Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Manage your weight effectively — online

Have you ever watched a celebrity talk about his or her customized fitness program, complete with an on-call personal trainer and nutritionist to develop an eating plan and thought “Must be nice. Anyone could be in great shape with all that help.”

Now having a professional at your beck and call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is not just for celebrities. Life Time Fitness, a Minnesota-based Healthy Way of Life Company, recently introduced Health Coach, an online program that pairs individuals with a trained health and fitness professional. Health Coach trainers work with participants one-on-one to design a customized program to help reach their goals.

“We know that exercise, nutrition and education are the cornerstones to a healthy way of life, so you won’t find quick fixes or magic bullets, just sound, solid and thoughtful advice from your personal Health Coach,” said Glen Gunderson, vice president of business to business for Life Time Fitness.

Developing a personalized plan of action to meet an individual’s health needs and goals is the important first step. After completing a survey of fitness goals to help a coach understand the participant’s current situation, he or she works one-on-one with the individual to provide planned activities, hand-selected educational resources and other methods to help reach goals.

“Proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort,” said Gunderson. “Staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness.”

A sample exercise program might include:

• Regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session.

• Resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session.

• Stretching and relaxing after each workout.

A sample eating recommendation might include:

• Eating several small meals and a couple small snacks throughout the day.

• Making sure every meal is balanced, incorporating lean sources of protein, complex carbohydrates as well as vegetables and fruit.

• Drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water throughout the day.

Once a program is set up, participants can communicate with a coach as often as needed — via a personal health Web page, e-mail, journals, live instant messaging chat or telephone. The program also includes daily messages from the coach and access to members-only community chat rooms.

“Permanent lifestyle change takes time to accomplish. The Life Time Fitness Health Coach program is designed to work with people over a period of months and years, if desired, to assure those healthy goals are met,” said Gunderson.

For more information on the Life Time Fitness and the Health Coach program, visit www.lifetimefitnesshealthcoach.com.

— ARA Content