16 pounds in two-and-a-half weeks “a good start”
Things are going well for Cathy Parks as she heads into the third week of her healthy lifestyle challenge.
In her first two-and-a-half weeks, she’s lost 16 pounds, and she says she’s sticking with it.
“I find the weekends hard,” she said. “I think it’s because I have no structure on the weekends. Saturday I find is my worst day.”
She added that Saturday seems to be the toughest day to deal with cravings — for things like chocolate, cheese, pop and butter that aren’t included in her Simply For Life meal plan. She has to keep track of everything she eats, as well as how much water she drinks and how much exercise she gets, in her journal.
“Knock on wood — I haven’t cheated yet,” she said.
“It’s hard going to other people’s houses,” she explained, since they often have tempting foods available. “But I don’t want other people to change,” she continued. “And I do have a very good friend who’s doing Simply, too, so that’s good.”
The first couple of weeks, she said, are a “cleanse,” to clear your system of all the bad stuff you ate in the past, so you start out with a much stricter menu.
However, it isn’t about starving yourself, she added. “I fell like I eat more now than I ever did.”
And now that her cleanse is over, she said, she is allowed to treat herself to one “cheat meal” one night a week, although she said she doesn’t really know if she wants to cheat, since the meal plan’s going so well.
Her physical activity program is also off to a good start, she said. “The gym’s going well — I actually look forward to going. Mark (the trainer) really puts me through my paces.”
She added that the trainer helps keep her on track and encourages her in her workouts.
She does cardio and weights Monday to Thursday, just cardio on Saturday, and takes Friday and Sunday off.
For her 30 minutes of cardio each visit, she’s learning to use the elliptical machine. She hated it at first, she said, but it’s a much better workout than the treadmill, even though she likes the treadmill better.
The strength training she does is mostly on the machines at the gym.
“I don’t mind the ab ones,” she said. “Because they have a great outcome. But I don’t like the leg extensions.”
She added that she also finds it frustrating that she can’t tell that she’s losing weight. “For 16 pounds I thought I would notice more,” she said. “But other people notice.”
She also said that her memberships to the gym and Simply For Life are for a year, and she plans to go all the way.
“It’s nice to have back that control,” she said. “I felt so out of control for so long — it’s nice to have that back. I even feel better.
“It’s a good start,” she said.
