Why do you lose so much weight the first week?

After one week of The Springfield Paper's Commit to be Fit challenge two people stood out. Allen Rea lost an astounding 9 1/2 pounds and Tracy Tackett 6 pounds.

Allen went from being a couch potato to taking Timothy's BodySculpt class 4 days a week and walking on the treadmill 2 days. He also stopped drinking soda and began drinking water instead. His diet changed to eating 5 to 6 small meals a day, 2 to 3 hours apart. This he said kept him from getting hungry and supplied plenty of energy all day.

Why is that when we go from being sedentary with a junk food diet to exercising and eating a more wholesome diet there is such a dramatic weight loss the first week?

Glycogen is created from the carbohydrates and starches you eat. Your body carries 3-4 grams of water for every gram of carbohydrate/glycogen you store. If you , on a regular basis, are eating somewhere around 300 to 500 grams of carbohydrates and were storing ( not burning off ) and then while dieting cut it to 200 grams of carbohydrates you will lose a lot of water weight the first week. Generally this comes from my clients eliminating or drastically reducing soda, chips, cookies, candy etc.

It is important to understand that when you start, especially if your diet has been heavy on sugar you can see these dramatic results the first week or two but it's permanent lifestyle changes that allow you to have permanent weight loss.

The lifestyle changes of increased exercise, both cardio and weight training, will improve metabolism. Eating good wholesome foods like lean protein, lots of vegetables and fruit will help you get the permanent results that can be maintained for a lifetime.

The Springfield Paper Gets Fit

Eight people working at The Springfield Paper have made the decision to change their lives. The group is a wide array of ages and fitness levels. While biggest loser type challenges generally involve only losing pounds this one is different. Although most people competing want to lose at least a little weight on the scale, others want to lower their blood pressure, build some lean muscle mass or just regain their old fitness levels. One even wants to gain some lean weight.

There are two teams of four, each with their own trainer as a resource, but the teams do not compete against each other. The teams work together to help the other succeed. Any person on either team can work with either trainer depending on their schedule.

Springfield Health and Fitness Center and Underground are providing two Certified Personal Trainers, full access to the gym, a fitness coach and all available classes and nutrition coaching. The person deemed to have made the biggest improvement in their lifestyle will win a year's membership at the gym.

For the next 12 weeks I hope that you will follow along with the successes and the challenges facing the Commit to Be Fit group.

You can read about it in The Springfield Paper, this blog, and on Facebook.

Bios on the trainers will be coming soon.