I’ve been battling to lose 5kg for years. Now, I know I’m not fat, but what I want is to be lean. I exercise regularly: running 35-40km/week, climbing and yoga once a week, skiing and hiking all winter and summer.
I’ve tried lots of different diets: gluten free, alternate day calorie restriction, cooking with coconut oil, putting butter in my coffee, counting calories, competing with friends… but ultimately, I can’t seem to manage to shake the flab – and I feel overloaded with information and frustrated at how hard I feel like I’m working vs the payoff. I’m doing something wrong and I can’t figure out what it is.
Last week, I hit a particular level of frustration, and I heard yet another entrepreneur advise (on the EOF podcast) to get a coach when you hit a wall. So I decided to do exactly that. I have a limited budget, limited time, plenty of motivation, and an obsession with all things online – so an online personal trainer seemed like the obvious way to go. And of course… it exists! Because everything exists on the internet.
After doing some research, I decided on FitOrbit.com because their website was the most trustworthy looking and it seemingly did exactly what I wanted for a reasonable price. I signed up, filled out the questionnaire, and was given my choice of three trainers. I chose Whitney, who seemed to have my same body type (except leaner, of course) and I liked that her exercises didn’t include equipment (body strength only). Two days later, I got my meal and exercise plan for the week.
One thing I’ve enjoyed is not having to think about what I’m going to eat during the day. It’s kind of relaxing. And the food is very reasonable and tasty – and comes with recipes, which is handy for me since I can’t cook. I’ve been eating things that I don’t normally make for myself. It’s nice to get out of the rut! And I like being able to ask Whitney questions when I have them.
For the exercise, my running goals are worked into the plan. There are a lot of extra sit ups, push ups, squats, and fun videos (I’m very sore already after Day 3!).
So… can an online personal trainer work? I mean, it can’t hurt right? I’m going to follow this for at least 30 days and see what happens (there’s a money back guarantee). If there’s progress, I’ll continue on for the recommended 90 days.
Now, I can’t believe I’m posting pictures of myself in my underwear on the internet… but, in the name of “science” and honesty (and vulnerability), I want to capture before and after moments. So here I am on 13 Feb 2015 feeling very unhappy because I went to bed hungry all week and still saw my weight increase on the scale. See you in 30 days!
Anyone want to join me?
