Trainer Notes: Week 16

It's hard to believe that we are closer to the end of this competition than the beginning. I'm sure for the contestants it has seemed like a slower process than maybe it has for us fitness professionals, as they are the ones putting in so much effort day in and day out. With the time remaining, however, I know everyone is out for that last big push to see what can be accomplished by the end. While this is great, and I want to see all the great "numbers", too, I don't want it to overshadow the long term lifestyle changes that this competition is hopefully providing for everyone involved. In Michael's case, I know how much he has learned and how many changes he and his wife have incorporated into their lifestyle, both with physical activity and nutritionally. This knowledge and these changes can help him continue to be successful in furthering his weight loss and to eventually maintain it when he has reached his optimal level. I truly believe this will be the case for Michael, but approaching the end of this can definitley bring up that sense of fear and anxiety of "how am I going to do this on my own?" Understanding that it can still be a scary transition to go from so much support to being much more self sufficient with it, we will have plenty of discussion about this as we get closer to end of the contest. We'll discuss plenty of ideas and options so Michael can be as confident and motivated as possible to continue his success.

In regards to the workouts and Michael's current progress, everything continues to go great. Michael's new resistance and cardio workouts are different than he was used to and pretty challenging, but he continues to improve every week and every workout, and I'm sure he still really appreciates his weekends off. For all of his efforts, the fat just keeps melting away. I'm very happy to report that Michael has now lost 70 lbs! Getting under 300 and reaching our 100lb. goal seems more and more realistic every week. You're going to do this Michael, so just stay focused and keep up the great work! We should be getting in some measurement updates soon, and will report them as soon as we do. Thank you to everyone continuing to support Michael in and out of the studio and on the blog comments. Also, thank you to everyone voting, and let's keep charging forward