A path to a personal breakthrough...
(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.