Written by Cynthia Richardson.
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In August of 2001, I went to the emergency room due to chest pain and my left arm was hurting. I was really scared because I had been having chest pain and my heart racing on me for a couple of months and kept ignoring it. When my left arm started hurting, I immediately did something about it. After tons of test, my doctor could not locate the cause. I had a healthy heart, but the concern was that if my heart continued to race uncontrollably, that it would start tearing down the heart muscle and make it weak. It was not until November that my mother discovered that I was passing out on her in the middle of a conversation. She started checking my blood sugar and discovered my blood sugar was registering in the thirties and many times lower than thirty. During this time, I was having palpitations and my heart was racing on me. I went back to the doctor and told him what we discovered. He found this was indeed the cause of my palpitations.
My doctor wanted to put me on 2 different medications…1 to control my heart palpitations and the other to control my blood sugar so I would not become diabetic in the next couple of years. I asked what the alternative was…. He said diet and exercise. I am very stubborn by nature and refused to take the medications. The diet and exercise, for me, was the only choice. My doctor told me it was very important that I add weight training because that would help my body control the amount of insulin it was producing. In my case, it was producing too much insulin causing my blood sugar to stay low.
Not knowing anything about weight training and even the concept of how to exercise and eat right was overwhelming. I might as well have been living on another planet. I elicited help from a trainer at the gym and started my new life on December 8, 2001. He immediately put me on a nutrition program and started showing me how to work out. Like most trainers at the gym, he did not last. After 2 months, I had a new one and then another one and so on. I went through 5 trainers before discovering Eric through my sister-in-law. Since working out with Eric, my whole body has been redefined and he knows how to push me to get the maximum results.
My nutrition was coming along great until I hit a plateau in June 2002. The person helping me with it dropped me because he thought I was cheating on his program. This was now August 2002. I met Gloria at Max Muscle shortly after who changed my program and I started losing weight again. She still reviews my diet on a weekly basis and continues to change it. Between Eric and Gloria pushing me and changing my program, I continue to lose weight and see results.
It is very hard to keep motivated. I have lost my motivation, found it and lost it again many times in this journey. I rely on many people to keep me going and focused on my goal. It is very important to have your “cheerleaders” and stay connected to them. I’m like a parasite; I need to feed off their energy to keep myself motivated. The stricter my diet gets and the harder my training becomes, I have found it’s the energy around me that keeps pushing me to meet my goal.
I have found it is all up to you to make the difference in your life and no one is going to push you harder than yourself. It is very important that you find people who have the knowledge to help you make that difference in your life. My goal is to be healthy. I use to weigh 420 pounds, had horrible back problems and my feet hurt constantly. I stopped having back pain 2 months into my workout. My feet no longer hurt and now I can where very high heels all day with no problems. I have lost 200 pounds and I still have more weight to lose. The palpitations and low blood sugar is the past. History. I only look forward now. With Eric and Gloria by my side and cheering me on, I know I will be able to lose the remaining weight and have that healthy life style.
Cynthia’s Support Team:
Cynthia and Eric showing a pair of pants that she used to wear:
