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Just don't give up!!!
For 20 years of my life I have been overweight, which is pretty much half of my life. Even in my teens, weight was always a struggle. Married at a young age, I did what alot of us women do after getting married and having kids. I put all of my effort into my family and nothing into me. Nice clothes were forgotten about and eating became like chewing gum and biting ones nails. A habit!! Although the weight continued to pour on, I ignored that inner voice, and the mirror shaking its finger at me and continued on my insane goal to see how fat I could be. At the age of 39, I woke up one morning and realized just how fat I had become. My legs hurt, my feet were so painful, most times all I wanted to do was stay sitting. I had developed arthritis<or so they thought>, and my hips were so sore that at night I couldn't sleep, on either one of my sides. I had continuous headaches and heart burn. At a whopping 265 pounds and only being 4ft 11, yes, I was freakin huge. I never looked in a mirror. Oh and lets not even talk about the clothes shopping. Ok lets. Clothes shopping was a nightmare. I would cry every time in the dressing room. I would get so hot and tired that most of the time I ended up going home with nothing. I always wore long sleeves and black coloured clothes. I hated summertime, never went to the lake, and hid out in my home as much as I could. I absolutely dreaded family functions, work Christmas parties, and faked so many headaches that I could have hit the worlds record. My mother had passed away when I was only 15 with heart problems. She had just turned 40 yrs young. At 39 I realized I was only one year younger then she was when she died. I was tired of being sick, tired of feeling like I was already 70, and literally feared for my life. So I decided that was enough. And on March 1st of 2000 I started my weight loss battle. I decided that the high protein, low carb diet was the diet for me. For a month not much happened but I was so determined and motivated that I continued. Over the next yr I lost 70 pounds. Then at 195 pounds, my stupid body decided to quit on me. As hard as I tried and as much walking as I did nothing would help. One night on my nightly walk, I walked past the gym. I wanted to go in so bad but feared that all it held was body builders and women that you would only see on a magazines. Because I was still so motivated and determined I went in. I was instantly hooked. I signed up and started to work out on the circuit training. After weeks of this I was seeing no results and my weight still wouldn't move. Then along comes Cabel, my rescuer, my fitness guru. His name was mentioned
to me by a friend, I emailed Cabel my story, and the journey no longer
was mine alone, but ours. November 2001 Cabel's name became a common
word used in my house. It hasn't always been easy. I did however stick
to Cabel's instructions to the letter, and from November to June I lost
another 41 pounds. Then once again my body decided it didn't want to
cooperate with Cabel and I anymore. Because Cabel became a friend as
well as my trainer, and because he cares for every one of his clients,
he could see I needed a break. Tuna was getting harder and harder to
go down my throat, and I felt as though I was growing a beak and feathers
from all the chicken. I was doing 2 hours of cardio a day and getting
quite tired. In the middle of one of our workouts, Cabel gently, but
firmly told me, that, that was enough. Because of Cabels amazing knowledge,
and compassion for people, he could see that I just needed to rest.
From the summer of 2002, to January 2003 that's what I did. I was not
a very good girl and I felt that same pattern begin of seeing how much
food one could consume at once. I gained back 19 pounds, and after that
I swore that would never happen again. February 2003 Cabel became a
very big part of my life once again. Determination and being desperate
to get this done became my motivator. From Feb to now, I have lost 26
pounds, and there is no stopping me. And no stopping Cabel. He is as
committed to finishing this with me as I am. I now weigh 147 pounds,
a total of 118 pounds weight loss so far. I went from a size 46 to a
size 7. I have muscles showing I never even knew existed in the human
body. For that matter, I can feel bones I never knew I had. My feet
never hurt, I very rarely get a headache, I have no arthritis, I can
sleep anyway I want and my hips don't scream at me. I no longer cry
in a dressing room but go, "ohhh yeahhh". If I don't go on
the tread and do my swim every morning I don't feel right. People say
I look 15 years younger. My Dr. says I added at LEAST 15 yrs onto my
life. At 43 yrs old I feel healthier, stronger, happier, then I have
in the last 23 years. I am not stopping till I hit my goal of 125. I
know I was the one who did the work but I owe Cabel so much. His persistence
with me, his understanding, his commitment to see it through with me,
the phone calls, his knowledge, his training program with the weights
and pushing me to give that 100% he expects, all had a very large factor
on where I am today. The constant remarks that I looked good enough,
would have prevailed and I would have given up without him. Just don't give up!!! It IS worth it!!! And don't do it alone. And one of my favourite sayings, "If I can do it, anyone can". Happy fitness everyone. ~ Linda |
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