Page 5 - June 2018 Healthbeat

I DID IT!
success story Occupation: Student
Starting weight: 340
Current weight: 220
fast fitness
‘I LOST 120 POUNDS.’
Name: Karah Poole I live in: Little Rock Age: 25
BEFORE
INDOOR WORKOUT LETS YOU EXERCISE IN AIR-CONDITIONED COMFORT
Summer is really ramping up — and man! Can we get a little break from the heat already? Sure, there have been a few nice days, but overall, it’s just hot and humid.
So how are you going to stay consistent and keep exercising, despite the heat? How are you going to find the motivation to stay on your healthy path with the kids home from school, your hectic work schedule and trying to get ready for summer vacation? I’ll tell you: Try this challenging indoor workout (it can be done outdoors, too, if there’s a cooler day) that you and your kids can do together.
The format for this workout is different from workouts I’ve given you in the past. Your goal is to get through 10 rounds total, starting with two exercises for the first round and adding one exercise each round.
First, warm up for 5 to 10 minutes (like it would take that long this time of year).
Round 1: 10 body-weight squats and then 10 pushups — the pushups can be modified.
Round 2: Add 10 situps.
Round 3: Add 20 jumping jacks.
Round 4: Add 20 squat jumps.
Round 5: Add 10 standing lunges for each leg. Round 6: Add 20 crunches.
Round 7: Add 20 chair dips.
Round 8: Add 30 mountain climbers for each leg. Round 9: Add a 1-minute plank.
Round 10: Add a 1-minute wall sit.
I know it looks like a lot, but it will go by fast, and you will feel great afterward. Try this workout twice a week, and enjoy your summer.
Amy Jacobsen is an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer and an Aerobics and Fitness Association of America-certified group exercise instructor, and manager of Little Rock’s Downtown Athletic Club. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in kinesiology and has nearly two decades of experience as a personal trainer.
My story: My weight has been the biggest issue in my life for as long as I can remember. Since I was a little girl, I was always much larger than anybody else, and every- one seemed to notice it. For years, I refused to see what my actual weight was. When I would go to the doctor, I would look away from the scale and ask whomever my nurse was to please not say it out loud so that I could hear because I was terrified to know the extent of the harm I was actually doing to my body. When family/friends would ask me if I was doing anything to improve my health, I would mask my initial anger at the fact that they could see how badly I was treat- ing my body, even through the veil of confidence I thought I had un- mistakably put up. Coming out of 2016 and moving into 2017 was a hard, but huge, turning point in my life. In June 2017, I joined a gym and completely changed my diet. Everybody has or will have that “enough is enough” moment, and that
was mine.
My exercise plan: My workout regimen has become the most satisfy- ing outlet I have undertaken in a long while. When I first started getting in shape, I was working out three to four days a week. For the past six months, I have been in the gym six days a week, working out anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. I start each workout with 15 to 30 minutes of intense interval cardio before I weight-train whatever muscle group I have decided to work for the day. I weight-train about four of the six days that I’m in the gym, and
it has helped tremendously with toning up my body.
My eating plan: When I was struggling with my weight, I regretfully admit that I was eating fast food every day of the week, sometimes multiple times a day. Since I decid- ed to get into shape, I have cut out all fast food/processed foods, red meat, fried foods, most microwavables and most dairy, including milk and butter. I try to stick to a mostly vegetarian/vegan diet with lots of greens, veg- gies and fruit. When I buy food from the grocery store, I look for food that has the lowest sugar and carb content. Because I work out so heavily, my body relies on protein, which I get from drinking protein smoothies in the morn-
ings and eating a lot of beans.
My goals for the future: My goals for the future are to continue on this weight-loss/fitness journey and push for greatness within myself. I have come very
far in the past year, and I do not plan to stop. I hon- estly cannot imagine ever going back to where I was, and I can’t wait to see just how far I will go. I have much
more self-appreciation of myself than I ever had before.
KEEPIN’ IT COOL
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