Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley March 5, 2012 Deadline April 2012 Issue Getting Fit with a Virtual Trainer “Lose weight,” the doctor advised me, “or you could be headed for diabetes.” I’m the first to admit I had added a few extra pounds while completing my doctorate. There’s a lot of sitting and reading when you’re in graduate school. When I defended my dissertation in 2010, I weighed more than 230 pounds. Looking back 25 years, I was skinny. Not thin, either, but seriously scrawny. When I graduated from Golden West High School, I was 120 pounds with a 27-inch waist. By 2010, I was approaching twice that size. Back pain was getting unbearable. I was using a cane frequently and hobbling about with sore knees. Yet, I couldn’t seem to lose the weight. I knew I had to, but I was stuck in a cycle of losing a few pounds and gaining them right back within weeks. During Christmas break, I was reading health and fitness articles online. One of articles I read was about the “CNN He...
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