Invictus Athlete Profile – Mary DeHart (aka, Nichole’s Mom!)

***Reminder – Today is the final day of the 2012 Look Good, Feel Good Challenge! Make sure you get in to take your final photo in the same outfit you wore on Day 1 of the Challenge!***

I decided to do an athlete profile on my mom. Some of you may know her, she frequents the 9:30 am class. She has made some major changes to her lifestyle and has reaped incredible benefits from it. I am so thankful for this recent Look Good, Feel Good Challenge because it helped motivate not only her, but also my dad, to change their way of eating. As you will see below, my mom has been doing CrossFit for years, but has never changed her nutrition. I have always wanted her and my dad to change their nutrition but, of course, didn’t want to shove my lifestyle down their throat. They recently made the decision for themselves to cut out grains, dairy and alcohol. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I am so proud at how well they have both done (my dad is currently down 20 lbs. and my mom’s clothes are now all too big). I am so proud of how they both have taken control of their nutrition and have ensured a better quality of life for themselves. I can’t be more elated for my parents and their new way of life!

So mom, how long have you been doing CrossFit?
5 years.

5 years!! You’re a veteran! So how did you get into CF? Did an incredibly amazing person introduce you to it?
Well . . . I guess that is one way to describe her. It was you who introduced me to CrossFit. You would come home, always exhausted, talking about these crazy workouts. You told me about this one workout called “Fran.” It sounded crazy but interesting. After about 2 years, I decided to look into it.

Such a great decision you made! So, did you play any organized sports when you were younger?
I was really active but I wasn’t into any sports. I had a strong interest in weightlifting and kept up on the top lifters during my teen years. However, YMCA and any other fitness facility weren’t open to girls at the time. So I wasn’t able to pursue my interest until I was older and found out about CrossFit. Now I get to weightlift all the time!

How old where you when you started CF?
53 years old.

That is awesome. So you currently are 58 years old – how has CF benefited your health?
In too many ways too count. I am stronger and faster than ever before. I can run around the block without stopping. I can lift weight I never thought I would be able to.

I have looked around at a lot of women my age and they are my inspiration to do CF. They have knees that bother them, are overweight, need hip surgery, etc and I don’t want to be in their position. I am happy to be 58 years old and can pick up the big dog food bag and charcoal bag at Costco without assistance! I am happy that I can say ‘no thank you’ to the people at Costco and Home Depot who ask to help me out. I can’t imagine my life without CF!

Those are great reasons to be active mom! So you are a current member at Invictus. When did you join the Sea of Green?
About 2 years ago and that was one of the best decisions of my life. I drive 37 miles one way to go to Invictus because the coaching is superb and the staff is extremely professional. (I promise I didn’t pay her to say that.)

You recently decided to do the Look Good Feel Good Challenge. You have never done a nutrition-based challenge before. Tell me, what made you decide to sign up for the Challenge this time around?
Because I promised Nuno I would join the next challenge. He has been a major source of support for me.

I was also just tired of being overweight. Exercise is good, but you have to have the nutrition in place to facilitate weight loss. I never thought I was that off in my eating, until I started the challenge. I always made my husband and my meals from scratch so I thought we were healthy but boy was I wrong. Apparently, even though you can make cheese bread from scratch, that doesn’t mean it is healthy.

Something that you said also stuck with me. One day we were talking about eating better and I basically said ‘It is hard’ and you told me, ‘it is hard for everybody.’ That clicked for me, so I decided to join.

Have you noticed any change since starting the Challenge?
I have noticed so many things! I sleep better. I have way more energy and I don’t get hungry as much. I have dropped 2 dress sizes and all my clothes are loose. I even need to have 2 links taken out of my watch now!

In only 8 weeks you have seen that many changes!? That is great! I know that all those rewards have been the outcome of hard work. What was the biggest change you made with your lifestyle?
Not making a big breakfast every Saturday with bacon and potatoes. Also, cutting out alcohol was huge. I got into a bad habit of having a glass of wine at the end of the day. Cutting out the glass of wine made a huge difference, not only in my pants size but also in my quality of sleep.

The challenge is coming to an end so do you plan to continue eating Paleo?
Absolutely. I couldn’t go back to my old way of eating. I have a family history where many in my family (father, uncle, grandfather) were Type II diabetics. After seeing what Type II diabetes does to you, I could never allow myself to get it. That is a huge motivating factor for me to continue this lifestyle. Both my parents died at an early age (my dad died at 58 and my mom at 62) due to an unhealthy lifestyle. I don’t want to end up like them.

Those are some compelling reasons to continue your healthy lifestyle mom. Thank you for sharing your story!