I started this journey on September 1st of 2009, about a month after my 26th birthday at 175lbs. I couldn't believe that I had not achieved the goal that I had set for myself on New Year's to finally reach my goal weight of 140lbs.
I am currently in my 3rd year of pharmacy school, and it is extremely time consuming. I spend almost the entirety of every weekend in the library and studying daily after class on the weekdays.
Because of this, it is very easy to gain weight from the sedentary lifestyle and stressful eating. Most of my classmates have easily gained 20+lbs because of this! As for me, I have been overweight most of my life doing diet after diet plan, along with excessive cardio, only to lose and then gain it back every time! I found it more difficult to lose each time, and that got really frustrating.
After being diagnosed with PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome, which is a metabolic syndrome stemming from insulin resistance, I decided that I truly
needed to make a lifestyle change. It didn't help that the majority of chronic diseases that we learn about in school are better managed or even reversed by proper diet and a sound exercise program.
It was time for me to get with the program and work at being and staying healthy for the rest of my life. I found out about Turbulence Training from a Google search and the attractive component was the fact that the workout included weight training as well as cardio, which could be completed in 45 min and only 3 days a week. As a busy pharmacy student, I figured I could make that time commitment.
I decided to break it up to make it more manageable however. One day I would do the weights and the next day I would do the cardio. My workouts were between 15-20min 6 days a week first thing in the morning. Although there were some weeks that I was only able to workout 3-4 days, I was very proud that I was consistent.
The TT blog frequently states that one cannot out-train a bad diet, and part of my lifestyle change was to eat healthier foods and eat less junk food. I cut down from eating junk food 7 days a week (I know!) to 1-2 days a week.
I became creative in the kitchen, and was able to do some batch cooking, which is cooking once a week, and putting every meal in a meal-sized Tupperware that I could just grab and go with my books for long days at school and the library. I had more energy and started losing weight. This way felt so right, and not extreme like I have done in the past.
As of today, I weigh 162lbs (lost 13lbs) and have gone down one dress size! I have definitely had slip ups throughout this journey, but the most important thing to me was to make this change permanent.
Since organizing my workouts and food plan this way, my grades this semester are higher than ever. Eliminating emotional eating, and packing healthy home cooked meals with me improves my concentration, and keeps me in the library longer.
I'm very glad that Craig put out this Turbulence Transformation Contest, and that I took advantage of it. It was perfect timing, and has changed my life forever for the better.
I intend to reach my final goal weight in the next 6 months using Turbulence Training. More importantly, I have now gotten a taste (pun intended) of what true health feels like, and I am hooked! I will never go back to my emotional roller coasting eating and excessive cardio exercise habits!
C. Gina Ozokwelu
