Monday morning is my weekly weigh-in; I try to stick to the same time every week on an empty stomach. The verdict: I’ve lost 4lbs in the month of January.

Just over a week ago, I was feeling rather frustrated, in particular because I felt tired and run down and my weight wasn’t dropping. However, things feel as though they are looking up.

I’m still looking for a good SAD lamp solution and price, but in the meantime, I’m taking more vitamin D. I hit my gym targets last week and this month I hope to expand my sessions from a half-hour to an hour.

This is what else I’ve been doing:

1. Getting enough protein. I only just discovered I wasn’t getting enough protein even if I sat on my butt all week, let alone working out four-five days a week.  Here’s a great protein calculator.

2. Getting enough protein after my workout so my muscles can rebuild. Again, I thought I was doing enough, but I wasn’t. I started taking Proteins+.

3. Taking fish oils with every meal. I alternate between salmon oil and Omega 3-6-9 to my body doesn’t develop a tolerance. This something my trainer recommended. I take six total a day.

4. Tracking my food intake and planning my week of meals. I started tracking my protein just this past week as well as calories.

5. Getting enough sleep.

6. Watching the sodium intake. I gained 5lbs over night after eating the Tim Hortons chili for lunch one day! Talk about water retention.

7. I weigh myself same time every week.

8. Stopped eating after 8 pm and very little carbs at dinner / evening.

I’m at the point where all of this is close to becoming habit. I think hitting three-week mark really helped. I still have one cheat day a week but for the most part I am following the above without feeling deprived.

A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program.

The next day, there’s a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.

She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, ‘If you can catch me, you can have me.’

Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.
He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. The next day there’s a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, ‘If you catch me you can have me’.

Well, he’s out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.
Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program.
‘Are you sure?’ asks the representative on the phone. ‘This is our most rigorous program.’

‘Absolutely,’ he replies, ‘I haven’t felt this good in years.’

The next day there’s a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink  running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, ‘If I catch you, your ass is mine.’

He lost 63 pounds that week.

I’m nearly out of sessions with my personal trainer. I already re-upped once, but I can’t justify re-upping again. It’s a lot of money and I need to get to the point where I’m at the gym regardless of whether I have an appointment with a trainer.

A lot of people thought I was crazy for paying a personal trainer, but I think it was worth it. I learned a lot about how *my* body works – the poor condition of my knees, for example, which my trainer was able to specifically address. I also learned proper form – many gym rats that look like they’re working hard are actually doing the exercises wrong. (One fellow turned every exercise into a back exercise).

Of course the timing couldn’t be any more challenging. This time of year isn’t optimal for starting good habits with all the Christmas partying going around. But I haven’t been invited to any parties and I figure if I can get it going now then I’ll be in a good zone as the year rolls over.

For now, I’m focusing on just showing up and doing some cardio. I did a half hour of cardio last night after work and another first this morning; I’ll do another tonight after work.

The goal is to do cardio five mornings a week and weight training four nights a week, based on the recommendation of my trainer – I’m not a morning person, so if I can drag my butt onto a machine in the morning and just get started, I’m more likely to succeed.

I have a few sessions left so I’ll have a few after Christmas. Hopefully that will get me into the zone in 2010, especially after a week of lazing around with the family for Christmas in the middle of nowhere.

I did my weekly weigh-in with my trainer – it had actually been two weeks since I got on a scale – and I’ve regained all of the weight I lost from that nasty chest cold.

This means I’ve only lost 7 lbs. in roughly seven months of Weight Watchers and working out intensely three days a week. To say that I’m frustrated doesn’t begin to cover it. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices financially to pay for training which I know is good for me and I’ve given up things I enjoy in the process of developing a healthier lifestyle.

I am finally booked at a sleep clinic Friday night and I hope something is wrong because right now I don’t know why I can’t lose weight and why I have no energy – my annual physical found no anomalies.

Mondays suck as it is, but I’m starting off the week in a bad place, which I hate doing. I’m thinking of cancelling Weight Watchers and just tracking what I eat for a while and upping the exercise quotient. Otherwise, I’m at a loss of what to do.

Based on discussions with my trainer, I’m fairly certain that Weight Watchers is not sufficiently accounting for the intensity of my workouts and as a result, my body feels as though it has to conserve rather than burn calories.

The Weight Watchers exercise template estimates I am burning roughly 250 calories during a one-hour free weight session with my trainer and thus awarding me with the appropriate additional points for the day. With the Weight Watchers system it is recommended that you use all of your points. However, my trainer says I am burning at least twice that given the nature of my exercises and the intensity, in part because I keep burning calories after the workout as my body rebuilds.

If Weight Watchers is underestimating how much I am burning during exercise, then it means I may not be consuming enough food on the days I am working out. Having been doing this consistently for months, it could provide an explanation as to why my weight loss keeps hitting a plateau.

From now on, I am going to assume that I am burning at least 500 calories during my workout and eat accordingly. In the meantime, my trainer is preparing a meal plan for me. I won’t give up on Weight Watchers, but this will help make sure I get the right mix of protein, carbs and fat.

Hopefully my body won’t make the mistake of conserving when it can afford to burn from now on. I’ll keep you posted.

When I decided to join a gym I didn’t do a lot of research on chains or ask around for recommendations. There was a GoodLife Fitness across the street, so given that I’m lazy, that was the gym for me.

Fortunately, it’s worked out well. In addition to proximity, there’s lots of eye candy among the female clientelle. That may sound crass, but it’s also very motivating – my trainer agrees!

Speaking of trainers, I got lucky when I opted for a personal training trial package. My trainer used to be a chef for many years, and left that vocation because of weight and lifestyle concerns. As a result, he knew where I was coming from and understood my concerns, such as “Don’t make me too buff or people will expect me to help them move.”

As for price, it’s about average for personal training. And since I’ve not stepped into another gym aside from the little ones in hi-rise apartments, I can’t compare it to other GoodLife locations or competitors. All I can say is it’s working for me.

However, if you’re right now in a position where you’re evaluating gyms to join, here are a few basic pointers:

Price: As I said, I did no comparison shopping. The monthly membership fee was in my budget and if I could spend that much on cable television, why not my health? Also bear in mind what it offers in terms of equipment and facilities for the money.

Equipment: Further to the above, make sure it has the equipment you want. If you want to swim regularly as part of your new regime, you’ll obviously want a pool. When it comes to machines such as bikes and treadmills, find out how busy it gets at peak hours so you’ll know if they’re adequately equipped with enough machines.

Location, location, location: Pick a gym near your home or work. I work out three mornings a week with my trainer at 7 a.m., so I can crawl out of bed, pull on workout clothes and have my pre-workout snack while crossing the street. Close to your workplace is a good option too. If you have to travel far to work out you’ll likely fall of the wagon.

Hours of operation: Make sure the gym is open when you can go, whether that means early in the morning, into the evening or on weekends.

Quality of people, facility: Again, I had nothing to compare it to, but the tour proved to me that the facility was kept clean and all of the trainer’s bios and certifications were posted on the bulletin board.

Classes: If you’re interested in something such as a spinning class, check the gym’s schedule to make sure the classes you want fit your schedule.

Most gyms will offer some trial package, and if they don’t, be wary. If you want a bargain, don’t walk in January 2. I joined in late November, which is a slow time of year for GoodLife, so I got a few discounts.

One last piece of advice: While all of these above factors are important, don’t get so analytical that it becomes an excuse not to select a gym. If you’re struggling, Google the gym for reviews or find a friend or colleague at work who’s gym savvy to help you.

And no, you won’t catch fire when you cross the threshold.

If you see me in a gym, then I’m probably lost.

For years this was my favorite one-liner, usually said while seated in a pub with a pint of Guinness in front of me. Being active had simply never been a part of my lifestyle, unless you counted walking to the pub and walking home from the pub.

By sixth grade, I had given up on making any of the school sports teams or being picked to play baseball or soccer at recess. For whatever reason I’d never really got the hang of any of the traditional sports that young boys played, even though my Dad had encouraged both myself and younger brother, and we were never lacking the right equipment.

At this young age, I was already a little heavy and I’d much rather read a book than try to get involved in a group activity where I was clearly not wanted. By high school I dreaded the one semester of gym I had to endure, not only because I couldn’t hope to compete, but also because I was deeply embarrassed when I ended up on the skins team and was taunted to no end. I lost track of how many days I faked sick just to avoid gym class.

The only upside of being overweight as a teenager is the weight is much easier to lose. When I was sixteen, I was able to drop almost 30 lbs by walking after school and staying away from snacks (my mother could hear the fridge door open even when she was upstairs, I swear). The weight loss order came from the family doctor and was facilitated both by vigilant mother and the owner of the small general store where I worked after school – a heavy man who shared his healthy dinners when I arrived to start my shift.

Nearly twenty years later, losing just a couple of pounds seems like a monumental achievement, and some days, even impossible. And it took that long for me to get lost in a gym on purpose – I walked into the GoodLife Fitness across from my apartment and signed up on the spot, all the while worrying I would catch fire like a heathen in a church.

This is my big shift.