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| Thursday, Jan 10 2008 9:28 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jan 10 2008 9:28 AM
Weight Loss Journey
By Tammy Crompton
For most, weight management is a life-long struggle; it is no different for me. Even now as I work as a personal trainer and assist people in reaching their body image goals, I struggle against a sluggish thyroid that makes permanently losing body fat a challenge.
As a child, I was the fat kid, picked last in sports and shunned by all the boys and girls. The summer before my senior year of high school, something unexpected happened: I lost 52 pounds!
Unfortunately, my “skinny years” were short lived. Because my opinions about food had not changed, the weight returned and brought friends. Over the next 20 years, I would have three children and fall into all of the traditional traps. While running my children from event to event, we would usually eat fast food. I tried dieting and even joined a gym. I must have gained and lost the same 50 pounds 100 times. At my peak, I weighed more than 230 pounds! There appeared to be no end in sight until my daughter Michelle asked for a gym membership for her 12th birthday. My life would never be the same.
We hired a personal trainer for Michelle to learn the proper way to use the equipment. During her sessions, I would walk on the treadmill. One day, her trainer talked to me about my fitness goals. I opened my mouth to say that I had none. But what came out of my mouth was how desperately I wanted to lose weight.
He convinced me to give training a try and I was amazed at what happened next. I found that I really loved working out with free weights. It was fun and exciting to discover that I was just as good at lifting weights as the guys in the gym. I learned about exercise technique and proper eating. Most importantly, I lost weight and kept it off. Working out became more than just a means to an end for me, it became an important part of my life. Sixty or so pounds from my goal weight, my trainer moved to L.A. Through sheer stubbornness, I pushed through to lose another 50 pounds and eventually quit my job to become a personal trainer!
Being overweight and unhealthy is not a genetic defect, it is a lifestyle choice. Through learning to make proper food choices, gaining appropriate exercise information, making a plan and following it through, any of us can change our bodies. Who knows, one day you may find yourself leg pressing 1,000 pounds. I did and it was an amazing rush!
Tammy Crompton owns IFS Exercise & Nutrition Center.
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Love Through Thick and Thin ... Literally!
By Ingrid Stockton
I have had to battle my weight since high school. During the course of 25 years, I have lost more than 400 pounds on five different diet plans. I always reached my goal weight on these plans, but I could never keep the weight off, and every time I gained more back than I had lost.
My fifth and final attempt, which entailed having a gastric bypass, was finally a success for me. Because of the surgery, I have maintained a 200-pound weight loss for the past nine years.
Finally, I can buckle my own seat belt, cross my legs, fit in movie theater seats, sit in a restaurant booth, walk through a turn-style, fit into the same clothes season after season, and shop in the “clearance” section.
After losing this weight, I was unrecognizable to many of our acquaintances and sometimes received a lukewarm “hello” because people thought my husband had left me for a new wife. I guess I should have appreciated their loyalty to me. As a joke, my husband now introduces me as his fifth wife.
I feel like our marriage vows, taken over 34 years ago, have really been tested. My husband stuck with me through thick and thin.
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My Personal Weight Loss Journey
By Julie Dickerson
In October 2005, I attended my 30-year high school reunion weighing 215 pounds. I was mortified for all my old school mates to see me so overweight. It was after the reunion that I decided I was finally going to make some changes.
I began exercising on a stationary bike loaned to me by a friend. At first, I could only ride the bike for five minutes. Each day I would try and add some more minutes to my workout. Before I knew it I was able to ride for 30 minutes a day.
I started changing my eating habits by excluding all the white foods (bread, rice, pasta and potatoes) and eating more salads instead of pizza or cheeseburgers. I cut out my everyday Pepsi and replaced it with water or ice tea. By December 2005, I was down 35 pounds by simply eating right and exercising. It was amazing to see how really quickly it was coming off with no fad diet, pills or surgery!
In January 2006, I began working out with a personal trainer three days a week. On the days I didn’t work out at the gym, I would work out each night in my bedroom. I would work out to different DVDs or floor exercises, lifting weights, aerobics and riding the bike. By June 2006, I was down to 150 pounds. I had gone from a size 18 to a size 8 in nine months. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe, since everything I owned didn’t fit. It was so much fun to be able to shop in any store I wanted and not have to find the plus-size section.
My husband of 20 years feels like he has a whole new wife. I truly had an extreme makeover. My husband has been totally supportive and constantly tells me how proud he is of my commitment. He enjoys buying me new clothes and can’t keep his hands off me! The makeover has completely changed our marriage and our sex life. I no longer have to have the lights off and the covers over my body. I’m no longer ashamed of my body and can actually look at myself in the mirror and like what I see.
I turned 50 this year and was excited about it instead of feeling awful about myself. I would encourage any woman who feels ugly and depressed to get off the couch and start moving. Just start out a little at a time and you’ll see results and the results will keep you going. I exercise every day and my way of eating has changed forever. It’s not what I call a diet, but a way of life now. I don’t necessarily always want to exercise every night, but I do because I love the results. I now have muscles where I had dimples and curves where I had bulges. Life is good at 50 and getting better every day!