Six weeks to a better you Published April 12, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Ashley Coomes 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Some want to be thinner, some want to be more muscular and some just want to be more healthy. These goals are all achieved the same way: by eating the number of calories your body needs and doing the appropriate exercise. One of the numerous options at the Health and Wellness Center to get your body where you want it is the Body Gym® program. In a six-week series, the Leader Online will focus on six different people, all with different body types, as they record their journeys and attempt to achieve their body goals. Along the way, Staff Sgt. Shaleika Anderson, HAWC dietician, will comment on each person's progress and give suggestions to help them along their journey. The Body Gem® program starts with Sergeant Anderson collecting the starting statistics. She collects body fat, height, weight and resting metabolism rate. The RMR is accurately assessed by a machine that measures a person's metabolism through oxygen concentration in their breath. All these stats are entered into a computer program called Balance Log®. An individual's goals, the amount of calories burned each day (RMR) and the amount of calories burned during exercise determine the calories the user can eat daily. The program features a meal journal that logs each food and breaks down the nutritional value for each meal. It also has an exercise journal that records the amount of calories expended and the duration of exercise. The program even gives reports of total nutrition eaten each day breaking down the amount of carbohydrates, protein and fats. Every week, the meal report and exercise report will be sent to Sergeant Anderson for analysis. Here are the descriptions of the six participants of the program: The weekend socialite I tend to stay on track during the week. I eat pretty healthy and exercise everyday. On the weekends, my "healthy lifestyle" derails at Junkfoodsville before continuing on to Lazy City. Most weekends I skip breakfast and usually eat cereal or anything I can microwave. If I don't have any food in my house (which is normal), Arby's here I come. I go out every Friday and Saturday with my friends. I only drink one of those nights, but it's typically beer loaded with evil carbohydrates. I stay up to the wee hours of the morning usually going to bed around 4 a.m. and getting up around noon. No matter how many times I tell myself "I will run this weekend," I never do. I'm getting better at drinking more water instead of Diet Pepsi. Stats: Female Height/weight: 5'7", 193 lbs Age: 25 Body fat percentage: 32% Metabolic rate: 1800 calories Goal: My goal is to ramp up my fitness routine with more weight lifting and intense cardio and get rid of some pounds. I want to be able to be able to run 10 miles by the end of the year and max my push-ups and sit-ups on my fitness test. Challenges: I'm an emotional eater, so if I'm stressed, sad or bored, I want the good stuff--ice cream. The weekend night life takes its toll on my energy, motivation, internal clock and eating habits. But, I like to go out with my friends, so I need to work on my self control. Old dog needs new tricks... My life entails working out fairly regularly, but having a penchant for enjoying good food and good beer means most of the time I take in more calories than I burn. I am not that out of shape and run well; its just most of my excess weight is centered on my midsection and is difficult to lose. Stats: Male Height/weight: 6', 220 lbs Age: 34 Body fat percentage: 19% Metabolic rate: 2420 calories Goal: My goal is to get down around 190 pounds or less with a body fat percentage between 10 and 15 percent. To accomplish this, my goal is to monitor more of what I eat and not just consume what ever it is I am hungry for, especially that pizza that is calling my name after a few cold brews. I also want to increase the amount of exercise that I partake in from 2-3 times a week to at least six times a week, despite the fact that I have to wake up before most of the state in order to do it. If I can do this, I just might be able to make my goal of competing, um, well, at least running and hopefully finishing the Fargo marathon in 2008. Challenges: I love to drink beer, I mean who doesn't? But they are full of calories, even the light ones, especially if you have a few. I also love to cook, and usually end up cooking more than I need and that means eating more than I should. Ultimately, it takes motivation to wake up early in the morning and make the long drive to the gym and change your lifestyle, but I feel the outcome will be worth it. Tri-athlete in training Health, fitness and nutrition play a large role in my daily life. I have a runner's build, which I guess is a nice way of saying I'm skinny. Fortunately for me, I like to run. I usually exercise every day, but I ramp up my fitness when I'm training for a specific goal, like the Fargo Marathon coming up in May. I pride myself in eating right, but I do have my fair share of lapses along the way. Beer, white Russians, family get-togethers, and the occasional ice cream binge come to mind... My diet is high in both carbs and protein. I try to avoid foods high in saturated fat and anything that says partially hydrogenated or high fructose--I'm not looking for a ride in a meat wagon any time soon. Stats: Male Height/weight: 6'2", 180 lbs Age: 28 Body fat percentage: 14.1% Metabolic rate: 2480 calories Goal: Exercise goal(s)-- My short-term goal is to finish the last few weeks of Power 90X, a 90-day fitness program that you may have seen advertised on TV. Honestly, it's been pretty brutal; I'm just trying to make it out alive. My medium-term goal is to do both the Chain of Lakes Triathlon in Alexandria, Minn., and the delightfully flat and "scenic" Fargo Marathon and in May. My long-term goal is to complete the 2008 Ironman in Madison, Wis. I guess I need to justify wearing an Ironman brand watch for the last 10 years. Body shape goal-- My body goal is certainly not to lose any weight, but I don't necessarily want to be Schwarzenegger either. Why lug around an extra 20 pounds on a 140-mile course when I don't need to? My goal is always to add lean muscle, something that should help me during endurance events. Nutrition goal-- I think I already eat right, but this program will be the true test. One thing I've immediately noticed is that I need to reduce my sodium intake. According to my sodium stats, I'm on the fast track to shriveling up into beef jerky. Challenges: Finding time to workout in my busy schedule; it's not easy being "the man." Also, working out indoors is not ideal for marathon training, but spring will be here soon (July). Beef cake I am a father of a 2 1/2 -year-old, which keeps my afternoons and weekends booked. I'm working on my degree so any time after my son goes to bed is taken up with schoolwork. Because of this, I go to the gym before work at 5 a.m., six days a week. I lift weights on a three-day split, twice a week. That is, unless sleep overtakes the small part of my brain that says, "get to the gym lazy @$$." Stats: Male Height/weight: 6'3", 212 lbs Age: 28 Body fat percentage: 14% Metabolic rate: 2200 calories Goal: I'd like to bulk up a bit more but more importantly, I'd like to shed the laundry off the washboard. I haven't done any cardio since I got back from deployment 6 months ago. Before I left, I was running 4 miles a day, six days a week. With the weather finally breaking, I think I can get my running shoes dirty again. I would like to reduce my body fat to 10 percent. Challenges: I was diagnosed this year with a herniated disc and three bulging discs, which is a double-edged sword. I need to stay in shape so my muscles keep my back from hurting but it's sometimes hard to work out when my back hurts. The other major challenge is my nutrition. According to my profile, I need to eat at least 3,000 calories a day to build the muscle I want and it's difficult to eat that many calories without eating bad food. The life style change I quit smoking in November, which may have caused a bit of weight gain, to say the least. I got an insatiable craving for meat and cheese when I quit, and, basically, those cravings never really went away. Luckily, though, I never weighed myself, so I am in complete denial of any weight gain. I love Mexican food, which is something I'm learning to overcome. I also love carbs; anything...bread, pasta, bread with pasta on it, potatoes, rice... I don't mind working out, though. It helps get my day started. I do have a problem getting motivated on the weekends. That's also the time that I eat the worst, too. I can find ANY reason to eat out. Stats: Female Height/weight: 5'6", 169 lbs Age: 28 Body fat percentage: 25% Metabolic rate: 1830 calories Goal: I'm looking at losing 29 lbs, and, hopefully, lower my body fat a little, maybe 18 - 20 percent by the time it's all said and done. And, I hope to change my eating habits. Right now, I'm an emotional eater with no portion control. I hope to become someone who recognizes "being full" and who eats to live, not lives to eat. Challenges: My husband's return from TDY will be hard because he is the pizza king, and the healthy change in my diet will be extremely difficult to maintain when he's home. My own cravings also a challenge - I LOVE CHEESE AND BREAD. Convenience is a factor also; fast food is so much more convenient that actually cooking for one. Newly Wed I got married seven months ago. My diet went from living on barely anything to having a husband who loves to cook. Not to mention he's Hispanic, so he cooks for a big family; unfortunately it's just the two of us, so we end up eating more servings than we can use. Stats: Female Height/weight: 5'8", 167 lbs Age: 23 Body fat percentage: 23% Metabolic rate: 1730 calories Goal: I want to start recognizing proper portion size and put the rest of the food away for leftovers. Challenges: I love my husband's cooking! It's hard to put the extra away, when I just want to be a glutton in delicious food. Also, my exercise interests are not available in this city, so it's hard to find motivation to workout on what is available. See how these six participants do next week in the Leader Online.