not to go to the gym today. They did tell me it's not good to go every single day. Need to give the bod a chance to rest.

And drink lots of fluid to get this soreness (lactic acid probably) out of your system.