Middle-Aged Woman Gains Youthful Figure and Fame

[영어도우미]

Middle-Aged Woman Gains Youthful Figure and Fame

 

With no special diet and just a lot of exercise, Cho Young-sun (40) has made a transformation into a hot body. ?Who would think that she?s a middle-aged woman who?s had two children,? reads a typical comment on the Internet, where she has acquired a kind of fame. ?She?s more like an older sister,? reads another. The Chosun Ilbo caught up with Cho at a fitness club in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Wearing a sleeveless, navel-free sports top and hot pants, she was a toned 163 cm at 50 kg. The taut skin of her arms and legs was covered in a light healthy sweat.

?After I started exercising, my life, my whole world changed,? she says hoisting a dumbbell. Cho, who has two sons, a 12-year-old and a six-year-old, ballooned to 70 kg after giving birth to her second son. After the first pregnancy she quickly shed the weight she had gained, but the second time, things were different. She continued to just eat whatever made her mouth water, and soon found herself at 75 kg. She wasn?t sure if it was an aftereffect of the pregnancy or due to her increased size, but she was experiencing worsening pains in her neck, shoulders and waist. The pain was especially severe whenever she bent forward, making household chores like dishwashing and housecleaning next to impossible.

?The house was a disaster area, but I could hardly move, so I had to ask the kids to do the dishes for me. I couldn?t be a good mother, or a good wife, and I started to feel sorry for myself as the only thing I could do was gain more weight,? she says. ?I was caught up in a deep depression and lost my spirit. I avoided going out whenever possible, I was like a hermit.?

Then a doctor at an Oriental medicine clinic in her neighborhood told her she was suffering from postpartum weakness, which had caused her muscles to atrophy and her bones to warp out of shape. The way to remedy the bone problem was chiropractic, while sports could build the muscles back up, the doctor said. The clinic stressed that exercise is a must to help women recover from the condition. Cho immediately registered at a fitness center near her house, starting out not with the idea of losing weight but in the hope of eliminating the pain.

When she started, she set a rule that no matter what happened that day, she would spend more than two hours a day exercising. Her trainer had her focus on stretching and walking. At first, she was short of breath even when she walked at slow pace. But her firm determination kept her going with the two-hours-a-day regime. At the beginning, the more she exercised, the more severe the pain became. When she got home, every move she made was accompanied by an ?exclamation of agony,? but she didn?t give up. ?Strangely, I got really into it, I worked out desperately.? After two months, her breathing became comfortable, and she stated to feel lighter. The pain in her shoulder and waist faded to the point where it became bearable. After another month, the pain went away, and she started to lose weight.

But she wanted to go further and get back to the shape of her single days. She started to buy books and eat properly like a bodybuilder. The result is now there for all to see on the Web. One year after she started to exercise, she got down to 55 kg, and another seven to eight months later, she was closing in on her goal of 50 kg. ?In the old days, I saw a funny-looking woman with a paunch and sagging buttocks in the mirror, but these days I have found the meaning and vitality of life.? Cho advises people to stop feeling stressed by clothes size whenever they go shopping and start exercising right now. Since people tend to get addicted to exercising once they start, they can indulge in the pleasure of it as well as get in good shape and gain confidence, she said. Trying to lose weight without exercising is ?a shortcut to failure,? she added.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

 

 

 

 QUESTIONS:

 

* Do think that you need to lose weight?

* Have you ever been on a diet?

* How do you know if you gained weight?

* Do you workout?  How often?

* What kind of exercises do you do?

* "Trying to lose weight without exercising is a shortcut to failure?. - Do you agree with what Ms. Cho said? Why?

* What do you think is the best way to diet?

* What kind of diet would be recommended for an older person (40's) and a younger person (teens)?

 

 

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200612/200612140010.html