EMPTY STOCKING: YMCA helps family get in shape

Cynthia Pagan attributes it all to diet and exercise.

Well, and the ability to do both with her children around.

In the last year, she’s lost 100 pounds working out at the YMCA.

It has not only changed her life, but that of her whole family. She sees her children choosing healthier food options.

“They’re not asking for the junk foods and they help me cook,” she said.

Between injuries sustained in a car crash and having a third child, she put on weight quickly.

Now she’s off blood pressure medicine for the first time in more than a decade and knows her children are proud of their mother.

“I’m almost high school skinny and I’ve been out of high school a long time,” Pagan said.
To make that happen she changed the family’s lifestyle. Fewer meals out and healthy meals at home with recipes she picks up at the Southeast YMCA, one of 15 charities receiving grants from The Gazette/El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund.

A stability ball sits by the television for commercial breaks, and when the weather’s nice the family heads outdoors.

When they head to the Y, Pagan goes for the zumba and cardio fit classes or does the exercises the staff recommended for her.

“What I like at the Y is I don’t feel judged, I feel welcomed,” she said.

The physical benefits have been substantial but heading to the YMCA also gives her a little time to herself when her husband deploys. Sometimes she’ll even go twice a day. While she’s dancing away in zumba, her 11-year-old daughter can make crafts or play air hockey and 4-year-old son can color.

“Anything we can bring home we mail to dad so he finds that really fun,” she said.