*Written by a St. Petersburg patient who wanted to share their experience working with a Nutrition Coach all while remaining anonymous
OK, so here’s the story: Over the past few years, I’ve decided to up the ante a little bit on my gym-going regimen. Instead of going to a generic gym, doing some random lifting, then jumping on a treadmill for 10 minutes, I decided to join a real gym. I needed accountability more than anything. I figured that I wasn’t getting any younger. Every time I went to my doctor, she’d tell me that things were looking good, largely because of how much I was going to the gym.
But I quickly found that, though I was absolutely crushing it with the kettlebells and TRX straps, my love for unhealthy meals and snacks was getting in the way of the progress I was making at the gym. In a way, my daily exercise routine was being hijacked, week in and week out, by my dietary choices at the breakfast, lunch, and dinner table.
I wasn’t seeing the results I knew I should be. That’s when I said, “enough is enough,” and decided to get started with an initial session at St. Petersburg Nutrition and work with a Nutrition Coach where I discussed my predicament. I chose St. Petersburg Nutrition because they only have Registered Dietitian’s on staff as their Nutrition Coaches and also offer key tests as you will read below, to design a personalized plan.
It turned out that it wasn’t so bad after all. Really, all I needed to do was make a few key changes to how and what I was eating, and I would begin to see results almost immediately.
But it wouldn’t come without a lot of hard work on my part!
The First Order of Business.....
The first order of business was getting my Gold Standard metabolic and body composition test done. My Nutrition Coach explained that, in order to get me on the right track, they would need to figure out my body’s metabolism—or how it converts food and the calories in them into energy. How efficient your body is at doing this is referred to as your “metabolic rate,” they said. And, of course, metabolic rates are like snowflakes; they’re different for every patient, because they’re based on factors like one’s weight, age, body composition, hormone levels, and gender, among other factors.
By testing my body’s metabolic rate, it turned out, my Coach could customize a plan for me to reach my weight loss and body composition goals. Every calorie I consumed, they explained, required a fixed amount of oxygen to be converted into energy. The Gold Standard metabolic and body composition test would then measure the oxygen I consumed to calculate calories burned. All of the air I would be exhaling would be collected to measure oxygen consumption.
Here's How It All Works.....
Here’s how it all works: Two one-way valves in the KORR MetaBreather machine would ensure that I was only inhaling fresh air and that all exhaled gas would pass through the machine’s hose and into the machine. Brenda had me put a disposable nose-clip on to ensure that all exhaled air was analyzed. Cue the Jeopardy! countdown music. (It’s worth noting that I had to avoid working out, avoid caffeine and alcohol as well as avoid eating four hours before the test was completed to ensure accuracy.)
After the test was completed, I got a print-out showing me just what I needed to accomplish going forward. My Coach walked me through the steps and started creating a plan for me. They also did a body composition test, using a skinfold caliper, to lightly pinch the skin on various parts of my body—my arms and stomach, for example—to get a read on my skinfold starting-point. That would be tested multiple times going forward to ensure that I was making improvements. I found this part of St. Petersburg Nutrition’s website helpful to first learn all about the metabolic test and body composition testing in more detail before I got started!
So now that you’ve taken the Gold Standard metabolic and body composition test, what can you do to keep yourself on the path to better overall health? Here is my list of 5 things to do.
Here Is My List of 5 Things To Do.....
1. Don’t Leave St. Petersburg Nutrition Bummed Out
Look, you came all this way; if your metabolic rate and body composition are not what you were hoping they would be, don’t lose faith. If you had the strength of mind to come in in the first place, you’ll have the ability to stick to the plan of attack created especially for you.
2. Your MyFitnessPal App Is All About Accountability
After my coach helped me come up with my daily nutrition goals, they had me download the free MyFitnessPal app, which is a great way of tracking your caloric intake over the course of a day. For example, every morning, I fire up my app and punch in every food and liquid I consume for breakfast (and lunch and dinner). Just like my trainers and friends at the gym, the app holds me accountable. Should I be choosing this type of food? Will it keep me on the straight and narrow? Or will it be in a problem area for calories or saturated fat or sugar? Click here to check out more about My Fitness Pal!
3. Water Is Your Best Friend
My Coach taught me that drinking water throughout the way was a good way to keep my caloric intake in check. Oftentimes, we’ll be at our desk doing work and forget to hydrate. Science suggests that, by drinking enough water on a daily basis, it can help suppress our appetites, boost our metabolism, and make exercise easier. In other words, simply sipping water all day along will give me better results at the dining room table and the gym
4. You Don’t Have to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
Yes, you read that right. Based on my test, my Nutrition Coach advised me to frontload my day with protein. So, right after the gym, when my metabolism is super high, I eat egg whites and high-protein cereal, and drink an Orgain protein shake (you can get them in several delicious flavors, including chocolate and strawberries and cream). This fills me up, so I’m not tempted to eat a bunch of fattening foods in between breakfast and lunch – or just gorge for lunch. And then, right around 3:30pm, I drink an Orgain shake or have a bowl of high-protein cereal, so that I won’t head to the fridge between then and dinner. I’ve found that I’m much less famished at dinner and tend to binge-eat less. Who knew that you could lose weight by eating more?
5. A Daily Exercise Regimen Is the Glue That Holds It All Together
My desire to live a healthier life begins and ends at the gym. I turned it into a routine I could handle (it’ll likely be different for everybody). Here’s a sample: I get up at 5:15am and am on the turf by 6am. I work out in a class with about 20-30 other people for 45 minutes straight, and it’s not easy. In fact, most days, I wind up flat out on my back, breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and wondering why the heck I went there in the first place. It’s that hard! But then the why dawns on me: I’m doing this, because I want to be healthy and live longer. I want to be proud of the reflection I see in the mirror. I want to bring that feeling with me to every aspect of my life. Without question, deciding to be (and remain) healthy has been one of the most important decisions I’ve ever made in my life. And it should be for you, too.
Schedule a complimentary phone consultation and speak with one of our Nutrition Coaches today!
