JohnPrestridge
December 11, 2012 by RobZ
Lost 43 Pounds, 13% BF, Pants 38″-33″
It was nearing the end of 2011 and it was time for the obligatory New Year’s resolutions. I mentioned to my wife Susan that I wanted to get in shape and shed a few pounds. The years of traveling as a software executive and bad eating habits had caught up with me. She took my statement to heart and got me a three month membership with Rob at RobZFitness as a Christmas gift. This turned out to be one of the best gifts I have every received!
My goal was to lose weight, improve strength, and tone up. Everyone has heard the advice, “eat right and exercise”, but it is very difficult to accomplish without the right support mechanism. Over the past three months the dedicated staff at RobZFitness provided everything I needed to be successful, including a supportive eating plan, exercise regimen, and ongoing accountability and encouragement. Rob and his staff were there with me every step of the way, providing a range of weightlifting and cardiovascular activities to help me reach my goal. The results speak for themselves and exceeded my expectations.
After 3 months I lost 43 pounds, 13% body fat and my pant size is down from 38″ to 33″. My sports jacket size is down from a 48L to 40L. I have improved strength and flexibility and have increased my energy two fold.
While the measurements are nice, I am most impressed with the influence that the eating plan has had on the whole family. Rob not only helped me reach my short term physical goals, but also provided me a blueprint for long-term sustainability of a healthy lifestyle.
John Prestridge
Are You To Thin?
December 11, 2012 by RobZ
A new study shows being thin can make you look older later in life.
Second helpings on dessert might seem like the sweetest way to celebrate new research that says being thin ages us more than anything else.
Sadly, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too: While the research does note that thinness makes the face appear older, this holds true only for women over 40, says lead study author Dr. Bahman Guyuron.
“For those younger than 40, it’s the other way around,” says Guyuron, chairman of the department of surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland.
“For women under 40, gaining weight obscures the facial definition that is inherent in a younger woman.”
The study, the first of its kind, to be published in the April issue of the Plastic and Reconstructive Journal, focused on a variety of factors that can make people look older.
A thin face is the lead culprit because being slender causes a loss of volume in the face, Guyuron says.
“This loss of volume creates jowls and makes wrinkles develop,” he says. “The older we get, the more the face gets depleted. When you lose weight, this look is enhanced and aging is accelerated.
In older women, having a little weight on board makes the face look a little younger.” Facial shape actually changes with age, says plastic surgeon Dr. Jacob Steiger of Boca Raton, Florida.
In the late 20s and early 30s, a woman’s facial shape is a heart or inverted triangle but with age, it becomes a square or an upright rectangle. To keep that younger looking shape, many women opt for a procedure to fill out the face with injections of Restylane, Juvederm, or a similar product.
“But to tell a patient to gain weight to look younger is silly,” Steiger says. “The study just shows that a full face looks younger than a gaunt face, and it illustrates the importance of volume when women are thinking about facial rejuvenation.”
Being thin isn’t the only factor in whether your face looks aged or not, according to the study, which looked at nearly 200 pairs of identical twins over the course of two years.
Since the twins’ genetic makeup was the same, researchers were able to attribute the differences in how old they looked not to their gene pool, but to external factors. And the researchers found that, in addition to thinness, smoking, heavy drinking, sun exposure, being divorced and being on antidepressants also are to blame.
“We also have discovered that indoor jobs, since your sun exposure is limited, help you look younger,” says Guyuron. “Having an outdoor job makes you look older.” For women who want to look younger but don’t want to shell out money on plastic surgery, there are other things to try.
“From the standpoint of preventive measures, not smoking and staying out of the sun are the two biggest things you can do for yourself,” Steiger says.
“Gaining weight is not advisable. When you gain weight, you gain it everywhere. It’s kind of like hair: as you get older you grow it where you don’t want it and lose it where you don’t want to lose it.”
The main message Guyuron wants people to take away from the study?
“Even though being really thin is perhaps in vogue, we are not advocating that you lose too much weight because even though your body may look thin, your face will look older,” he says.
“Try to keep your weight around the ideal range and if you do that, you’ll look younger than if you lose a lot of weight.”
BootCamp & Yoga
November 5, 2012 by RobZ
Come join us on Veterans Day November 12, 2012 for our special BootCamp/Yoga class at 7:30am taught by my wife Amy and myself. Stay a bit longer for Yoga for Athletes at 8:30am with instructor Monica Wieruszewski.
Tickets are $10.00 in advanced or $12.00 at the door.
Register now to reserve your spot.
For more information please feel free to call me at (813) 571-3700 or email me at Rob@RobZFitness.com about any questions you may have.
David Shannon
October 24, 2012 by RobZ
Pant Size 42 – 36
“I have struggled to maintain a healthy weight for most of my adult life, especially after I left college. I gained weight because I was inactive and made poor diet choices. I never enjoyed playing sports. Therefore, I lacked the motivation to stay active once I entered my profession as a software engineer. Eight to ten hours a day sitting at a computer followed up with pursuing hobbies which required little to no physical effort made weight gain inevitable. I was also eating large quantities of fast food because it was convenient.”
“A number of years ago I briefly joined a gym, and for a short while I managed to take a good portion of the weight off. While I had addressed one half of the problem, the activity, I had done nothing to resolve the food problem. I worked out, but I refused to deal with the diet issue. I managed to go from around 200 pounds to 185 pounds, at which point I hit a plateau. No longer seeing results, I quit pushing myself and eventually made excuses and rationalizations to quit going to the gym. No longer active and with my diet as unbalanced as ever the weight rapidly returned.”
“On April 24th something changed in my head. I was 36 years old and climbing a couple of flights of stairs was leaving me gasping for air. I was deeply unhappy with the way I looked and extremely self-conscious around other people. A co-worker had begun a weight loss program three months earlier and his weight loss spurred me to take action. I knew that I needed guidance, but more importantly, I needed accountability. Another co-worker had been taking Amy’s aerobics classes and she mentioned RobZFitness, I made a phone call to check them out. What I have found at RobZFitness is the guidance and accountability that I needed to succeed. Rob, Taylor, and Sam have helped me address both exercise and proper nutrition. They also provided that initial accountability that I desperately needed until I could begin to internalize it within myself. On April 26th, weighing 221 pounds, I felt horrible attempting to complete RobZ initial fitness evaluation. Six months later I have lost 46 pounds down to a weight of 175 pounds and I climb flights of stairs with ease. My pant size havI have found the motivation to make the time to exercise every day and eat healthier foods. As a result I continue to steadily lose weight and increase my strength. I cannot begin to describe how much better I feel today than I did that early morning in April when I walked into RobZFitness for the first time.”
David Shannon
Roby Ackerman
July 11, 2012 by RobZ
“Lost 52 lbs, 12.5% Body Fat, 5 inches Waist”
Four months ago, I sat in my dorm room cramming for finals. I was reviewing notes, practicing problems, and eating some pizza in the meantime. It was when I looked at the reflection in my computer screen I noticed the real issue. My face – stuffed cheeks, greasy lips, and a second chin beneath it – was horrific. I was not happy with what I saw. The person looking back at me was not the person I see in my mind. I thought of myself as a smart person with strong goals and a happy life. I saw someone who couldn’t control bad habits and constantly ignored signs of poor health and inactivity. I did not go to college to gain weight, lose focus, and become a diabetic; I concentrated too much on my studies that I lost sight of some of the true priorities in life. Unable to continue with the matter, I shut off the computer screen, threw away the rest of the pizza, and resumed studying. I knew this issue needed to be addressed in the near future.
In the midst of finals week, I sat in one of my favorite restaurants eating one of my favorite meals: smoked cheeseburger with fresh cut fries. Looking for something to read, I picked up an Osprey Observer at the counter and glanced through the articles. I came upon a testimonial from a client from RobZFitness who lost a 100 pounds. I was astonished. I thought those kind of numbers are for Biggest Loser contestants or gastric bypass patients. Once again gorged with burger grease and oily hands, I said enough is enough. How can I, an eighteen-year-old kid with many years ahead of me, sit around while other people are doing something about their lives? I kept the article, returned home, and decided to give it a shot and make the call.
That night, I spoke to Rob Zulkoski. I told him who I was and where I wanted to be. I was a USF freshman severely overweight. I would be committed to the program and do whatever asked of me. I wanted confidence back, I wanted a healthy future, and I wanted a lifestyle change. I was promised all of those things. The next day, I came in to meet him and get evaluated for the weight loss program. I started out weighing 250 pounds with 33% body fat. I never thought it was that bad; it was surely quite a shock. After a few more tests and measurements, my percentile ranking for men my age was 3. That’s it. 97% of eighteen-year-olds were in better shape than I was. It was time for that to change. I signed up for a long-term commitment at the studio and was ready for a new beginning.
Four months later, I happily weigh only 198 pounds, losing a total of 52 pounds to this date. My body fat percentage dropped from 33% to 20.5%. My percentile ranking improved to 24 and the feeling is unbelievable. I climbed the Bank of America building in downtown Tampa – all 42 flights – in just over ten minutes. Never did I believe that I could accomplish all that in sixteen weeks. It’s amazing how effective Rob’s system is. If you follow the plan, eat right, and stay focused, there is no reason not to expect big results. The trainers are encouraging, firm, and have faith in your abilities. You work out with others who are going through the same process and it’s certainly beneficial to have a support system to help you through the adjustments. I am finally looking in the mirror and seeing the person that I’ve always pictured myself to be. I look forward to continuing with the plan through the coming months and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for many years to come. Thank you RobZFitness for getting me back on track and giving me a fresh start on life.
Robert Ackerman
