Weight loss plateau made for tough week

It's been a tough week, said Cathy Parks on Friday, but today she's back on track and looking forward to some new experiences in her healthy lifestyle challenge.

Parks has now lost 35 1/2 pounds on the diet and exercise plan she started in January. Last week she hit her first plateau.

"I didn't lose anything last week — I didn't go up or down, which was actually a little frustrating," she said. "I knew the first time I didn't lose it was going to bother me. It got the better of me for a few days."

The plateau left her in something of a funk, she said. It was hard to keep motivated, and she even allowed herself an extra cheat meal — although she added her personal trainer, Mark, made sure she worked it off.

Then one day at the gym, she ran into a woman she knew from church. She said Parks was her incentive to keep working at getting fit, and that she often asked herself, "What would Cathy do?"

After that, Parks said, it was a lot easier to keep going. "I owe a lot to her," she explained. "She brought me around."

Parks said her church family has been great at encouraging her. She added that another acquaintance from church had told her she looked as if she had lost three sizes. When Parks said she had only lost one, the woman said, "Well, you're losing it in all the right places."

At the gym, Parks has started doing an exercise her trainer calls walking lunges on the treadmill, doing a sort of squat with each step. She said she hadn't been doing to the exercise for a while because they hurt her hip, but now she's building up her endurance. The lunges are especially hard on the tops of your legs and your butt, she said.

"We have a deal, though," she added — every time she does walking lunges, Mark has to do them with her.

Parks said her rapport with her trainer is a big help to her. "Mark and I get along very well," she explained.

Parks is also starting a new meal plan, with some different recipes, this week. She doesn't cook much, she said, so she was getting a little bored with the old one.

On the weekend, she said, her mother was coming over so the two of them could experiment with some different recipes, and she was planning to visit her brother, who is also on a Simply For Life meal plan, on Saturday. Her brother is more adventurous than she is when it comes to cooking, said Parks, so she was hoping to learn some new tricks and ideas from him.

And she knows he won't let her get off track. "He said, ‘we're both doing the same thing, so you're not gonna cheat while you're here.'" she explained.

But overall, things are going well, and she's glad to be doing the program. "I'm still plugging away," she said. "I feel great now. There's not comparison between before and now."

the diet and exercise plan she started in January. Last week she hit her first plateau.

"I didn't lose anything last week — I didn't go up or down, which was actually a little frustrating," she said. "I knew the first time I didn't lose it was going to bother me. It got the better of me for a few days."

The plateau left her in something of a funk, she said. It was hard to keep motivated, and she even allowed herself an extra cheat meal — although she added her personal trainer, Mark, made sure she worked it off.

Then one day at the gym, she ran into a woman she knew from church. She said Parks was her incentive to keep working at getting fit, and that she often asked herself, "What would Cathy do?"

After that, Parks said, it was a lot easier to keep going. "I owe a lot to her," she explained. "She brought me around."

Parks said her church family has been great at encouraging her. She added that another acquaintance from church had told her she looked as if she had lost three sizes. When Parks said she had only lost one, the woman said, "Well, you're losing it in all the right places."

At the gym, Parks has started doing an exercise her trainer calls walking lunges on the treadmill, doing a sort of squat with each step. She said she hadn't been doing to the exercise for a while because they hurt her hip, but now she's building up her endurance. The lunges are especially hard on the tops of your legs and your butt, she said.

"We have a deal, though," she added — every time she does walking lunges, Mark has to do them with her.

Parks said her rapport with her trainer is a big help to her. "Mark and I get along very well," she explained.

Parks is also starting a new meal plan, with some different recipes, this week. She doesn't cook much, she said, so she was getting a little bored with the old one.

On the weekend, she said, her mother was coming over so the two of them could experiment with some different recipes, and she was planning to visit her brother, who is also on a Simply For Life meal plan, on Saturday. Her brother is more adventurous than she is when it comes to cooking, said Parks, so she was hoping to learn some new tricks and ideas from him.

And she knows he won't let her get off track. "He said, ‘we're both doing the same thing, so you're not gonna cheat while you're here.'" she explained.

But overall, things are going well, and she's glad to be doing the program. "I'm still plugging away," she said. "I feel great now. There's not comparison between before and now."