Ramona’s Trainer: Fitness University Session 1

RamonasTrainer.storyWe are getting ready to kick off our semi-annual Ramona’s Biggest Winner program and we are excited to bring added value to this awesome life changing program. In order to see clients succeed and to make their experience at our club more than just a trip to the gym, we are including a six session nutrition, anatomy, biology, and education course through our Fitness University program.

I have a key phrase that I love when it comes to creating drive, “To educate is to motivate.” It is my desire to educate our Biggest Winner contestants so they are internally motivated by the knowledge they acquire, and this class is key in that.

Over the next six weeks I am going to give you a few points from each class session. Week one is Basic Physiology and Digestion.

Key point number one is you need to keep score. Once you establish your goals you then need to track your progress and monitor your food and body. I recommend a food journal to track how many calories and what kinds of foods you’re putting into your engine.

Next you need not rely solely on the scale, but on body composition and circumference measurements. People often say to me, “My doctor said I need to weigh 120 pounds.” That may or may not be true, but what the real concern is body composition, or in simple terms, how much of you is fat and how much of you is lean tissue. By using your circumference measurements you can find your body fat or composition measurement. Look it up online and search “body fat by circumference.” You should find the formula right there.

Moving on to the next topic, calories. Calories are a unit of measurement. The word calorie relates to combustion. By definition it is the amount of heat to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.

Our bodies use calories for energy. Each type of macro nutrient, carbs, fats, and proteins all have a calorie or energy number. Carbs have 4 calories of energy, fats have 9 calories, and proteins have the same as carbs, 4.

You absorb the majority of these macro nutrients in the small intestines. The micro nutrients, or minerals, are absorbed in the large intestines. Think large (macro) small, and small (micro) large.

BMR is your basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories you burn to sustain life. For me it is around 2,000 calories. So should I eat 2,000 calories, NO. Even if I were trying to lose weight that would be too low and I would lose a tone of lean tissue, hence why we need to know that number and not just weight.

“How much should I eat?” you ask yourself. Well I need to know more about you than your reading this paper right now. Seek out a professional for specifics.

Class, that’s all we have time for today. Remember to do your homework of tracking your eating, checking your composition, and living inspired. I’ll see you next session. Good luck and please check out my website www.ramonastrainer.com for articles, workouts, videos, and how you can get started on your path to you, only better!