Hamlin woman's story told in national magazine

Cyndie Heidt's life transformation story will appear in the April issue of the national "FIRST" magazine. The Hamlin resident went from a rude awakening about her weight to losing 123 pounds over 20 months. She is now encouraging other women as a weight loss instructor.

Heidt says the "last straw incidence" that drove her to a weight-loss regime started at a church picnic where she heard a joking comment about how much she ate. Soon after, her concerned seven-year-old son told her about an infomercial where he learned "there's a pill you can take so you don't have to be so fat."

She started the weight-loss regime with instructor Carol Benedetti of Brockport at the Greece Weight Watchers about two years ago. She lost 100 pound in the first year and 23 pounds in the next eight months.

According to Heidt, her achievement came partly from the self-insight that she was feeding her hurts with food. "By putting food in the right perspective, it allowed God to come in and heal those hurts," she said.

Heidt also had to make time for herself and her exercise routine. "I don't know why women feel guilty about making themselves a priority in life," she said about balancing her own needs with the demands of motherhood. Her faith is a prime factor. "With Christ in my perspective, I can do anything. He is empowering me."

Heidt has become a Weight Watchers instructor teaching a few groups at their work sites in Rochester and teaching new groups in Hamlin and Greece. Her reason for becoming an instructor? "I felt so passionate about women's health," Heidt said. "I wanted to pass on a little bit of the changes that are in me and to get people to take care of themselves."