Featured Project: Susan's Results

Hi Susan,

I presented your results to the rest of the FIT staff at our weekly meeting last Thursday. We were all very impressed, so much so that we would like to request to post your DEXA pre-post soft-body pictures on our website.  This is only with your permission and your name would not be associated with the pictures until you also gave approval.

If you felt like FITwas able to help out along the way we would also enjoy hearing more about your experience.

Regards, Matt S.K.

Fitness Institute of Texas
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
1 University Drive; D3700
UT Austin
Austin, TX 78712

This was the email I received the other day from Matt, a PhD student at UT who administered pre- and post- assessment tests of my body composition.  The first test was done in June of 2006, and the second was done this month.  Needless to say there was a huge improvement in the health of my body composition, one of the more vivid results of my 2006-2007 Project Lab project.

Test results:

I thought I had lost 20 - 25 lbs., which was great, but these charts show that I really lost over 30 lbs. of fat, since I gained over 10 lbs. of muscle.

How did it happen?  In the Project Lab I realized that it was OK to ask for help.  In fact, being willing to ask for help can make the difference between success and another New Years Resolution that falls down the wayside.  In the lab, I asked Amalia Litras to be my personal trainer, and she led me down this interesting road at an easy incremental pace.

The three words that described the essence of my project were Spaciousness, Luck, and Love.  During this lab I learned that it is not only OK, but it is actually possible to create space in your schedule to do things that are important to you.  Never again will I attempt to get high-quality exercise by squeezing it in sideways between other commitments.  In this lab I learned that all there is to do is accept the spaciousness to do what's important to you by just putting it in your schedule, and then seeing how to make it work when the time comes round to do it.  (Nobody was traumatized by the fact that I go to the gym at 11 in the morning once a week and then again at 7 another day, or that I carry a bike helmet into work once or twice a week and need to take a quick shower before I get to my cube or meeting room.)

Comments

[Cecile Hay]

Susan,
Congratualtions on fulfilling your project! High 5 to you Missy!
I think you are a wonderful role model for giving our lives attention, really thinking about what we want to create, and then making it happen.

I am now doing my Woo Hoo dance! Woo Hoo Susan, Woo Hoo, Woo Hoo to you!
Love and Laughter,
Cecile