Overall Fitness Goals from SELF Fitness Director Meaghan Buchan:
All seven staffers will work on overall fitness with expert training from SELF and Reebok Sports Club/NY. We will Strength Train to tighten and tone from head to toe; Peel off the Pounds with cardio; and Increase Flexibility to improve range of motion and decrease injury risk.
Overall Nutrition Goals from SELF Nutrition Expert Katherine Brooking, RD:
Keeping a food diary helps you focus on what's going in your mouth. That's the first step in determining your eating personality - are you a Snacker, an Evening Eater, a 3 Squares Person? Then, you can customize a successful weight loss program, like SELF's Jump Start Diet, which is about Moderation not Deprivation.
MEAGHAN BUCHAN
Fitness Director, SELF Magazine
Meaghan Buchan has been Fitness Director of SELF magazine since January 2006. Ms. Buchan is responsible for all of SELF's fitness coverage, including special fitness features on Self.com and the annual three-month SELF Challenge, in which more than 250,000 women participate each year.
Ms. Buchan, an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer, is a self-proclaimed "gym rat" who frequently wakes at 6:00 A.M. for varied workouts that include pilates, spinning, Step, urban rebounding and kickboxing classes. An avid runner as well, she regularly participates in races including the Jersey Shore Half Marathon. Ms. Buchan plays in a women's soccer league with her sister, and also enjoys surfing, softball and other sports.
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Katherine Brooking MS, RD
Registered Dietician · Nutrition Consultant
Katherine Brooking is a Registered Dietician with a Master's Degree in Nutrition Education from Columbia University. She specializes in nutrition communications, both in print and on television.
Katherine is a regular contributing nutrition expert for the Fox Network, Good Day New York (Fox News) and CBS News and has written diet and nutrition-related articles for
SELF,
Big Apple Parent, and
Westchester Parent magazines.
In addition to her media work, Katherine provides nutrition counseling for individuals looking to lead healthier lives through dietary change. Her clients include adults and children with a variety of nutritional concerns including weight management, diabetes, cardiac rehabilitation, and sports nutrition.
Weight goal: Lose 5-8 pounds
Fitness Rx: Go For a Goal
Laurie is a former college athlete (cheerleader) who gets bored at the gym -- even though she does manage to get there about 2 to 3 times a week.
Having a goal to run a race (5K, then a 10K, then a 10 mile race, then a half marathon and ultimately the NY marathon) will help keep Laurie focused.
Laurie also complains of lower back pain. We're going to strengthen her core to create a strong foundation to distribute the stresses of running. This will make running feel even easier and prevent injury.
Nutrition Rx: Watch the Weekends
She has great eating habits from Monday through Friday, but gets derailed by Sangria and Mexican food on Saturday nights!
We'll help her lose the last few pounds by making healthier choices at restaurants and on the weekends.
Weight goal: Lose 30 pounds
Fitness Rx: Pick up the Pace
Delores is on medication for high blood pressure. Exercise can help!
Increasing physical activity levels can amount to a 10-point drop in blood pressure in as little as 3 weeks!
Right now she does a 60-minute walk on the treadmill 2 or 3 times a week, but quickly burns out on this time-consuming routine and winds up doing nothing! We'll teach her how to workout smarter, not harder, with intervals.
Nutrition Rx: Pump Up the Produce
Delores has a serious produce deficit.
By boosting the number of fruits and vegetables she eats, she'll naturally reduce her overall calorie intake and improve her cholesterol and BP.
Weight goal: Lose 22 pounds
Fitness Rx: Retain Bone Density and Muscle Mass
For every decade of inactivity after your 30s, you'll lose 10% of your muscle mass. Since muscle burns more calories per pound than any other type of tissue, this guarantees weight gain.
At age 30, bones reach their maximum strength and density. If you don't do weight-bearing exercise (lifting!) you will begin to lose bone mass, putting you at risk for osteoporosis.
Working out with weights just 2 times a week can counteract both of these things! And don't worry about bulking up like Hulk Hogan -- I'll tell you why on Friday's show!
Of course, Cindy's cholesterol is a problem: 20-30 minutes of cardio most days of the week can reduce cholesterol by 10-20 percent in just 12 weeks. Let's get her off the meds, or at least lower her dose.
Nutrition Rx: Eat Earlier
Cindy is night eater. She wakes up at 5:30 A.M. and doesn't eat until NOON! As a result she's ravenous by lunchtime, and ends up snacking well into the night.
Adding easy on-the-go breakfasts and satisfying snacks to her diet will help her avoid non-stop snacking and evening eating.
By adding fiber and healthy fats, Cindy will reduce her high cholesterol, and saturated and trans fats.
Weight goal: Lose 30 pounds
Fitness Rx: Sports-Specific Training
Sports-specific activities will improve his performance on the slopes AND avoid injury.
It's often easier to stick with a workout regimen if you have a purpose, in this case, to be a better boarder.
Adding weekday cardio (3 sessions) and strength workouts (2 sessions) to his current weekend snowboarding regimen will do the trick! It will also help firm his "pecs" so he can wear slim fitting shirts, one of his goals.
Bonus: no more snoring. When Marco loses just 10% of his body weight he'll stop snoring!
Nutrition Rx: Resize Servings
Like so many of us, Marco eats everything on his plate to the point that he's stuffed.
We'll help him enjoy the foods he loves in the right sized servings ... And get him out of the "clean plate club."
Weight goal: To maintain previous loss
Fitness Rx: Focus on Flexibility
Mariann was working out pretty consistently until a knee injury derailed her progress.
Increasing her hamstring and quadricep flexibility and strengthening the supporting muscles will help her workout pain free and prevent further flare ups!
Like Cindy, she's also a cholesterol case! Non-impact cardio will help.
Nutrition Rx: Snack Smarter
She doesn't plan, doesn't cook, and ends up snacking all day, often on sweets that have little nutritional value.
We'll help her find prepared heart-healthy lunches and dinners, as well as healthy snacks to munch on at the office instead of sweets and treats.
Weight goal: Lose 39 pounds
Fitness Rx: Make the Habit Stick
Lori is ultra-competitive, so in the name of competition, she turns it on full force. Unfortunately, that seems to be a recipe for burnout.
We need to stop her all-or-nothing exercising and come up with a routine she can actually live with for life!
Nutrition Rx: Tune In to Hunger Signals
Lori is settled and stuffed. She's in a great relationship with her live-in boyfriend, and since moving in together they've both gained weight.
This is incredibly common for couples and can be helped by tuning Lori in to her hunger signals and filling her up with healthy food.
Weight goal: Stay as is
Fitness Rx: Beat Boredom
Elyssa loves tennis and snowboarding, but hates the gym. We're going to change the way she thinks about working out with a sports-specific training regimen aimed at making her a better athlete (similar to Marco's program).
We'll do fun, functional moves that will help her slimdown allover, but will also make her a better (injury free!) boarder and tennis ace.
Nutrition Rx: Variety and Balance
Elyssa doesn't eat enough and there's very little variety in her diet.
She has an allergy to wheat, which makes it harder to find foods she wants. As a result, she doesn't much until she gets home-and even then she might have just a bowl of ice cream.
We'll help her find wheat-free foods she enjoys so she stays satisfied all day.
Laurie Ciaffaglione