Edith, how kind you are
I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that the only 2 reasons I actually started out at the "Cathe level" were:
1. It angered me that the vast majority of society expected me to start a fitness program of "sweatin to the oldies" like there was no other alternative out there! I could accept that I was obese and completely out of shape, but could you at least throw a Denise Austin, Kathy Smith or Charlene Prickett video my way? Or hey, how about some Leslie Sansone?
2. I'm cheap!
The idea of purchasing "beginner" videos, then moving into "intermediate" and having to purchase more, then finally achieving "advanced" level and having to again make more purchases just didn't "jive" with the penny pinching, tight budget, coupon clipping person that I am, so the sheer drive to get the most for my money is what forced me in to Cathe!
*And WHAT a bargain each and every video has been!
Because I knew nothing of Cathe or exercise videos other than "the sweatin to..." when I first began to exercise at 375lbs, I originally started "working out" to the Denise Austin Lifetime TV program "Fit & Lite." I was so out of shape, I could only do 10min of the show. I sat and cried while watching the remaining 20min of the show! I vowed to come back each day until I could complete the entire show. At the end of that week on Friday (my 5th day of exercising), I was up to 20min. Now, according to my exercise log, by the end of the 2nd week I was doing the whole 30min show. Then I moved on to the 2nd show which was more aerobics and toning, and by the end of 30 days, I was doing the entire Denise Austin hour. I did that for another month, and in those first 2 months I'd lost 25lbs.
Then I found Cathe! I found her MIS video at collagevideo (which I only found due to an ad in Shape magazine), and I ordered it. Once it arrived, it had her website on it, so I quickly found this forum and her other videos. So I began weight training with MIS, using lighter weights (5-10# db and 35#bb for leg work) and I'd take my cues on when to increase weight from Cathe. When the current weight got too easy, I'd increase it. Then I began to sort of force myself to increase weight about every 6 weeks or so, and that's pretty much how I got myself to progress through weights. Lower body was much easier than upper! I added PowerHour as my 2nd video, and then the CTX Series (my intro to Cathe cardio!)
And was it ugly! There isn't just a different world between Denise Austin cardio and Cathe cardio, there is an entire Solar System! I thought I would pass out during just some of her warm ups! My first cardio was 10-10-10 (still my favorite!), and I could not believe she expected me to be able to achieve those moves! I didn't! I modified even in the warm up! I could do NO plyo moves, no jacks, and clearly nothing air born!
Loved CTX kickbox, easiest to do, until the jumping sequence, once again, modify, modify, modify! Step & intervals, and power circuit were do-able with again, modifications, but All Step was a total joke, it completely frustrated me! I actually modified CTX until I got down to about 200lbs. So basically for 150lbs, I modified all Cathe cardio and I completed it as far as time length, but had to gradually ease in to plyo moves, jacks, air born moves, etc. Every few weeks I noticed I modified less and less. And adding Imax every week really helped because it had all the plyo moves, jacks, etc., and because I was forced to do them and was determined to get through the video without having to modify, it helped me with the rest of the cardio workouts.
So basically, it just took sticking to it day by day, week by week, modifying where I needed to until I could do it, and then one day, for whatever reason, I'd be doing a move without the modification and saying to myself, "OMG! I did it!" And it's still happening like that! 2 weeks ago doing Imax I did the "tuck jumps" and was just too excited! My heart was in my nose, but I did them!
They weren't nearly as perfect or pretty as Cathe's, but I did them!
Then I did them again last week, so I think I'm done modifying interval #10! Which means I can now do Imax modification free! Wooo-Hoooo!!
So............anybody, and I mean anybody, can do Cathe! It just means making it work for you. Even Cathe says over and over in several videos, "modify!" She even says it to her own crew, so make it work for you however it takes, and through time and practice, it gets easier and more do-able. I am living proof of that! It can be done!
Thanks for asking me to share, and just so you guys know, I did have an opportunity to share my story publicly, but turned it down because I refused to be one of those people who mislead/lie on an infomercial. Someone in my family came across a website for a product and sent my story in, well, the "person" sent me his "system" to try for 6 weeks, I tried it for 4 weeks, it was okay, I reported back and told the P.R. person what I thought about it, but that it couldn't replace my existing program which was Cathe's, and they offered me the opportunity to be the "star" of their upcoming infomercial and tell my weight loss story. It took only a second before I realized that they intended to mislead the public by allowing viewers to assume I lost weight on their product, when in fact, I didn't even try this man's "system" until I'd gotten down to like 180lbs. I tried it for about 1 month, I wasn't getting the results like with my Cathe workouts, so I quit.
This also taught me to really be wary of infomercials and their "claim to fame." I lost weight with Cathe, and 4 weeks on that program would have made the public think that I did it with his product. What a sham! And what a scam artist! So be very critical of infomercials with "amazing" weight loss stories. They may not be true at all!
Thanks for letting me share
Donna
