Fitness expert Jen Morin is following competing teams losing weight at Seekonk Total Fitness. The "Challengers" will be shedding pounds through intense exercise and lifestyle changes. Check back every week to read about their successes and hurdles - and get some weight loss tips of your own.

I met with Seekonk’s Head Trainer, Andy Calise, who gave me an overview of the Challenger’s successes, diet, exercise and the importance of communication, after the completion of the first week for the Challengers participating in the “You Choose To Lose” Weight Loss Challenge. Andy reported that overall all Challengers have done a fantastic job, that if you do what we ask of you you’ll be very successful in week one, but that their trainers won’t know a lot until the second or third week.

This is due to many factors. In general, during the first week the body is purging a lot of things. The analogy Andy gave for success in the first week - “It’s like winning a pre-season game by a wide margin. It’s a nice indication of your potential but the real work comes in the second and subsequent weeks.”

 Team Stats after Week 1:

 All Challengers Combined Weight Loss:  345.4 lbs

 First Week Diet:

According to Andy, the first-week diet levels the playing field. Unlike exercise, where some people are in better shape than others, they all essentially start from the same point with the diet, meaning they haven't been restricting their calories prior to the program. This week isabout driving home the importance of consistency and building the routine – getting out of the old habits and into the new.

One of the things Andy looks for in the first week is to assess whether the diet is configured properly for each Challenger. When you plan a diet the first thing your trying to do is the proper calorie level – which is done by a math formula that’s taking a rather non-individualized approach (age, weight and perceived activity level to figure out their metabolic rate).  Then determine how many calories below that we would need in their diet to result in weight loss. The art is to start generic and customize it – knowing the individual person and variables that you can’t account for.

The team member has to understand that their input is crucial in the first week and that I and other trainers can’t figure it out without their input and feedback.  The only accurate way to adjust these diets is by understanding a team member’s energy level and level of hunger. The diet’s not a prescription for food it’s a conversation – if they’re always hungry and their energy level stinks it’s a bad diet. When people cheat, a lot of times it’s not because they’re weak it’s because they have an improper diet.  

 First Week Exercise:

Andy explained that during the first week trainers identify where everyone is on a relative fitness scale. Unlike the diet, where we can start everyone with the same strategy (restricting calories), exercise is something we need to individualize from the first day. Individualized exercise programs are necessary because people are coming to us in different types of shape. There are those that have moved away from exercise for years and years and years – and in some cases have never exercised.

During this first week we’re not running body sculpting classes. We identify certain progressive goals and they’re all related to physical output: proper completion of fundamental motions. This includes gauging a person’s balance and agility which is more important to the person’s overall fitness – more fundamental to quality of life. Andy asks “Would you rather have shapely biceps or run up the stairs without any problems”.

In regards to completing fundamental motions we look to see if someone can perform the squat properly, do a pushup properly and assess if their body moves in through all the proper ranges of motion or if it is limited by its current deconditioned state. We then modify each exercise on a personal basis, so someone can build towards a complete version of the movement, so that it can be completed no matter where someone is on the fitness scale. Progressively increasing in difficulty and working towards the actual movement.

We’ll be checking in with Andy next week to see how Team Members have progressed – both successes and some of the team member’s personal obstacles. We’re wishing all Challengers continued success and health on their weight loss journey!