The pursuit of healthiness: Cynthia D’Amour
| 2 min read
To kick off Healthy Weight Week 2013, we decided to let a few people from around Michigan tell a little bit about their personal journeys to healthiness. You may remember our recent profile of Cynthia D’Amour talking about her fitness quest. Here is more from her about what motivated her to start a healthier lifestyle and how you can join her in pursuing healthiness.
A Healthier Michigan: What motivated you to start pursuing a healthier lifestyle?
Cynthia D’Amour: It was a perfect storm for me. Family health issues raging – which I could avoid a lot of if I lost weight. Stress from same issues needed an outlet. Plus I was no longer fitting easily in a plane seat. Every flight I had to go through the shame of asking for a seatbelt extender because the regular seatbelt didn’t fit me. Not good for someone who travels for a living. It was time to take control and get healthier.
AHM: What has been your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
CD: I have two major obstacles I continue to work on. The first is letting go of dieting and embracing a fit lifestyle. I’m there intellectually now. Still fine-tuning the implementation. The second is stress. It’s been overwhelming at times. I had to let go of using it as an excuse to nurture myself with food and instead use it as motivation to go to the gym or for a run. As a result, my body has continued to get fitter this past year but the weight is coming off very slowly.
AHM: For people just starting their pursuit of healthiness, what is one piece of advice they need to have to be successful?
CD: Have patience. The pursuit of healthiness is a lifetime adventure – not a moment in time. You did not get to where you are in two week and you will not be all healthy and done in two weeks either. You’ve got to keep on keeping on.
Photo credit: Rosa Say
