Winner:

Stephanie Alward

Fan Favorite:

Melanie Frantz

]]> http://www.goerieblogs.com/lifestyle/thintowin/2011/10/07/and-the-winners-are/feed/ 0 http://www.goerieblogs.com/lifestyle/thintowin/2011/10/07/lisa-the-happiness-and-self-confidence-on-their-faces-is-gratitude-enough-for-me/ http://www.goerieblogs.com/lifestyle/thintowin/2011/10/07/lisa-the-happiness-and-self-confidence-on-their-faces-is-gratitude-enough-for-me/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:42:38 +0000 admin http://www.goerieblogs.com/lifestyle/thintowin/?p=329
Read the rest of this entry »]]> Go to the deli and order a pound of chopped ham, look at the pile, just sitting there, full of fat and not very good for you. Now order a pound of turkey breast, it just lies on the scale nice and flat not taking up too much space, and is good for you. Imagine that being the difference between muscle and fat on the body. I told “my girls” we’re getting rid of your ham!”

I was totally blown away by the number of woman that submitted their story to be one of the contestants. After some painstakingly hard decision making, seven were chosen. These 7 women, Melanie, Casie, Tica, Rita, Stephanie, Adria and Kelly have meant just as much to me as they say I have to them. They say I gave them a chance………when in reality I feel like they gave me the chance. A chance to make a difference for somebody. A chance to exercise my beliefs and knowledge. A chance to be the person that I am, on the inside. These women gave me the chance to be me! On the last day of the contest I told them all that the changes I see in them from the neck up are just as awesome as the changes that are so obvious from the neck down. The happiness and self confidence on their faces is gratitude enough for me, but I would like to say thank you to Todd, and Shanna, two of the trainers here at Flab to Fab that also gave their all for the girls. I could (and will) do this type of contest again, but this group of women will always be “my girls”, and to my girls I say, stay focused, be proud, see what I see when you look in the mirror, seek out your dreams, live life to the fullest, say your prayers, and SEE YOU AT THE GYM!

There were a few one on one sessions, but these women did the same thing every other woman is capable of doing by walking through the door at Flab to Fab. As Casie said, “You can’t wish yourself skinny sitting on the couch.” The spirit of community and support is amazing here. I am not only proud of my contestants, I am proud of all my members. The encouragement they give each other is an awesome thing to witness on a daily basis.

I love my gym, and the women in it,
Lisa

I am a very high strung person and I do not like when things don’t go as planned.  I am easily stressed and when stressed I just stop…I “shut down”.  This week was supposed to be my big come back week, and needless to say that did not go as planned.  Friday of last week was the first day I had scheduled to go back to the gym however when I woke up Friday morning my chest was so congested I could barely breath.  That lasted for about 5 days roughly and even though I truly was sick I feel like it is one excuse after another.  I have been so stressed and so annoyed with life right now.  I feel like I’m just barely going through the motions of life and nothing is going as planned it is just going and it is going fast but it seems to have forgotten me!  I still work out every day at home and eat the best I can with my busy schedule.  But I feel like all I do right now is work.  Nanny all day and work all night, even sleep seems to rarely come lately.  I have some things going on in my personal life as well right now that have me confused and feeling lost.  I need to find time…I am quickly slipping back into bad habits and that is just unacceptable.  I still want this more than anything, I know my actions may not reflect that strong desire to be a healthy person but that desire burns deep inside me.  I need to find my way back to the right track and stop letting life derail me after every curve.  The stress from work and not going to the gym mixed with not seeing my son very much right now is slowly slipping me back into the state of depression that I was in when I started this competition.  I feel like i didn’t deserve this wonderful opportunity because I have been so easily distracted.  I need to find that spark again, that spark that made me want to try.  That spark inside me that helped me see I was worth it.  I know deep down in my heart I can still do this, however I am sorry that I have not been believing in myself enough to push as much as I should have in the last couple weeks.   I just need to find Kelly again and stick with whats best for myself and stop stressing over life, because life is to be lived not just endured, and lately I”m barely even doing that.

Sincerely,

Lisa

I have gone from barely getting through one workout a day, three times a week to pounding out two or three workouts a day, five to six days a week. I have gone from barely pulling myself out of bed by 8 am to waking up before my 6:30 alarm goes off and making my kids both breakfast and lunch before school each day. I have gone from barely squeezing into size 22Ws to almost fitting into size 16s (they are a couple of steps until my “goal pants”). This time, losing weight has been totally different and it has to be in correlation with that tiny scripture that has been sitting on the vanity in our half bath for over five years. My friend’s husband pointed out to me today that thing with that scripture is that action on our part is necessary for God to do anything. I could have cried and complained and moped around for another decade about being fat and slow and miserable but that would not have changed a thing. In fact, I probably would have gotten fatter. But the moment that I started toward my goal it was like God was pushing my goal toward me. I started getting stronger. Each time I added a workout and pushed past the kitchen my goal became a little more within my reach. I also noticed that my intensity during the workouts increased. I really try to exaggerate movements to maximize the effectiveness. If I left a class or got off an elliptical without being drenched with sweat, I didn’t work out. Why do anything half hearted? And there I was everyday trying to make good on the investment God has in me. Today I realized that all that I have been doing in this competition is strengthening a relationship with Someone who loves me very much.

When I began this contest I had lots of excuses to not go all in and a new one pops up every now and again just to test my resolve in completing this task. I would have to work harder than everyone else in the contest to lose weight. I do have a great deal of responsibilities with four children at home and my husband’s long hours. I do have to travel across town to work out and gas prices are high. My knee does hurt if I do squats and lunges. Sweating profusely, everyday is pretty rough on my hair. I could go on but it is much more fulfilling to honor the accomplishments that have been achieved in spite of the obstacles. I thank God for every class my husband and I work to get me to. I say “Amen” every time I get farther in a workout than I did before. I thank God for everyone who has gotten something out of these blogs. And every time the numbers get lower on the scale I give thanks and praise to my Father that He thought enough of me to meet me where I was and answer a silly request, just so He could draw closer to me. I still have a great deal of work ahead of me but seeing where I was and feeling the testimony that is growing from this is more than enough to keep pushing me forward.

I hope someday we can have an update on all of us. I’d be thrilled if in the next year I can get to my goal weight. I know it won’t be easy but I think it’s worth a shot. I want my dreams to come true. I want to be happy with my body and I want to show everyone that it is most definitely possible to change your life. I am still just so thankful to have been given this opportunity in the first place. It’s not going to be a walk in the park but it’s so worth it. I would love to be an inspiration to every girl out there who wants to change their life. I know I couldn’t ask for anything more…

I’m not being lazy. And I haven’t been too busy. I’ve just fallen victim to this ever-changing weather. It started last Monday with a sore throat. It then blossomed into full blown bronchitis. Lovely, right? Riiight. Well, anyway, my doctor informed me that my lungs need time to heal so I would not be allowed to work out until (fingers crossed) this Friday. Yep. So I’ve been sick since last Monday…a week and 3 days…and counting. So I’ve only worked out twice in the past week and 3 days. And that just stinks. Like bad.

So, I will be thoroughly excited when I am able to resume sweating profusely whilst getting my butt kicked. Friday can’t come soon enough.

I let the dark bits of the world get at me for far too long. I always knew that there was some good out there, and that if I continued to hide away in my room, I would never find it… Yet I was so anxious and such that I didn’t care to put in the effort to attempting to find it. There were far too many negatives, it seemed, especially when my fall in February of 2010 occurred. That was the final blow. I was given a chance, however, when I found my way to the chiropractor, and, many months later, got my way into physical therapy. When I did the exercises there, I was shown that, if I worked hard enough, I could change the way I felt. I would stretch my back out, and with the exercises, the pain I had seemed to melt away. The more I moved, the better I felt. I was well enough to leave physical therapy in only a few months. I continued to do the exercises, as I still do… I finally saw something good come from trying to exercise. Every time I would try before, whether it be in gym in school, or an attempt at home on my own, I would always fail. I would always feel inadequate, as if I was merely getting out of breath for nothing. Yet now, that has been changed.

Mom always told me that if I moved more, I would feel better… Yet the things I was told never really sink in back then. In one ear, out the other… In my head, I would think, “Yeah, sure I’ll feel better. I’ve tried, Mom, and I feel worse.” I just wasn’t doing it right. Now that I am, I can agree with her now. I guess I had to find out on my own, because I was too negative to listen. I still get that way… Yet I’m trying to improve on it. Before, I thought that things would just come running when I wished them on, and, in all truth, I didn’t know much about hard work. Yet I know now that, just because you want something doesn’t mean the world is going to stop what it’s doing to hand you it. I have to push myself, to work as hard as I can for the things I want in life. I know I’ll never be a skinny supermodel, (not that I really ever want to be one, anyway), yet I do want to be healthy. I want to be able to go for a mile or two run in the morning to start my day and not pass out halfway through due to exhaustion. There are so many amazing people out there who can do such things, and I do envy them… Yet I can’t sit back and wish I was like them. No, I have to work hard enough, to get myself to that point with determination. For some reason, I always thought that, “Oh, I can go for a 10 minute walk and maybe I’ll magically start running and lose 10 lbs…” No, no, it’s not that easy, and I’m idiotic for thinking that it would be. Oh well, I know now, and what is in the past, is in the past.

The present and the future are what I will dwell on now. I always talk about what happened last year and the year before… Yet what happened then can’t be changed, and it doesn’t matter. It’s what I do with the time I have that matters. The world could end tomorrow, and everything would be gone. Could you sit back and say that you decided to drastically alter your life for the better? I can. I can say that I did my best, and as long as I’m up and running, that’s all I’ll ever do. We can be beaten by darkness, thrown to our knees and made to beg, or we can take a stand and fight our way back to the light. I know I must always keep moving forward, because going back would be pointless. “If you fall off the horse, get back on.” Why would anyone want to just sit there in the dirt, feeling sorry for themselves? I used to do that, and there are days when I still feel like all I want to do is crawl into a corner and just cry. Ah, yet I get those emotions out, wipe my eyes, and head back on out. Ah, and for the people who support me, and who have helped change my life, that have helped me realize this (even though it took me a while)… Thank you.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate… Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure. ” – Unknown, inspired by Shanna

It’s kind of amazing how changing your size can have such a good effect on your life. I started to lose weight in January, and since then I have lost about 45 pounds, which feels amazing! I still have a lot more to lose, but I’m really proud of what I have done so far. Physically, I feel sooo much better. I don’t get winded walking up just one flight of stairs, and I don’t dread talking walks with my husband. At one point, I wasn’t able to sleep on my back because it actually hurt me, so I had to lay on my side or my stomach. Fortunately, I don’t have that limitation anymore. I can sleep anyway I want.

I still am leary to try a lot of new things because I’m not sure if I’ll be physically able to do it, or if there is a weight limit, or size limit. Typically, I try to err on the side of caution, and if I think there is a chance that I might not fit, I won’t bother to try. I would tell people that I prefer to ride rides alone because I wasn’t sure if my butt would fit with anyone else, or I’ll make a fat joke to alleviate tension so it’ll be easier to laugh at the situation if i don’t fit. There are a lot of things that run through my head about my size that typical people probably don’t think about with regards to their own size. I’m not trying to be Debby Downer…I’m just saying, this is just some stuff that I have to think about! I know that if I keep going and continue to get healthier I won’t have worries like that anymore. I also know I’ve already come pretty far, but dang, that finish line still seems pretty far away!

See you soon girls!
Lisa

I haven’t lost as much weight as I was hoping for, but it’s a start, around 20 pounds to be exact. I am proud of myself for that! I’m sure there are things I could have done better, but I did the best I could. I feel guilty if I miss one day at the gym and I don’t see that changing anytime soon… I am a success because I never imagined I could actually lose anything. I have and I will continue to do so. I hope everyone knows that I am in it to win it! Maybe not this competition, but in my journey! Someday I will look back at this experience and KNOW, this is where it all started, because Lisa saw something in me to take a chance on, and I hope to make her and everyone else proud. Love you all!!!

But I am going to get all I can out of these last few weeks so now is the perfect time to fall back a little and reassess. I am about 7 pounds from my goal for this competition so I’m going back to my food “uniforms” for the balance of the competition. I call them uniforms because I eat basically the same things for each meal like our kids dress for school. They wear khakis and polos everyday. It makes for an easy conversation about what they are wearing to school today. I’m going to focus even more on making every workout count as my time becomes more limited. Eliminating food options was an easy way to capitalize on less workout time.

Please don’t think I didn’t work out. On Monday I only worked out once, Tuesday I worked out twice, yesterday I worked out for three hours so I know those seven pounds (and probably more) are within my reach but I’m realizing how much of my daily life is exercising. I do not want anyone to think that I’m taking it easy or that this is easy. Those three workouts from Monday and Tuesday and the three I planned for today made me realize how much I really do. It no longer seems like something I do in addition to everything else it kind of just fits in. Yes, I’m sure my house could be cleaner and I have a Cornell West Reader I really should read but I also like fitting into age-appropriate jeans and walking to and from our children’s’ school without getting winded.

I have a lot of fat to lose before I am satisfied and I know this contest is over in a couple of weeks but I will consider it a win if I get to my halfway point by October 7th. So this really is just the beginning for me. I am definitely on a mission because I have other goals for my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Without this experience I am not so sure I would have set such lofty goals during some typically huge eating days. But with all that I have learned about myself I’m amped because New Year’s is going to be really new for me!

Earlier today while Rita, and Casie, and I were outside running up and down the hill, and basically getting our butts kicked by Todd, a Flab to Fab member came outside and approached us. She told us that she thought we were doing a great job and that she can see a difference in all of us. That was such a great feeling It is so nice when people recognize the work you have put in, and they go out of their way to acknowledge you for it. We have all been working so hard, and it’s nice that people notice it. Especially since, let me tell you, all it takes is one person with one stupid comment to bring you back down to feeling bad about yourself (even if the comment wasn’t really meant to be hurtful). Maya Angelou said “
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Words can have a lot of power, and the feeling they leave can stick with you for a LONG time. We try to teach kids that “Sticks and stone may break your bones…” but words can hurt worse than stones at times.

So, positive words are always welcome, but please keep negative ones to yourself, because once they escape your mouth, there is no way to get them back. A little encouragement goes a long way, and I think it helps to build up some good karma points

‎”God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference.”

The Serenity Prayer has such an important message. There are many things I can’t change and I am learning to accept that. I can’t change that I got to over 300 pounds. I also cannot change the fact that I need to work and can’t always be in the gym as much as I’d like. I can’t change my past mistakes and failures. I have spent lots of tears and wasted energy dwelling on these things. I have gained so much strength and courage during the past couple months. I never thought I would be able to admit how much I weigh and my eating habits on a huge scale like this. I also never thought I’d have the courage to push myself this much and not give up during some intense workouts. I also have the courage to say that I am NOT perfect and still will make mistakes. I know only I can change my life and lose this weight. I am not on The Biggest Loser, I am living real life with real every day struggles. And you know what, I plan on making it the best life possible.

I am not a “gym rat.” I will never be. And that’s ok (it’s also ok if you are). I can say, however, that I enjoy going to the gym now. I like how I feel afterwards. But it is by no means my whole world. What I need it to be is an addition to my life…I don’t need it to be my life. And that doesn’t make me any less dedicated. When I go to the gym, I work my butt off. I push myself. I put everything into my time spent there. But I don’t have to spend 4 hours there to feel like I’m accomplishing something. And honestly, I think that’s OK. I don’t need to be obsessed about working out to lose weight and be healthy. I just need to make sure it’s a part of my life. To me, that is something I can continue for the long term. If I spent too much time at the gym I know I would get burnt out. I would get to the point where I’d hate it. And I wouldn’t want to go anymore. And then where would I be?

As for eating healthy…there are good days and bad days. I am not going to say it’s easy, but it’s something I am conscious of now. And something I want to do now. For me. If I slip up, that’s OK. I’m only human. It does no good to beat myself up over it. And I’m not on a “diet.” That would do me no good. It’s a lifestyle change. I can’t eat right ALL the time, but I can eat right MOST of the time. If I want something sweet, I eat fruit. But I will let myself have chocolate every once in a while. If I didn’t, I’d go nuts. It does no good to deny yourself everything all the time. But it does no good to gorge yourself either. Or just eat junk. I’m not an emotional eater and I don’t eat huge portions…I just didn’t care what I ate…if it sounded good, I’d eat it. I never thought about what it was doing for me…or to me. I didn’t think about food as fuel. But now my perspective has changed. I now eat what I need to for my body…what gives me nutrients and energy.

So, some people would say that I’m not giving 100%. Sure, I could go to the gym 4 hours a day, twice a day. I could eat just lettuce and chicken all the time. But what would that do? I may lose a ton of weight now, but would I be able to keep it off? Would I be able to maintain that lifestyle for a long period of time? Probably not. What I am doing may not seem like much to some, but I am doing what I can consistently do. I am working out on a consistent basis and eating healthy on a consistent basis. I plan on maintaining this. I plan on this being my lifestyle. So, like the tortoise, I am going slow and steady. And eventually, I’ll get there. And once I do – I won’t stop. I’ll just keep going. Slow and steady.

I must say, time isn’t going any slower… Yet the days do just keep getting better. Every day I wake up with a big smile on my face, which only wavers when I move about to shake the soreness from the previous day off. Ah, that constant soreness… It is diminishing with every workout I do. Ah, yet I did kick my own butt this week. Four classes in one day, three of them being directed by Todd? I earned by sore muscles well.

It’s amazing, you know, how I’ve been able to keep at this the way I have. Before all of this started, I would wake up, either depressed, angry, or just dreading the day to come. I would shove whatever food I could find in my face for comfort, (which I never really found with said food), and I would just… Exist. Everything I tried seemed to fail, and I only blamed myself and hid myself away from the world. Before this all started, I was a dreadful person, I think. Yet now, I awaken, leap out of bed, and I’m always ready to head to the gym. I push myself to my very limits each and every day, and to find that my limits continue to exapnd, that I can do so much more, is exciting.

I’m a happier person, even when I’m so exhausted that I can barely walk after workouts. The soreness is welcomed. As I’ve been told to see it, I am my own artisit, and I am the one to sculpt my own body, to work my muscles into what I want them to be. Being a lover of art, such a view is wonderful. I love to draw, and getting an image correct is always tough, especially for a perfectionist. It takes time, effort, concentration, and yet you need to know when to take a break and relax a bit before jumping back in. That s how I’m viewing this competition. Ah, actually, I view it for the way I want to be in general. Not just physically… I’m working hard on the mental, as well. I don’t hesitate as much as I once did. I don’t let little things get to me. My anxiety no longer runs my life… I do. While I’ll always have slight setbacks, (which will happen, because I’m only human), I’m determined to keep pushing forward, and to never give up.

I always used to give in when it came to anything daunting, especially when it included physical straing and whatnot. No more. The old Rita is getting the boot… The new me is bursting forth.

The gym has always been my special sanctuary, now that I have my own gym it is something beyond that, something so embedded in my heart that I can’t even explain. A friend once told me that my mission in life is to change lives, and that I have changed the lives of the women in my gym to a degree that I could never begin to measure…..I hope some of that statement is true. Women go through so much in their lives, they need to know someone is there, that someone cares.

That being said, the contestants are doing well and making gains. They could be doing better….they need to realize that they are still allowing things to control their lives and their eating habits, they are the only ones that can make the difference and not justify things with excuses. It has to be for them and their future. The range in effort in my opinion, goes from 75% to 97%, one woman is obviously standing out. They talk about the end of the contest, not realizing this is just the beginning……..

Lisa

I could have allowed my feelings get the best of me because as terrible as I felt, it would have been easy.  Fortunately, I realized that the time for me to own this had come!  I tried working out but my eating habits were pretty poor.  I never ate breakfast until noon and I had daily bowls of surgery cereal before I went to bed.  I cleaned most of my kids’ plates as well as my own.  Sleep was a luxury.  Do you know how much work you can get done when kids are asleep?!  Ken even bought me an expensive set of DVDs so that I could get workouts in when my day allowed.  I had cycles of working out really hard and then not doing anything for weeks.  I had the desire to change my health and body but couldn’t get it together.  It was about four months of losing and gaining the same six pounds over and over.  Thanks to the exercise and nutrition program at Flab to Fab that six pounds is finally gone for good as well as some of its friends.   I’m fitting clothes that I haven’t worn in years and the nightly cereal thing is no longer a habit.  I am about twenty pounds from my goal for this competition but I am so much closer mentally and emotionally.  My kids deserve to have as many pictures of me as I have of them.

So, for the balance of this contest, I will be working out daily between 2.5 -3 hours, except for Sundays.  I can see some muscles beginning to tone but I can also see that they are beneath some fat that I need to get rid of.  I’m chasing my kids around (and catching them!) and I don’t know if you know but the back of your leg and your behind are two different body parts!  I started this competition trying to figure out how long it would be until I wouldn’t be sore the day after a workout but now I welcome the discomfort.  It means that I am growing, in the right direction.