Oak Park resident Diane Bentsen has lost a lot of weight the old fashioned way: by eating less and moving more. I’ve known Diane for many years from our association with the Oak Park Athletic Club. Diane runs the Kid’s Club activities for OPAC and is a nursery attendant as well.
Like most people with weight issues, Diane had tried numerous times to trim down, but struggled with maintaining any loss she attained. Living above Peterson’s Ice Cream Parlor at that time didn’t help! In July 2002, she began the steady and consistent descent that has club members, friends and family asking her how she did it. To date, she has lost 97 pounds, a feat worth digging into a little deeper.
Diane credits many changes in her approach this time around for helping her to be successful at managing her weight: a reason bigger than weight loss, support and encouragement from friends and family, believing in herself, changing her lifestyle for good, and commitment for when the road gets hard. In short, Diane learned to make it a mental, physical, spiritual and emotional journey.
Diane’s weight loss odyssey began when the staff from OPAC encouraged her to do some exercise on the days she was working. At that time she could only muster 15 minutes of cardiovascular activity, today her routine has grown to 60-85 minutes of elliptical training 4-6x/week. The national guidelines for weight loss recommend 60-90 minutes of accumulated activity each day.
In addition to her exercise, she signed up for Weight Watcher’s again, this time with an improved commitment and no longer living above Peterson’s. Diane has made friends and derived inspiration from leaders and participants. She says that there is no feeling better than when she has worked really hard and the scale numbers have come down.
Like most people digging out, plateaus arise and some days she just feels like not being accountable. To surpass her current plateau, she plans to add strength training and swimming to her routine. Increasing her level of calorie-hungry muscle tissue and adding variety to her activity will help her toward that end. When she faces the challenge of foods calling to her when she’s not hungry, she’s learned to explore beneath. This inquiry can often assuage those ‘hunger’ pangs.
Her advice to others? Tie weight management into something bigger than looks, such as faith (her top reason) or health; commit to proper eating and exercising forever; and get support wherever you can. She stresses it’s all worth it. She feels more at peace with herself and more alive in part because of the weight loss, and in part because she eats only until she’s satisfied, unlike before when she ate to great fullness. Her energy is up and her fitness level is greatly improved. She has inspired so many people and her family is very proud of this great lady.
Diane’s father, Marshall Bentsen, says, “It’s just so wonderful and we’re so pleased at the result because it’s good for her health and well-being.”
Amen to that.
Contact: franscottfitness@hotmail.com