I began seriously working out to dvds (mostly The FIRM) at home last August. I never had much in the way of hand-eye coordination and had so much trouble learning TheFIRM that, upon viewing a Cathe cardio workout on FitTV, I nearly cried. All I could think was 'And I thought TheFirm was hard! I could NEVER get Her footwork down.' But I started catching bits of Cathe's FitTV workouts and was so intrigued by how challenging it all looked. I bought her beginners set (the step, weights, band, and dvds sold at Target in the big box) and even felt intimidated by the "easy" step aerobics in the set(!). So, I kept doing The Firm... Month's went by and the needle on the scale barely budged, even though I was working out like a demon - and The Firm's tall box climbs (with which I'm sure many people here are familiar) were killing the knees on my already obese/overburdened body... About the time I started having real issues and becoming irritated with my (perceived) lack of results I stumbled onto Bob Greene's Best Life Diet book (Oprah's diet "guru") and I just can't say enough about it. I even bought copies for several co-workers. Within several weeks of half-heartedly following Phase I of his simple, safe, logical plan I was stunned at the big bump down in the numbers on the scale. After that, the weight just started melting off - yet I STILL wasn't following the plan to the letter. Within three months I had to buy smaller clothes... I also found out all those FIRM workouts that killed me but didn't seem to be getting results actually had. I had lots of shapely muscles I just wasn't able to see them buried under all the now-dissolved fat. But Bob Greene was key. His book addresses the SCIENCE behind why people aren't able to lose weight (emotional issues are one reason), why plateau's happen and how to move past them. Phase I doesn't even tell you what you can't eat. The first section is mostly concerned with exercise and getting you on a "feeding schedule." It's about simple changes you can make to the WAY you eat that can net huge results. In fact, he states that many of his clients have such spectacular results in Phase I that they never continue to Phase II. You can stay or move on, your choice. When I read that I wouldn't be allowed to eat at all 2-3 hours before bedtime I thought I couldn't do it but he spells out what you should be getting in your diet each day that will, in effect, curb your hunger, making it easy to adhere to a cutoff time. It's not hard and it works! The cutoff time is the #1 reason (on top of all the exercise I was already doing) I was able to buy 4 pairs of jeans in size 14 yesterday (in different brands - so I know I really am a 14 - that's down from size 24, since last August!). If you read a lot fitness magazines, books, and editorials there's actually not much that's new in Greene's book. However, his gift is in his ability to pull all the information together and make it coherent and accessible for everyone. It's just so thorough, truthful and simple that I believe everyone who wants to go from fat to fit ought to read it. I'm 5'5" and in August of 2006 I weighed 220lbs. I weigh myself only once a month because that's The Plan (Greene explains why scales are dangerously addictive). Not a day goes by when I'm not asked by at least three people how I did it. If this keeps up I'm going to have to print up cards with Greene's name and the title of his book so I can hand those out instead of having to keep writing it down. I struggled with food addiction for years but not anymore. Between Greene's book and all the exercise I've radically transformed myself, after 15 years as a Fat Girl, asleep at the wheel. If I can conquer emotional eating ANYONE can. And I'm still only on Phase I of Greene's plan.
About exercise. I AM at least able to do Cathe's Low Max now (a big deal for me) and am about ready to move up to tougher stuff. I was just in a car accident on 5/25 (car totalled, should have died, but walked away with nothing more than some glass in my left arm and a severed tendon in my left hand, the repair/recovery of which has left me temporarily unable to hold dumbells) and it will be awhile before I can get back to weight training. But I'm so grateful to God for watching over me and so glad to be alive... I can't wait to heal-up, get a barbell set and lift serious weight with Cathe. But I've now become a BIG believer in variety. Do lots of Cathe... but do other things... The Firm, TaeBo, Pilates... walk, run, cycle... kayak, skydive, iceskate, ski... More variety = more fun, less dread and boredom, and acts as insurance against the overuse injuries you get from doing too many of the same moves over-and-over again on a day-to-day basis.
I am the word's worst editor and I do go on, for which I apologize. The experieces I've encountered as a result of my ongoing physical transformation, the accident, and all the time have off work (time to contemplate It All) have, perhaps invested me with a missionary's zeal but that's not really a bad thing. I've awakened from 15 years of a zombie-like life, about nothing more than work, followed by bonbons & TV on the sofa, then bed... alone. Fifteen years... wasted. I'm 46 now and I'm guessing you're a lot younger. Whether or not that's true my story should serve as a cautionary tale, regardless. I've got it together now (I never really wanted to be a mom but if I had, can you just imagine?) Even so, I could just kick myself for all the lost (postponed?) opportnities: All the travelling I should have already done, all the fun I should have had, all the men I should have known... Don't do as I have done or you will regret it. I don't want that for you or anyone. There's too much cool stuff to do - and too many cool people to do it with. KC, you have had great success and deserve so much credit BUT you need to decide if you want a Big Life or more of the same tired stuff. YOU need to take YOURSELF off auto pilot and commit to changing your life from the inside out and NEVER turning back. I shared my story (thus far) to try and inspire you to continue to become a better, healthiier, happier YOU and to encourage you to trust yourself to rid your life of dead weight, of negative forces. But the fact is this: It's all up to you. You need to decide how you want to live the rest of your life -STARTING NOW. Eating bits of junk from time to time isn't going to tank your progress (utter deprivation is the road to ruin) but if you're eating ever-increasing big servings... that needs to stop now. Read Bob Greene's book (all the libraries have it and it should come out in paperback soon) so you can learn why you sabotage your own success - BEFORE you undo all your hard work. After I lost that first ten pounds I told a co-worker I FELT so much better... lighter. She said "Well, yea. You're not carrying around a 10-pound bowling ball any more." Nice visual. Here's another: One night I was standing at the kitchen sink, staring at the TV screen, eating ice cream directly from the BIG container when it occured to me that with every excess bite it was as if I were wrapping myself in another row of barrbed wire, trapping my own self more and more in a body I did not want and a life I did not want. Being wrapped in barbed wire when all you really wat to do is fly. It's self-induced prison. So stop backsliding and go after the fabulous life you REALLY want. Henry David Thoreau said "live deliberately." Amen. You, me, we ALL need to stop being unwelcome guests in our own lives. Live deliberately. Your life awaits!
