HI!! My name is Terry. I am a 33-year-old mother of two and have been overweight most of my adult life. Sure I've lost weight here and there and even reached my goal of 110 lbs back in 1991. But within a 2-year period I had gained everything I lost back again and as the years went on I well exceeded the 150lb mark that I had originally started at back then. By January 1998 I had hit an all time high of 206lbs (I'm only 5'0" tall by the way) and was completely disgusted. My husband and I were planning a 10year anniversary trip that year and I was determined I wasn't going away looking like a blimp. So I joined Diet Workshop in March and by our trip in July I had lost 30 pounds. The problem...? I hit that small goal and gave up. I don't really know why but I did and by mid 1999 almost all the weight I had lost was back.
In early January 2000 I decided that I was sick of being the short, fat person I had been for so long. It was time to take control of my life and my eating. I had to make a complete lifestyle change. The first thing I had to do was find a plan that worked for me, there are so many out there that picking the best one for me was a tough decision. On January 19th, 2000 I joined LA Weightloss Center and immediately knew that this was a plan that I could live with for the rest of my life. It was a very well balanced food plan that would teach me how to eat and combine all the different food categories for a healthy, steady weightloss. I tipped their scales at 198.25 and set my goal at 120 pounds. At that point I was wearing around a size 22-24 and lived in stretch pants because I refused to buy a pair of jeans that big. I had a long way to go but had finally found an eating plan that I would be able to stick to and get the results I wanted.
Late January I went searching around the WEB to see what kind of stuff was out there for weightloss support. The first support board I found was solely for people on LAWL and was a really great help for me just starting out so I could ask questions and get information about the eating plan I was embarking on. The other support board I found is called the "NO EXCUSES TEAM" (the NET SISTERS). We are a group of women from all over the world with one common goal...to loose weight and become healthier people. This support group has become a lifeline for me both in my weightloss journey and in my everyday life. The ladies on this board are all wonderfully terrific people and we have all become great friends. I don't think I could've come this far without all their help and support. THANK YOU LADIES!!! Within the first two months I had lost 21 pounds and over 11 inches. I was now totally committed to reaching my weightloss goal this time. After the 2nd month I decided to throw exercise into my plan. I have tried a lot of different exercise plans but never really found one that I really enjoyed doing, so consequently I never stuck to anything.
This time I decided to give Billy Blank's Tae-Bo videos a try. Well, it only took one time and I was hooked! This was the most invigorating, fun workout I had ever done. I started off slow with the original Studio Basic tape only doing it 3 days a week. I must say that the 1/2 hour Basic tape was quite a handful at first. Within the first 10 minutes I thought I was going to die, but I just kept on plugging through it until I could finally make it all the way to the end without having to stop and take a break. After the first 4 weeks of doing Tae-Bo I had dropped 10 more inches and I was hooked! I now knew I'd never be able to go back to being the sedentary person I once was. I did that for about 2 months. I then moved on to the "Live" Basic tape, which has a faster pace, really great music and is a lot of fun. What I enjoyed even more than the workouts themselves was how Billy talks to you and helps you find the strength to go on from deep inside you. He works your whole body, mind and spirit. I had to (and still have to) reach deep into myself to find the strength to go on sometimes. I am now a stronger person from the inside out because of it. In June of 2000 I switched to the Advanced tapes and signed up to get new volumes every month. I loved getting the new tapes because each workout always threw a new challenge my way. Each tape worked different parts of my body in different ways and I never got bored. I was working out in my living room 5-7 days per week and was seeing wonderful results. The muscle tone I was building just by doing Tae-Bo was just amazing, I couldn't believe how toned my arms, legs, buns, abs and the rest of my body parts were getting just by doing Billy's tapes.
I had to go shopping in June for clothes to wear for the summer, none of mine fit. The new clothes were all size 10's!!! I was so excited, I hadn't worn a size 10 in 8-9 years! I also had to go bathing suit shopping this year, a chore I have never looked forward to in the past. But this year was different...I could actually look at the regular sized bathing suits and didn't have to pick from the plus sized bathing suits with the little skirts on them. I ended up buying 3 bathing suits because I was just so blown away over what fit me I couldn't make a decision. The best part was that not only did I walk out of that store with three bathing suits that day but, that one of those was a TANKINI and the other was a BIKINI!!! A bikini??? ME?? Not in my wildest dreams!!
I was still 30+ pounds from my goal in June but was in smaller sizes thanks to the muscle I was building. By the end of the summer I was less than 20 pounds from my goal. On October 18th, 2000, exactly 9 months from when I began...the big day finally arrived! The day I had put so much effort into reaching! I reached my goal of 120lbs.
LAWL now put me on their Stabilization Plan, which started adding in more of the foods I loved. I learned how to control the portions so that I could enjoy food but keep my weight off.
I also decided that now was a good time to start doing some weight training to tone and tighten up the muscles I had worked so hard to find. I now do strength training at the gym three days a week for an hour at a time along with a half-hour of cardio work. My cardio work at the gym includes a mix of running, the elliptical trainer, and the stepmill. I had not run in any way, shape, or form since the 6th grade, so I NEVER thought I'd ever run again. On the days I don't go to the gym I still do Tae-Bo right here in my living room 3 days a week. I do take a day off every week to give my muscles a rest and let them recuperate after a hard week's work.
I am now officially on the Maintenance Plan from LAWL. I weigh 113 pounds with a body fat percentage of 17.5% and I now wear size 3 jeans. I even fit into some 0's and 1's. I've never been this small before in my life.
My husband is in the Military and has been stationed overseas for most of my weight loss journey. He left in May and came home on leave for 20 days at the beginning of December. He knew I had lost all the weight and even knew my measurements but nothing prepared him for what he saw the day he got off that airplane. He was totally blown away at the sight of his "NEW & IMPROVED" wife. I was smaller and more muscular than he ever expected. He just couldn't believe that I was the same woman that he had to leave behind 7 months earlier. The amazement in his eyes the whole time he was home made all my hard work so worth it. He could actually wrap his arms all the way around my waist and then some. What an incredible feeling!! He and I went on a huge shopping spree for Christmas. I found out that I can shop in any store I choose and find things that will fit and look terrific on me! You name it; I came home with it, everything from miniskirts to jeans and from nice blouses and sweaters to T-shirts. We had more fun together just trying on different things. I was putting on a fashion show for him and he was picking out different clothes to try on. What a great feeling to do a fashion show for my husband. It was like two little kids in a huge candy store who wanted to taste test (try on) everything in sight.
Every so often there are formal Military functions that we need to attend. For the first time in my life I can go out and find the perfect gown knowing that when I walk into that room filled with all the soldiers and their wives that I can hold my head up high knowing that I look fabulous. I have so much self-confidence and truly am happy with myself for the first time in a very long time.
I'm convinced that I definitely would have lost the weight with the LAWL plan, but coupling that plan with the vigilant workouts that I did is what got me to where I am today. I will NEVER go back to being that other person I once was. It feels so great to be healthy and keep up with my kids and my husband again. I even have my kids exercising with me now. We really have a blast doing the Tae-Bo Junior tape together. If I can instill healthy exercise habits in them now at a young age hopefully neither of them will ever have to go through a weight problem themselves. After accomplishing all this I sit here now and think, "What's next, where do I go from here?" The answer...? Keep on doing what I'm doing. Just because I have lost the weight does not give me the license to go back and eat the way I used to. Food will always be an issue in my life, its up to me to take control of what I put into my mouth on a day to day basis and take the initiative to diligently keep my workouts going. My workouts to me are like an insurance policy, without them my weight would almost surely come back on ten-fold. That is why I never looked at my journey as a "DIET". It has been a complete lifestyle change and I vow to keep up the changes that I have made so I will never go through this again. The perks of being healthy and feeling terrific about myself are just too great to give up.
My advice to anyone who is just starting out or thinking about starting out on a weightloss journey would be:
#1 - Find an eating plan that you will be able to stick to and live with the rest of your life. If it is too complicated or restrictive to fit into your lifestyle you will never be able to stick too it and could be setting yourself up for disappointment. So check into all the different plans that are out there (commercial and noncommercial) and go with whatever will work for you.
#2 - Move your body. You don't have to do a lot of strenuous exercise to see massive results. Just like an eating plan, your exercise plan should be geared to you, do what you enjoy. If you're not having fun you won't stick to it!
#3 - Keep a positive attitude!!!!!! This is probably the most important thing I could say. "If you think you can, you can...If you think you can't, you won't"
Below I have listed my starting weight and measurements and my weight and measurements I am now.
Weight as of Jan, 2000.....198.25 pounds
Weight as of Dec, 2000.....113 pounds
MEASUREMENTS
Bust as of Jan, 2000..........46"
Bust as of Dec, 2000..........32.5"
TOTAL LOST....................13.5"
Waist as of Jan, 2000.........41.5"
Waist as of Dec, 2000.........24"
TOTAL LOST....................17.5"
Hips as of Jan, 2000..........50"
Hips as of Dec, 2000..........33"
TOTAL LOST....................17"
Thigh as of Jan, 2000.........27.5"
Thigh as of Dec, 2000.........18"
TOTAL LOST....................9.25"
TOTAL POUNDS LOST.......85.25 POUNDS
TOTAL INCHES LOST.......57.25 INCHES
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