Quote:
Originally Posted by missjane
What an amazingly beautiful transformation! You need to tell us your story!
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Thank you Jane for such a meaningful compliment. My sister was going through her photos and came across those, they were definitely taken during a time when I avoided the camera as much as possible.
I was always one of the "chubby girls" growing up and if you were ever one of the big girls in school, you remember those moments when it was painfully obvious (or pointed out to you). My best friend growing up literally would eat a bag of Funyuns and drink 3 Cokes for dinner, and to this day, standing at over 5'10", hardly tops 110 pounds. As a teenager, I envied her like crazy for being able to wear the Guess jeans and have all the boys lavishing her with attention. By 8th grade, I was already grown out of the junior's sizes! When I was around 16, I joined the track team and a combination of daily running-until-we-puked and the discovery of awful OTC diet pills caused me to drop about 45 lbs. I stayed decently in shape throughout high school and had the typical peaks and valleys of a good 20 lbs. over the course of those next 4 years.
Suffice it to say that up until I was 30, I went through several periods of being pretty overweight and also several times where I dropped weight (the unhealthy ways--with the exception of the track team in high school, long-term adherance to exercise never was part of the equation).
I got married in April 2005, and on the day of my wedding weighed around 185lbs. The frantic nature of being the bride and planning the wedding, etc., etc. impacted that number with a good 7-10lbs. dropped just in those last two "I've got to fit into that damn dress" weeks before. After the wedding, I was happy and got comfortable and didn't give much thought to my eating or lack of activity and steadily ballooned up to 240lbs. Ginger and I had been friends for some time but had fallen out of regular touch until right before the wedding. Once we re-discovered our friendship, we started making it a real priority to plan visits. (we live about 4 hours apart) She started mentioning that she had joined her local Y and during our visits every 6-8 weeks, it was obvious that she was focused and really changing her body. In August 2006, I joined the Y down the road and started going in for different classes-step aerobics, Body Shop-which is a 1 hr. all-over light resistance class, and a couple others. I started making it a priority to work out at least 3 days a week and also began taking more notice of what I was eating. By January 2007, I had been faithfully going to the Y 4-5 days a week and had lost around 30-35lbs. Mid February, one of the instructors there mentioned that she worked as a personal trainer, so I met with her and signed on for 75 minute sessions, 4 days/week for 6 weeks. I continued to work with her until the beginning of September, but had reduced it to 3- 60min. seesions/week after that initial 6 week period. I saw great physical results and was encouraged by the workouts, but what she (the PT) offered in physical transformation was becoming more and more overshadowed by what she lacked in the "Personal" aspect of the training. About one month before I stopped working with her, I had begun my own studying to receive my PT certification.
I was definitely worried that by not having her to tell me what to do, I would put the weight back on or lose my motivation, but quite the opposite has happened! I've actually made more positive gains on my own and have also found new avenues of fitness that she was never willing to explore with me. Throughout this whole journey, Ginger and I have spent
countless hours talking about every topic you can think of fitness and helth related. She was the one who turned me on to the NROL4W and got me interested in studying and applying the benefits of weight training. Heck-we just got off the phone after a lengthy discussion on jump squats and the terrible industrial practices of meat processing!
So, my story up until now has been me not having the confidence to believe in what I now know I am capable of doing. It took a friend to share her experiences and encourage me when I was at that "Where do I even start?" stage. As of this morning, my weight is 144lbs., I'm chalk-full of lean muscle mass, and most importantly when I walk into a room, I don't feel like I need to be ashamed of myself. Yes, perception of the body is a superficial concept on many levels, but you just can't put a price tag on that feeling you get when you know people have stopped what they were doing to take a good look. (especially gratifying now that I could probably *to steal a line from Natalia*-pick up the men that might try to pick me up!)
My life is so different now and so much more fulfilling. I'm so thankful and blessed to have had a friend like Ginger when I needed it most. Along the way, things have just started "clicking" for me, and I NEVER doubt for one second that I will EVER be at that "Where do I start now?" stage again. I do now hold my PT certification and have the joy of not only continuing to push myself to new heights, but to be a part of that rediscovery in other peoples' lives as well.