Staffer Gretchen Parker, 35, is working out with ExerciseTV celebrity trainer Kathy Kaehler (past clients include Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston) for Us' 30-Day Get Fit Challenge! She's blogging a few times a week. Here, Gretchen details her final results:
Well, this is it. The day of reckoning. Time to reveal the results of the 30-day (which turned into 30-plus days, thanks to my vacation!) Fitness Challenge.
I don't think I would ever have made it on The Biggest Loser. I just wasn't that driven. Not to mention, I wasn't sequestered at a resort with a chef and a round-the-clock trainer. I was dealing with a real-life, bruising work schedule and an empty fridge.
I lost only a couple of pounds. But I think they were the right pounds — my jeans are fitting better. I’m definitely more fit. I can take the stairs without feeling like I’m stroking out, and I'm more productive on the days I work out. I actually enjoy life in general more on those days, when I breathe more deeply all day and feel more alert.
See photos from Gretchen's first training session with Kathy.
I'm more aware, too, of when I am moving now. And that I need to get up and walk around when it’s 5 p.m., and I've only logged 4,000 steps over the entire day. That's something we all can do, I believe. Even if we can't work out, it's good to get in the habit of moving and looking for ways to be active (taking a few extra steps from the back of the parking lot) instead of looking for ways to be inactive (circling the lot for 10 minutes, waiting for a prime space).
Kathy warned me in the beginning that I would not drop 10 pounds in 30 days. And that — in fact — I shouldn't drop 10 pounds in 30 days. I think that's something we'd all secretly like to pull off, but it just doesn't work that way. Like Kathy says: "One pound is 3,500 calories. You do the math."
Maybe you, like me, wanted to know all the secrets. The closely guarded holy grail of weight loss that celebrities learn when they join the celebrity club.
Get all of your fitness questions answered in this Q&A with Kathy!
But Kathy says there are no secrets. The thing that sets celebrities apart from the rest of us is the fire in their (trim) bellies. They want to work. If staying fit is what they have to do to be successful, they just do it. It’s a priority.
I do know that I could have pushed myself more if I'd remained true to Kathy’s agenda, which calls for working out six days a week. I would love to say I did that. I feel confident that if I did, I would lose at least another couple of pounds. But for me, it's just not possible.
But I've learned enough to know that working out at least three days a week and cutting down on take-out makes me feel better. It keeps me from packing on more pounds. It makes me happier.
Even if it won't make me famous.
Read Gretchen's previous blog entries:
30-Day Get Fit Challenge: Meet Us' Gretchen Parker!
30 Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 1
30-Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 1, Workout 2
30-Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 2
30-Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 3
30-Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 3, Workout 2
30-Day Get Fit Challenge | Week 4
