Cathe Saved My Life by Amanda Harris

As young as five, I could remember being active. I used to spend all day playing ball or running up stairs. My Mom said I used to tire her out.When I was seven, however, I began to tire out more easily, and act slightly more irritable. I started to complain to my mother that I was getting stomach aches. Six months later, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I was given steroids to keep my condition under control. Even though it was under control, I developed a moon face and continued to be irritable. My classmates didn’t want to play with me, so I learned to sit events out. I sat events out until I was sixteen. At 4’11” and 140 pounds, I was getting out of breath when I changed my sheets. I pretended that my intelligence compensated for my lack of physical conditioning. Deep down, however, I knew that I was headed on a dangerous track. I joined a gym and Weight Watchers.

After six months, however, my gym circuit was too easy. My Mom told me I could borrow her exercise videos. I tried Kick Max and was head over heels. I collapsed after fifty minutes, but I vowed to do it until I could finish the entire workout. After a few weeks, I succeeded. From there, I moved on to Cardio Kicks and Kick, Punch, and Crunch. I had started to look into her step videos when I broke my foot. Overexercise and undereating had weakened my bones. Six weeks and an eating disorder diagnosis later, I learned to accept my body. I took the words “diet” and “scale” out of my vocabulary.

To break away from the “thin” look I had been trying to pioneer, I did Cathe’s Pure Strength Series. It was as though I had found her workouts for the first time. Success, however, wouldn’t come easily. In September 2009, almost ten years after I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, my symptoms began to come back and I was rediagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. I continued working out as hard as I could, if only to keep from thinking about my illness.

After several failed medications, I wasn’t sure what I would do next. My doctor, family, and I decided that surgery was the best option. On January 31, 2010, I had one foot of my large intestine removed. My surgeon said I have the “heart of a champion”. The first thing that came to my mind was that, had I not been physically conditioned, I might not have been strong enough to survive surgery. All I could think about was my gratitude to Cathe.

I have tried many different instructors, but I always come back to Cathe. There is a genuine sense about her that nobody else in the business has. Not only does she sweat with you, she loves it and she’ll make you love doing it just as much.

Exercise is more than physical. It’s mental. Cathe was there for me when the medical industry wasn’t, both as an escape and to help me with my recovery. I can proudly say that I am now stronger and in better shape than I’ve ever been. And I’m not stopping now.