Half Baked

By Christy Smith

After my initial consult with Jason Minich of Catalyst Fitness, I felt encouraged and excited about the journey that lay ahead of me.  Oh! And scared to death.
Yes, I had asked him to do this for me, and yes he was doing me a huge favor, but part of me wanted to run the other way. That’s the emotional part talking, of course.  The logical side of my brain was ready to hit the ground running, but the part of my brain that has been in fight mode for so long just wanted to hit the snooze button one. more. time.
You see, the four stressful months that occurred at the end of 2007, that I have lovingly dubbed “The Big Suckage of ‘07”, really took their toll on me.  Prior to all of those events, I had everything under control.  After all of that, well, let’s just say “out of control” was more fitting of a statement. The adrenaline/cortisol cycle I had going put my body into a tailspin. Not only did I have the addiction to those dirty carbs, they were doing a number on my health.  Stress is funny that way.  It shows up in different disguises.  For some people, it’s frown lines, for others it’s a heart attack, for me it was a variety of health issues that all seemed disconnected from each other.
My thyroid was struggling, my adrenals were shot, and I developed candida, among other things.  Depression, fatigue, carb cravings, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed.  Yep, that was me.
So, the thought of working out 3 times a week with someone who knew what he was doing?  Well, being scared seemed like the logical feeling to have.  What would happen if I did lose the weight?  What if I gained it back?  What if I couldn’t lose it at all?  What if I gave up and let everyone down? What if my pain kept me from working out ever again?
What if I just shut the heck up and take one day at a time for a change?!  Now there’s a concept.
Next up: the actual workout.
I’m not going to lie. I dreaded meeting him for our first workout on Wednesday. I felt like I was going to throw up.  I was nervous and scared again.  Where was this coming from?
But, after a quick pep talk from my BFF, and the realization that staying fat certainly wasn’t getting me anywhere positive, I had to bite the bullet, and face whatever was causing this fear head on.  As we worked out, Jason talked me through his goals for me.  We discussed taking things slow, monitoring my eating and water intake, and throwing out my bathroom scale.
Our first session was more of a fact finding mission.  Jason wanted to assess my strengths and weaknesses and determine a course of action that would be most suitable for me.
We did enough quad work that my legs were like Jell-o as I walked cheerily back to my car after our session.  By the next morning, I could feel the sweet ache of fatigued muscles and smiled to myself. I survived day one. And I am even looking forward to our second session on Saturday. I’m sure there’s more fear and loathing to be had as Jason kicks my lazy butt back into shape, but for now I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor…painful fruit to be sure, but still just as sweet.

Christy Beauchot Smith is the owner of DipsticksPreztels.com. She and her husband, Mark, have two young sons, Joshua and Jacob. You may occasionally find Christy behind the counter at Quilts & Ladybugs in downtown Columbia City. 

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(Talk of the Town photo provided) Jason Minich, president and personal trainer at Catalyst Fitness, will lead Christy Smith in her journey to become more healthy and physically fit.

By Christy Smith

This column is called Half Baked. I have primarily focused on the "baked" part by submitting cooking related articles. However, for the next few months I am changing gears. You see, half baked can also mean a crazy idea....or having a screw loose. Both of which could not be more true of me and my life right now.
A little over two years ago, a series of events occurred in my life that triggered a domino-like effect, and I haven't been the same since. Hospital visits, emergency room trips, burn units, bandages, car accidents and a few other intense situations thrown in for good measure, all within a few months time and no room for catching my breath.
Not many people in my life know the extent to which I have been struggling the past two years.  The stress from those events snuck up on me, hit me like a ton of bricks, and left me with nothing but a bag full of cheetos and about 45 extra pounds.  Gee, thanks.
No big deal, I thought. I’ll just get back to eating healthy, organic foods and exercising like I was doing prior to all of this.
A few minor setbacks though. One, as a way of coping with the daily stress I was living under, I began emotional eating, and as a result, developed a severe addiction to the bad foods. The white foods.  Those dirty, ugly foods they call “carbs.” Pop Tarts. Cheetos. Fried foods. Sugary foods. The sweeter, the better.
Over the course of two years, I tried all of my standby tricks to losing weight, with some success here and there, but in the end, I just couldn’t keep it off.  All of my old tricks were useless against this new addiction, and I just didn’t have the right tools to fight it anymore.
During the recent holidays, I also stopped exercising for a few months. In late December I found some motivation, and hopped back on my trusty treadmill, ready to shed the pounds once and for all.  But within just a few minutes, I knew something was wrong.  The pain in my feet and ankles, and the tightness in my calves was alarming. Once again, I tried everything to fix the problem.  Stretches, new shoes, walking on an incline…but nothing helped.  The extra weight I had gained in such a short amount of time was taking its toll on my body.
Once the pain in my calves made it crystal clear that my normal routine was no longer an option, I had two choices. A.) give up and succumb to my health issues or B.) fight like hell.
As tired and stressed out as I am, somehow I managed to find enough fight in me to come up with a "half baked" idea that was potentially going to save my life.  
As a business owner, I frequently trade product for things. Salon services, logo design, babysitting....to name a few. So when I realized I needed a personal trainer to help me, but couldn't afford one, I thought "Hey! I'll just offer a trade!" It didn't take long before I realized what a bad idea that was. Not many personal trainers worth their salt would even entertain the idea of trading their services for ooey, gooey, caramel pretzels.
Back to the drawing board.
Fortunately for me, I write for a lovely and popular news site run by a dear friend who has been generous enough to let me use this column as a way to reach a personal breakthrough. Both emotionally and physically.
My personal trainer, Jason Minich of Catalyst Fitness in Fort Wayne, agreed to trade me services in exchange for writing about my experience. And here it is - my first of several articles that will chronicle my seemingly uphill battle with issues both physical and emotional.
As I tackle a few demons, and relive a few horrific moments that I thought were well behind me, I'll bring you along and hopefully show that anyone -no matter their health condition, financial ability, or hurdles in life- can conquer their goals, as long as they are passionate about life, and most importantly, about living it with as much energy and zest as you can squeeze out of this big ol' lemon.

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