T H E E D M O N T O N S U N T h urs d a y , Ma y 11 , 2006

life sty le 59

Not using excuse to get fat

EDITOR: Sally Johnston PHONE: 468-0115

FAX: 468-0139 E-MAIL: sjohnston@edmsun.com

Hypothyroidism kept in check

CARY CASTAGNA

DARRYL DYCK, Sun (main) supplied photo (inset)

Wendy Piper gets added push-up resistance from daughter Michelle, 10. The soccer mom keeps in top shape (inset).
capability, especially as she goes through her 40s and beyond. In the winter, Piper and her family which, besides her 10-year-old daughter Michelle, includes her husband and 12-year-old stepson go snowboarding. In the summer, they keep active with sports like water skiing and beach badminton. Fuelling all this activity is a smart diet that emphasizes protein-rich foods like chicken, and carb sources like fruit and veggies. Piper, who has been known to cook up pots of chili using ground turkey instead of ground beef, often prepares her familys meals the night before. We eat a lot out of Tupperware, she says, adding fast food is almost unheard of in her familys diet. The owner of Salon Elegante, a west-end hair salon, advises those looking to make positive changes in their lives to do so slowly with small and manageable improvements. Dont just jump on a bandwagon Monday full-speed because youre going to fall off of it as fast as you jumped on, she says. It did not happen overnight for me. I had to change a little at a time. Piper says her thyroid condition makes it a constant battle. But she knows its worth it. I feel better now than I did in my 20s, for sure, she says. The thyroid is sometimes known as the master gland of metabolism. But Piper, through sheer determination, is clearly the one whos in control.
Do you have an inspirational story for Keeping Fit? E-Mail Cary Castagna at ccastagna@edmsun.com

But her activity levels dipped in ou wouldnt know it by looking at her, but Wendy Piper has a her 20s during her first marriage. A short time after reigniting her good excuse to gain weight. The 40-year-old Edmontonian, who passion for gymnastics in her early weighs a lean 115 pounds at five-foot- 30s, Piper started lifting weights at Golds Gym to boost her strength. two, suffers from hypothyroidism. She also turned to the Internet and In other words, she has a sluggish thyroid the gland at the base of the began educating herself about living neck that regulates a persons metab- with her thyroid condition. That included replacing her one or olism. One in six women get this I just two big meals a day with five or six happened to be one of those six, says smaller, healthier meals. Piper soon put her strong physique Piper, diagnosed as hypothyroid shortly after giving birth to her daugh- and new-found dietary knowledge to ter in 1996 and on medication ever the test, entering several fitness competitions in the Alberta Bodybuildsince. Following the life-altering diagno- ing Association between 2001 and sis, Piper soon decided that while her 2004. She competed thyroid was underactive, nationally in fitshe wasnt going to be. I refused to let it get ness, before I refused to let it get the eventually makbetter of me and use that as the better of me and ing the switch to an excuse to gain weight, use that as an excuse soccer. she recalls. These days, Burdened with this new to gain weight. Piper gets her propensity to pack on the Wendy Piper kicks in a claspounds, Piper enrolled hersics league in the self and her toddler daughter in gymnastics classes less than two Edmonton and District Soccer Association, playing up to twice a week as years later. And while her young child was get- a speedy forward with a knack for ting an introduction to the joys of an scoring. A self-described adrenaline junkie active pursuit, Piper was rediscovering her own love for sports and com- who has tried skydiving, bungee jumping and scuba diving, Piper says socpetition. Not that Piper was terribly out of cer gives her an amazing cardiovasshape. But she knew a poky thyroid cular workout and its fun. The soccer mom who leads by exmeant she would have to try harder to ample also lifts weights at Club Fit keep fit. Growing up as somewhat of a tom- three to four times a week for 45 to 75 boy, the Montreal-born military brat minutes a session. She knows that maintaining her kept active into her teens with gymmusculature will aid her fat-burning nastics.