Getting fit on the road
This reader dropped 65 pounds-and learned to eat right and shape up no matter where her travels took her.
By Kelly Marages
Weight Loss Stats:Morena Cantarini, Honduras
Age: 35Height: 5'6"
Pounds lost: 65
At this weight: 4 ½ years
Morena's challenge
A longtime food
lover, Morena was
always heavy. But
when she and her
husband moved
from their native
Italy to Central
America for work,
her weight
ballooned. "There
were no gyms,
and I ate out of
homesickness."
By age 29,
she weighed
215 pounds.
Morena had grown accustomed to eating pastries for breakfast and pasta, bread, and meat for lunch and dinner- not to mention ice cream and local foods like fried plantains between meals. But she was so busy working that she didn't pay much attention to her weight. One day her upper thighs became chafed from walking, and she felt compelled to take a hard look in the mirror. "There was a huge tire of fat around my middle," says Morena. "I was angry at myself because I had let it happen. I thought, Do I really want to turn 30 like this?" She resolved to get in better shape by the time she reached her milestone birthday-a year away. Eating less, moving more
Morena immediately traded her typical fare for smaller portions of healthier local foods, such as tropical fruit and brown rice. Although she still made Italian meals like chicken Milanese and salad for dinner, she tweaked the preparation. "I found that a few drops of oil and vinegar could be just as satisfying as a cup of salad dressing," she says. "And anything I used to fry, I baked instead." Because she and her husband traveled frequently, she purchased Pilates DVDs to play on her laptop. From there she developed a push-up/crunch routine she could do anywhere she went. She also turned the short walks she was already taking into more rigorous exercise sessions by picking up her pace, lengthening the distance little by little, and adding a few minutes of jogging. Soon Morena was doing 30 minutes of walking and running three times a week-and dropping about four pounds a month. By her 30th birthday, she had lost 50 pounds and weighed 165. Mission accomplished
Morena continued to look for new ways to stay fit. "If there were stairs, I'd climb them," she says. "And I began jogging more." Six months later, she reached her current weight of 150. Still, Morena stays mindful every day, carefully planning out her meals and workouts-a strategy she's found to be well worth the effort. "Exercising and eating right has made me realize I'm beautiful and powerful," she says. "Now I feel like I can do anything!" 3 stick-with-it secrets
- Keep a snack substitute handy "I always have a pack of cinnamon gum in my kitchen. When I want to eat more, I chew on a piece to help curb my cravings."
- Control portion sizes "I still make homemade wholewheat bread. But now, rather than finishing the loaf, I slice it right away, eat one piece, and freeze the rest."
- Record your workouts "I started an exercise journal, similar to a food diary. It's encouraged me to squeeze in 10 more minutes or 10 more reps here and there."
- Running or biking 40-60 minutes/5 times a week
- Strength training 30 minutes/3 times a week
- Pilates 45-60 minutes/once a week
