Fitness Safari

Hey everyone, I wanted to pop in and give you all a brief update on how Whitney's doing. While we haven't weighed in again, she reported that when shopping in Maine with a friend a couple of weeks ago, she was able to buy shirts a couple of sizes smaller than she had been wearing. I can attest to this because one of her (former) favorite workout t-shirts was hanging on her like a moo-moo. She's doing amazing! While on the same trip, she was also able to bike for miles on end through the New Hampshire hills on a BEACH CRUISER no less. She was able to hike and keep up with her friend who she had been visiting who is some kind of nutsy outdoor adventure type. Her workouts are increasing in intensity every week. She's up to five 3-minute rounds hitting the heavy bag while carrying on a broken conversation - and that's at the end of our workouts! Additionally, she's looking forward to attending her college reunion next month and playing in the alumni soccer gam...

Is your youth athlete at risk? I'm going to take some time to discuss something that I had been peripherally aware of up until I watched the documentary titled "Head Games" (available now on Netflix) about athletes and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that you and your child cannot afford to ignore. Previously known as Dementia Puglistica (DP), the disease was originally diagnosed in those involved in boxing and is caused by repeated blows to the head. This includes concussive and sub-concussive events. Meaning, whether or not you or your child has ever been diagnosed with a concussion, you may be at risk for CTE. Have your or your child ever been involved in a collision and reported seeing stars? Have you or your child ever been hit in the head and blacked out? Have you ever said things got "fuzzy" after a collision? If so, you have suffered a concussive or sub-concussive event. Depending on t...

We're three weeks in now and some amazing things are beginning to happen for Whitney. "In the past week, no fewer than three people have asked me if I'm getting taller," she said. "I'm 27, I know I'm not still growing." I think she's looking taller because she's already losing weight around her face and neck. We haven't weighed in again, but there's no need. Her body is already changing. She's also noticed that some of the people around her are suddenly becoming more active. After buying some boxing gloves and target mitts to practice with, her father has pitched in and is happy to help her spar on her "off" days. And one of her friends has begun walking a couple of days a week with her at the local reservoir - a 1.6 mile loop. In case that doesn't sound like a lot of exercise, try strapping a couple hundred pounds to your body and then taking the same stroll. Enough of my comments and observations. Below is Wh...

Today I wanted to tell you all about one of my newest, and most determined clients. Her name is Whitney. I met Whitney at a Kid Rock concert we were attending with mutual friends. We got to talking about working out and weight lifting and hit it off from the start. I found out she used to train heavily in college - we're both former soccer goalies - high school for me, college for Whit. But she admits she let some bad habits fill a void after she graduated. Without going into too much detail, let me just say this. Whitney is one of the strongest women I've met in a very long time. She may not "look" like it from the outside, but I see it as clear as day. At the age of 26, she is 5'7" and 353 lbs (when we started). She is in danger of life long health problems and, like most people in her position, she knew she needed to do something. But she just didn't know where to begin. Then we met about a month ago. Me, a personal trainer looking to grow my b...

Join me on facebook @ NJ Women's Powerlifting Club Those of you who have been following me know how I've been struggling to lose the weight that mysteriously crept on as a result of some sort of metabolic meltdown. Regardless of the reasons for my crash, I wanted to report that things are FINALLY on the upswing. I've been on a testosterone, progesterone/estradiol regimen to reverse an estrogen-dominance issue. Additionally, my Cytomel dose is finally close to perfect and my doc added Armour Thyroid as well. I've lost 10 of the 15 lbs. I gained, since I started this regimen about three months ago. I don't count calories or do much cardio. Other than an occasional metabolic type of training class to keep up my endurance and work on stability, core and balance, I've returned to powerlifting to work on adding some lean mass now that I may be hormonally better able to. I stay active by seeking out opportunities to play whenever and wherever possible and eat...

It's the journey that counts; not the destination. Promises, promises. I know, I said I'd be writing more often. I don't know how it happens, but time just soars by sometimes. The last time I wrote, I was telling you about my RT3 problem and how I'm not sure, but I think IF may have been related to the T4-RT3 conversion issue. I still have not found proof of this, so take what I write with a grain of salt as it's all circumstantial. (If anyone reading this has had a similar experience, please let me know!) Despite HOW it happened, my body has undergone a complete metabolic meltdown over the past 6 months to a year - maybe longer. As of my last post, all I knew was that my body was converting too much of my Synthroid (T4) into reverse T3, resulting in a hypoactive state despite 'normal' T3 levels in my blood. Well, about six weeks ago, my latest labs showed my DHEA was falling, my testosterone level of 17 was on the very low, low, LOW end of where a wo...

A handful of you who have been following me since the beginning may recall the article I wrote called " Surprising but welcome news from my doctor " about how, after only a few short months of IF, my thyroid medication needed to be reduced. Well, that's what we thought anyway. In the article I mentioned my severely depressed TSH and rising T4 and antibodies. According to my former endocrinologist, I was becoming clinically hyperactive and my meds needed to be reduced. Thinking that less medicine is always better, I saw this as good news. Boy was I wrong! After this visit, my doses were reduced two more times over the next 18 months after finding my TSH still hovering near zero and my T4 and antibodies were increasing. There was never a discussion on what could be causing this. My doctor knew I was practicing daily intermittent fasting (no food for 14-16 hours a day) as I asked him on multiple occasions whether that could be causing this - for better or for worse. He ...