In January 2013 I weighed 246 pounds. I had been overweight my entire adult life and was resigned to being that way forever. My job as a paramedic was more conducive to eating fast food than anything healthy, and quick, easy meals was what I fed my family. I was not active and got winded with very little exertion.
The healthy ranges for my height seemed completely unattainable and I tried to make myself ok with my weight with little white lies. ‘I’m tall, so it’s ok for me to weigh more’, ‘I have a bigger frame so it’s ok for me to weigh more’, ‘If I weighed what the BMI says is healthy for me, I would look sick...I could never weigh that little’, ‘I’m strong, so a lot of my weight is muscle weight’.
Those little white lies couldn’t cover up my mounting frustration though. Frustration with automatically looking for the the largest size that a clothing store carried and still having it be too small, frustration with not being able to try on bridesmaid dresses with my best friend, with not being able to really play and keep up with my 3 year old son and knowing that it would only get worse as my new, 3 month old son, grew. Frustration with feeling embarrassed, ashamed and uncomfortable in my own skin.
I joined a fantastic local gym and decided that I would make the most of my maternity leave. I found the friendship and support I needed and had fantastic success, losing 82 pounds in 7 months and reaching my goal. I returned to work and managed to find a good balance with my food, exercise and working shift work, while still making time for my young family.
In everyone else’s eyes, I was done. But not mine. I was proud of my accomplishments, but my physique and strength weren’t where I wanted them to be, or where I knew that they could be. I had been going to the gym 5-6 times a week for a year and still struggled with pushups, I didn’t have the muscle definition that I wanted and I just wasn’t content yet. My ‘I could never do that’ attitude had disappeared as the weight came off and I knew that there was no reason that I couldn’t make my body what I wanted it to be.
A couple of my gym friends had had great results with the TT programs and I figured that I had nothing to lose, so I might as well give it a try. I took my before pictures and measurements, not setting any specific weight loss goals, but hoped for improved strength and added muscle.
After only a few short weeks I started noticing definite changes. My form and max reps for pushups increased dramatically and I finally felt like I was actually doing them right! I was slowly able to increase the weights I was using at the gym, my clothing started to fit more loosely and the scale started showing small losses each week.
I started to struggle midway through my 12 weeks, with eating the way that I knew I should be, being okay with not losing much weight as I gained muscle, and with continuing to adjust mentally to the drastic change I had made in my body over the past year. Even so, I pushed through and I’m happy with my results. During my 12 week transformation I have lost 7 pounds and 8” off of my body. What I have gained is more important; confidence, ambition, strength, and determination.
I’m still not done yet though. I have more to change, more to accomplish, and know that I have TT to get me there! I’m excited to see my progression over the coming months!
Sincerely,
Darby
