Downhill racer’s health prompted weight loss
Downhill racer’s health prompted weight loss
By MIRIAM MOELLER, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — Carolyn McDonald’s reason to join the Healthy Weight Journal Challenge was her downhill ski outfit.
“The real story was that I signed up for a downhill racing team this winter, and I could not get my stretch pants on,” she said.
McDonald could not believe the pants could have shrunk. On her way to the ski shop to buy a new pair, she decided to do something about the shrinking ski pants. She didn’t buy new pants, raced in her slacks and signed up for the Healthy Weight Journal Challenge in May.
At her health check, she also found out that she was borderline diabetic.
“This was another reason for doing this because I don’t want to have to take medication for diabetes,” she said.
McDonald had never been on a diet and the amount of exercise she got varied from a lot to nothing. She also loves sweets — particularly Haagen-Dazs ice cream — that have contributed to her weight gain.
Today, she still loves the ice cream, but she limits her portions to spoonfuls, while she exercises with weights and goes for walks if her bad knee allows it.
“If I don’t eat what I want, I want to eat 20 other things,” she said.
The key to avoiding overeating and still getting the food she wants is to eat smaller portions more often throughout the day.
All participants keep a computer log where they record the foods they eat and the exercise they do daily. The program then calculates how many calories they took in — among other things.
“It tells you were you are in relation to your goal,” she said.
McDonald has been keeping track and therefore was not afraid of her second official weigh-in at Marquette General Hospital this week. She lost another 4.5 pounds, bringing her weight loss up to 9 pounds total. She also lost an inch on her legs and hips. McDonald was satisfied, mentioning that there are a lot of things that don’t seem like exercise but actually help to stay fit.
“You think of exercises as running, but exercise is pulling the weeds out of your garden, parking at the end of the parking lot instead of in front of the store,” she said.
One thing McDonald was concerned with in the beginning was going public, but since then she has had only positive feedback. For instance, at the Fourth of July parade a stranger told her that he is doing the program with her on his own.
“There’s been a groundswell of support,” she said. “People call and say ‘good for you.’ I’m getting a lot more out of it than I thought.”
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