•Issues:

very low cardio capacity

overall muscular weakness

minor balance instability

minor excess body fat

lack of muscle tone

•Observations:

Suzie, a Mom of one, was a late 40’s woman generally lean her entire life and had recently started noticing some excess body fat and/or had seen a lack of muscle tone starting to appear.  Suzie would not be diagnosed as overweight on any chart in any doctor’s office; nor would she have appeared anything less than “thin” to most people.  I was asked to do a dietary review and provide nutrition counseling to Suzie to assist with limiting any body fat gains in the future.  My assessment was “normal” for most women like Suzie.  It appeared she was generally not eating frequently enough and when she arrived home at the end of a long day, there was too much wine involved which had started appearing in the form of body fat.  Suzie also NEVER exercised in her entire life.  A basic workout program would be a large impact on her metabolism and greatly improve her muscle tone, primarily in her area of concern; her legs.   

•Plan:

Improve cardio fitness and accelerate body fat loss using aerobic cardiovascular exercise

Improve muscular weakness using strength training.  Use of small free weights, body weight exercise, medicine ball and rubber resistance tubing.

Minimal program time would be allotted to address balance.

Provide complete nutrition assessment and ongoing support of nutrition goals

Monitor and maintain consistent weight loss using sample meals provided by me

•Results:

Suzie’s nutrition and exercise plan was built around her budget and we worked within this limit to provide her the most for her money.  This included 6 weeks of personal training.  The stats are as follows:

Cardio:  Increase from 3 minutes to 11 minutes of nonstop aerobic stair climbing

Strength:  total body strength and muscular endurance increased significantly.  In addition I provided Suzie with a written consistent workout program she could perform on her own in less than 30 minutes (not including any cardiovascular exercise)

Weight loss:  Suzie chose to monitor her weight herself and I know that she had results that she was pleased with. 

Nutrition:  Suzie learned the general rule of calories in, calories out.  Most importantly Suzie came away with knowing the impact liquid calories can have on dietary balance.  She also understood the price every glass of wine she drank, cost her in reaching her weight loss goal.   Suzie ended up trying to work out a balance between the two, full well knowing that her weight loss would be slowed by wine consumption.  Suzie never really tracked her calories with any system.  Since I gave her a basic 6 meal plan to work from; she felt she could roughly manage her calories in this manner. 

•Summary:  Suzie’s time with me ended earlier than I would have hoped.  Usually the more time I have with someone, the more my lifestyle habits and choices rub off on people.  In the end I am not sure 6 weeks was enough time for me to discuss all of my nutrition conversations and success stories to her.  Suzie did leave me with an appreciation for how well one feels from exercising regularly.  Increased energy levels, lowered stress, and physically moving her body were all welcomed benefits for Suzie. 

Case Study 2:  Ms. Suzie What’s-a-weight?