Weight Loss goal Chris Carrillo

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that losing weight is easy. It is not. Every myth, study and scuttlebutt is true. It’ s easy and its difficult.

It began about a year ago when I decided that I wanted to “reset” the clock when I turned “half century” and try to get back to my college weight….hahahahahaha.  First problem was I couldn’t remember my college weight from approximately 3 decades ago. I decided to look at a BMI table and decided to reach an optimum BMI for my height and weight (and age?). Initially that was beyond scary. It put me at a weight beyond my reach but I decided on 165.  Seeing how I was at 187, I knew I had work to do.

Phase 1. Getting started is probably the first and most difficult hurdle to clear. For two weeks, my body betrayed every natural law of conservation of mass and energy. I felt I ate less than 50 calories a day and my body would not shed a single pound. Hunger was a constant feeling. Pain was my friend. Grit, will power, and mind over matter, ultimately won. My body decided on the third week it had lost and the weight loss journey began. Cravings decreased and hunger was not endlessly on my mind. During this period, work, keeping busy help me through. 

Now the second phase begins and this is where I learned to be patient. Try everything in terms of what works and give yourself the permission to fail. I knew I was on the right path and I needed to continue to lose weight. I also knew it was unhealthy to lose weight fast so I begin to eat again. But I changed my diet. I begin making fruit and spinach shakes for lunch.  Snacks consisted of almonds, dates, olives and cheese. I drank low sodium V8. Dessert was replaced with oats and yogurt. Dinners were one portion and not two or three. All these changes were enacted over time and not together. I had to try combinations that worked to satisfy cravings. The best thing is that now I see this as not my diet, but how I eat. Not something that I am doing to lose weight but what I crave. Diets are fleeting but healthy eating is for life.

I also began exercising. Winters are difficult but an investment of a treadmill was one of the most important changes that helped. I began walking in the evenings, running over the weekends. I watch the whole series of COSMOS while walking miles. I tracked my steps, workouts and weight on my phone and watch. It was important to me to see my progress and not fall backward. 

With everything in place I continued to lose weight. Not a lot but maybe a pound a week. A sustainable plan. And did I fail? Holidays were times when I could eat. Sometimes on the weekends I binged on bacon, eggs and buttered toast. On certain weeks, I went to the dining hall and ate………. until I was full. But I always knew I would fall back on the habits that I had enacted.

Third phase. I became a workout junkie. I’ve always enjoyed running and swimming. So over the summer I decided to ease the caloric restrictions and increase the caloric metabolism. I ran and swam more and more. I ultimately plateaued with running 7 miles and swimming 2 miles a day. My body responded and I felt energized. My body now craved exercise. 

Phase 4. I am in the final stages of losing those last few pounds. It is proving difficult but I am secure in the fact that my journey is ending. I am somewhere between 164 and 166. I know that I have the habits in place to reach my goal. As I reflect back on my year, what has impacted me the most was not the loss of weight. Even though that was my initial goal and my indirect measure of my health, I’ve come to realize how much I missed exercise. My eating habits have changed and I do not crave the junk food. I’ve had to buy “smaller” clothes. I know folks can regress back to weight gain but I am ready to maintain my healthy lifestyle. I enjoy my running, enjoy my almonds. I do not eat lots of bacon but a couple strips will do. I’ve come to realize that maybe the weight wasn’t as important as the change to a healthier lifestyle that I enjoy. In the end this is what mattered most.

October Wellness Reflection

I was not very athletic growing up and really had no desire to be. My older brother got involved in running cross country and track in middle school and later became a top athlete in high school and college. When the West Noble High School cross country team finished 5th at State my sophomore year, my brother’s senior year, I decided that I wanted to be a part of that team and started training. I struggled as an entry level runner my junior year in high school but my coachsaw that I was committed and pushed me to do my very best. While I never made varsity, I fell in love with cross country. In college I ran when I had the time, but did not get involved in races again until I graduated. I had become a Mechanical Engineer with a degree from Purdue University (I should have felt on top of the world), but I became discouraged with my career path and with other things in life, and cried out to God for help. Miraculously I got an answer. I felt led to go into teaching, a career I had never really considered. I picked up a job working at a Christian summer camp leading outdoor adventure trips in backpacking, bike road trips, and white water rafting. It was there that I gained the courage to try new challenges as well as confidence in my abilities. When I finally got settled in a teaching job at Triton Central High School on the southeast side of Indy, I quickly got involved in coaching cross country. I would frequently train with the team and got back into running 5K races. One day my older brother asked if I would run the Indy Mini‐Marathon with him. Frankly, any race with the word marathon in the title seemed far above my capacity, but it sounded like a challenge, so I decided with enough time to train I would at least give it a shot. At the time, it was a struggle balancing my duties as a teacher/coach and training for a half‐marathon, but I worked my way up to a 10 mile run two weeks before the race and felt confident that I could finish the race. I was able to finish my first attempt at a half‐marathon and thought that was definitely the farthest that I would ever run. I met my future wife a few years after that and our first date was to go for a run. I quickly found out that she was training for a full marathon. Using my keen math skills, I determined that was twice as long as a half‐marathon; twice as long as I had ever wanted to run. After she finished her full marathon we challenged each other to run the Chicago Marathon later that year. While that was our only marathon together to date, we have had many running and racing experiences together. My fondest memory of racing together is the Inaugural Star Wars Half‐Marathon at Disneyland. It was by far the most fun and exciting race I’ve ever run. Recently I have enjoyed getting our kids involved in racing. For the past few years we have been involved in the Lake Max Triathlon. This year was the most challenging for all of us because of the wind and rain. It is a joy to see them take an interest in fitness at their age and to train alongside of them. We hope to continue participating in the Lake Max Triathlon together as a family tradition. My next fitness adventure will be to complete the Dopey Challenge at Disney World. My wife and I are already training for this set of races that doesn’t take place until January. It starts with a 5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, half‐marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. It’s pretty amazing to reflect on my physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing and to see how far I’ve come. I look forward to growing and becoming stronger through any challenge that lies ahead.

Walking

Kevin MacNeil and Denise Burnham

“Some do not walk at all,” lamented Henry David Thoreau in a justly celebrated essay on the topic. Thoreau understood that casual walking brings many benefits, not the least of which are spiritual. And practicing this “noble art,” often for hours at a stretch, is the means by which he preserved his “health and spirits.”

I first learned to walk deliberately by observing my parents, who are daily devotees of the art. Walking for exercise, yes. But, more importantly, for companionship. For their evening walks afford them opportunities to share concerns, raise difficulties, solve problems, catch up on family news, or simply saunter through the worldly events of the day. By this means they greet each sunset relaxed in mind, restored in body, and renewed in spirit. And they enter their eighties healthier than many who are demonstrably younger.

While Thoreau’s leisure is not given to most of us, an hour a day can be enough to achieve these benefits. When the weather cooperates, Denise and I walk a fixed three-mile circuit around the town of Culver, following the contours of the terrain as we survey the ups and downs of the day now coming to a close. Like Thoreau and his companions, we thereby “take pleasure in fancying ourselves knights of [the] more ancient and honorable class” of Walkers.

New opportunities in the fitness center and group exercise schedule!

It’s starting to get cold outside so we want to invite you into the Fitness Center to warm up and get fit this winter!  I, addition to our wonderful group exercise classes, we have SEVERAL classes/opportunities for fun fitness that we would like to highlight.  The first is Golden Eagles which is designed for seniors and is going on now.  We are also offering Zumba, open swim, adult recess, WILD gym and cycling classes in the evening.  Please check out our group fitness schedule.   The “21- Day Fix” and the Diet Bet will begin in January.  Please see below for details.

21 – Day Fix - FREE

In addition to our variety of group exercise classes we are offering the opportunity to join together as a group to complete the “21-Day Fix”.  This will begin on January 18th. You will need to contact Janet:  Janet.Johnson@culver.org   prior to the 18th to get your informational packet by email.  There is no cost involved with this opportunity.

DIET BET: Put your money where your mouth is.

1.  Place your bet:  $10/ person goes into the pot.

2.  Set a goal weight loss/bet over 8 weeks, beginning January 18th. 

3. Weigh in once a week – fitness staff will record your weight, very privately.

*If at the end, you have lost the weight, you get your money back (OR MAYBE MORE!!) the pot is divided among the people who lost their goal weight.

*If you did not reach your goal, you will lose your $ 10.  It will be distributed to those who met their goal.

Sign up by paying/placing your bet at the Fitness Center.  Deadline is January 16th.

GOLDEN EAGLES: - This free class is designed for seniors or people with mobility issues.  It’s a gentle strength and conditioning class with plenty of fun added in!  It is open to the general public and takes place on Mondays at 1pm.  Please try it and spread the word!

Being Active Again!

Dick Knoerzer -Systems Maintenance

I have worked as an electrician in the System Maintenance branch of the Facilities Department for the past sixteen years, and my fitness journey has seen many ups and downs in that period.

Shortly after graduating from high school, I enlisted in the Marine Corps. Physical fitness and weight control were mandatory. Quarterly physical fitness tests and periodic weigh-ins were required. Failure to meet the required standards could be detrimental to you career. Physical fitness training was always encouraged with time set aside for either group or individual participation. After retiring from the military, my life became less regimented.

Following the military, my job consisted of considerable time driving on the road, and the meals were of the fast food variety. Needless to say my weight and overall physical condition suffered. After starting work at The Academies I lacked the motivation to get back into shape. Not eating properly was also a down fall. Approximately six years ago with a New Year’s resolution, brand new tread mill, and a diet plan, I began a workout program. Over the next year or so I was successful in losing weight and improving my overall health. But over time the workouts became less important and the weight gradually returned.

Two and a half years ago my daughter asked me to run a 5K race with her (at the time I was 67 and she was

25). Not thinking it through, I said, “Sure how hard can it be? It’s only a little over three miles.” Three miles was the distance of my quarterly physical test while in the Marine Corps. I can do this. So I set out to run a bit to get back into shape. I had noticed a co-worker running at lunchtime every day. I decided to ask if I could tag along. I explained the motivation behind my sudden need to run.

Thankfully, I was allowed to tag along. Needless to say I thought I was going to die along the path. I was embarrassed by my poor conditioning. Once I started, I couldn’t quit. Having a running mate was the motivation I needed to continue. After struggling for the first four weeks or so, I finally was able to hold my own. I competed in the 5Kand actually posted a 30 minute time (without walking or puking). Not bad for a supposed senior citizen.

My daughter, co-worker and I have run numerous races since. This year I have three second place and one fourth place finish in my age group. Previously my workouts consisted only of running. When it got to cold or wet, I simply did not run. I have now discovered all of the advantages of the fitness center.

There is no reason not to train all year. When I started two and a half years ago my weight would ounce between 190 and 195. Now it hovers between 162 and 167. Working out has become a habit again. I’m 69 years of age, in good health, and I am enjoying life to the fullest. Being active and eating well makes all the difference in the world.

One Ingredient Foods

By Dana Neer

I feel sorry for my dog Silkey. But please, don’t get the wrong idea.  She enjoys a good loving home, receives lots and lots of activity, attention and petting.  Plus she has very little responsibility.  She enjoys a life of leisure, and because I live in a safe and quiet community, she does very little protecting.  It’s her diet that’s depressing.  It’s the same meal, day after day – brown, dried dog food.  She seems to be okay with it, never leaving an empty bowl.  But from my perspective, her diet is unappealing and dull. (Even though you won’t admit it, I know some of you have tried dog food at least once, and will agree with me).

Our human diets are much more interesting.  Food choices can overwhelm us.  Even at the most basic restaurants, options cause us to read and re-read the menu before finally ordering.  Grocery stores are lined with innumerable options.  But even with food at every glance, many times we choose inferior options since processed foods are waiting at every intersection of our lives beckoning us to eat them.  When shopping at your local grocery store, if the food you’re purchasing doesn’t have an ingredient list on the side of the item, it’s a pretty sure bet that it is a single ingredient food, and you’re purchasing exactly what is before you.  An apple is a single ingredient.  Bananas are bananas, nothing added.  Cauliflower, spinach, pears and eggs are exactly what they say they are-single ingredient foods.  With package foods, each added ingredient is another step in the processed food chain. Plus, many items are flavored with sugars, adding even more unhealthy calories.  Single ingredient foods should be the focal point of our grocery list. Once you buy single ingredients, then mix and match.  You can create wonderfully healthy meals, free from preservatives and additives. 

A healthy rule of thumb is to have 80% of your diet whole and minimally processed foods.  Whole foods are basically ones that look like what they started out being:  nuts, eggs, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, fish, beans, etc. Taken a step further, whole foods are even better when eaten uncooked or steamed.  Nutrients begin to disappear from foods when the heating process reaches 107 degrees.  So even though you may be eating good food, cooking reduces the value.  Obviously, some food needs cooked, but raw foods are best for us.  Juicing is another wonderful option for consuming raw fruits and vegetables. 

Research shows that eating a wide variety of food provides the greatest benefit to overall health. 

1.  Enjoy lots of raw fruits and vegetables.  These food items are easy to consume because of their taste and short prep time.  Peeling a banana takes just 10 seconds.  An apple is always ready to go.  Pull out a carrot and hit the road.  Juicing takes more time, but still, a very simple process.
2. Nuts and seeds are perfect sources of protein and energy, and again, very easy to prepare.
3. Lean meats and other protein-rich foods, including eggs are a good source of protein, however some folks consume too much of this food source.  Enjoy meats, but limit intake to a few times a week.  Meat is only one of many sources of protein.
4. Starchy foods such as grains (bread, cereal, and pasta), beans, peas and potatoes are carbohydrates and essential to live life with energy and gusto!
5. Other foods.  Consider desserts and other sweets your reward for faithfully embracing a healthy diet.  Enjoy a small indulgence every day and enjoy life.

Daily “workout” as part of teaching a class in Culver.

Harry Frick, Humanities

As far back as I can remember, my only interests were football, basketball, and baseball.  I loved those three sports.  We played football in the fall; basketball in the winter; and baseball in the spring.  I played all three through junior high, but focused almost exclusively on basketball in high school.  Regrettably, I was far less passionate about the academic dimension of high school. In high school, you would find me sitting in the back of the classroom reading Sports Illustrated.  I knew every college team’s location, nickname, colors, conference, uniform design, coach’s name, and in most cases, their starting line-up.   After playing on some good high school basketball teams (Twin Lakes-Monticello), I managed to graduate, and was good enough to continue playing in college, something I’ll never forget.

After college, where I became a little more studious, I pursued a career in teaching and coaching. Again, basketball was my sport.  This was around 1974.  Believe it or not, weight training or strength conditioning was almost unheard of at that time. Some athletes, mostly football players, lifted weights, but the present-day equipment, like that found in Culver’s beautiful Fitness Center, simply didn’t exist.  My first recollection of weight training was around 1978, when nautilus-type equipment was coming on the market.  I required my team to complete a strength-conditioning program during the off-season, and throughout the summer.  It was around that time I started “lifting” myself, and jogging.  The athletic coaches at my school pushed each other, and we got into the routine of running and lifting at least five days a week. This was approximately 40 years ago.  I’m still doing it today.

Vigorous physical exercise does not guarantee longevity.  I don’t believe there is a single study that proves a physically active person lives longer than a person who remains inactive.  However, there is an ironclad guarantee that the person who embraces a vigorous exercise program will have a MUCH higher quality of life.  In other words, you’ll feel better, look better, and have a considerably higher level of energy.  Moreover, there is solid evidence that resistance training has enormous physiological benefits as a person ages.  It’s really incredible.  I know people in their 80’s who still work out each day.  They feel like they’re 50!

My current daily routine consists of 20 minutes of jogging/walking; 5 minutes on a stationary bike; and 30 minutes of resistance training, using both the nautilus equipment, as well as free weights.   I strive to work out at least five, if not six, days a week.  I’ll admit that by the end of a normal Culver day, I’m tired, and being a heavy coffee drinker, I’m even mildly depressed.  However, the daily “workout” has become as much a part of my day as teaching a class.  I’m grateful for that.  I am also grateful for friends like Natalie Hogan, Danny Cowell, and Dana Neer, who advise me, and motivate me to work hard.  I look to them for guidance and inspiration.    

So, to those who don’t have an exercise routine, I say this—it makes no difference how old you are, or if you’re overweight, or if you never participated in sports, or if you have a disability, or if you've never exercised a day in your life.  You can do it.  Find your Natalie Hogan, Dana Neer, or Danny Cowell. Take the first step.  Good luck!
Harry Frick, Humanities