A moment on the lips...

I don’t know about anybody else, but with every fall I seem to become a hungry maniac. This fall is no exception. It could be the increased use of the seasonal spices: cinnamon and nutmeg that is driving the hunger monster. Blast, the smells are everywhere right now! It’s in candles, schools, and coffee shops. My parents have a fresh pumpkin roll on the counter, just bursting with cream cheese filling. NO!

This year I promised myself I would not give in and I certainly have incentive not to. Officially, my 10-week self-improvement journey ended two weeks ago and my numbers do, indeed, show I have made progress.

I started on 8/2/10 and my latest numbers were recorded on 10/10/10.

John & Jamie get ready to clock some laps for me.

Well, it’s my sixth week of training with John Bolesta, the Valley’s guru of posture-based core training. I have to admit it; I love it! I was only supposed to be doing this for 10-weeks and just see if I could lose 10 pounds, but I can’t imagine not working out at this level after the 10 weeks end. It feels good to have new personal goals, and I have met so many interesting people on this journey, especially the folks at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Yesterday, my Monday morning class was packed! The kids are back in school so there were a lot more participants at the SVCC Tennis/Fitness Center. They are all so supportive of me and of John and his program. I have heard from quite a few people now about how this method of training has helped change their lives and not just from a weight standpoint, either, but from an overall fitness and health standpoint.

One woman from John’s class wrote to me and told me that she had been having chronic back pain for years and there just wasn’t any medical recourse for her. She said she began to feel better within a few sessions working with John and eventually the episodes of chronic pain diminished. It certainly inspires me when I hear stories like that.

Will I measure up?

You can tell the people who have worked with John are very loyal to him. She definitely wanted to encourage me to stay with it. So after five weeks of training, I am happy to report that I have gained some strength and flexibility, I am more mindful of my posture during the day and when I am not working out, I am definitely eating better, and I have lost 3.5 lbs. (Tomorrow I hope to get the results of the measurements John recorded and compare them to see if there is any change since Day 1.)

If you are taking a posture and core-defining class with John Bolesta, you will often hear him asking this question: Yes, no, maybe? (The “darling” is optional, however). He wants to know if you are feeling “it.” “It,” meaning all the right sensations and tensions in all the right places.

Thankfully, I have been able to say “yes” to his questions more often now that I am in week 3 of my training with him. I am learning to define and isolate the parts of my body that are affecting my posture: Parts like shoulder blades, the rib cage, and my lower abdominals. Most of the ladies I work out with at the Saucon Valley Country Club are better at saying “yes” than I am at this point. They have been with John for some time and usually enjoy every minute of their class with him (except for the 3 minutes of hell, which I will need to get back to explaining later).

What I have learned in these three weeks is that I need to constantly remind myself to create what John calls, “lift and separation.” It seems I have been walking around in a rather blob-like state for many years with my shoulders hunched over and my hips pushed forward which only succeeds in pushing out the lower abdominal region. Yuk! This is one of the reasons why so many people are walking around with belly bulge.

It seems as though I am in a tough battle with my mind about where my body should be as I am only totally coordinating all the right movements about half of the time three weeks into this program. I am getting there-always being mindful that patience is a fitness virtue.

I have now been at this training for one week and have so many ideas and thoughts about this experience running around my brain, I thought I should put them on paper. Here’s my version of paper and of Late Night’s Top 10 List.

10. I constantly have to re-adjust my posture while working.

9. The produce department at Wegmans actually made me salivate the other day. (They also have a kickin’ selection of gluten-free foods.)

8. You don’t have to feel totally debilitated the next day to have had a good workout.

7. I stopped craving sweets 3 days ago.

6. I am extremely uncoordinated so I am having trouble getting the moves down when I am in class. The one-on-one sessions are helping me catch up and my trainer, John Bolesta assures me that I will become better coordinated as I progress.

5. The women in my 8 a.m. class at Saucon Valley Country Club have been very welcoming and supportive. Thanks, Ladies. I appreciate it!

4. I forgot how much I enjoy fresh-cooked beets.

3. My current flexibility is extremely poor. When stretching I can only bend to touch my mid-calf. The goal, of course, will be to touch my toes by the end of 10 weeks.

2. This “program” I am on now never ends. I will need to accept this as a lifestyle change in order to maintain my results.

And my Number One Revelation for the Week of August 9, 2010 is………………

1. At one point last week I thought that I might have to miss a workout and it totally rattled me. Imagine that.

Looking Ahead to Week 2: This week we’ll continue to refine my diet. Lots of healthy whole foods and I hope to get recipes to share. To be continued…

Okay, so I have decided I will make a commitment to work on myself and I am at ground zero. My trainer John Bolesta has spent the first few days of this week accessing my fitness and diet issues, and explaining how core training is most efficient and effective when posture is optimized. (To say John is passionate about posture is like saying Paris Hilton enjoys shopping at Harry Winston.)

My inspiration...

Once I got the 4-1-1 on how he helped transform my friend Jamie, I had many questions for John. He was very careful to explain that while he did help her identify the kinks in her posture and addressed them with a specific set of exercises to help strengthen and straighten her spine, it was up to her to continuously address the posture issues in her daily life and routine. From this she would build a strong core and be better able to maintain her weight as she ages. She has also made many diet modifications to look this great, but nothing good is ever easy.

My trainer...

My assessment yielded that I actually have a slight curve in my spine that is causing me to look like I shift to one side. Ugh! I always knew that my shoulders came forward and I always hated that. I explained that I already do considerable cardio 4-5 times a week and wear weights when I run. While doing those two things correctly can definitely help one achieve a better body, doing them the wrong way, can be counterproductive to your quest for fitness. I have been doing them the wrong way. For someone like me with rounded shoulders and compromised posture, wearing weighs while treadmilling was only serving to “hunch me in” all the more and reinforcing the bad posture issues I have.

John works as a personal trainer at both Saucon Valley and Lehigh Country Clubs, and has spent years perfecting his method of training. Men and women golfers often come to John to improve their game by addressing their posture. (The best pro golfers in the world are noted for their great posture.) I took my first two sessions with him at Saucon Valley this week: one in a class setting and another one-on-one.

John also asked if he could come to my office to evaluate my workstation for posture no-no’s. It seems that all the work I am doing to re-align myself will go for naught if I continue to slump over my computer to work. (As I write this, I have had to correct my seated position four times, but at least I am aware of what I am doing to my body and correcting it. I can see there will come a day where this will just be automatic for me, but right now I really have to concentrate on it.) I needed to address some things at my workstation and add a footrest so that my knees are at the correct height in relation to my hips.

As the week continues, we will further address my diet with a nutritionist. For now, I am weeding out gluten. Wish me luck…

I had one of those experiences that most every girl can relate to a few weeks ago. I met a friend for dinner who I hadn’t seen in a while and was amazed how she had changed.

She looked phenomenal. Now I would never have described her as heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but I could tell she definitely had gone on some type of self-improvement regimen because she was leaner, toned, and even seemed taller to me. (And believe me, being 4′ 11″, I am conscious about height). She replied to my inquiry in a very relatable way, as well. “I am working with a trainer at the club.”

Well, of course, this made absolute sense. She looked as though she had been running for miles at a clip, doing a multitude of crunches, and living on celery sticks and protein shakes. But there was something else about her. She did not look exhausted, gaunt, or sallow. There was a glow to her skin and a twinkle in her eye.

Sometimes when people go on extreme regimens they have this running on empty look to them when they reach their goal weight. She did not have this look. I queried further.

Is it protein-based? Was there herbal therapy or colon cleansing involved? What about carbs? Did she swear off carbs? It turned out that is was none of these things as her story veered off from the typical, “Yes-I’m-working-with-a-trainer-five-times-a-week-and-he’s-got-me-on-the-diet-of-the-moment,” response.

She said she felt her trainer basically changed her life with a program that first addressed her physical fitness by correcting her posture. She explained she was also avoiding gluten and basically any wheat-based foods as part of her new approach to diet. I was intrigued, and before leaving she gave me his card saying that she would be happy to broker an introduction. I remember slipping the card into my Rolodex the next day.

I kept thinking about it though: about how my posture has always been an issue for me and how I’ve been looking to drop 10 pounds. I started thinking about the Nicole Miller dress I recently bought and about how much better I would look in it if I can accomplish what my friend had. I also thought about my mother and her struggle with Osteoporosis. That was what really convinced me to act.

I pulled out the business card and called my friend. Today, I hope to start transforming my life starting with my posture. Stayed tuned. I plan on documenting my progress here in my blog by creating a Better Posture, Better Body Journal. I hope you’ll follow along with me on this journey.