How 1992 Became the Fittest Year of My Life

Charlene Circele

Back in 1989, I was an unfit and sedentary 39 year-old executive in a sales position in New York City.  I hadn’t done any form of exercise (oh, maybe a random aerobics class here and there) since college!  But as the thought of turning 40 approached, and the news that I would have to have my gallbladder removed (fair, fat, and 40 – the perfect combination for gallbladder disease), I figured it was about time to get healthy.  That’s when I hired Michael Bronco as my personal trainer.  

 

After training for a year and living through the surgery, I decided it was time to see how fit I could really get as I entered middle age.  Michael also saw potential in my physique that I never imagined, and suggested that I enter a bodybuilding competition.  What?  Me on stage in a bikini?  Never!  Besides that, I couldn’t imagine myself doing the weightlifting and cardio work that I thought it would entail…after all, I still had a full-time job! 

 

Well, I’ll tell you the end of the story first.  I WON my first bodybuilding competition at the age of 42, winning over girls who ranged in age from 19 – 30.

And to my surprise, it didn’t take inordinate amounts of time or monumental work.  What it did take was commitment, consistency, and a clear sense of doing it for me.  When people asked me if I spent all day in the gym, I almost laughed!  Who can spend all day in the gym? 

 

What I had to do was decide to make the lifestyle changes that would help me reach my goal.  Although the diet was hard at first, once I started to cook healthy foods and pre-package them for myself so they were always on hand, I never needed to just grab for the closest potato chip when hunger overcame me. It actually became easier for me to shop and prepare the food, since the list was limited to basic healthy foods – lean protein, vegetables, brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal…nothing processed and nothing loaded with salt and other preservatives.  Even though I am totally cooking-impaired, I became a whiz at preparing my meals.  Easy food equals easy preparation.

 

As far as my workouts, they were also pretty simple – moderate weight lifting and moderate cardio.  I did something every day, but they were not long, drawn-out workouts.  Weightlifting was short and sweet – sometimes as little as 20 minutes, although sometimes an intense 20 minutes!  And my cardio workouts varied between 30 and 60 minutes of slow and steady effort.  Once in a while we included intervals or sprint work, but that was usually once or twice a week at the most.

 

You already know the end of the story, but along the way I lost 30 pounds and gained enough confidence to actually get on stage in a bikini!  And I did it more than once – I competed two more times after the first (getting older each time, you know!), and won those competitions also.  So the moral of this story is:  be committed, consistent, and believe in yourself, and everything good will follow! 

 

 

 

 

    

"Physical training is more than just a means to an end, it can be an end in itself.  For me, the movement is the reward."

---Stu Mittleman, author of  "Slow Burn" from Harper Collins Publishing.

Struggling to lose weight?   Avoid spinning!

 

It may seem counterintuitive to suggest NOT exercising to lose weight – particularly with something that makes us sweat as much as a spin class, right?  And how about all those calories that we burn, while feelin’ the burn? 

 

Well, here’s the deal.  Burning calories is NOT the answer to losing weight – it’s eating fewer.  And the truth is, when we do high intensity exercise we actually increase the demand for more calories.  In addition, we burn the wrong percentage of fuel for energy when the heart rate is too high.

 

Yes, it is true that we burn fat even during high intensity exercise, but we also burn quite a bit of carbohydrate.  And then we need more carbs to replace them.  It's a vicious cycle (pun intended) that gets us nowhere.

 

The fitness industry does a pretty good job of selling the idea that we can burn off all those unwanted pounds, but it’s one of the biggest lies going.  It’s a sales pitch that speaks directly to those who ate too much last night and now need to burn it all off.

 

But it isn’t working – is it?

 

Low intensity exercise like walking will not make you hungry and will burn a higher percentage of fat for energy.  Weight training is another good choice when done correctly. 

 

And what about those who don’t necessarily eat too much, but still struggle to lose unwanted pounds?   Moderate exercise is still the answer.  If you eat right, but can’t lose weight, then you most likely need a good base-building period to teach your body to burn fat.  Base training consists of daily low intensity exercise for three to six months.   Once you lose the unwanted fat then by all means increase the intensity.

 

So, feelin’ the burn isn’t necessarily the problem.  It’s feelin’ the need to feel the burn.