Call it full-parking-lot syndrome. For the first few weeks of each year, health club regulars go to work out and find their club parking lots jammed by new members who’ve recently vowed to get in shape. But “by the end of February, it sort of dies off,” says Lynne Brenner, personal trainer coordinator at Glenview’s Park Center. “The resolutions have been a little too grand and it’s just not a priority.”
In short, many people just don’t stick with it. Within six months, half of those who’ve started an exercise program quit, Dr. R.K. Dishman, professor of exercise science at the University of Georgia at Athens, has found. What separates the doers from the quitters? Over the next year, we’ll follow–and get experts to help motivate–three people who have resolved to exercise and eat right.
Doer No. 1
Name: Rebecca Nolan (with Rosemary Kimani, owner of Hyde Park Curves club)
Age: 27
Height/weight: 5-7, 248 pounds
Goal: Lose 100 pounds
Working four or five 12-hour shifts a week at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital makes it tough for respiratory therapist Rebecca Nolan to eat right and exercise. But the pounds started adding up when she was about 21; she was working and had become less active. She also was making more money and going out to eat more.
“I grew up in Canaryville and was extremely athletic, playing touch football in the street, doing softball, dance, cheerleading and volleyball,” Nolan said. “I’m half-Sicilian and half-Irish, so I’m not a waify kind of girl!”
Through the years, Nolan has dieted and exercised, but the weight always returned. A breakup with her boyfriend in mid-November was the catalyst to try again. (There’s also the shock she got when she stepped on a scale.) Co-workers suggested she go to the Hyde Park branch of Curves, an all-woman’s gym featuring 30-minute exercise programs.
Nolan started Thanksgiving week with an orientation to the machines and a program to follow. Each machine takes 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of recovery. Nolan takes her heart rate every seven minutes to determine if she’s in a fat-burning zone, and stretches afterward.
“At first this was about losing weight, but at the new year, it became about taking care of myself,” she said. “I need to take some of the energy that I focus on other people and my job and remind myself that this is what I need to do. I’m not getting any younger, healthier or less busy.”
Doer No. 2
Name: Polly Feuer (pictured with trainer Nibra White)
Age: 38
Height/weight: 5-7, 224 pounds
Goal: Lose one pound a week for a year
Polly Feuer is a pre-kindergarten teaching assistant who wanted to be a chef but opted for teaching. She’s working on a master’s degree in early childhood education.
Since moving back from Florida four years ago, she has gained 50 pounds, adding to weight gained in high school and college. Once a multisport athlete, Feuer gradually has gotten out of shape and says she spends too much time sitting in the classroom and in front of a computer.
Last fall, she went to the Evanston YMCA and hired a personal trainer, Nibra White.
“The first three months were kind of a warm-up,” she joked. “I was sick for a week, then the holidays came and I didn’t work out at all. New Year’s came and my resolution was to work out, raise the intensity level, do my cardio and watch my diet.”
She meets Nibra three times a week. “He motivates me to go to the gym and gets me to do things I’d never do. He pushes me harder than I’d push myself, and we never do the same routine twice.”
She strength-trains with Nibra and uses a bike and treadmill. She has cut out bread and pasta and cut back on sweets. She hopes to add another cardio machine and possibly an exercise class to keep things interesting. She hopes to get more energy as she gets in better shape.
Doer No. 3
Name: Mike Calka (pictured at work)
Age: 55
Height/weight: 5-10, 250 pounds
Goal: Lose 25 pounds
Mike Calka jokes that this will be his 30th annual diet. This time, however, he’s inspired: The semi-retired Calka works part time at the fitness center front desk at Glenview’s Park Center.
“When I see what the personal trainers have our members go through, and what members do without trainers, I see a lot of dedication. They’ve made it a habit in their lives–like me hitting golf balls each day.”
Golf is Calka’s main exercise. His chief obstacle is food, and each year’s resolution to stay in shape has lasted only a few weeks.
“My wife, mother and mother-in-law are wonderful cooks,” he said. And there’s more: “One of my downfalls is, when I’m under stress, I tend to eat more.”
Calka plans to keep a food journal. He plans to visit the Park Center four or five times a week to use the treadmill, bike, rowing machine and elliptical trainer, followed by stretching.
“I’d like to see some lasting results because I’ve gone through this so many times,” he said. “I want to be around for my grandchild. Losing 25 pounds isn’t an ideal weight, but it’s a realistic goal. I could say 75 pounds, but that’s unrealistic.”
Before you start, play it safe
You know the drill, readers: Before you start a workout and diet program, it’s smart to run your plans past your doctor. Every individual is different, but to be on the safe side, we asked exercise physiologist Richard Cotton, who provided the workout tips above, for general diet guidelines. He said that 2 1/2 pounds a week is the maximum one should lose; anything more is potentially dangerous. Calorie intake, he added, should be a minimum of 10 times one’s body weight in pounds or 1,200 calories a day, whichever is more. For example, a 150-pound man should take in at least 1,500 calories a day.
Exercise your options
For anyone wanting to stick with a workout plan, here are some quick tips from Richard Cotton, spokesman for the American Council on Exercise and chief exercise physiologist for MyExercisePlan.com, a Web-based training site:
– Schedule your workout. It won’t happen if you don’t make it a priority.
– Pick activities you enjoy and that aren’t difficult to master.
– Don’t jump into 60-minute sessions. Start with 15-minute chunks and add several minutes a week.
– Don’t go too hard. If exercise is painful or makes you too tired, you’re not likely to stick with it, plus you risk injury.
– Embarrassed to work out at the gym? Can’t afford it? Work out at home with light weights, stretching, then walk or jog with a good pair of shoes. Buy an exercise tape.
– Hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to set up a program, then to ensure you’re doing things correctly.
– Need more motivation? Hire a personal trainer and meet regularly, or exercise with a friend, partner or spouse.
– Combine exercise with eating right. One without the other won’t achieve your goals.
– Think of exercise as time to relax and de-stress, making you happier and more productive.
