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SUCCESS STORIES
REAL WOMEN...
EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS!!
My Success Story
Michelle Saylor
When I first heard that my employer was sponsoring a ‘Be Your Best’ Challenge, I thought ‘Why should I pay someone to tell me what I’ve already been told a million times before about losing weight?’ I have already tried Weight Watchers, the Atkins diet, the South Beach Diet, and so many others, that I’ve lost count. I’ve bought dozens of diet books and videos. I’ve paid for gym and rec center memberships like Bally’s Total Fitness and Curves. And I’ve tried every new miracle diet pill that is put on the market. I’ve always failed. I last about two weeks on whatever plan or miracle cure and then I crash and start binge eating: a pack of Hostess cupcakes, a bag of potato chips, a bottle of pop, a candy bar…as much as I could until I almost made myself sick. So, it took some convincing to make the choice to sign up and dish out more wasted money.
In May of this year, I stepped on a scale and it read 315 pounds. I’ve always hovered in the mid to high 200s and I’ve always been content that it’s not too bad as long as I stay under that 300 mark…now I was all the way over it. That was the first strike.
I’ve spent most of my life trying not to be my mother. Now, I loved my mother dearly, but she was miserable and unhappy most of her life. For as long as I can remember, she was obese, never very active, and didn’t seem to enjoy life. Three years ago, I spent a whole week sitting next to her hospital bed as she lay there on life support after collapsing without warning at work. Her co-workers had performed CPR on her, but because of her size, it wasn’t enough to get blood and oxygen to her brain. So here she was, at 49 years, brain dead. She would never see her 50th birthday. Every morning, the nurses would come in and weigh her, then write the number on a dry erase board in her room. 277 pounds the first day. I remember thinking ‘Not me. I will not die this way and at that size. I won’t abandon my son, like she is abandoning my brother and sister.’ I was already hovering around the 260 pound mark, but I was determined that I wouldn’t end up this way. And yet, here I am 55 pounds heavier. This is strike two.
There were a million reasons that could be strike three: the fact that I can’t walk up a flight of stairs to get to my apartment without being out of breath and needing my asthma inhaler; maybe that I have to roll over every so often at night when I’m sleeping because which ever side I’m laying on goes numb; or how about not being able to take my son to a baseball or basketball game because it hurts when I sit in those ‘narrow’ seats for too long; and let me not forget the struggle to fasten my airplane seat belt because I’m too ashamed to ask for the extender that I clearly need (and just being on an airplane and taking up my seat and part of my friend’s seat, since she’s so skinny that she doesn’t use the whole thing). How many strikes is that?
So, I decided to go and see what this ‘Be Your Best’ Challenge was all about. When Debi and Kim walked into the room, I was discouraged. There they were, with their pretty blonde hair, and their fit little bodies, and their positive attitudes. This would be like every other weight loss program: someone who had no idea what it was really like to be overweight selling me their miracle program. But after listening to the two of them present their plan, I was completely impressed. They weren’t there to sell me anything or take my money and say ‘good luck’. They seemed genuinely interested in helping people live healthier lives and they knew what they were talking about. There were quite a few times when I felt like they were talking directly to me. I remember Kim explaining that if you really want something like a piece of chocolate, to have it. It doesn’t mean that you’ve ruined your whole diet. Don’t beat yourself up over it, just keep moving forward. The presentation completely hit home with me. I was so excited that by the end, I had signed up for that challenge with the Boot Camp work out added. And I was starting the very next day!
My boot camp experience started with me waking up at 5AM. While this may not seem like such exciting news for most people, for me it was a major accomplishment. A typical day for me went like this: my alarm clock would go off at 6AM, I would hit the snooze a dozen times and not actually get up until 7:45 (work starts at 8:30!), I would then have to drag myself out of bed and wake up my son, we would spend the next 45 minutes in a panicked state trying to get ready and get out the door on time, and most of the time something was forgotten and the whole day would be a mess. But today, I was up at 5AM in a panicked state for a different reason. All I could think was ‘Oh my God, have I really signed myself up for a workout called Boot Camp! Am I crazy!?!’
I was surprised when I got to Boot Camp. The women there were of all different shapes and sizes. No one was there to win a beauty competition or a popularity contest. They had come to work out. They were there to lose weight and get in shape. I felt more comfortable working out with this group of women that I had in any other class or program and in some case with any of my friends. They were all helpful and supportive. The workout…was intense. We went through a series of exercise, some lunges and squats and jumping jacks, and then Debi said ‘Are we all warmed up?’ Was she kidding? Warmed up? It had been about 10 minutes and already my heart was pounding and I was all sweaty—and this was just the warm up!
The first workout was hard, but I made it. In fact, when it was over, I felt great and I left with a great sense of accomplishment. I was proud of myself. The rest of my day was awesome! I was in a great mood; I had a ton of energy; and I was excited. I was looking forward to going back! I have to admit that the next day, I was sore. Everywhere. I don’t think that there was a muscle in my body that I couldn’t feel. Debi had told us the day before that even if it hurt, it would be best if we did some exercise the next day. So, I did. I went through the exercises that we were taught [in the Boot Camp/Be Your Best Challenge Journal] and I was just fine. By the third day, I wasn’t sore anymore and I was feeling great. I was keeping up with the workouts and eating the way Kim had taught us. In just a few days, I could already tell that I had more energy, I was sleeping better, and I was in a better mood during the day.
By the time my second week of Boot Camp started, I had done pretty well at getting some exercise in everyday and keeping with the diet. The night before, I was actually excited about going instead of being nervous and panicked. I made sure to get up and eat a Boot Camp Breakfast before I went and I was ready to go! What a surprise it was for me that the workout was different than the previous week. It was just as intense but there were different exercises and new people. It was great! By the end, I felt like I had worked just as hard as the week before and I had all the energy and excitement too. It was a great way to start my day. People at work were already noticing the change in my mood and attitude. I was dealing with stress much better and feeling great. At the end of my first full week with the program, I had lost 9 inches off my waist! I was so excited and it was so motivating!
The first four weeks have been really challenging for me, but also really rewarding. I am learning how to eat healthy and those changes are affecting my family as well. My son has gone from having cookies and juice for an evening snack to asking for apples instead. He works out with me almost every night and challenges me to do as many push ups as he can!! I know that I am setting a great example for him by making better choices for both of us. My diabetic sister has also been eating the same foods that I am and she is seeing her diabetes become more manageable, far fewer highs and lows in her blood sugar during the day.
It’s been great hearing people’s responses to my first month in the program. Not only am I getting compliments on how much better I look already, people can see the change in my attitude as well. I am much more optimistic than I’ve been in the past, not that I don’t still have my moments. I couldn’t be completely honest and not say that I am worried that this will turn out like other programs and I won’t last more than a few weeks. I worry about it getting harder to lose weight and see results. It is nice though, to have people to turn to. I enjoy getting emails and calls from Debi and Kim to keep me motivated and focused. I think that’s a big part of what is keeping me from just giving up and eating 4 slices of pizza like I would before.
So, at the end of four weeks, I have lost 11 inches from my waist and 17 pounds. Already, I can tell that my breathing is better. I get through workouts without using my inhaler and I can walk up the stairs. I’m really excited about the direction I am heading and the changes that I am making.
Journey Into Bootcamp
Lori Kruszynski
I’m supposed to be writing about my success story with boot camp thus far… and I don’t want to sit here writing this making it seem like it was so easy, because I suppose in some ways it has been, but in other ways, the results I’ve achieved thus far have been very challenging. And I say that not to make anyone think “its too hard to get to my goal”, “its too hard to lose weight when I am so overweight”, but I say that because, things we really and truly want to have happen in life are not easy to obtain but are so worth it when you do obtain them.
I started out at 223 pounds in May, 2007. Worst I ever felt or weighed in my entire life. Had just had to go out shopping for a size higher than what I was in last year because nothing fit. And the embarrassment of being in that new size, the shame in picking out clothes in that size was just not ok for me. I am the only one to blame for letting it get that bad, it wasn’t because of a disease, or because of anything else. It was my decisions that lead me to that point. How was that supposed to be ok?
I told myself that this was it, this was the breaking point, there would be no more thinking that not exercising and not eating right was acceptable. It obviously wasn’t. My biggest issue was telling myself that despite my dislike for exercising and eating right in the past, I had to jump over that hurdle. And come up with no excuses this time. Jump right in feet first, let the fear of accomplishing this go elsewhere.
So, the first 4 weeks was ok at boot camp, and I say “ok” cause I know I wasn’t totally into it both emotionally and physically. I did my food journal entries, went to the store to buy a lot of the recommended protein stuff and try to weed out the “bad” stuff in the house, and went to class 3x a week. Into the middle of my second week, I had to go to the emergency room for a diabetic issue, which threw me out of commission for 4 days. I was so weak, and the last thing I could think of was exercising or eating anything at all. That was my challenge in the first camp I went to.
I then took 4 weeks off, thinking there had to be another way to get to my goal, but got a call/email they were going to start up a 2 nights a week camp closer to me in Avon Lake. I was very psyched to get started again, as I felt I let myself down by giving up so easily. I let excuses get in the way and that wasn’t ok for me anymore.
After my second boot camp (July 17, 2007), I was measured and Debi had told me I lost a total of 11 inches of body fat since May. I had also lost 6 pounds on the scale which was huge for me. Why? Because I was doing this the correct way. I was eating so much better than I ever had, and I was continuously exercising, which I had never incorporated into my life thus far. The day Debi did my post-eval was the day it kind of all sunk in with me as far as the motivation and incentive level. I cried the whole way home after she did my results, because it just didn’t seem real to me. I was so proud of myself, and I’m not the kind of person who would give themselves a pat on the back, but the tears represented that pat, as well as knowing the work I had put into achieving my goal was paying off, more than I ever could imagine.
I was/am so determined to make this happen, no matter what it took/takes. So, I continued to eat well, continued to come to class, and even hired Mary Ann (one of the trainers at Boot Camp) to give me supplemental one-hour sessions on Saturdays. Still continuing all of that right now. My next weigh in is this Thursday, and its funny, its like school, I’m so nervous to get the results. I don’t want to have any expectations, and I am trying to brace myself for seeing minimal results. Not sure why I do that to myself, but I think its because I’m trying to expect the worst and hope for the best in this situation.
Losing weight and the way I view myself and my body has been the toughest aspect in my 31 years. It still is when I wake up in the morning sometimes, but I’ll tell you what is different after 3 sessions of boot camp:
- I have RESULTS to show from the hard workouts and the devotion to eating better and healthier.
- I have people that I know wouldn’t say it if they didn’t mean it tell me how good I look, how they can see results, how proud of me they are.
- My diabetes is in so much better control than its ever been, blood sugars and all.
- Its easier to move around, walk up stairs and just have more energy in general
- I cannot believe I’d ever say this, but I actually look forward to my workouts, both at boot camp class and my personal training sessions with Mary Ann. I wish I could express to anyone reading this what a miracle that in itself is. I hated exercising before boot camp, hated the thought of going to a gym, etc.
- My self-esteem, which really was in need of improvement, is slowly but surely getting better. Because I am getting better… the two go hand-in-hand.
You’re not alone in this venture by any means. You don’t have “skinny” girls around you all the time, you get constant support and encouragement in so many ways from the trainers and what a difference that makes in this journey.
I hated reading people’s “success stories” when it came to exercising and working out, because I never could picture that being a reality for me. But it did become a reality. And it is a change of life. Sounds overwhelming, especially with how comfortable we can get with the foods we choose and the activities we choose to do/not do, but when you want something bad enough, you go for it. And I did. I want this more than anything else right now. I want my goal, I try to sometimes see me at my goal, which is 60-70 pounds lighter than I am now, and all I know is, I am so on my way to getting there. And I will get there and it will be one of the happiest days of my life.
Trust me when I tell you, there are still bad days, days when I eat something that I know is so bad, days when I choose not to do my homework, when I know I had every opportunity to do it, days when the last thing I want to do is write down what I eat, but I will tell you something, it makes me not happy with myself to do these things, to let these things be “ok”. And I’m not ok with that anymore, so I pick up where I left off and make the next hour, the next meal, the next day, 100x better than the last one. The old saying, some days are better than others holds true to any journey, no matter what.
So, walk with me on my continuing journey and with all you think you can or can’t do, know this, compliments of a recent email from Debi:
This moment, this world, this life that you're in
can be whatever you decide to make of it.
This is your reminder to make it great.
Your goal, my goal - - they’re obtainable. They are reach-able and I feel like if I can do this, anyone can do this. Honestly. I wouldn’t lie to you or say something like that if I didn’t believe it.
I cannot put in words what Debi’s Personal Training & Boot Camp has done for me… I can only be eternally grateful for coming across this program and the awesome people that come with it.
PATRICE HENDERSON
I started at Debi's Personal Training in January 2003 after dealing with depression over my weight for years. I have lost over 30 lbs and close to 40 inches if not more. On my first visit at her studio, I felt at home. I was probably the largest one in class but I knew everyone there was once where I was and had accomplished success.
I wouldn't be where I'm at today without Boot Camp. When I started Boot Camp - I could barely jog and breathe at the same time(that was only for a very short distance). I think I did 1 push-up from my toes and 8 from my knees. At the finish of last camp, I ran my mile without stopping and I'm up to 30 push-ups from my toes and 20 from my knees. Before Boot Camp, when my kids would say lets run Mommy, I would tell them Mommy doesn't run. Now I run with them.
Boot Camp has done so much for my health, appearance, self esteem, and confidence in myself that I can accomplish anything I put my heart into. People can't believe I let pictures of myself be published in the paper. But a lot of times you see an ad with before and after pictures and wonder if those people are real. Well, my success is real and I am very proud of how far I have come. I'm ashamed of what I let myself get up to, but I am no longer that size and people who come to camp can see in person what they see in the pictures.
I couldn't have done it without the warm and wonderful coaches who really care about our success. "Thank You Ladies"
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