New Local Fitness Column: The Fitness Zone With Scott Lindsey

In an ongoing effort to bring you more local information, we are now featuring a semi-monthly health, fitness, and wellness column written by local resident Scott Lindsey.

Scott is senior admissions director at Edmonson Center and works as a play-by-play announcer for Wildcat Football on the Edmonson Voice. In his first column, he shares the journey of his significant weight loss over the last several months. 

This column is about personal experience, shared motivation, and thoughts and opinion on staying active and eating and living healthier. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a physician before participating in any diet, or beginning any exercise or fitness plan. --Darren Doyle, Editor.

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Hey folks, I have wanted to begin some kind of fitness article in an effort to help people who may be looking to lose a few pounds, lose a lot of pounds (like me), or just something to help them feel more healthy. The Fitness Zone is going to be a semi-monthly attempt for me to do just that. This first article is going to concentrate more on my journey since I began my program in September of 2018, and how it's been since that time. In the future, I hope to cover a lot of different topics that will be helpful and bring general awareness to better health and fitness. I am always open to suggestions, and you can e-mail me any feedback or topics that you would like to see. In future articles, I will also be sharing some of my favorite websites and Facebook pages that I frequent, chocked full of great info.

But first, let me tell you about my journey.

It actually started on September 8th, 2018. I had met several of my friends at Circus Square Park in Bowling Green for the annual Walk to End Alzheimers.  It is something that I had supported for many years in the past, and wanted to support my friends and family who have been affected by Alz. It’s a great ceremony, and then you do the Walk to End ALZ which is a estimated 2-mile walk that begins and ends at Circus Square Park.

After the walk, I was completely worn out, my heart was beating 90 miles an hour, and I couldn’t breathe. I was absolutely miserable. I knew that I had gained some weight and let myself go, but I should have been able to walk 2 miles with no problems. But that wasn’t reality. The reality is that I had ignored my body’s health for so long, that I was now 330 lbs, on blood pressure medicine, knees were killing me, and I couldn’t exert much energy at all without losing my breath, and wearing down quickly. That day, I made up my mind that I had to make changes, and make them quickly.

My fitness program started out with just me walking as much as I could, and watching my calorie intake. I didn’t do any of the popular diets (keto, adkins, southbeach, etc.) I just simply watched my calorie intake. I could pretty much eat anything that I wanted, but I tracked every single calorie on a free app called *“MyFitnessPal”, which is an app specifically for tracking calories and exercise.

The awareness of what I had actually been putting into my body and the damage that it had done was disheartening. I couldn’t do anything about what I had already done, but I could correct it moving forward, and put much better fuel into my body than what I had been for years. You learn as you progress, what foods give you the biggest bang for your buck. You can either have a 6 oz grilled chicken breast, a baked sweet potato, a whole bag of steamed broccoli, and a salad with light Italian dressing for less than 800 calories, or you can eat a banana split for 800+ calories.

To me, the more food, for the less calories has become a way of life. I have been VERY focused on this, and it definitely tests your will power at times, but what it amounts to is a saying that I have learned in the last few months, “Don’t give up on what you want MOST, for what you want RIGHT NOW.” To me, being healthier and losing weight was way more important than the banana split!

On the exercise side of things, I didn’t go and join a gym, although I plan to in the future. I just simply took advantage of what I have around me every day. I started walking laps at work. When I got off work, I would go to a local place that I could walk. We have some great places to walk right here in the county: Chalybeate Park, the track at the High School, the walking trail around the parks on Hwy. 70, and Mammoth Cave just to name a few. I have used all of these over the past few months. When the weather has been bad, I also used the treadmill that is in my garage, but it’s not my favorite thing to do. I would rather be outdoors any day of the week, but when you are working really hard to make lifestyle changes and build good habits, you will do whatever it takes.

I started out walking 2 miles at the track. Some days in the beginning, it was really tough, and some days it was not so tough. The main thing is that because of that start, I can now run 2 miles, and I am going to run my first 5k (3.1 miles) on April 27th in Nashville. When I first started, I could barely walk 2 miles without wearing out, and running any distance was out of the question. Like I said, the important thing is getting started doing something, and pushing yourself to get better. It’s amazing how much better your back and knees feel when you take weight off of them.

I also use a dietary supplement called *CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). It is a soft gel capsule that, other than the ingredients that make up the capsule, is completely natural. I did a lot of research on supplements because I am very cautious of what I take. I also checked them with a friend of mine who is a Nurse Practitioner. I don’t want to take anything that makes me so jittery that I can feel my own hair growing. CLA stood out to me as something that I wanted to try, and it has worked great for me. CLAs claim is that it helps reduce body fat, helps increase your metabolism, supports a healthy immune system, aids in the breakdown of fat groups, and helps maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

I will reference more of my journey in articles later, but I will wind up this article with some test results that I got back in March. At work, we do what is called a biometric screening (health screen) every year. These are the results from both 2018 and 2019, and from today.
                                             March 2018                                                     Feb. 2019                                          April 2019
Height                                6’4”                                                                   6’4”                                                    6’ 4”
Weight                                330 lbs                                                              246.2 lbs                                            236.8
Waist                                  50”                                                                    40”                                                      38”
Body Fat                             35.4%                                                                30.5%                                                 28.8
BMI                                      38.2                                                                   26.0                                                    26.0
Glucose                               120                                                                    87
Blood Pressure:                 124/66 with Medication                                110/70 no medication                      110/68
 
Since starting my fitness program, I have now lost 94 lbs, and feel better than I have felt in many, many years. Now, my goal is to help other people feel great, too. I promise, if I can do it, so can you--you just have to make a start. If I can help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the e-mail listed or on my new Facebook page. Also, please provide feedback, and any suggested topics.

I can’t wait to hear from you!! Here’s to better Health!
Scott Lindsey
Email: scottpastmaster@aol.com
Facebook: The Fitness Zone by Scott
 
*****I am not endorsing any of the products listed in my articles. They are simply products that I use. Please consult your Physician before taking any supplement to find a supplement that’s right for you, and before trying any strenuous activity!