To begin to explain my experience throughout the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest during the last 12 weeks, I need to first go back to the beginning of my healthier lifestyle change.
I work for Waukesha County as a Telecommunicator. I answer 911 lines and dispatch police, fire and EMS calls for service, along with a multitude of other responsibilities. In addition to being a full-time Dispatcher, I am also a part-time Police Officer.
Needless to say, my jobs are very stressful. I work long hours, weekends and holidays. Some days I work both jobs back to back totaling approximately 16 hours.
In dispatch, I am required to wear a headset with a cord that stretches maybe 5 feet. I do a lot of sitting and was falling into a very bad habit of being sedentary. It was August 2013 and Waukesha County had implemented an Employee Wellness Program that requires a yearly mandatory blood screen, including a Nurse recording your height, weight, and body measurements.
When I got the results, I was shocked. I knew I had gained weight over the years, but when I saw the word “obese” attached to my name, I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I was 34 years old, 5’04” and 204 pounds.
I knew I needed to stop making excuses and be proactive in making a change to get healthy and fit, but I didn’t know where to start. I had a gym membership to a 24/7 facility, but I never went, it was just too boring and routine. There were no classes; it was standard weight lifting equipment, treadmills, and elliptical machines.
I paid for this membership for years, what a waste of money. Every year my weight kept increasing, and I continued to have a “yeah yeah, I’ll go tomorrow” mindset, but I never went, and I slowly gained more weight.
Years ago after college, I used to take cardio kickboxing classes and enjoyed having an instructor in a group setting. I realized I needed to revisit an Instructor based, group-structured workout, that is challenging, yet fun.
I logged into Groupon to see what was close to home, with hours that would be conducive to my hectic and demanding work schedule. I found what I was looking for at Lakeside Fit Body Boot Camp.
I bought a 6-week Groupon and went to my first class. I absolutely loved it. This was exactly what I needed. Lesa’s High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts pushed me to my limits. After the 6-week Groupon expired, I signed up for a year membership and have been going 4-5 days a week, every week, no excuses.
In December, when I learned about the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest, I was already down about 30 pounds and feeling amazing. My total weight loss goal was 50-55 pounds by June. I knew if I joined the Contest, it would give me more motivation and determination to reach my goal faster. Around this same time, I was exploring the idea of a career switch.
I had been a Telecommunicator for 10 years, and a part-time Police Officer for approximately 13 years. The Police Department I work for had a 30+ year veteran officer announce his retirement in the spring of 2014, there was going to be a full-time slot opening up to replace him.
I knew that if I was going to join this Contest, it would help give me the courage to apply for this full-time position, I was finally ready for this challenge. I had two goals that directly related to one another, which gave me more of an incentive to succeed. I didn’t want to be referred to as “that chubby female cop.”
I want to be strong and capable of defending myself, my partners, and citizens when facing any type of situation. It’s not a matter of “if” bad things happen, it’s “when,” and I want to be ready for anything. Pushing myself and going to FBBC will help prepare me both mentally and physically.
What I like best about the workouts is that they change every day. Lesa designs the HIIT workouts to be fast, effective, and challenging with different intensities and modifications to suit any skill level.
Anybody can attend Lesa’s FBBC and be successful. Lesa, John, Mary, and Liz make a point of saying hello and greeting everyone in the room daily. Lesa and her staff are very thorough with the instructions, always making sure to show us the correct way of doing an exercise that is safe to avoid injuries, and make us aware of bad form positions which cause injuries.
I enjoy that some days we rotate from position to position, while other days we have a primary and secondary exercise at each position before rotating. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we use a mix of cardio, battle ropes, weights, exercise balls, body weight, bands, boxes, and the TRX.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we use our own body weight. And let’s not forget pull-up Saturdays! Each day the workouts are set at different time intervals. I am never bored; I look forward to coming to class. I purposely schedule my week so I make time to go to FBBC, which is something I have never done in my prior workout routine.
The biggest challenge for me during the Turbulence Training Transformation content was completely changing my eating habits. I had already started doing this prior to the Contest starting, but when the Contest began, I really made a conscious effort to track all my food intake on MyFitnessPal.
MyFitnessPal was extremely helpful. I had no idea how much snacking throughout the day and unnecessary calories such as alcohol can sabotage success. I am now disciplined in watching my portion sizes, increasing eating fruits and vegetables, and overall eating cleaner.
Around the time the contest began, my fiancée bought me a Polar heart monitor which measures how many calories I burn, which I use to challenge myself and track how hard I’m working out. I find this device extremely useful and wear it daily.
My life is better after the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest in a multitude of ways. I no longer get winded going up a flight of stairs. Prior to FBBC, I had been having severe sleep issues, now have none.
After reading the Nutrition Guide, I have a better understanding of what foods to avoid, and what foods to eat more of. Dr. Mohr’s 12 Rules for Fat Loss, the Nutrition plan, and daily calorie goals were extremely helpful and educational.
In addition to making healthier food choices, I have tried several of the meal plans suggested in the Nutrition Guide and found that I felt fuller longer which leads to less snacking throughout the day.
Since I started at FBBC and since the contest started, my overall physical strength has gone up significantly. I used to not be able to do standard push-ups, now I only do modified push-ups during our warm-up.
I used to only be able to do level 1 intensity, now I push myself to do level 3’s. I can lift heavier weights, and increase my angle for a higher degree of difficulty while using the TRX. I actually have a waistline now.
I can fit into clothes I haven’t worn in 5+ years, it’s like I have a new wardrobe. My overall stress level has gone down and my self-esteem has gone up. Several co-workers have told me that I have been an inspiration to them. I don’t think I’ve ever been an inspiration to anyone, so this is new to me.
They said that after seeing my results, they have since starting working out again. If I can help motivate another person to change their lifestyle in a positive way, it gives me motivation to continue working hard and staying on track. I am so grateful for everything Lesa and the FBBC team has done for me. Thank you for making me feel proud again.
Sincerely,
Kimberley
