The Beauty of Balance and Moderation

BelovedHeather

Cathlete
Cathe:

You asked me to keep you posted, so here is a mini update for you. Thank you for the great advice you gave me about backing off from the super advanced rotations until my body acclimates (by shedding the 55 extra pounds I am still carrying around). I was working out over 2 hours a day with a rare rest day. After seeing the rotation you suggested for me, I dropped down to once a day with a total rest day once a week. I decided to take a break from my most extreme workouts--cardio boot camp classes at the club that kept me anaerobic the whole time. My eating and calories are the same. That was already clean and good. I am dropping weight again and feeling so much better overall. I am amazed! I was struggling and burning out with what I was trying to do, but I was afraid of slowing down and losing ground. I was tired of dealing with this weight, and all I knew to do was push myself harder and exercise longer and more often. I needed someone like you to calm me down. Good call, Cathe! This cardio and circuit training rotation is working wonders for me: one of your circuit training workouts on Sunday morning, Tuesday morning, and Thursday morning; one of your kickboxing or non-interval step workouts on Monday morning; and one of your interval workouts on Wednesday morning with a rest day on Friday and a gentle cardio and/or functional fitness workout on Saturday morning. (By the way, I am thrilled that you are planning to add some functional moves to your new workouts! I do not want to abandon traditional weight training completely and look forward to seeing how you incorporate functional fitness into your workouts.)

I went out to dinner with friends Sunday night and was so excited to fit into a favorite pair of pants again. I am a whole size smaller after just 2 weeks of this cardio and circuit training rotation. My scale weight does not drop fast with your workouts, but my size does! Aside from being smaller, I look beautiful now! My skin is radiant and glowing. My eyes are sparkling. My hair looks healthier. My dark circles have faded. Not to mention, I am bursting with energy, and my emotions are more stable. I am not crying all the time for no apparent reason. My friends seemed relieved when I told them about my new rotation. I think they have been praying for me to tone it down a bit. It appears that I was definitely overtraining. I am loving this new approach. Balance and moderation. I never thought that those words would ever apply to me. I am so thankful that you took the time to respond to my message. I did not request a rotation from you, but I am glad you took the initiative and posted one. I was planning to keep doing all the cardio I could stand in addition to the workouts I mentioned above and never would have dreamed of basically cutting my workout time in half and seeing better results. It is my desire to be fit and free, not in bondage to exercise or anything else. Thank you for helping me discover a place of balance in this area of my life. By the way, I am celebrating 2 years and 9 months of victory over binge eating today! I never imagined that I could be this free.

I am continuing to pray for your healing. You may not be able to give us new workouts yet, but I really appreciate all the time you spend answering posts on your forums and interacting with us. You are a tremendous blessing, and you are making a difference here and now while you are recovering from your injury.

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 
Heather-
Not Cathe here but had to thank you so much for this update. I read your original post and said MY GOSH THATS ME! Although our weight is different our issue appeared to be the same....lots of hard work with little/ no results. I was almost convinced that at 43 I was destined to be this extra 25 pounds heavier for the rest of my life.
I was starting to clean out closets and feeling like a failure.....
I found Cathe about 3 months ago - jumped in with 200% force and STILL could not get any results..... I got CRAZY and bought ALL her products and just flipped out with the workouts....NO RESULTS!
Your post came and a light bulb clicked when Cathe responded..... I started to follow your rotation and 2 weeks later am down 4 pounds....First weight loss in over a year!!!!!!!!
I have NEVER posted on any boards anywhere but my heart was full when I saw your results and just had to share!
Thank you for having the courage to post originally and for the update. I am so inspired and have such high regards for all the people in the forums who reach out and help.
Thank you!! and continues success:)
Traci in Houston
 
Congratulations on both your success stories. I never read the original post and am interested to see the rotation Cathe suggested. Do you have a link to the post?
 
DB,

Here is the rotation from the original post:

Week 1 and 2:


Monday: Body Fusion

Tues: Step Jam

Wed: Brisk 45 minute walk then 8 minutes Ab work and 10 minutes stretching

Thurs: 8 minutes of varied Ab work and stretching for 15 minutes

Fri: Cardio and Weights

Sat: Cardio Kicks (modify impact if/when needed)

Sun: Off



Week 3 and 4:


Mon: Interval Max (modified whenever needed)

Tues: High Step Challenge

Wed: 8 minutes of varied Ab work and 15 minutes stretching

Thurs: Step Heat

Fri: Power Hour

Sat: OFF

Sun: CTX Kickbox (kickbox, Abs and Stretch part of workout only)




Week 5 and 6:


Mon: Power Max

Tues: KPC

Wed: Brisk walk for 45 minutes with bouts of light jog for 30 seconds on and 1 minute off (after 25 minutes into workout). Then stretch.

Thurs: High Step Training Advanced (modify whenever needed)

Fri: CTX Step and Intervals (cardio portion only) 8 min varied abs and a stretch

Sat: Circuit Max

Sun: off or stretch workout




Week 7 and 8:


Mon: Basic step plus First 5 intervals of Imax 2 then cool down and stretch for 10 minutes.

Tues: Step Max plus 8 minutes varied abs

Wed: Kickmax (with out the middle blast portion) plus abs and stretch

Thurs: Step, Jump, and Pump (modify whenever needed)

Fri: Brisk walk for 45 minutes with bouts of light jog for 30 seconds on and 1 minute recovery walk (start this after 25 minutes into workout). Then stretch.

Sat: Low Impact Step plus Total Body Sculpting (using heavier weights than shown)

Sun: OFF


After 8 weeks evaluate your progress, make any necessary changes, and begin another rotation. Remember to eat clean too. Ease into this as well. Weight that is lost too fast only hangs loosely while waiting for the rest of the body structures to catch up.

Good luck and keep me posted.



If you want to read the original post, go to the second page of "Ask Cathe." The original post is titled, "Cathe, Thank You and Questions," and the author is BelovedHeather.

Blessings,
Marla
 
Congratulations!!!

Traci:

Congratulations on your weight loss. Thank you for sharing this with me. I tried to e-mail my message to Cathe, but it bounced back. I decided that it might bless someone else too, so I posted it here. I am glad I did. It looks like it was for you. Welcome to the forums! The daily check-in group is very encouraging if you would like to join us. Come on over to Open Discussion. Prayers and best wishes for your continued success. Feel free to send me a PM anytime. I live in Texas too and would love to stay in touch with you.

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 
RE: Congratulations!!!

Traci and Heather,

You two should be SOOOO proud of yourselves. You've made a commitment to a healthy lifestyle and you'll be much better physically and mentally because of it. It's so hard to keep motivated when you're working hard and not seeing the results you'd like - it's easy to get frustrated and give up. Keep up the great work and please continue to be a part of these boards. You both are an inspiration to all of us. Congratulations again,
 
Heather - Your story inspired me to register to be able to post messages on this website. I've been coming here and reading all the postings for almost a year, but never felt inclined to post a message until I saw your original message. Then, when I read your second message, I felt compelled to write and let you know that you're not alone. Although I was not working out the number of hours you were (I just don't have the time for it), I was working out with Cathe and not making any progress. I haven't lost weight, and in fact, since my eating habits aren't very good, I've gained weight. Your story has inspired me to try the rotation posted by Cathe and to eat better.

Thank you!
 
Thank You!!!

Evelyn:

Welcome to the forums. Thank you for joining and posting this response. It blesses me to know that my message and Cathe’s response inspired you. I was compelled to post both the original message and this update. I feel a little insecure about sharing my heart so freely in such a public forum, but it is worth it if my experience helps someone else. Feel free to send me a PM if I can encourage you with your exercise or eating. In my experience, clean eating is 70 percent of the equation. Be sure to keep making gentle changes in that area too. Prayers and best wishes for your journey.

Wendy, thank you for the sweet words of encouragement. I just have to tell you that your avatar makes my heart smile. :7 Brooke is too cute for words.

By the way, I have officially dropped 6 pounds in 3 weeks as of this morning. :7 I am wearing a petite size 14 now.

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 
Hi,
I just wrote in the forum yesterday about this exact problem. I am suffering a severe case of overtraining syndrom that hit me like a ton of bricks. I am struggling from exercise withdrawl from taking days off so I couldn't resist at least going for a walk today. Can you please post the rotation that Cathe sent to you or let me know where to look for it. I will be back at it Monday hopefully! I will go much slower this time! Thanks for your help!
 
The Beauty of Rest

Wendy:

Cathe posted a rotation for you in response to the thread you started. It looks like a good one. Since you bumped this thread back to the top, let me just encourage you again that rest is a good thing. A balanced approach is working wonders for me. I am 5 weeks into my rotation with a full day of rest every Friday, and I am 10 pounds lighter so far. Needless to say, I am delighted that I do not have to wear myself out to see results. :) I also love and look forward to my rest day now. Do it as a discipline until it becomes a delight.

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 

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