Weight has been something I have struggled with throughout my life, as a child I experienced the teasing and taunting that typically come along with carrying around some extra weight. In high school I slimmed down naturally, I did not diet or really exercise, just got smaller; I was still one of the “biggest” of my friends. My mom had always told me it would happen, and it had.

Unfortunately this was a somewhat short lived period in my life, as I went to college and gained the horrible “freshman 15.” This point in my life is when dieting began; I tried slim-fast, diet pills, frozen “diet” dinners, etc. Anything I could control on a college budget at home, I tried. Counting calories is typically what I fell back on, sometimes limiting myself to unhealthy amounts of food a day. I would lose some weight, maybe 5 to 10 lbs and go back to eating “normal.” At which point all the weight would come right back. This trend happened for a few years, and then I got engaged. Why do “happiness” and weight gain always seem to go hand in hand? I reached my highest weight, of 232.

After getting married, and sub sequentially having that marriage fail put some perspective on things. I lost weight when my marriage ended, not in a really healthy matter, and that weight returned. Almost a year after my marriage ended, I got back on the scale and to my horror it read 229. I was in shock, and couldn’t believe it, so I started watching what I ate. I started taking the stairs at work, instead of the elevator, and just tried to cut out some of the food that I knew was completely unhealthy. After losing almost 20lbs in this matter, I set up a consultation.

My initial meeting with Stephen was intimidating, I did not know exactly what to expect. I just knew that no matter how much I wanted it, that I would not really lose weight on my own; based upon previous life experience. Going into this with an open mind helped, I told Stephen my initial goal was to be healthier and to lose weight. I did not have a set amount or have an ideal body shape I wanted to attain. I just wanted to be healthy; I think this has helped me achieve the results I have.

Since July 2007, I have learned a lot. I have gone through a transformation that I never thought was possible; people I knew from last year do not ever recognize me half the time. I have gone from a size 18 to a size 4 in jeans.

Some important things I have learned from working out, losing over 80 lbs (so far), and Stephen.

• -          You don’t have to do it on your own.
• -          It’s okay to ask for help.
• -          You’re going to fall down, just make sure you get back up.
• -          It’s hard; don’t let anyone tell you it’s going to be easy.
• -          Don’t assume you can’t do anything, because you’re only harming yourself.
• -          Mind over matter.
• -          If it hurts, that just means your doing it right. It’s called muscle fatigue, get used to it.
• -          If it hurts the next day, your one step closer to a healthier you.
• -          It’s okay to ask questions.
• -          Whining won’t help, just keep going it is only an hour
• -          If it really hurts, it’s okay to say so.
• -          It’s okay to cry.
• -          Running is your friend, or at least cardio.
• -          The treadmill won’t throw you off the back, trust me. J
• -          Trust your trainer; they know what they are doing.
• -          It’s okay to have fun.

In terms of changing your diet, or as I prefer healthy eating, that is probably going to be more challenging than adding exercise. I know it was for me, being a student running around all day fast food was my main source of food. So naturally I ate only salads…yeah right. I liked the stuff that is the worst, most of the time. So that was one of the first things to go, no more fast food. No more sweets, and being a chocoholic, trust me this was no easy task. Stephen told me I got a “cheat day” where I could, well eat more what I wanted but he warned not to go over board. In the beginning I took advantage of my cheat days, they were wonderful I ate whatever I wanted and knew it was “okay.” But it began to seem counter productive, to me at least. So now I do not really use my cheat day, or at least a specifically designated one. I tend to have at least one night a week, that seems to change where something comes up that requires me to eat out, or celebrate some occasion or another. So I save my “cheats” for these random times, and if they don’t happen then I just keep eating healthy, it saved my sanity. You learn to not crave the sweets and fast food, your body adapts. It takes 28 days to make a new habit, so it will take at least that long to break one. Cut out sweets for a month straight, no cheating. And after 30 days, if you reward yourself with something sweet, I can almost guarantee you that you’ll get a sugar rush and it will be too rich. It makes desserts even more special, and more decadent.

As for rewards, they are totally necessary for you. I began and still reward myself mostly with exercise related purchases. I will get a new workout outfit, or a heart rate monitor, new shoes, mostly new workout clothes. I do also purchase new clothes, but this is more on a need basis as I have not wanted to purchase too much, only to shrink out of it.

Stephen has helped me to achieve things that I never thought possible, I cannot wait to see how far I can push myself with his help to see what surprises are still in store in this journey towards a healthier me. I have now achieved things beyond what I could comprehend when I began, so I now believe anything is possible.