Making time to exercise despite a busy work schedule is something that Pam Frost Gorder has mastered.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAM FROST-GORDER"I'm a reporter and I'm motivated by deadlines and by sharing news with others, so I thought if I could write for people other than myself than I'd be more motivated to stick with it," Gorder said.
COURTESY OF PAM FROST-GORDER
Pam Frost-Gorder stretches as part of her workout at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center. Gorder has been researching weight-loss options and fitness programs and documenting them in her fitness blog. The blog is on the OSU Research News Web site and is updated every other day."There are so many programs and so many people who are here just to help the rest of us get healthier and know more about being healthy. I want to tell people about those resources and maybe help other people make positive changes in their lives."
As a science journalist at OSU, Gorder's blog is considered one of her any assignments, and she said she writes new entries about her health journey at least every other day.
She said her plan isn't necessarily to lose weight but to change her way of life; she doesn't have a particular amount of weight in mind that she wants to lose.
"Health-wise, my goal isn't just to lose weight," Gorder said. "It's to be healthier, to live a healthier lifestyle, to find balance and to be happy with whatever state my body is in."
Gorder has been involved in many health activities since she started her weight-loss blog, and she said she does some sort of physical activity six times a week.
She does water aerobics for an hour three times a week, trains at a fitness center twice and either goes for a walk or a swim on the weekend. Gorder also said she does yoga, and next week she'll begin a belly dancing class.
But being a member of a wide variety of programs at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center, the wellness program at the Martha Morehouse Medical Plaza and Your Plan for Health could be part of the reason why Gorder hasn't seen a drop in her weight.
"I think that's one of her things right now, which is that she's still in the trial and error phase of what she likes and what she doesn't like," said Rebecca Nguyen, program manager of exercise science for the Faculty Staff Fitness Program at OSU and the person who administered Gorder's comprehensive fitness assessment. "It may slow her down a little bit that she's doing that because she's not on one strict program, listening to one person.
"She's kind of got her hands in everything, doing a little bit of everything to figure out what she likes. And that's fine. But when she does figure out what's good, she's needs a consistent program."
Gorder said she hasn't lost weight since she started her blog and workout routine, and says her weight still fluctuates around 240 pounds. But she said she has been seeing some small improvements.
"I know that I'm seeing some positive changes because my clothes are looser, and I'm feeling stronger," Gorder said. "I'm definitely more muscular. I just haven't lost any weight. The scale stays the same. I think it's actually pointing me towards the next step in all of this, which is getting nutritional counseling."
Gorder eats healthful foods, but she said her main problem is controlling the size of the portions she eats. She hopes that nutritional counseling will help her do that.
Her plan for health, including the blogging, was originally set to be a year-long process, Gorder said, but now there is no definite ending date.
Gorder said her plan for better health has taught her to be more efficient with her time and also has helped her as a journalist.
"The blog is a real departure for me since it forces me to write about the life sciences, which I know little about," Gorder said. "I'm most comfortable writing about the physical sciences, and now I'm learning about areas of research that complement that."
Gorder's blog can be viewed at researchnews.osu.edu/pamfrostgorder.
Drew Sullivan can be reached at sullivan.462@osu.edu.
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