She changed for her daughter
Marsha Parker, 39, had been slim through her teens and 20s. But after giving birth to her daughter in 2010, she ballooned to 260 pounds. “I would have to stop in the middle of a flight of stairs to breathe,” says Parker, who lives in The Bronx and works as a standardized test tutor. “Running for the train was out of the question.”
She fed her daughter healthy foods and encouraged her to stay active, but she knew she wasn’t setting a good example. “I was like, ‘I can’t lead her on a path of: Do what I say, not what I do,’ because that wouldn’t be fair to her,” she says.
So, Parker started kickboxing at a local gym and making tweaks to her diet, like swapping out soda for water. She dropped to 185 pounds by March 2017. But she hadn’t found her niche until a friend suggested she try a class at Mile High Run Club.
“What I love is that the trainers call all of us athletes,” she says of the treadmill-based group classes. “They let you know that inside [of each of us], there’s a runner.” She started taking classes five times a week. Her coaches pushed her to try racing, so she started with a 10K, and then another 10K. Now, she says, “I pick races like they’re candy in a store.”
Parker is floored by how much healthier she feels at 150 pounds, but says the greatest benefit has been inspiring her daughter, Kumari, 7. “I showed her a pair of my old pants, and she was like, ‘ Mommy, you’re just like those people in those commercials!’ ” says Parker. “She put her arms around me and said, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ ”