Humpday Health: Sara Thorndike

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — This week on Humpday Health we caught up with one Wilmington woman who has spent the last year or so turning her health around, and why she encourages others to take charge of their own lives.

“Well probably about a year and a half ago I just decided I was at a weight and in a health situation that I wasn’t real comfortable with,” said Sara Thorndike.

She said it was time to make a change.

“And so I literally went to our community gym and said ‘For 20 minutes I’m going to get on the elliptical.’ And the next day I said ‘I’m going to go again. I’m going to go for 21 minutes.’ And then the next day I added a minute and a minute and a minute,” said Thorndike.

And those minutes really added up. Today Thorndike has lost 130 pounds.

“You have to be in the right mental state. You have to be ready for it I think, because I was the same weight for 15 years,” said Thorndike.

She said until she changed the way she thought about her health and fitness, she simply didn’t have the motivation and willpower to commit to a lifestyle change.

“I had to find ways to make myself accountable, and for me it was recording it,” Thorndike said.

She said for her, treating yourself is still important, despite dieting.

“It’s important to give yourself splurges, because if you deny yourself or go too extreme the you won’t be able to maintain it,” said Thornsike.

And finding an exercise program that is right for you is key, because not everyone is the same.

“Some people may prefer to walk, my son is a fantastic runner and I’ve done three 5K’s since I got smaller and they were more just for my own benefit but I don’t like to run,” Thorndike said.

For Thorndike, it was a total lifestyle change, that started one step at a time.