Published: October 18, 2009 12:06 am         

Local women make the decision to pursue healthier lifestyle habits

Saturday morning, 62-year-old Nellie Catlett joined 2,000 youths at a statewide Assembly of God youth convention and a night of fun at Celebration Station.

It was an experience she never will forget and one she almost chose to walk away from for good, saying she just couldn’t keep up with the young ones anymore.

“I almost had talked myself into the fact that I could just stay where I was at as far as my weight was concerned because of my age,” she said.

Then she went on vacation this summer and watched life parade by as she stood unable to participate.

She saw women with gray hair hiking and doing activities she, herself, longed to do, and she knew things had to change.

“Boy,” she said, “what an eye-opener.”

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Bonnie Vculek, a mother and doting grandmother of three granddaughters, had lost 40 pounds in nearly two years when she realized it wasn’t enough — she needed to change her lifestyle.

The revelation came last spring when she was lying on a emergency room bed listening to a doctor tell her she had suffered a heart attack.

“I just thought I’d changed it enough, and I hadn’t,” she said. “It frightened me enough that I thought if I didn’t change what I’m doing I wouldn’t see my granddaughters enough.”

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As spring and summer turn into fall, both women are working hard — not at losing weight but changing their lifestyles to be more active, more healthy. In doing that, they are dropping the pounds and feeling better than they have in a long time.

It’s a “lifestyle thing,” Catlett said, and Vculek agrees.

“You have to reteach yourself,” she said. “It’s not going to be anything that is easy, but you just have to get to the point in your life that you want to change (your lifestyle).”

Both women started their lifestyle changes with visits to doctors.

While Catlett was not experiencing any physical problems because of her weight, she knew with the strain she was placing on her body that might not last, and she wanted to make sure she was healthy and would remain that way through any diet and exercise regiment.

Vculek was forced to take this road with her physicians, but she consults trainers, as well, to keep herself focused and disciplined.

From there, it was a matter of beginning those changes that slowly will reveal healthier lifestyles, they said.

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Snacking is over, Vculek said, and her days of chowing down on salty foods and red meat are gone, as well. She will take a few bites of her husband’s steak — he refused to give it up totally — every now and then to satisfy the cravings, but both of them are eating more vegetables and fruits these days.

Catlett stays away from carbohydrates.

“No bread, no potatoes, no pasta.”

Another lesson learned was walking away from their plates, whether they were empty or not. Both women had the same tale to relate:

“My mother always taught me to clean my plate.”

But as the world turns faster, there is no time for leisurely eating that proves better for the digestive system.

Both women now leave food on their plates and will make or order less to begin with, they said.

“It’s a mindset, Catlett said. “I just had to change my mind about what I was going to eat and what I wasn’t going to eat.”

Other weapons in their weight loss/lifestyle change arsenal are doctor-supervised weight loss supplements for Catlett and a vitamin regimen for Vculek.

As the pounds come off, exercise is a treat, because their bodies respond to their changing lifestyles with more energy.

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As one grows older, Vculek said, metabolism slows, and the need for a lifestyle change is the result of years of abuse to the body through overeating, stress and less physical activity.

It didn’t happen overnight, and it is not something cured that quickly either.

Another lesson to be learned from their decision is patience, and while that might be a hard pill to swallow it has its rewards.

“I think the slower the weight comes off the longer lasting it’s going to stay off,” Catlett said.

The motivation and the desire are there, lodestones to pull them back on a track not always easy to follow.

“I want to be able to interact with my kids at church better,” said Catlett, who works regularly with the youth of her church.

She also has a 3-year-old granddaughter to keep up with, she said.

Catlett said she wants to enjoy swimming and walking again. She wants to be one of those go-getter women she saw hiking and walking on her summer vacation.

She’ll know when she’s reached her target, she said, “when I can lean over and tie my shoes without running out of breath.”

Vculek also has motivators in her grandchildren and active lifestyle. She teaches and is a professional photographer, lines of work that keep her hopping.

She also is facing another knee surgery, something she is hoping to avoid with her healthier lifestyle.

“The doctor told me for every pound that you lose it’s five pounds of pressure off your knees,” Vculek said.

She also has participated in the citywide campaign to lose weight through the E-Lose It program. At e-loseit.com, participants can interact with others through motivating forums, keep track of weight lost and swap recipes and healthy tips.

When asked what her dream weight would be, Vculek said she is shooting for 140, the weight she was at when she first met her husband.

If she does, she said, she’s got a promise from him to take her to Hawaii.

Now that, she said, is motivation.