As Lindsey has previously mentioned, we come across people in our lives that inspire and motivate us on our journey to wellness. And it is in these friendships we find support to stay the course and reach our destination. I have been fortunate to come across one such person,
Tricia Rush
, who I met on the Cathe Friedrich forums. I am happy to have a fellow Cathlete share her story here at Two Belles.
MY LIFELONG JOURNEY TO “EUREKA!” by
Tricia
My name is
Tricia
and I am an average, everyday person. I’m not obese and never was. I’ve never had any serious medical issues. As a matter of fact, I’ve always been extremely healthy! I had a normal childhood with friends and the usual sibling rivalries. I don’t consider my story all that special, but I have learned that every story connects with someone, so here’s mine. I hope you find something you can relate to!
I’m a couch potato at heart. I find it funny that my first memories as a child are of me reading, singing to my records locked in my room, or watching General Hospital and Dark Shadows with my mom. However, when I really think about it, I did spend a lot of time outside with my brother and sister. We would play ball, climb the trees, ride our bikes, ice skate and more! I used to be pretty darn good with a hula-hoop, too! Where did that skill go? Lol
My struggle with my weight began after high school. Do you know that I never had a clue how nice a figure I had? During high school and before, I would walk everywhere I went. My best friend and I played tennis for hours on the weekends and walked to the pool afterwards for a swim. I was pretty active back then even though I never really considered myself active or fit! After graduation, all my friends went off to school or their fathers were transferred (military). I ended up with no one to do anything with. Don’t feel sorry for me! It just worked out that the rest of my remaining friends either didn’t play tennis or had jobs at that point. Plus, we all moved off base, so it became unrealistic to walk anywhere.
Somewhere in there I became a sedentary person. I would read all the time - not necessarily a bad thing to read a lot, but not very physical. I slowly gained weight, but to me, it seemed to come on all of a sudden. I was comfortable just sitting around reading and watching TV. By then, cable had come along and Atari (okay, okay, I’m dating myself) and life became more indoorsy. Sitting became so normal to me by that point that I couldn’t make myself ever do anything else anymore.
Once I realized that I had gained a lot of weight, I ran the gamut of diets and exercise fads. Mind you, this was before the step and before it was cool for women to do any strength training. I joined a women’s gym doing Jane Fonda style aerobics and started Weight Watchers. It was great! I lost the weight I had gained and felt fantastic! As with all good things, it came to an end. I thought that was it. I was back to size and could give up Weight Watchers, so I thought! The years passed and my weight went up and down and up and down. I never starved myself, but I would eat tiny meals or just skip dinner. The other thing was that I never gained a huge amount of weight, usually around 30 pounds or so. For my height, 5’4”, that was more than enough! My mother called me a linebacker once! She was commenting on how I looked like I didn’t have a neck! OMG! That really hit home!
By then, step had just come out and it was more fashionable for women to strength train. I did it again. I joined a gym. As usual, I started out just doing traditional high impact aerobics. That worked great! I lost most of my weight, but then the step workouts drew me in! I started doing step as well. The instructor talked me into starting to lift weights. Wow, what a difference that made! I was down to 17% body fat, in a size 8, which I thought was great! I decided to become an instructor. It was all going so well!
Did I learn my lesson? No. I continued my training and taught aerobics for a couple of years and even got my personal trainer certification. I loved it! However, again, I let myself drop out. I wasn’t getting the excitement from teaching anymore and I wasn’t picking up any clients as a PT. I was becoming disillusioned. So, once more I quit and I gained – again.
Do you see the pattern here? Are you starting to see where I kept going wrong? How many of you are nodding your heads and saying, “Oh my, yes, this was me!” My problem, in my opinion, was that all those years I believed I was losing weight to be attractive, not just to men; I never dated in high school and not very much after that either, but also when I was around my friends and family who were thinner, all had boyfriends or husbands (in later years). My focus was all wrong! It was about what everyone else
thought
about me, not what
I
thought about me.
I graduated high school in 1979 at 17 years of age. This went on and on until 2009. Yes, for 30 years I struggled with my weight issues and my perceptions about it and why I couldn’t stay thin. In 2009, it became more about my health than just my weight and how I looked. I started having trouble breathing just going up and down stairs. I couldn’t do anything without having to stop all the time and catch my breath. My doctor diagnosed me with asthma. I wasn’t convinced this was the whole problem. I was certain my lack of activity and diet had as much, if not more, to do with my condition.
That’s when I found Cathe Friedrich purely by accident. I ordered three of her workouts, cardio of course, and got started three days a week. After a couple of months, I realized she had a website of her own. Lo and behold, she had a forum where people from all over could talk, share ideas, struggles and encourage each other. I immediately signed up! I learned so much there! The most important thing I learned was clean eating. Over the next six months between the Cathe DVD workouts and following a clean eating lifestyle everything changed. I lost all my weight I had gained and was feeling so much better! My skin improved, my symptoms went away and because of that, so did my daily medications. During this six-month transformation, I realized that what I was doing was fun for me! I was enjoying the workouts, so I was staying consistent.
Two years later and I’m still at goal weight. My body fat isn’t as low as it was back in my 30s, but I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, fitter than ever before and I’m a runner now, too! What did this long, frustrating and painful journey teach me? It’s all about lifestyle. It’s also about enjoying the methods you use to reach your goals because if it’s a chore or more like work, you won’t keep it up! Making the changes that I can live with forever is what counts. My eating habits are much better, not perfect by a long shot, but I know what to do and how to make my meals more healthy and better for my mind, body and spirit.
As to my workouts, I have fun doing what I do! I have instructors whose workouts are challenging and fun. I still do a lot of Cathe Friedrich workouts. I’m into
P90X
and
TurboFire
. I want kettlebells and a TRX system, too! I’m still working on the yoga! I love to go biking, hiking, rock wall climbing. I’ve been skydiving and ballroom dancing! I’m all about trying anything and everything new and keeping my workouts fresh and interesting.
To maintain weight loss long term, it takes a lot of variety and doing the things you love! This is true of workouts and food! If you don’t like what you’re eating, you won’t keep it up and you’ll end up with those bad habits again! It was such a “Eureka!” moment for me when I finally realized I had learned what was important for a lifelong healthy mind, body and spirit!
Thank you
Tricia
for sharing your story; a story that so many of us can certainly relate to. You can continue to follow Tricia along on her journey at her blog
The Eclectic Beagle
.
