The Assessment

First Workout


Assessment is defined as an appraisal; evaluation. And so it was at my first meeting with ADAM (not Andy, remember?).


Feeling like I'm in relatively good shape I'm not too scared of this whole "assessment." He puts me through a full workout along with two other ladies who have been seeing him for some period of time.


We run. We lift. We jump. We run. We climb mountains. We squat. We run. We snatch. We sweat. We whine. Well, I do anyway. But I'm proud of myself. I pretty much keep up with the others.


Adam also does a full ASSESSMENT on my body composition. Weight. Bodyfat percentage. Waist circumference. And chest and hips and biceps and thighs and calves.


He asks my goals (like every good trainer should). I want to be stronger and leaner. "Do you want to BE stronger or LOOK stronger?" Good question. "Both," was my reply.


Then he tells me that my upper body is pretty good (fat-wise) but my thighs are killing my percentage. Great. But I knew that was my main problem area. Then he proceeds to push a bunch of buttons on a calculator and scribbles numbers on a photocopied paper with handwritten descriptions. All the while he talks about my schedule and how often I can fit exercise into it. I explain that I'm in school and I work full time and I have to take my 9-year-old daughter to her theater lessons, and I find that I start making excuses for why I haven't been working out regularly.


Reality Check


He shows me my Assessment.
Current Weight: 133 lbs.
Bodyfat: 23%
Waist: 27"


They aren't the worst numbers in America, but they are glaringly ugly to me.


He asks how many calories I've been eating each day. "I don't know." I didn't. But I failed to mention that I eat half a pepperoni pizza & several cheesesticks every Wednesday. How I love online ordering!


He explains that initially I'll need to lose 11 pounds so that I don't get discouraged when I workout to BE and LOOK stronger. BEing and LOOKing stronger means I'd need to put on mass, which means I would need to eat a significant amount of calories.


The difference between fatties and meatheads is that meatheads work out. Calories are the same.


In order for me to lose 11 pounds in 11 weeks, the hand scribbled numbers told me (with interpretation from Adam) that I'd have to eat 1100 calories daily and burn 425 calories 5 days each week. * "Wait, wait wait...." I had to clarify this: I'm going to NET just under 800 calories a day?? I thought he misstated it and that I really needed to eat 1525 calories daily and burn the 425 for a net of 1100.


His reply: "Net 800. How else do you expect to lose the weight?" Right. Gotcha. I begin to wonder how many calories are in half of a thin crust pepperoni pizza and several cheesesticks (1,410 calories, just so you know). Rats. That's over my daily limit.

I guess I'll have to start keeping track of this stuff. "Keep a food log and wear this heart rate monitor when you work out so you know how many calories you're burning," he says. "See you Monday."


Here I go.


*Disclaimer: these numbers were customized for ME by a professional. In other words, don't follow my diet/exercise plans without conferring with professionals about your specific situation. I have the number for a great one....