FAT LOSS THROUGH EXERCISING 1

Health Project: Lower Body Fat Percentage by Working Out

Lorde Halsey

University of California, San Diego

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Abstract
This research was conducted to document and examine my journey to decrease two percent body

fat over a seven-week exercise program. The seven-week program were the last two stages, action

and maintenance, of the transtheoretical health model, as previous stages took place before this

health project. In addition, I used self-efficacy theory to push me forwards in each training session.

As a former competitive swimmer, I continued to play sports after I retired, but those activities

were not designed to assist me to achieve any specific goals. Rather, I simply enjoyed playing

sports, yet I always avoided cardiovascular exercise because it caused extreme exhaustion to my

body. This paper investigates whether the transtheoretical model, along with the self-efficacy

theory, is helpful in changing my workout routines and pushing me towards my goal to lower my

body fat percentage (BF%) by two percent. To accomplish my goal and to look leaner, three times

a week, I incorporated cardiovascular exercises such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and

circuit training, which are short in length but thought to burn body fat most effectively, into my

workout routine. Every effective fat-loss workout as well as my BMI and BF% were recorded on

to document my progress, and my BMI and BF% were taken on the same day every week to ensure

consistency. Since HIIT and circuit training are my main methods to burn fat in this study, I

decided to simply follow my workout routine and not to alter my diet, though most studies suggest

that clean eating delivers the best result to decrease body fat. My BF% and BMI were steadily

decreasing throughout the program, and I discovered enhanced performance in HIIT and circuit

training. At the end of program, I successfully completed every HIIT session and circuit training

by practicing the self-efficacy theory and managed to obtain 20.5 percent body fat.
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Lower Body Fat Percentage by Working Out

There is a misconception among people that body weight solely determines the leanness of

an individual, and therefore they confuse the concepts of simply losing body weight and losing

body fat. In fact, I also mistakenly thought that losing weight was equivalent to losing body fat.

Satisfied with my own weight, I refused to include any cardiovascular training in my workout

routine. This slowed down my training progress and kept my BF% relatively high. However, later

exposure to fitness knowledge enabled me to distinguish BF% from body weight and understand

that I could still have a high BF% even though my weight was considered healthy. Additionally,

an effective method to lower BF% is to include cardiovascular exercise in my training routine.

Although simply being active keeps an individual relatively heathy, it does not prioritize fat loss.

Therefore, it is vital to add HIIT to my regular workout routine as the combination of

cardiovascular and strength training can further stimulate fat burning. I started from resisting to

engage in any cardiovascular training to doing cardiovascular exercises three times a week, and

my behavior change can be explained by the transtheoretical model. The transtheoretical model

suggests that people’s modification of behaviors occur in different stages instead of in a single-

step process.

The transtheoretical health model was developed by psychology professor J.O Prochaska

and his associates (Taylor, 2012). Opposed to the concept of behavior change is a single-step

process, this health model suggests that behavior change is “an intentional process that unfolds

over time and involves progress through a series of six stages of change” (J.O. Prochaska, 2013).

To pursue my goal of lowering two percent body fat by doing HIIT and circuit training, I

underwent precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, which are all

stages of change in the health model. Currently in the maintenance stage, I have yet to reach the
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termination stage due to time limitation. During the action stage, I used self-efficacy theory, the

confidence in my capability to accomplish certain goals, to push myself to my limit in every HIIT

session. The self-efficacy theory was introduced by Albert Bandura as an attitudinal health model

to explain people’s behavioral change. This model suggests that people’s beliefs have a significant

impact on how they accomplish goals and overcome challenges.

Precontemplation
This is the stage where I was not aware of my problem. I believe that I was in pretty good

shape even though I stopped swimming competitively. The statistics on my annual body check

agreed and indicated that I was a healthy young adult, and fitting in size two clothing, I was

considered quite skinny. With no weight issues, I did not consider making my body leaner.

Additionally, I believed that cardiovascular exercise was only for people who were overweight,

and weighed normally, I did not recognize the need to participate in cardiovascular training.

Moreover, my partner’s suggestion of engaging in cardiovascular exercise would upset me because

I believed that he was implying that I looked fat and unattractive. At this stage, I resisted the idea

of committing any cardiovascular training and “had no intention of changing” (Taylor, 2012) my

behavior.

Contemplation
This is the stage in which I realized my problem and became ready to modify my behaviors,

yet I was not ready for any action-oriented intervention. Looking in the mirror one day, I was

frustrated by appearance of cellulites on my thighs and abdomen. After doing some research, I

discovered the term “skinny fat,” and I quickly identified myself as a skinny fat girl. Skinny fat

people who look “skinny” are “fat” because they have more fat than muscles hidden inside their

bodies, causing cellulites, bloated abdomen and other more serious health issues. These
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information led me to understand that looking thin did not necessarily indicate fitness. I

acknowledged that in order to eliminate cellulites, I had to lower my BF% by engaging in

cardiovascular training.

Preparation
Almost a month after recognizing myself as a skinny fat individual, I intended to change

my behavior as soon as possible. I finally joined 24hr Fitness in September 2016, and planned to

participate in a systematic workout to reduce my BF%. My self-conscientiousness led me to take

the step of purchasing a gym membership. During this time, I talked to different personal trainers

at the 24hr Fitness club and was educated on the difference of HITT, circuit training and simple

strength training. At this stage, I was starting to organize a systematic workout routine to decrease

my body fat.

Action
This is the stage that I started my seven-week training. Not only did I realize my problem,

I was also determined to change my behaviors in order to overcome it. Unlike the former stages,

this stage required a lot more energy and commitment. For instance, each training took me one to

two hours at the gym to maximize body fat burning. In addition, HIIT and circuit training kept my

heart rate above 150 BPM, keeping my body at a constantly exhausted stage. Going to the gym

regularly was time consuming and engaging in HIIT was especially energy-draining. These

sessions were challenging not only to my body but also to my mind, yet strongly believing in my

own capabilities of conquering the training, I completed every HIIT or circuit training session as

prescribed.

Maintenance
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This is the stage that I consolidated the gains I made from going to the gym and

participating in past HIIT or circuit training. In essence, this stage emphasized self-control and

confidence in myself as these were essential factors to keep me working towards my goal and

prevent me from giving up on my training. Specifically, the last three weeks of the program and

my actions after the program ended would be part of the maintenance stage. Maintenance is a

crucial stage for preventing relapse into old behaviors, and therefore it was important for me to

adhere to my changed behavior of doing cardiovascular exercise as planned.

Method
This project was indication of the action and maintenance stages in the transtheoretical

health model. In this project, I trained five days a week, three of which included HIIT or circuit

training. Each of my HIIT session lasted about six minutes, and it started with twenty seconds of

intense anaerobic workout such as sled drag, bear crawls and sled push, followed by ten seconds

of resting period. I repeated the rotation about ten times to keep my heart rate in order to burn fat

effectively. Circuit training, which required me to complete a set of three to four different exercises

with resting period in between sets, was another high-intensity exercise that I included in my

routine.

I measured my BF% and BMI, using OMRON’s fat loss monitor, every Wednesday before

I started my workout routine at 24hr Fitness. While not as accurate as hydrostatic weighing, which

requires sophisticated equipment my club does not offer, bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) is

a more reasonable method to test my BF% as it is cost-effective and convenient. The OMRON’s

fat lass monitor is essentially a handheld BIA device, which sends a safe current throughout my

body, and it estimated my BF% within seconds as I held it up to my shoulder level with both my

hands. The electric signal from the fat loss monitor travel through my body, and while flowing
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smoothly through muscles, they meet impedance as they encounter fat (Talma et al., 2012). The

analysis required me to enter my age, gender, height and weight, and to keep track of my BMI, I

weighed myself every week and input my new body weight into the fat loss monitor.

Results
By the end of seventh week, I lost eight pounds and my BF% was down to 20.5 percent.

Listed below in the excel sheets are HIIT or circuit training that I participated in to pursue my ideal

BF%. The graphs below shows how my BMI and BF% decreased from each week throughout the

project, and unlike results from some extreme weight-loss plans that promise to help people lose

five pounds a week, I was steadily losing one to two pounds a week. More importantly, the BF%

graph shows a consistent weekly reduction of approximately 0.3% of my BF%. Prior to this seven-

week training, I often avoided cardiovascular exercise and mainly focused on strength training

because I did not enjoy the exhaustion and higher heart rate as a result of cardiovascular training.

After the program, not only did I successfully decrease my BF% by two percent, I was also getting

more comfortable with HIIT as my BF% lowered. In every HIIT session, though extremely

drained, I was able to finish every set after telling myself that I was able to conquer the training.

The difference between my old and new BF% may appear to be numerally insignificant, I felt

stronger and more willing to involve cardiovascular exercises in my training.

Discussions
I included two health models in this study because I thought that one health model alone

was not sufficient enough to explain my successful behavior of change. While the transtheoretical

model explained my progress from having no intention to change my behavior to active

participation in HIIT, the self-efficacy theory was the key to my successful completion of each

HIIT session. My behaviors in the seven-week program were consistent with stages that the
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transtheoretical model proposed, and my effort in HIIT aligned with the key component of the

self-efficacy theory.

In lecture, I learned about the relationship between one’s personality and health behaviors,

and conscientiousness plays a key role in leading one to positive behaviors. As a fairly self-

conscientious person, I believed that my behavior change was initiated by my awareness of my

appearance and well-being. However, I was unwilling to change at first because I did not bear the

accurate information about my body.

Limitation

Even though I tried to keep the weekly measurements of BF% consistent by going to the

gym at similar hours, the accuracy of BF% test could still be challenged. Drinking plenty water

throughout the day was recommended because the accuracy BIA is based on water and fat content

of the body. However, my daily water intake varied due to different schedules and workload.

Therefore, there might still be inconsistency on the BF% tests depending on how much water I had

on the testing day. Moreover, I could make sure that my BF% tests were taken by the same machine

overtime as it was not my own equipment. Therefore, though the same model, different OMRON

fat lass monitors could have varying BF% estimates.

Conclusion

This study was conducted to examine if I can effectively lower my body fat percentage by

two percent through involving HIIT or circuit training in my workout routine. My behavior change

followed the stages of precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance of

the transtheoretical theory, and I recognized that the first three stages took place before this study

was conducted. In addition, the action stage was where incorporated a second health model, the
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self-efficacy theory, help me overcome challenges that the training would cause. Over the course

of seven weeks, my BF% was down to 20.5 percent with a steady decrease of approximately 0.3%

decrease every week.

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Reference

Laursen, P. B., & Jenkins, D. G. (2002, January). The Scientific Basis for High-Intensity Interval
Training. Web.
Prochaska, J.O. (2013). Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. Web.

Bandura, A. (2010, January 30). Self-Efficacy. Web.

Taylor, S.E. (2012). Health Psychology. Print.

Talma, H. et, al. (2013, July 30). Bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate body composition in
children and adolescents: a systematic review and evidence appraisal of validity, responsiveness,
reliability and measurement error. Web.

Week 1 HIIT/Circuit Training Edurance Rest Reps

10/3/2016 Sled Drag 20 sec 20 sec 6
10/5/2016 Bear Crawl 20 sec 20 sec 6
10/7/2016 Sprinting 20 sec 20 sec 7
Week 2
30 sec
moutain climber; kettle 1 min rest
each; no rest in between
bell swing; push up after a complete set
10/10/2016 exercise 3
10/12/2016 Sprinting 20 sec 15 sec 7
10/14/2016 Swimming 20 sec 20 sec 7
Week 3
knees to waist; kettle 30 sec
bell swing; farmers carry each; no rest in between 1 min rest
10/17/2016 (50lb) exercise after a complete set 4
10/19/2016 Bear Crawl 20 sec 15 sec 6
10/21/2016 High Knees 30 sec 18 sec 7
Week 4
10/24/2016 Indoor biking 20 sec 15 sec 7
10/26/2016 Sprinting 20 sec 20 sec 7
10/28/2016 Swimming 20 sec 15 sec 8
Week 5
Thruster; box jump; 1 min on each exercise;
10/31/2016 skater; bike; plank no rest in between 45 sec after each set 4
11/2/2016 Sled Push 20 sec 15 sec 6
11/4/2016 Sprinting 20 sec 10 sec 8
Week 6
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11/7/2016 Swimming 30 sec 15 sec 8

11/9/2016 Bear Crawl 25 sec 15 sec 8
11/11/2016 High Knees 30 sec 15 sec 8
Week 7
30 sec
mountain climber; kettle 1 min rest
each; no rest in between
bell swing; push up after a complete set
11/14/2016 exercise 4
11/16/2016 Sled Drag 30 sec 15 sec 8
11/18/2016 Swimming 30 sec 15 sec 8

BF% Progress Every Week

22.50%

22.00%

21.50%

21.00%

20.50%

20.00%

19.50%
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Series 1

BMI Weekly Change

22.5

22

21.5

21

20.5

20
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

BMI Weekly Change