“This is a story of my journey over the past two and a half years concerning my battles with weight loss. I often felt worthless due to being overweight and being criticized all my life. So I made a decision to take control of my life in order to become more confident in myself. I realized my weight was a major problem in February 2006. My desire to lose weight became stronger when I was diagnosed with diabetes in June of 2006.The decision to change my life was a big step because I was uncertain about how to lose the weight effectively. I had been on several diets, which did not work or were just a temporary solution. These diets would work over a period of time, but eventually they would stop working and I always gained even more weight. I did not know how important exercising was in order to take the weight off while also learning the importance of nutrition on a daily basis.
On that first day back in February 2006, I can remember how much it hurt to do just 30 minutes of walking outside. I can’t recall how many days when it took everything I had to do a short amount of exercise without getting any shin splints or cramps that would stop me in my tracks. As the days passed, I increased my time and the amount of miles that I would do each day. One thing I did realize was I needed to do more to achieve the goals I set for myself. I began to do free weights and resistance training each morning after doing my cardio. My biggest obstacle was learning how to change my eating habits. I decreased my calorie, fat, and sodium intake on a daily basis at first. When I found out I was diabetic, I had to figure what I needed to do get my sugar down and to keep everything else in check. I went to a nutritionist and was given a diet plan to follow. It took me about a year to get 68lbs off with the exercise and dieting that I was doing. Unfortunately, I began to plateau and started gaining some of my weight back in November and December of 2008. So I made the decision that I needed to do something new to start losing the weight again. After realizing that I was not losing weight anymore, I knew I had to change my plan of action. As the New Year approached, I decided it was time to hit the gym and start working out to start achieving the goals I set for myself. One day at the gym, one of the trainers mentioned something about a body challenge that they were doing for 12 weeks. I was very interested, but I was concerned about the cost and having the time and dedication in order to be successful. In order to change what I was doing, I had to push myself more than ever.
USA Elite Trainers gave me the proper tools to guide me in the pursuit of my goals. Therefore, I decided to sign up for the Total Body Challenge. Participating in the Total Body Challenge was the best thing I could have done for myself. On the first day it was very exciting but very scary at the same time, because I didn’t know what to expect. My diet and exercise program were about to change drastically. I learned how to eat smaller meals throughout the day while also obtaining various exercise routines. We did a Saturday workout every week, which showed me different ways of doing things that involved exercising. I received a lot of information regarding the different vitamins, powders, and supplements you can use to help in the weight loss program. The one thing that we were reminded of each day was it is a lifestyle change and you can maintain it lifelong.
The Total Body Challenge helped me push myself to new limits I never thought I could achieve. It did have a lot of ups and downs but I was able to push through it. I am very grateful to my personal trainer, Tony, who helped me strive to be the best I could be and still continues to do so. He was there to support me through my bumps along the way and was always there for me when I needed him. I would like to thank all of USA Elite Trainers, Anytime Fitness, CJ, Loren, Jenn, Tony, and Stacey for also giving me the knowledge and the will to be successful throughout this entire process. I have lost a total of 51lbs while doing the Body challenge and have lost a total of 103 lbs all together during this weight loss journey. I want to be an inspiration to other people who have been struggling with weight loss their entire life and letting them know they can succeed to.”