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Arizona
Doctor Tells the Truth about Weight
Loss
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by:
Dr. Jeffrey Banas
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Please
feel free to publish this article in your
Newsletter or on your Website (with Resource Box
included).
Arizona Doctor Discovers Triathlons as the Ultimate Weight Loss Program
- Loses Sixty Pounds.
I never intended to get fat! I am not exactly sure how it happened, but
there I was a 6’2” thirty-four year old pushing close to 270 pounds. My
cholesterol was high, my triclecrides were high, and my blood pressure
was high. I was on a direct course for developing diabetes, increased
risk of heart disease, increased risk of cancer, and a ton of other
diseases related to obesity.
It gets worse. I am a doctor, a sports chiropractor to be exact and my
office is located inside a health club. Unfortunately, like many other
doctors and other health professional out there, I was not practicing
what I was preaching.
Living in sunny Arizona, land of the endless summer, sooner or later
you have to go to the lake, the water park, or you are invited to a
cookout and pool party. That is when all my excuses caught up to me.
Despite knowing the health risks associated with being overweight, it
was the feeling of low self-esteem and embarrassment that finally drove
me to action.
So there I was, a doctor, ready to get the weight off. I hate to admit
it; I tried some of those quick fix gimmick supplements. I tried a
bunch of the fad diets. I bought a bunch of books from all the “weight
loss experts”. Sure I would lose a little weight, but I could never
stick with the diet for any length of time. When I went off the diet I
would gain the weight right back. Then tried working my butt off in the
gym, running almost every day. That got real boring, and I found that
running everyday is not the best thing to do when you weigh close to
270 pounds.
There I was again, still no direction, no focus, no drive, nothing to
guide me. Frustrated about not getting any results and what to do, I
thought I was just going to have to accept that I was overweight and
deal with it. I gave it a real effort and it did not work.
During all of this, the chiropractor that I bought my office from
mentioned that he was beginning a weight loss program at his office,
which was based on his experience with triathlon training. That got my
attention. I really wanted to give the program a try, but I lived too
far from his office to come in on a regular basis. So I began
researching the sport on the Internet.
The more I read about triathlons and triathlon training, the more sense
it made to me as a way to help me lose weight. If you are going to do
an event that involves swimming, cycling, and running you obviously are
going to have to train that way. The idea about jumping into the pool
for an exercise swim was not something I was looking forward to, and
the last thing I wanted to do was to put on a swimsuit and workout.
Then I remembered how painful my knees were from running around, and
swimming would be easier on my joints.
I also began reading about using heart rate monitors and the affects of
exercising at different heart rates. Many of the authors of the books
on heart zone training were triathletes themselves, and they gave
numerous examples on how using heart zone training you can track your
progress and maximize your exercise program.
The more I searched the triathlon Internet sites, the more I became
interested in the sport. The people who competed in triathlons looked
really fit, it was inspiring. That is when I decided to take my
commitment to losing weight to the next level. Weighing close to 270
pounds, I signed up for my first triathlon. Five months away, I was
going to do a sprint race, which was a 500m swim, a 15-mile bike, then
and a 3-mile run. This was a much shorter distance than many triathlon
races, however at the time I could not do even one of the events let
alone all of them back-to-back.
Using a combination of what I learned about heart zone training and
from the triathlon Internet sites, I started my program. I my
alternated exercise sessions between swimming, cycling, and running. I
also did about an hour of weight training a week. This really added a
variety to the exercise program, and it never got boring. One day I
would just bike, then next maybe run 10 minutes, do a weight session,
then bike for 25 minutes. Then the next day I would just swim. The next
day I would swim then follow it up with a run. My knees were holding up
very well with little, if any pain. At the same time I started eating
better, no real diet, just common sense stuff, avoiding the sugars and
white breads.
The use of the heart rate monitor became a very useful tool. It kept me
from working too hard or too easy. The monitor I was using, the Polar
610, also came with software. I was able to download all of my exercise
sessions into a computer. Then I was able to objectively document my
exercise sessions. The software was able to track my calories burned
during exercise, my average heart rate, hours spent exercising per
week, and much more. After every exercise session actually looked
forward to downloading my session to see how I did.
It also allowed me to exercise at different heart rates. One day I
would run at 70% of my maximum heart rate for 10 minutes, then bike at
80% of my maximum heart rate for 10 minutes, then go back to running at
70% for another 10 minutes. The next day I would just bike for 40 min.
But I would again exercise at different heart rates, 10 min at 70%, and
5 minutes at 80%, and 10 minutes at 75 %, and 5 minutes at 80%, and
then 10 minutes at 70%. This was a fun way to exercise and I actually
began to look forward to exercising, the whole process was less boring.
I kept up with this type of training for five months. On the day of my
first triathlon, I was forty pounds lighter.
Some how, some way, I did it. I finished my first triathlon, and as
crazy as it sounds I really enjoyed myself. I was feeling good about my
accomplishment, but I still had some serious weight to lose. So I found
another triathlon race six months later, signed up for it and continued
training. The weight just kept coming off and coming off.
At the time of my second race, eleven months after learning about
triathlons, I had lost sixty pounds.
It seemed like every week one of my patients, whom I had not seen for
months, would come in for a treatment. The reactions were always the
same, doc what the heck happened to you, you look like a totally
different person!
I felt like a different person too, I was running without knee pain, I
was happier at work, my relationship with my family was better, I was
no longer embarrassed to go to a pool party or the water park, in fact
I looked forward to them.
My patients and the members of the health club where my office was
located were constantly asking me about my weight loss. I remember one
of the gym members walking up to my desk and looking at my before and
after pictures. He pointed to my fat picture and said, “That is me”
then he pointed to my fit picture and said, “That is the way I want to
look”. Wow, what a great feeling, I could not believe it.
As I am sitting here writing this article, it has been a year since my
first triathlon. Just a few weeks ago, I raced in my third race and I
actually managed to finish second in my age group.
As a result of getting into triathlons, not only do I have a new body,
I have a new life.
Dr. Jeffrey Banas is a Chiropractic Sports Physician practicing in
Mesa, AZ. He continues to compete in triathlons and has kept his weight
off for over a year now. If you would like to contact Dr. Banas, he can
be reached at his office at 480-633-6837, or by visiting his web site
at www.personal-weight-loss-help.com
About the Author
Dr. Jeffrey Banas is a Chiropractic Sports
Physician practicing in Mesa, AZ. If you would like to contact Dr.
Banas, he can be reached at his office at 480-633-6837, or by visiting
his web site at www.personal-weight-loss-help.com
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