Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate need of help!

UNLVCrjChick

UNLVCrjChick

Cathlete
Hello everyone,

Although I am not completely new to Cathe's workouts, I am compared to most of the people on this board (only for about 5 months or so). I have only had the CTX Series for about a month now and I have only attempted All Step and Power Circuit. I am afraid that I cannot do the rest because when it comes to Hi-Lo, I am exhausted only after a few minutes of the high impact stuff. I am about 200 lbs and I gained 40-50 lbs in only 6 weeks (yes you read correctly, 6 weeks). I am getting to the point where I feel like I will never be thin again. I used to weigh 245 lbs when I was 17, and when I turned 21 in 2002, I reached my lowest weight ever---135 lbs. After I joined the Navy, I gained a lot of the weight back and was then discharged last year. In 8 months, I had managed to get back down to 150 again, but since I couldn't get any lower than that, due to a long plateau, I got depressed and started eating again....hence I gained again.

It seems like no matter how hard I work out, or how much effort I put into losing weight, I just can't seem to lose weight at anything but a snail's pace (about 2-3 lbs per month). If use the CTX Series 5-6 times per week, should I expect to see results relatively quickly?

Could anyone here give me some advice as to how to modify when Cathe does the Hi-Lo routines....especially the intervals she sneaks in on the 10-10-10 video?

How are the Body Blast series videos? Are they more intense than CTX? I will say that I do love Cathe's Rhythmic Step and would love to see more fun routines like that one. I thank anyone who could give me some much needed advice.

Sherry
 
RE: Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate ...

Hi Sherry!

I just wanted to say hello and tell you that I was in the Navy too!!
I was stationed in San Diego (Coronado!) from 1988- 1992.

As far as the weight goes, I don't know how much advice I can give you but I can tell you that you would like the Body Blast Series especially the Timesaver DVD. It is not as intense as CTX. People here have seen great results just using CTX. I know I have! It is my favorite, next to the Timesaver now. :)

I know that exercise is only part of it, maybe 20% and the eating is 80% of it. It's not just a diet, it's a lifestyle change. Have you ever considered joining Weight Watchers? If you didn't want to join in person, you could always join online and do your weigh-ins at home. It is about $14 a month.

Here's a link. http://www.weightwatchers.com. It is a great tool and really helps people learn how to eat better and use portion control.

Tracking and journalizing what you eat is extremely important when learning how to eat better. You can do this with Weight Watchers.

Also, please know that starving yourself never works. You will lose a lot of weight but as soon as you start to eat again you will gain it all back plus more! This is because you slowed down your metabolism when you starved yourself. This backfires every time.

Best of luck to you!!!
 
RE: Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate ...

Wow, I thank both of you ladies for responding so quickly. I lost my initial 110 lbs using SOLELY Weight Watchers, and I am still trying to follow the plan. However, I feel that the new Flex Points plan is absolutely horrendous, for I feel that it encourages overeating with the 35 extra Flex points you get to use every week. In fact, that is what caused me to gain my weight so quickly. Once I felt I could go over with 35 points, that led to a slippery slope where I kept eating and eating and eating...Extra points begets extra, unnecessary points. I am trying to follow the original 1-2-3 Success plan but I am hungry all of the time. The heavier I get, the more I want to eat.

I do want the Body Blast series, but I do not have room for a stability ball, so I don't think I could swing it. Besides, I don't think I could do the pikes that Cathe does anyway. I can barely do the planks she does in the CTX series (but I cannot lift the opposite arm and the opposite leg when doing planks...I am so heavy that my arms would snap trying to support me :-( ). In the Cardio and Weights dvd I tried doing the walking soldier planks, but I seriously injured myself in the process.

I am just so sad...before the Navy I was thin, healthy, and I had managed to turn my life around by getting into the best shape that I had ever been in. Now, I have to pretty much start over again and I am scared that I don't have what it takes to go through the agony of losing weight again....I guess it will always be a neverending battle.

Sorry if I sound like I'm too complainy, but I just can't help it right now.

Sherry
 
RE: Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate ...

Hi Sherry,

I can hear your frustration in your post but rest assure you've found an answer to your problem with Cathe!
The impact can be a bit much but it is very do-able over time if you're patient with yourself.

I have found that with any of Cathe's cardio, the one way I could overcome the impact was to first of all finish whatever workout I put on, don't bail on yourself or the workout, but while doing the workout, pace yourself! This means don't start out at 100% in the warm up cause some of Cathe's warm ups are tougher than other instructors entire workouts!
Then pace yourself throughout the workout. If this means giving it your all for only 5 minutes and then side stepping or marching in place for a minute or two to let your heart rate come back down (or swallow your heart and put it back in its rightful place!;) )
It's almost like doing intervals throughout the entire workout, but over the course of a few weeks you'll begin to see you're going longer and longer periods before you need to "side step it off" or "march it off."
As for the really tough stuff like plyo jacks, etc., you take them in 4's. If that's too much, take them in 2's and every week try adding 2-4 more reps until you feel yourself getting stronger and able to do the whole set. It really doesn't take as long as you might think and by building it slowly like that you build your endurance for the power moves and you'll always have a "base" regardless of which Cathe you pull out to do. So just pace yourself and before you know it you'll be getting through the whole workout regardless of your current weight. :D

As for the eating, FOR ME (let me stress that!), I've found that exercise has been 80% of my success and eating only 20% because I do not have the best diet in the world, never have, even while losing, but the intensity of Cathe's cardio workouts and the effectiveness of her strength training workouts still allowed me to burn so many calories that I was able to eat comfortably (no less than 2000 cals/day) and still lose at a phenominal rate. So for me putting the emphasis on exercise was all I needed and I let my food fall where it may. I try to eat well as in high fiber, whole wheat grains/flour over white and plenty of fruit and vegetables and lean meats, but I still have my McDonald's and Ben & Jerry's too! Life is just too short to give up every good thing!;)

I wish you much luck and If your eating is a place you need support, I can suggest a site that has been a real help to me, it is to eating/dieting what Cathe is to fitness! It's www.diettalk.com and there is a huge forum there that branches out into many smaller ones. If you're on a specific plan such as WW, South Beach, Medeteranian, Atkins, etc., there is a sub-forum for support, discussion, etc. And the site is just a wealth of information and a way to discuss any and all concerns you have with food, your own eating, etc.

If you want any "specific" modifications for any of Cathe's cardios please don't hesitate to ask me, I've got a million of em!;)

Donna
 
RE: Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate ...

Thank you so much Donna for your suggestions.

Yesterday, I attempted Step and Intervals and I did have to modify a lot...and I only used the step without any risers. God, I can't believe I got as winded as I did with only a 4 inch step! Those power 15s are impossible for me to maintain in good form, so I tried to jump every other one. Speaking of plyo jacks, if you have various ideas of how to modify that interval, I would greatly appreciate it! Also, when I was doing the chest exercises, I followed Cathe's form to the tee but I still didn't feel my "chest burning." In fact, the only things that were burning were my arms. A few times I had to put my 20 lb barbell down because my arms wanted to give out, not my chest. Do you find your arms tired in this exercise too? The pushups at the end of the workout were too much for me, even on my knees. Even when I was thin, I wasn't very good with pushups. Should I just keep doing dumbbell flies in place of the pushups?

Out of curiousity, what weight do you use in the CTX Series? I have used a 20 lb barbell for All Power Circuit and Step and Intervals. I am amazed I can even handle that, considering I haven't seriously weight trained in a while. I was upset that I was only able to manage 8 lb dumbbells in the All Step video, for the heavy lift, while Cathe used 15! But I'm afraid of adding too much bulk underneath my fat so I am a little wary about weight training at this weight. I am so afraid to attempt Leaner Legs, for I previewed that one and it looks really tough.

Again, thank you for your wonderful suggestions, I need all of the help I can get!

Sherry :)
 
RE: Newbie to Cathe and her CTX Series....in desperate ...

I should have said for "me" it is 20% excercise and 80% what I eat. Everyone is different so do what you feel is best for you and works best for you!

Good luck!! :)
 
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