Client Interview: Susan D’Angelo
Everyone loves a good success story. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you feel really connected and proud of that person. Such was the case when I interviewed my client Sherry Bartmanski. I received a great response from that article so I decided to interview another client of mine. This person has turned her life around and made positive changes in the face of adversity. Her determination, strength, and perseverance throughout this process is inspiring. I present to you Susan D’Angelo.
Sue - In the Beginning
The Interview
Me: You’ve been at this for a long time. What is it that motivated you to get started to make a change in the beginning?
SD: I was in a health crisis. I was actually told I was obese. I knew I had to do something and I saw the results that happened with Sherry. That’s what kicked the whole thing off.
Me: When you walked in, you told me that you’d hit a certain level where it was either “Do or Die” for you. What is it that sort of pushed you over the edge?
SD: (laughs) I hit 200lbs, and felt I had to lie to you about it so I told you I was 199.
Me: So if that was the starting point, then how much weight have you lost in total since?
SD: So far, 70 lbs.
In Progress
Me: That’s amazing! What would you say are the main discernable differences between how you felt then and how you feel now?
SD: I can move. I can breathe. I feel strong. I’m not worried about walking up a flight of stairs anymore. I actually enjoy running every once in awhile. (laughs) Just general overall health. I feel young inside and vibrant. Total change.
Me: If you were speaking to someone in the general public, and they said “Sue, I need to get your advice on getting in shape”, what key points could you give them?
SD: You have to have balance. There has to be a balance of what you put into your body and what you take from it. You have to make it strong. Don’t try to focus only on diet or only on exercise. There is a relationship between the two that needs to be considered. Make yourself a priority. You can’t put yourself on a back burner. That’s what I think I did to get into the worst shape of my life. I prioritized everything and everyone else first. I really think you have to make sure you become your own #1 priority. Then the nutrition is easy because you’re now sensing some value in yourself and you’re able to commit. You’re going to treat yourself better and exercise is key.
Me: How do you do that? How do you justify prioritizing yourself when you have children and a family and a work life?
SD: It’s difficult. But I’ve learned over time that when you don’t make yourself a priority, in the long, run you’re the one who pays for it. You’re the one who is going to fall apart. And then you’re not there for your kids. Physically and mentally you’re not there because you’re not vibrant and healthy. You may not be there because you might be dead. Work is always something that has to be a priority but if you’re not strong and healthy, you’re not going to function that well at work, or for that matter at play.
Me: If you were going to make specific nutrition recommendations to the population, based on your understanding, what would they be?
SD: Definitely an increase in vegetable consumption. People usually have very unbalanced diets, very high in wheat consumption, high in starch, potato and pasta consumption. So probably first and foremost would be throwing the vegetables into your diet.
Me: From an exercise standpoint, for a person with a sedentary lifestyle and job, what specific direction could you give someone that is doing pretty much nothing?
SD: Well other than just move, I think setting goals and making a commitment to yourself to exercise in a recreational way would probably be the easiest first step. Whether it be “On Sundays we’re going to, as a family, go on a hike” or “I’m going to go for a bike ride”, just setting an actual time for recreational activities is probably the easiest way to get someone jumpstarted into exercise.
Me: Do you think supplementation has a role for everyone and if so, what supplements would you recommend?
SD: Well I think that in today’s day and age with the lower quality of foods, we’re not getting the minerals that we used to get out of the foods or any of the nutrition that we used to a hundred years ago because we’ve depleted our soil so badly. So supplementation today, I think is paramount because we’re NOT getting the balance and the nutrition out of our food sources that we should. Plus, most of us in the general population are not eating right. I can’t explain specifics on particular supplements. I count on your expertise and research.
Me: You’ve come a long way and a lot of people make excuses for why they can’t put themselves first or why exercise is a limitation (i.e.: they can’t afford a trainer or a gym membership, the time commitment is too much, they have children, they have work lives…etc). How do you respond to that?
SD: I made a choice myself. I didn’t want to take money away from my family. I made a commitment to myself that I was still going to make me a priority and I was still going to come and see you, so I made changes. I went from part time to full time to supplement my income in order to afford this and not feel guilty about it. As far as time goes, my kids are older so I didn’t have the guilt of not making dinner or anything like that to deal with. It was just a matter of having two days a week that I wasn’t available to them for a very short span of time. I have a very supportive husband who likes to play taxi driver every now and then. But as far as prioritizing again, you just have to put yourself first because if you’re not going to be healthy and happy… nothing else will work out.
Me: Given what you know now about the results that can be obtained through exercise and proper nutrition, if your husband weren’t to play taxi, your kids were young, you were busy and you were the weight you were before, would you now have found time to make it happen?
SD: Knowing what I know now…definitely. I would somehow change my life; change my schedule so that I could accomplish this. In the beginning I really didn’t know. You were very confident in what changes were going to come. I didn’t know. I hadn’t been there. With that knowledge up front…I’d have found a way to make it work sooner.
I didn’t think I’d get to where I am now. I didn’t ever think at any time, before meeting you that I would be sitting here criticizing my body for certain muscles not being as defined or as big as I want them to be. I just never thought that I would get there. It has been a very pleasant surprise. The thing that surprised me the most? It’s that I have never not wanted to go and work out.
In One Leg!
Me: I know people always have reasons and we’ve addressed the main ones: money, time and physical ability but, you’ve recently been diagnosed with Lupus. (For people who don’t know, Lupus is painful and potentially life threatening disease) It must have taken a lot to come to terms with that. How has life changed for you since you’ve found out?
SD: I’m not a person who holds a lot of stress in. I vent all the time. I’m aware more quickly of how my stress is affecting me because my Lupus becomes very visible. (Pauses) Certain things that used to irritate me or stress me out I am finding easier to cope with by putting them on the backburner and saying “Well really, I don’t need to worry about that, I don’t need to stress about that”. I tend to shrug off a lot of things that would normally have bothered me before. I don’t take them on anymore. I’ve learned that some battles are better off not fought.
Me: When you hear people give reasons why they can’t find time to exercise when you’re facing this life change in front of you, does that make you feel differently? How do you respond to the people who have these “challenges” when you’re obviously facing something a little bit more serious?
SD: I think that anyone who tries to make an excuse for not doing something that they think they want to do or that they’re expressing that they want to do, really aren’t committed to having that goal attained. They’re like “yeah-it would be nice IF I could go to the gym, It would be nice IF I could lose weight” but truly in my opinion, it’s not a priority of theirs.
Me: So if it becomes a priority, it’s a priority even in the face of setbacks?
SD: Yes. Definitely.
Me: I think the reason I’m bringing this up to such a great extent is because I believe that people think that they have it bad until they get a reality check. Most people have the luxury of being able to hold on to a bar in the gym and have their hands not hurt. When your hands bother you, you have to put on a pair of gloves and hope to hell that they don’t get sore. I just want to bring that to the attention of people who think they have limitations but, when they put it into perspective, they really don’t.
SD: Well the thing that comes to mind with me in the gym, when I do hang on to something and my hands are bothering me, it’s an irritation that I’m more determined to get over. I think I can better arm my body to resist any kind of downswing in regards to the Lupus by getting stronger. So my hands might hurt on that day but through determination, I’ll just push through because I know my body is going to be stronger when I walk out of the gym than when I walked in. I think in the long run that it’ll help me deal with Lupus.
Me: Great mindset Sue! Let’s go somewhere else. With regards to managing your house so that you can eat the foods you need to eat without cheating, how do you handle that? How do you handle having cheats and stopping or how do you prevent yourself from not breaking down during the week?
SD: I rely on willpower because I have stuff in my house every day that could tempt me. My theory is that it doesn’t have to be in the house to be tempting. If I’m not going to be strong for myself, I can go around the corner. It takes 2 seconds. But for me it’s not that much of a challenge.
There have been occasions I have weakened but they’re few and far between because I think I’m worth not denial, but deferment, of the pleasure of having a chocolate bar or a bag of chips. That’s the big thing with the eating plan that you’ve had me on. It’s not that you can never have the foods you think you want; it’s just a postponement of that craving. I can live with deferring a craving so it really hasn’t affected me.
Me: Anything else you want to throw in?
SD: If you think the battle of health and vitality is lost, go find somebody who has done something positive. Talk to them and learn. Look for help. It’s not impossible. I’m walking proof. I’ve attained what I thought I’d totally lost. Don’t give up. You can make a change. That’s about it.
Me: Alright. Thank you Sue.
SD: You’re welcome Mark.
Posted: January 23rd, 2007 at 10:50am By: mark