Zimagal Monthly Magazine - Volume One, Issue Six

"Obesity is hereditary?" I asked. I did not have a choice if that was the case. My mom is 5 foot 2 inches tall and overweight and my father is 6 foot 3 inches tall and a large man himself. So where did that leave me at age 21? 5 foot 7 inches tall and 240 pounds. I had an unhealthy body composition. After my ex-husband and I separated in July of 1995, I began to look at my self esteem and wondered what was going to happen to me if I did not get involved in my health. In April of 1996, I moved to Dallas, Texas from my home near Washington, DC. I escaped from everything that brought me down. I drove 1900 miles by myself and spent the entire time planning out what I was going to do with my life.

In June of 1996, I joined Austin Gym in Dallas. I sat down with Hillary, the owner, and planned out my strategy to get the body and self esteem that I wanted so badly.

I started to work out everyday, simply walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes each time. I, at that point, had not touched any free or circuit weights. I continued this until I hit my first plateau. This is where your body gets immune to the things you throw at it and your weight loss comes to a halt. I increased my cardiovascular conditioning to 45 minutes a day and I quickly started to shed pounds again. By August I had lost more than 15 pounds.

I was asked by the gym if I was interested in joining their weight loss program that had been proven successful for many people. Unfortunately, I could not afford this. I thought I could figure out a way to do this myself, without paying them to do it for me. I started reading everything I could get my hands on, and asking as many questions as I could. I was a sponge for information regarding health and fitness. Come on Larry North!!*

It wasn’t long until I was looking at my body everyday, plotting out how I was going to mold it into the sculpture that was pictured in my mind.

In October of 1996, after losing upwards of 40 pounds, I made my first trip home. My family and friends were amazed at my progress. The trip gave me the boost I needed to focus on finishing and maintaining my goal to have a well sculpted mind and body. I returned home and began to evaluate my workout and diet. Up to this point, I had watched what I had eaten, but not intensely. I worked out, but I did not push myself as hard as I could go. It was time that I started to push myself to the limits.

In December of 1996, I began running on the treadmill regularly. I was proud of myself because there was a time when it took all I had to walk for 30 minutes and I had strengthened myself to running for 30 minutes. I felt great! I also stopped forcing myself to look at the scales. What was important to me was body composition. The percentage of fat compared to the percentage of muscle. When I started this weight loss trip, 37 percent of my body was fat. I began to concentrate on building lean mass and knew that if I maintained my proper diet and exercise that I would build muscle and burn fat. I would be healthy the right way, not the unhealthy way.

As far as my diet is concerned, I cut down to 5-10 grams of fat per day, still limiting saturated fat to just about nothing. I take in approximately 1,300 calories per day. My workout consists of 40-60 minutes of cardiovascular training 5-7 days a week and resistance training 2-4 times a week.

Here I am, in June of 1998, two years later, having lost over 90 pounds and many inches. My body fat percentage has dropped from 37 percent to 17 percent. When I began this quest, I wore a pant size of 24, I now wear a 12. All of this progress gives me the strength to maintain my quest to sculpt my body and mind into healthy ones.

At this point, I still learn things everyday. I have added many things to my diet to aid me in the building of muscles, such as protein in the form of egg whites, yogurt, chicken and fish. To supplement my diet, I added multivitamins, skim milk and 5 fruits and vegetables a day. I can see and feel my body responding to the diet and exercise that I am giving it. I am enjoying life with my new healthy mind. This mind is going to be the foundation for the completion of a healthy body that I constructed through hard work and patience.

E-mail Angie.

*Larry North is a TX area fitness guru.