Woohoo! 170 pounds lost. No longer overweight!

September 26, 2014
Woohoo!  170 pounds lost!  No longer overweight!

THEN                                                       NOW

I just weighed in at the "studio" where I did my bootcamp two years ago.  I have now lost 170.4 pounds!  Woohoo!  According to the U.S. Government, I am no longer overweight!

I AM NO LONGER OVERWEIGHT!!!!!!!!

How did that happen?  My oldest son says "divine intervention."  It's not within my personality to proclaim loudly, "All glory to God!" but I do think that God had something to do with this.  There were just too many angels that came into my life at just the right moment.  One of my coworkers says, "I'll tell you how you did this.  You were disciplined and you worked your butt off."  That is true.  I was disciplined about my nutrition plan and I have put in a lot of hours exercising.  But, the really cool thing is that after a while, it didn't feel like work.  Now, it's just something that I enjoy doing - and I love the rewards.

While I'm thinking about blessings, there are so many.  I have a wonderful, supportive husband and sons.  I've been lucky enough to find some great programs that I did along the way in this journey.  In the beginning, there was Weight Watchers and Couch to 5K.  Then there was the nutrition plan at Next Generation Personal Fitness which I still follow, their challenging Core Cardio and Spin classes, and their bi-weekly weigh-ins which I still do (my lifeline).  My most recent blessing?  Dream Big Triathlon Coaching.  

While these programs are wonderful, it is the people who have made a difference.  In chronological order: Brian, Mike, Andy, Laura, Kerri, Maria, Megan, Barb T, Adam at Next Generation Personal Fitness, Trish, Jerrilyn, Mary Ann, Ruth, Barb W, Marty, Amy, Brant at Dream Big Triathlon Coaching, the stranger at the start of the Indy Half Marathon, Matt at Salt Creek Cycles, the people at the Lake Santee Triathlon who made triathlons SO much fun and later told me I was an inspiration, my colleagues at work, all of my friends who "liked" my triathlon posts and provided encouraging comments on Facebook.

Both of my sons have been so encouraging.  In the beginning, I would text them after my walks.  I'd text, "Walked a 1/2 mile today!!!"  They would both immediately text me back about how proud they were.  That made such a difference.  To this day, I envision them cheering as I do every workout. 

About a year ago, I started to fall off the wagon and was lost.  During a weigh-in, I told Adam, "I would appreciate any help you could give me."  He said, "I will not let you fail."  The next thing I new, every single staff member at NGPT was sending me an email just to "say hello."  I knew they must have talked about me at a staff meeting.  My pride went into high gear as I realized they had been talking about me failing.  I assured everyone that I was fine and I immediately got back to the nutrition plan.   That time, my pride helped me!  So appreciate of Adam's effort.

And when I had the atrial flutter last January, Brant at Dream Big Triathlon Coaching, had my back.  When I told him what had happened, he said, "Just tell me what you need and I will do it."  That made such a difference. He has been there every step of the way throughout my journey during the past year - the successes, the challenges, the self doubts.  I appreciate his training plans, instruction, patience, and pep talks so much.

So blessed!