Hi Yen,
I'm going to try to post my story and pics. I'm not real good at this....
I was a skinny kid, but not athletic. So, it's not surprising that, in an attempt to "fill out" in high school, I became overweight. By eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising, I was in a size 13 pants by my Senior year.
When I went to college and began walking the campus (and everywhere else I went), I started shedding some weight. It was great! And so I kept losing. And losing. And losing. Eating less and less until I became anorexic (eating 300 calories a day). At my lowest, I weighed 89 lbs. fully clothed. That was NOT great! Luckily, with the help of a nutritionist, who taught me how to eat sensibly again, I pulled through that.
I stayed thin, then, through my twenties by being constantly conscious of my weight. But, I still wasn't fit; I was skinny-fat. As I approached 30 and my pants got tighter and tighter, I knew I needed to do something. I came across a book called "Fit or Fat" by Covert Bailey. It introduced me to the exercise world, and I've never looked back! I started out by jogging and using a rowing machine. My employer then had some Nautilus equipment and stationary bikes at the office that I used as well. Shortly thereafter, I moved to a small town and didn't have access to a good gym. So, I set up an exercise room at home with a treadmill, Nordic Trac, stairclimber, and free-weights. I also started doing cardio and weight-lifting videos and found that I really loved it! As for nutrition at that time, I ate very low-fat, which was really the "in" thing.
At age 39, I had my first baby. I only gained 18 lbs. while pregnant; it was AFTER my daughter was born that I had trouble getting back into pre-baby shape. The flat abs I had before just weren't returning. I needed something tougher in my exercise regimen. I ordered some "advanced" fitness videos by instructor Cathe Friedrich and they did the trick! I loved the variety and intensity she offered in both her weight-lifting and cardio routines.
Nine years later, I'm still "following" Cathe. She continues to produce fun, new, and challenging workouts. I've beefed up my home gym some with a squat rack, a weight machine (cables), medicine balls, stability ball, and more free-weights. I now workout 6 days/week, averaging 60 to 90 minutes. I'm usually following 4-week rotations that focus on particular training areas such as strength, lower/upper-body conditioning, endurance, fat-loss, etc. Cardio and weights are always in the mix, but the proportion of each varies. And now that Precision Nutrition is a part of my life, I really feel that my whole fitness "program" is complete. I'm leaner than ever (size 0) and in the best shape of my life at age 48!
Now, I don't know how to get the pictures on here. Do you?
Linda
