Hi! Welcome to Dan and Monika's Journey to weight loss. We'll document our true story here and keep you updated on our training progress. The picture to the right shows us prior to starting our workouts with Train With Ron, carrying the weight we want to lose - the weight we WILL lose. As with many people in their mid 30s and early 40s, we've found it more and more difficult to lose weight and keep it off. Yes, we've done the Atkins diet, taken the pills and tried to work out on our own and achieved nothing long lasting. We're now training in Chicago's West Loop at Train with Ron. We believe that Train With Ron has Chicago's Best Personal Trainers!

	Dan’s Transformation
	Posted by Daniel Arturi

When I first looked at these pictures, I really didn’t see that much of a difference.  When I got started on this thing at 275 lbs, I knew I was overweight but I thought I carried it pretty well.  When I showed them to my assistant, who’s only known me as a 275 pound guy, her jaw dropped.  ”Oh my GOD” she said.  Then I took another look and saw what she saw as she pointed it out.

“I didn’t notice it so much before, but you were so bulky, especially your sides and waistline… and look at your face… and that huge shirt you’re wearing in the old picture…”  She was right, that shirt was a XXXL and it was the only shirt I owned that didn’t cling to my belly.  ”Look at you now, oh my god, you’re wearing a tight T shirt and there is, like, NO bulge around your middle.”  Yep… and the shirt I’m wearing in that current picture is a large.  One L, no X’s.  So, here it is:

Ahh, Hawaii (the one with the blue shirt on)... how I miss it so!

Lately I have been tracking my food like Monika and it is DEFINITELY helping.  It puts pressure on me not to eat too much.  The Livestrong website was allowing me over 2100 calories a day to lose 2 lbs a week, but the Lose It! application on the iPad / iTouch only allows me about 1800, so I’ve been using Lose It! with nominal success… I’ve gone over my calories  this week, not by much, but a little.  However, I lost 3 pounds since I started using it, and I weighed in the other day at TWR – 225 even, the lowest I’ve weighed in on that scale, ever.  Also, a new low with 27.1% body fat (on normal setting).  I’m making progress again, although the BMI chart still refers to my build as “obese”.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is what to do with it… I don’t want to play hockey anymore because it takes a ridiculous toll on my hips and knees and I’d like to be able to walk when I’m 70… I am not really into the long distance running thing… I am not very good at basketball plus I’m too short… tennis?  Racquetball?  I’d like to find a sport, preferably a team sport that I can play to take advantage of my newly regained strength and endurance, but I’m not sure what yet.

I’ll think about it… I’m open to ideas too, so if you have an idea I’d love to hear it!

	How I Reduced My Fat and Increased My Protein Intake
	Posted by Monika Arturi

I weighed myself yesterday and I have finally dropped 2.5lbs under the lowest weight I’ve been the last month. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, how I’ve been struggling with 6-8 lbs just back and forth. Just couldn’t get under it. A lot of muscle building was in process as well, but I think you can relate when I say that I just want to see that number drop. Finally yesterday, it appeared on the scale and I was thrilled! The past 3 and a half weeks I’ve really put a lot of focus on my foods and DB has helped me refine it, adjust it and basically make it a success.

So with my 8 workouts a week and my food changes I can feel my goal in close reach. I want to share some examples of the things I’ve changed over the last 3 weeks in my diet to help my chances at success. I’ll list a food and how I changed it or replaced it and it’s fat % and protein % comparison.

I’m still refining this and have even started posting recipes here. Check out my first one Garlic & Ginger Turkey with Organic Black Beans on a Wild Rice Blend.

Sign Up to get updates on our blog because in a couple of days I’ll be writing about my latest success at the “Spirit Crusher”. It’s a challenging and unique workout at TWR that I first went through in January this year. There was much improvement this time around and I’ll detail in soon.

Dan’s progress pictures coming soon as well.

	Proteins and carbs and fats …. Oh my!
	Posted by Monika Arturi

Ever since I started tracking my foods three weeks ago I’ve done a lot of research, gotten advice from my trainers, friends and family and have paid an even closer attention to my diet. I have also gotten a lot of continued support from everyone. I’ve been consistent with tracking everything I eat even when I treat myself (aka cheat) or go out to eat. Those meals are the toughest though because I have to do extra work to find out nutritional information. I’ve made improvements each week and I am on track to meet my new goals for this week. Earlier this week I posted that I needed to increase my protein intake and lower my fats. I’ve done that. There is still some refining to do but I am happy with the improvements so far.

Throughout this journey I’ve been working on making permanent lifestyle changes and not temporary ones. So if I make a little progress each week but I’m doing it with foods that I like eating I feel that I will have a better chance of sticking with it. In the past I’ve put myself through a few different plans like Nutrisystem and Atkins and it’s taught me that once I’m done with the ‘diet’ I go right on back to my old habits. So, other than a sporadic shock to my system it’s not really helping me change how I fuel my body. Not to mention those diets either rely on taking necessary nutrients out of your diet or consist of dehydrated food that doesn’t require any work. You become completely dependent on their foods rather than learning to eat differently and still enjoy it. Neither of those things sound like good permanent solutions for me or us.

I’ve been asked to share a day or two out of my food diary and as much as that scares me to no end, I will do it. For each day I’ve listed my foods and the day’s nutritional average.

I’ll do this from time to time, post some sample days, so you can see how I’m changing things up. The 2 sample days above I consider to be OK days and a good average representation of my last week. Do I have days when I eat a cookie? Yes, I do but it’s just one or 2 cookies and not a box or bag of them. Is there room for improvement? Of course. But I want to make it stick this time. I don’t want this to become something I hate and not look forward to. A fad. I also don’t want to be obsessive about it so I’m trying to make it part of my everyday. Habits that soon will be second nature and not  just something different I’m trying. I always think about incorporating changes into my existing routine and slowly refine ingredients and preparations. I also find it motivating to help support local farmers there in turn I end up with fresh, organic and local foods.

I’m happy about the foods I eat + I eat good foods = A healthy diet I’ll be able to continue

I’m enjoying a day off from TWR tomorrow but tonight it’s me and the ice pack, just hangin’ out relieving pain and recovering. I had a funky pain in my knee last night and this morning but it’s fading. A little more icing and I should be 100%. Dan and I will get out and enjoy a Chicago summer festival tomorrow and hang out with our dog Brady. I’m looking forward to that. Hope your weekend is fun and relaxing as well!

	The day I pushed a tank, and the next day too!
	Posted by Monika Arturi

Me and my muscles. Maybe not quite guns, but certainly in the artillery department.

So you’re wondering why I like strength exercises. Maybe you’re not, maybe you’re just wondering why I’m pushing a tank, and you didn’t read my last entry. That’s OK, the picture here should give you an idea. I’ve got some strength and I like to put it to good use. Luckily I’ve got just the right trainer for that, Matt.

Matt comes from the world of the NFL. One of our favorite worlds if I may add. He’s a Super Bowl Champion so he knows a thing or two (or a thousand) about strength training. He also trains young aspiring football players and athletes.

My athletic background isn’t anywhere near Matt’s. My dad and older brother were both biathlon skiers (that’s the one with the cross country skiing and target shooting) so that’s what I spent a lot of my time doing when I was young. I also played soccer, ran track and practiced Judo. I even tried my hand at gymnastics. My mom competed in shot put when she was young and was a pretty serious ping-pong player so there are genetics at play here. I also think that a lot of my strength comes from my passion to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom on almost a weekly basis. Now I’m talking solid wood furniture, nothing wimpy about it. Pushing those dressers and headboards around was a full body workout. For some crazy reason I found it to be very relaxing. I would drive my parents crazy with it and maybe ruined certain areas of the floor but it certainly helped build muscle. Arm wrestling with my dad may have contributed as well. All in good fun. I guess that’s what happens when you’re growing up with 2 brothers.

Up until a few months ago those muscles lay dormant and were waiting to come out and play. Thanks to TWR, they’ve been playing and yesterday they got a few new challenges. I’ve been going to TWR for over 10 months now so it’s tough to find things I haven’t yet done but these guys find a way!

Me pushing the tank and right next to me, the famous sled I've written many posts about.

First up; the tank. The tank is simple in design, challenging on the entire body and overall intimidating. Check out the picture on the left. The task; Push the tank 12 walls total. Two walls at a time and walk two walls in between pushes. Matt had 300 lbs piled on the tank and I was able to consistently run one of the 2 walls always and sometimes even half of the second one. It was fantastic! Very tough but I had to use every muscle in my body and it felt great.

Second new item; the chunky jump rope. I doubt that that’s it’s official name but I like it so I’ll refer to it as that. It looks like a jump rope but the rope is a rubber tube about 1″ in diameter. It’s heavy, it’s wobbly and I had to do a hundred jumps. I quickly found out that keeping the rope balanced is crucial, otherwise I may take out my own leg. I had two rounds of a hundred throughout the session and it went much smoother on the second round. I found my groove and knocked out 50 in a row before failing.

Lastly we have the weight vest. To put it simply, imagine a bullet proof vest stuffed with flat weights all over totaling around 20 lbs or so. Slide it on, strap it down and to top it off, grab two 10 lbs dumbbells. So while dripping in weights, run 4 walls with the dumbbells and then 4 without. Next up, push up walks and lunges for 2 walls total with the vest. Alternating 10 moves with each. Push up walks, those are not new. I just did like 50 of them Monday, but doing them with an extra 20 lbs certainly added a new challenge. Not that long ago I actually had that 20 lbs right on me. And before that I had the equivalent of two of the vests right on me. I wasn’t able to do as many push up walks then as I did yesterday though. Once the two walls are done it’s back to a round of the 100 jump ropes finished off with a second round of the 4 wall runs and the push up walks and lunges with the vest. A VERY productive day. One of my favorite workouts.

This morning it was more of the  tank! I worked out alongside another woman and her and I pushed the tank up and down alternating 4 times each. We did a total of 12 walls each throughout the hour. I walked the last one. My thighs were burning!!!! Felt good though especially taking a nice & easy stroll home. And working out with someone gets me even more motivated because I get to encourage them and they motivate and push me.

Going back this afternoon for my second session today and I was so excited to see my fat average for the week hit 29%. That’s under 30 and it’s my goal this week to get it (and keep it) under 30. I wrote about that yesterday so I’m thrilled. I just have to keep it up the rest of the week. I’m inching my way towards my goal. Come on fat %!

	Fine tuning this whole nutrition thing
	Posted by Monika Arturi

I am on week 3 of closely monitoring my food intake and it’s getting less time consuming. Mentally, it’s a whole other matter.

So, grab some edemame, sit back and let me tell you …

My first week, I ate as carefully as I have been since I started this journey, but like I did before I tracked my food with a magnifying glass. At the end of the week my trainer DB looked over my numbers (see the chart below) and gave me some tips for improvement. Lower my fat & carbs and increase my protein.

The first thing I did was research the foods that are high in protein and low in fat. I wanted to make changes to my shopping list and menus. Preparation makes it easier. It’s like shopping when you’re hungry … not a good idea. There are tons of sites out there dedicated to giving nutritional advice and information so you have to spend some time and make sure your source is current and accurate. I found a great little nutrition tool on the Self website that lets you find foods with highest or lowest concentrations of specific nutrients. Find things you like to eat and ones that meet your needs. Stock up on them so when snacking, you’re snacking on the good stuff.

I also try and stick to single ingredient foods that naturally meet my requirements rather than processed and chemically altered foods. That’s a tip my trainer Ron talked about when we first sat down and talked to him about our goals.

A great example of single ingredient foods is Oatmeal. HAVE the Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (the only ingredient on the back being rolled oats) put in bananas, raisins or peaches. Go nuts and add flaxseed. DO NOT HAVE the pre-packaged instant Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal (or other flavor). Tons of sugar and not to mention extra ingredients. Its a common mistake that you may not think of unless you flipped those boxes around and compared the nutritional info.

Week 2 rolls around and I needed a mid-week check up with DB because my numbers were at 19% protein, 34% fat and 47% carbohydrates. An improvement from last week but the fat % still being too high. Continuing to show DB my numbers makes me feel more accountable. To myself, more than anyone else. And by week’s end I was able to improve my numbers just a little bit more. Week 2 was when I added the 2 extra workouts to my week and as you’ll see below it helped a ton with my calorie budget.

Here we are on week 3. I MUST share my numbers with DB because I totally skipped over it Monday. I’ve improved but I have a little voice in my head arguing with me. Telling me that I should stop tracking my food and that I’m working out so many times a week now that I deserve to treat myself. Reward myself for working so hard. Sound familiar? Well, there’s another voice telling me that nutrition is just as important and I need to keep it up and that this is how I will reach my goal. To be honest with you, most times, when I ‘cheat’ it only makes me feel sick. It’s like my mind wants it but my body doesn’t. Habit? Addiction? For me it’s mental exercise.

I look forward to finishing the week strong and see that fat % fall below 30% and protein over 30%. That’s my goal for the end of this week. Just thinking about it is sending my brain to work to figure out what I should have out of the foods that will help me reach that goal. So instead of letting my mind wander aimlessly through candy land I am sending it to work and it’s too busy to think about chocolate …… Oh chocolate … Huh?? … Ok, I’m back. It’s all good.

I am finding myself with more to say but I’ll leave it for later this week. I’ll share with you a couple of days out of my food diary and also tell you about this amazing workout I had with Matt today. I love, love, LOVE strength training. Unconventional, unique and very physical strength training. I had some of that today and I’ll just leave you with this: I pushed a tank. There, let that swoosh around in your head a little bit and I’ll give you details later this week.

In closing, please note that by no means am I an expert in nutrition nor do I claim to be. This, being a blog, is just a journal of information I’m finding out about the foods I eat, the changes I am trying in my life and how all of it is affecting my workouts and everyday life. You have to do what works for you and what is appropriate for you. You also have to check with a doctor before making any drastic changes with exercise and diet. Got it? Good!

	Putting things into perspective
	Posted by Monika Arturi

Throughout this weight loss process there have been ups and downs, both emotional and physical. Before meeting with Ron at Train with Ron in October of ‘09, I felt like a failure at losing the weight I’ve gained over the years. My emotional state was pretty depressing. I once had a body that I was proud of and that was very long ago. I longed to get it back – or even a fraction of it. I went through fad diets, pills and exercise. I yo-yoed through many tens of pounds but it always came back twofold. That DID NOT help to encourage the progress, if anything it made me feel even more depressed about it all.

After meeting with Ron and hearing him out I started to feel some of that motivation that I once had, return. I was still a little skeptical, but mainly because I thought that my body just was not going to lose the weight and this is the card I’ve been dealt. I was however willing to try and give it all that I had. I knew that it was going to mean that I needed to sacrifice some things I’ve been enjoying up until now. Foods that I’ve found comfort in and my time. I was willing to give those up and replace them with the things that made me healthier and happier.

When we decided to go for it, it was very motivating. We put a plan in place to make the changes necessary. We talked to the guys at TWR about the nutritional changes we should make and incorporated them in our lives. We also learned about the experiences we would have at the gym and the types of workouts we should expect. Dan and I thought about it and made the decision to support each other through the ups and downs. Started out going to the gym twice a week and that quickly turned into 3 and 4 times a week as we gained strength. Watching the numbers dropping over the first few months was fantastic and only made me want to push harder and go to more sessions. When I’d hit a plateau and my numbers wouldn’t budge it would freak me out. I’d feel like that negative attitude was always right around the corner waiting for me to give up so I can go back to my old ways. I pushed through each time. With the help of Dan, my personal trainers DB, Matt and Ron as well as friends from the gym I was able to go on and be encouraged that I CAN reach my goal.

Today I am about 25 lbs away from my goal weight and I have lost 45 lbs and 15% body fat to date. Not to mention the incredible amount of muscle that I have gained. Muscle weighs more than fat so that can play with the numbers in a mind numbing way. I hear this is the toughest stretch, the last pounds. And it is proving to be so. I am consistently going to TWR 6 days a week and this week I actually added 2 afternoon sessions for a total of 8 sessions. I do listen to my body and if I have a bad pain in the knee or shoulder I’ll take a break for a day but this week I seemed to have an abundance of energy, felt really good all over and I wanted to take advantage of it. TWR has a great Unlimited Program for over achievers .

As Dan wrote in his post a couple of days ago we have been closely tracking our nutritional intake. We watched what we ate up until now but now we’re tracking each and every gram of calorie, protein, fat, sodium and ALL of it! I’m on my second week. I shared my numbers with DB at the end of last week and he gave me some tips to tweak my carbs, protein and fat intake. This week I’ve made some improvements but still have some work to do. I continue to seek his advice because I intend to reach my goal and I’m not afraid to ask for help anymore. It’s tough but I’m doing research on what foods are high in protein, naturally, and revised my shopping list and menu. I do my best to stay away from manufactured low-fat, fat-free and ‘diet’ items and gear towards natural foods with little to no processing. I look for recipes that use natural and single ingredients. Having to punch in those nutrition numbers at every meal helps avoid the slip ups. ESPECIALLY knowing that I will have to share it with DB. And eating something bad and not putting it in is only cheating myself so it makes no sense to do. I’m honest. So if I have gummy bears then I log them.

Today I am feeling really good and positive that I will meet my goal and I needed this reflection to remind me how far I’ve come. Tomorrow after my eighth workout of the week I am treating myself to a day at the spa. 60 minute deep tissue massage, facial, mani & pedi. Much needed and well deserved if I may say so myself.

I wanted to share this series of pictures throughout my weight loss process (so far). It certainly put things into perspective for me.