Female Case Study


The Client

• 32 Year-old Female
  
• 5'3"
  
• 178 pounds
  

Her Medical, Lifestyle, Psychological, and Health Concerns

• High body weight and very high body fat percentage
  
• Poor strength and poor cardiovascular fitness
  
• Long history of fad diets and diet pills (all unsuccessful and many unsafe)
  
• Poor body image
  
• History of disordered eating
  

Exercise and Nutrition Concerns

The subject has been battling excessive weight her entire life and struggling with her self-image. She is extremely overworked in her professional life with very little time for exercise. After extensive assessment by Nutrifitness, it became clear that the client:

• Had unrealistic expectations of her fitness status given her lack of physical activity.
  
• Was misinformed about how to lose weight successfully and maintain her new weight.
  
• Didn't realize that she could be healthy and fit at a higher-than-textbook body weight.
  
• Enjoyed physical activity although not typical "gym" activities.
  
• Had a long commute, some of which she could replace with activity.
  
• Had higher-than-ideal intake of calories and saturated fat with low intake of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
  
• Had days of very little food intake followed by days of excessive intake leading to unhealthy metabolic shifts.
  
  
  

Her Unique program

After completing the assessment, Nutrifitness established a new exercise program with the client.

The cardiovascular portion of the program was focused on her commute to and from work. Nutrifitness devised a plan in which she would walk from her apartment to an express subway stop and take the subway to an express subway stop close to her office. Once there she would walk across town instead of transferring to a bus. This gave her about 25 minutes of fast-paced walking each way (50 minutes per work day) and only added 10 minutes to her commute.

Weight training focused on improving her strength and increasing muscle tissue so that she can maintain and improve her metabolic rate while losing weight. To avoid the gym, the client was encouraged to engage in regular training sessions in Central Park that includes cardiovascular exercise, body weight exercises and resistance bands -- all while she enjoys the fresh air and scenic views.

Nutrition recommendations included eating smaller, more frequent meals. Filling up on low-calorie vegetables during meal times and snacking on fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. She was coached to even out huge day-to-day eating fluctuations.

Counseling recommendations included teaching her to see that allowing herself to eat "bad" food on occasion does not mean that she has failed or that there is no room for "bad" food in a healthy diet. She was also referred to a therapist that specializes in body image and disordered eating.


Results

• After nine months with Nutrifitness, the client has markedly improved her cardiovascular fitness and strength.
  
• Her eating habits have improved tremendously. She is eating healthy foods and portions with little day-to-day fluctuations in quantities. She is allowing herself to eat reasonable portions of junk food (chocolate, cookies, potato chips).
  
• Her weight stabilized at 183 pounds after the first month, and she has averaged a two pound loss per month since.
  
• She has been seeing the therapist, on a semi-regular basis for nine months, who is very pleased with her progress.
  
• She reports feeling great, enjoying the workouts and being very pleased with her progress in all areas.