I had always been a skinny kid, a picky eater. My favorite food was chocolate. I could be persuaded to eat meals if I was assured a chocolate dessert would follow. I had an active childhood, full of sports, swimming, and biking. My friends and I would ride our bikes five miles to the nearest ice cream stand to get a cone.
As I entered my teen and adult years, I remained underweight for my height. Things had changed, though. My underweight issues were no longer due to excessive activity, but to another “C” word-two in fact. I started smoking cigarettes when I was fifteen years old. I remained a pack-a-day smoker through college, where I picked up the complimentary habit of drinking excess amounts of caffeine. I could drink a pot of full-caf coffee each day.
So, there it was . . . I lived much of my adult life on the 3 Cs: cigarettes, caffeine, and chocolate. Naturally, with my appetite being suppressed, I didn’t eat much. I smoked and drank coffee until dinnertime, ate a small meal, and ate dessert. On it went. My pants size didn’t change from age 18 to 35. But at 35, something happened.
I fell in love…hard. The man I fell in love with lost his father at an early age to lung cancer. As I puffed away, I could hear my boyfriend coughing at night in the loft of my studio apartment. After several failed attempts earlier in my life, this was the motivation that led me to finally kick the habit that I had defended for so long.
But about a minute after I stopped smoking, the weight started accumulating. I expected the appetite increase-food finally tasted great! I would go to the gym and weigh myself after a workout and gasp as the scale continued to climb: ten pounds, twenty pounds, thirty pounds, forty pounds . . . ack!! I gained almost one-third of my total body weight in only a few months! I didn’t know what to do. I soon gave up on the workouts-they didn’t seem to help.
Despite the success of quitting smoking after 20 years of dependence, my self-esteem was at an all-time low. Being overweight was not an experience I was prepared for
and I didn’t know how to handle it. I tried doing the South Beach diet about six months after I quit smoking. I lost thirty pounds in only a few months. It was easy at the time but it didn’t take long for me to gain it all back. I kept the weight on for several years, promising myself I would lose it, someday.
Another issue that plagued me was insomnia. I learned that smoking increases the body’s metabolism of caffeine, among other things. I had to dial back on the coffee. Another “C” had to be conquered.
Then, in late 2008, I had to have a second surgery for a recurrent health condition that I learned about shortly after I quit smoking. I had two endometrioma (tumors on my ovaries) that needed to be removed. Despite my growing recognition that I had to change my life, this wasn’t going to be the year. I gained another five pounds. I was the heaviest I’d ever been in my life.
The ironic thing is that I not only work for a major metropolitan health department, but am a psychotherapist as well. How could I set an example and help others boost their self-esteem when I felt unable to help myself?
2009 was the year of change. Out with the old Cs, in with THE NEW “C”!
In January 2009, I decided it was time. I tried South Beach, again with limited results. I found that I had to change my diet for good. I learned how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. But the weight wasn’t coming off. I wanted results yesterday and had little time. With both a full-time and part-time job, when was I supposed to fit in exercise? I started small, a little cardio at the gym during my lunch hours. I watched Fit TV and would do some workouts. I’d see one of Cathe’s shows and think, “Wow, look at them. I could never do that.” Not long after, despite my hesitation, I decided to try one of Cathe’s Fit TV workouts. I did Pyramid Upper Body, and I was hooked. Once I bought a DVD and saw the care and professionalism Cathe and her crew put into the workouts, as well as the quality of the DVD formatting, I knew that I had found what I was looking for.
My NYC apartment living room became a small workout space. Gradually, I acquired more equipment: a decent mat, gloves, and a medicine ball. I bought more weights as my strength improved, bought a step (although I still am not the most coordinated of people), a barbell, and of course more Cathe DVDs. Soon my husband (yes, we got married-and he’s still totally amazing) joined me as he wanted to improve his stamina and strength. I also found I have a love for kickboxing and so dig Cathe’s cardio routines. (Go jump kicks!)
Despite my busy schedule, I get up early enough on most days to do one of Cathe’s programs or premixes before I go to work. It’s hard to name a favorite, but 4-Day Split, Muscle Max, and Kick, Punch, and Crunch (with the challenging Legs and Glutes!) are on regular rotation. On the weekends, I make sure to do a more intense full upper or lower body workout on each day. I still go to the gym for some cardio work and yoga class during my lunch hour or prior to after-work activities.
At the time I write this, I have reached my goal weight and have lost 36 pounds over the last eight months. My self-esteem has been restored and the exercise and outdoor activities are a priority in my life. I feel that having lost the weight slowly and steadily and by not depriving myself of the things I love (see postscript), I am at less risk of regaining the weight. Plus, I have permanently changed and embraced my lifestyle and feel the support of Cathe Friedrich, her crew, and the online community she has inspired. I feel stronger, leaner, and healthier than I ever have before! At age 42, I have removed the bad Cs-cigarettes and excessive caffeine-and have embraced THE GOOD “C”: Cathe Friedrich.
PS – As for the third “C”: I came to the realization that I can’t live without chocolate. I have become more judicious about the snacks I allow myself, though; I eat only dark chocolate, and only in small amounts. Hey, some things you just can’t live without!!
