March 16, 2010
I have not mentioned it at all on this blog yet, but I have been working out with a personal trainer at Pink Iron every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning for the past twelve weeks. Yesterday was my last session, but before I get into my review and results I should give you all a little back story.
Up through high school I never had to worry about fitness or keeping in shape because I was an athlete, always participating in multiple sports. This, combined with good genes, meant that I never had to put much thought or effort into how my body looked. I ate whatever I wanted, which often times was an entire frozen pizza after school and always an ice cream sundae every night. Still, at around age sixteen I had visible “4-pack” abs which I was quite proud of despite not really working for.
Then graduation happened. The physical activity all but stopped, yet the bad eating habits didn’t change. It didn’t take long for my muscle definition to disappear and I still remember the day when my mother pointed out the beginning of a muffin top peeking out of my jeans. Sure I didn’t like it, but I’d be lying if I said I ballooned up or got fat. Truth is I just went from being fit and thin to being normal. I was okay with normal at the time so I didn’t change a thing. Every once in a while I’d make an effort to workout or start being more active, but those attempts were always short-lived. It took about six years until I made a serious push. I weighed in at 154, which was right around the corner from 160, and there was no way I was going to let myself hit 160! (I am 5′8″ in case any random people read this.) Not only that, I just felt completely out of shape. Hiking, long walks, running, going up stairs… it all seemed way harder than it used to. So I got motivated and lost 17lbs in three months. At the time I had just the basic knowledge of how to lose weight: eat less, move more. It started off well, I ran on the treadmill every day (15-25 minutes) and started paying attention to what I was eating. Since I had been sedentary for so long, I saw results quickly which motivated me to push harder. My cardio turned into two-a-days which toward the end even turned into three-a-days, and the more I ran the less I ate. I was a vegetarian at the time so it was mostly egg whites, veggies, berries, nuts, yogurt, bagels, and muffins. Needless to say, once I stopped that lifestyle I gained half the weight back. Fine, I was still almost ten pounds lighter than before and now that I was under the 150 marker I was determined never to pass it again.
Was I still looking back at my sixteen year old body with fond memories? Of course! I thought all women did and we were just supposed to accept the fact with a shrug of our shoulders and say, “well, I’m not sixteen anymore.” I accepted it for a while, but I don’t anymore.
It was during the three months I spent in China studying martial arts that I finally admitted to myself I had lost my “athlete” status long ago. Why was I the only one who couldn’t run eight laps around the track? Why was I the first to give up when working the lower abs? And why could I not do a damn cartwheel anymore!? My classmates ranged from younger to older, fatter and skinnier, but I was definitely the weakest link. If there is one thing I can’t stand being, it is the weakest link. It must have been around this time that I actually started taking an interest in fitness and reading up on all the current studies and trends. I learned that weight didn’t mean much, and though there was a lot about BMI (Body Mass Index) being the number to look at, that was now also fading and body fat % was emerging as the number that mattered. I’m not saying any of this information was new, just that it was starting to become common knowledge rather than a secret of the health and fitness industries.
Here is an example of the Body Fat % classification chart. There are many variations of them out there, but this one is pretty common.
I don’t remember the first time I got my body fat % checked, whether it was before or after China, but I do remember not being pleased with the results. I may have weighed in at a healthy weight for my age and height, and my BMI was right on target too, but according to my body fat % I was barely acceptable! With further reading I found out how important weight lifting is in order to lower your body fat %. In high school I took a weight training class because it was known to be a slacker class, a lot of my friends were taking it, and I did have some interest in the subject matter. Unfortunately points one and two overthrew point three and I didn’t learn much. Not knowing what to expect from the program in China, I did attempt to beef up a little bit before I went, which just meant I played around on some of the most basic machines at the gym, like chest press.
When I returned to the states I was better than before with eating and exercise. I had a gym membership which I used periodically just to run on the treadmill, generally running in the 30-45 minute range now. I was paying for Krav Maga classes but not attending them, so actually going was the only thing I was looking to improve on. Then one day I was perusing Craigslist, not looking for anything particular, that is just what I do when I’m bored at work sometimes. In the activities section I saw an ad for a women’s only gym called Pink Iron. I kept reading more as something to laugh at… I was a tomboy growing up and prided myself on being one of the boys, so the idea of a gym that was an all female staff and all female clients seemed a little too feminine and a little too LA. But when the ad specifically mentioned girls like myself who go to the gym and beeline straight for the cardio equipment because they don’t know how to use weights properly and don’t want to get questioning looks from the boys, I got hit with a reality check. I definitely was not one of the boys when it came to knowing my way around a gym. Even so, I normally would have brushed off the ad except I noticed it was right around the corner from my office. Out of curiosity (and something to do as I waited for the LA traffic to die down) I called and set up an appointment to get a tour of the facility after work that day.
Pink Iron gym in Los Angeles
From their website I knew that they really took the “pink” part of their name to heart (see picture above) and, being located so close to Beverly Hills, I was honestly expecting a bunch of Barbie Doll blondes to be working out there, all wearing inappropriate workout gear in bright colors, perhaps even some silly girl walking on a treadmill in high heels. I could not have been more wrong. While the decor was overwhelmingly Barbie-esque, almost everyone there was clad in black and the trainers looked like girls I could learn a thing or two from, yet weren’t intimidating.
After meeting with the owner, Holly Holton, later in the week, I decided to give it a go and was assigned a personal trainer whom I would meet with every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 7am for the next twelve weeks. The trainer chosen for me was Christin Martingano. They say they pair you up with the best match, even though I have a feeling it may have more to do with scheduling (possibly both). Regardless of how I was paired, I was stoked because I had done my research online prior to the meeting and had already picked Christin out as the one I wanted, and since it happened without me having to even mention it… must have been meant to be!
At Pink Iron they concentrate on three areas: nutrition, cardio, and weight training. In the beginning I was asked to keep a food journal and then it was looked at by Christin and improvements were made. Because I eat so much better when I have to own up to it, I started using MyPlate on Livestrong.com once I no longer had to hand in a food journal. I only use the free version, but it has been life changing. I am a sucker for tracking, charting, and graphing so entering everything I eat and drink is fun for me, though I do understand how most people would find it too annoying and time-consuming. But for me, having a pie chart of my calorie breakdown every day, along with all the other tools, has been amazing and I am going to continue using it. I know for a fact that I would not drink enough water if it weren’t for the tracking on the site. While I now have my nutrition under control, cardio is definitely where I was lacking during the twelve weeks. At Pink Iron they don’t like to waste the personal training sessions on cardio which makes sense. Do I really want to pay a trainer to watch me run? Instead, it was my responsibility to do cardio on my own, and I failed miserably. I’d say I averaged once a week, maybe twice. Not exactly the 5-6 times per week like I had intended.
The hour-long personal training sessions are spent weight training. While before I was more drawn to machines, Christin is more of a free weight girl. We did a combination of the two, but emphasis was definitely on the latter. At first I was a little disappointed because I wanted to learn how to properly use all the equipment I see in the gym, but after a while I grew to love free weights. Tougher, more rewarding, and more versatile. After my final session yesterday I was given paperwork from all my workouts that included all the exercises with how much weight I did and how many reps I did. I couldn’t wait to enter all that info into an Excel spreadsheet and I spent all day yesterday doing so (yes, I know I’m slightly neurotic). After completing it I found that I had learned about 100 different exercises! There is absolutely no excuse to not continue working with weights now that I am armed with that large of a repertoire! Granted there are some that I love and others that I hate and when I am in charge of my own routines I will do the ones I love more and the ones I hate less, and I’m not even going to lie to myself about that.
The twelve weeks of personal training at Pink Iron has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself, albeit one of the more expensive. Yes, it did cost a hefty sum that made me choke a little in the beginning, but in the end, dare I say I would have paid even more? You can’t put a price on health and happiness, and without Pink Iron I don’t think I could have accomplished what I did in those two categories in such a short amount of time. It pushed me across that line which separates dabbling from a lifestyle change and that alone was worth it. I am so glad I didn’t fall victim to my premature judgements and get scared away by all the pink. Being surrounded by so many amazing women turned out to be completely empowering and I began to embrace it. By the end, I was the girl working out in pink weight lifting gloves and a bright purple Under Armour tank and I’ve never felt stronger.
By the numbers, here is what I achieved with the help of Pink Iron and MyPlate:
INITIAL EVALUATION:
Weight – 143
Body Fat % – 28.4
Pounds of Body Fat – 40.04
Pounds of Lean Muscle – 102.96
FINAL EVALUATION:
Weight – 141.2
Body Fat % – 19.6
Pounds of Body Fat – 27.7
Pounds of Lean Muscle – 113.5
DIFFERENCE:
Weight – loss of 1.8
Body Fat % – loss of 8.8
Pounds of Body Fat – loss of 12.34
Pounds of Lean Muscle – gain of 10.54
It was my goal to get below 20% so that, at least by the standards of body fat, I could consider myself an athlete again. I just barely snuck in there, but 19.6 % means I did it! Even though many women may look at my stats and call out the fact that I only lost two pounds (not even), I have to admit I feel so much better now than I did when I lost seventeen pounds and was actually four pounds lighter than I am right now. I know that’s because, this time, I did it the right way. Plus I lost four inches off my waist and dropped two dress sizes! My new goal is to get down to 16% body fat by the end of the year and the next post will be about the different activities I plan on trying next now that my personal training sessions at Pink Iron are over. Honestly, I don’t even need the motivation of goals to keep me going anymore, I just want to stay active and try out new fitness trends because it has become fun. I never thought I would get to that point again, but I did, and I owe so much thanks to Christin and Pink Iron for getting me there!
Pink Iron is located at 1106 North La Cienega Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069; (310)360-7465
In addition to personal training, Christin is also a professional hair stylist and makeup artist. Check out her website/portfolio here and her new blog, Christin’s Beauty Blog.
If you would like to read more of Sarah's blog, check it out here: http://catchacubinitsden.wordpress.com/
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