Robin's Road: Taking the Leap

Name: Robin Kavanagh Matthews

Age: 32

Weight: 225.5 (down from 238 one year ago)

Cholesterol: 222

BP: 130/80

Time to Complete Paul's Initial Workout: 11 mins, 27 secs

Me surrounded by my two girls and husband.

Okay. I know I just violated a ton of "girl"rules by disclosing all of this information to the world. But I'm okay with that if it means my experience can help others find it in them to take control of their lives and their health. 

I know that committing to improving your health is tough to do and even harder to stick with. Exercise can be boring, hard, and time consuming. But for years, I've known that strength training is the key to making every minute in the gym count. I just never had the means to really pursue it properly, or the money to pay a personal trainer three times per week to kick my butt into gear.

I do now with Paul and Category Five Fitness. Every week, I'll be sharing my experience working out with Paul at Category Five Fitness in Fitness Zone. Why? I'm an overweight, overworked, overstressed mom of two who needs to make a serious change to combat a metabolic disease that has already nearly cost me a pregnancy, years of poor body image, energy, and some of my good health. If I can fit in the time and go through Paul's regimen to strengthen my body and improve my health, anyone can do it.

So, here's my story. 

About thirteen years ago, I got pregnant and had trouble keeping the pregnancy, even though I was young and healthy. I put on a large amount of weight in the first trimester and had to go on progesterone to sustain the pregnancy. This resulted in even more weight gain. What no one thought to mention was that the problems I was having could be the result of an underlying condition. 

Fast forward seven years or so after giving birth to a healthy baby girl. I was still overweight and could not lose weight like I should have been able to through diet and exercise. I also suffered from low blood sugar on a regular basis, bypassing hunger pangs and going straight to hypoglycemia. Through my own research and discussions with my doctors, I finally found out what was wrong. 

I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, a genetic metabolic disorder that throws my hormones all out of whack. As a result, my body produces much more insulin that needed because my tissues don't understand what the insulin wants it to do. Weight gain is a typical symptom, and because of the insulin resistance (caused and compounded by the disease) taking it off is extremely difficult. Other symptoms are: high cholesterol, elevated liver function, browning of skin in areas where it folds (eyes, neck, armpits, etc.), acne, facial hair, irregular periods, and infertility. Yup, I pretty much had it all. 

As a woman with PCOS, I also face increased risk for uterine, ovarian, and breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver and a host of other fun diseases. Trying to reverse the effects of this disorder is something that I have to deal with every day. It affects what I eat, what I do, how I feel, and the choices I make. It takes an optimal combination of diet, exercise, and medication -- all of which make life all the more difficult. 

I take 2,000 mg of a diabetes drug daily to help re-sensitize my tissues to the insulin I naturally make. This gives me a little advantage in losing weight, but also suppresses my appetite and makes me sick if I eat too many carbs. I have to eat every few hours to stave off hypoglycemia, and I have to ensure everything I eat has more protein and fiber than carbs to avoid being sick. 

Summer 2010

My endocrinologist told me that I needed to build more muscle in order for the medication and diet to make the impact I need to reverse the effects of the disease. She said that exercise was medicine. Doing it on my own was not working, especially because I could not make it to the gym regularly. The pollution in New Jersey and my daily contact with college students on campus, mixed with my asthmatic lungs damaged from many years exposure to toxic mold and second-hand smoke, pretty much ensured I would come down with bronchitis every three months or so -- and at least a month recovery time. 

At the same time, I could not afford my monthly gym membership fee and the $65 hourly fees for a personal trainer. Saying I was running on a treadmill and getting nowhere was an understatement, both in terms of my health and my life in general. 

Last month, I moved to South Carolina and began a new job at Coastal Carolina University. Already, I'm feeling the effects of being away from the NY metro area. I'm also newly committed to getting my weight down and strengthening my body. So, I will be working with Paul through Category Five Fitness in the coming months to build my strength and lose the weight that has been on my body for way too long. 

If my 4 year old can deadlift the pink kettle bells, I can do green.

This past week, I began my journey with 2 training sessions. The first was on Wednesday, where I completed a baseline test in 11 minutes, 27 seconds. It's Saturday night and my legs are still sore. My second session was yesterday. Though I was fine with pushing through the soreness in my muscles (which means that I am building newer, stronger muscle), it proved to be too much stress on my back (which is scoliated near the base). So when we meet again on Monday, we'll re-adjust our sessions to build those muscles a little more slowly. Strengthening these muscles is extremely important for me to keep my bones where they're supposed to be and me as pain free as possible.

Yes, the weeks and months ahead are going to be rough. I'm going to complain and want to quit. I'm going to be too tired and come up with a million excuses in my head why I can't make my session on any given day. But I am going to make the decision to not listen to all of that. Why? Because training is part of my medication regimen, and because I will see results in response to my efforts. Already, I feel more strength in my body, which I always loved to feel when I worked out on my own. As I work through the physical strain, aches, sweat, and fatigue, I will grow stronger and healthier. And I'll make sure that you come along for the ride. 

Questions? Comment? I'd love to hear them!