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Yes its true. Beth lost a whole person. No she did not leave someone at the Mall. Pound by pound and inch by inch Beth took off over 150 pounds of excess weight she had carried around for longer than she cared to admit.
Now those of you who have done yo yo dieting much of your adult life can appreciate what a huge feat this is. Beth's results didnt happen overnight and her results didnt occur because she wished it to be.
A little over a year ago Beth made an upfront personal decision that she was going to make her weightloss happen. Next she made a commitment to herself that she was going to do what ever she needed to do to make it happen. Then day by day, week by week, month by month she transformed her eating habits and lifestyle and created her new self. She started by herself and later joined our weightloss challenges where she found additional education, support and accountability that helped her reach her goal.
I am here to congratulate Beth on her amazing focus and dedication and to honor her by being the first of our group to be in the 150 Pound Club.
Just like Beth each of us has the same capacity to achieve the personal results we look for. It starts first with a personal decision and is fueled by unwaivering committment to practicing healthy eating and lifestyle habits. We all have a little of Beth in us. We just have to realize that we can indeed make our personal weightloss goals come true.
Tags: Weight Loss Weightloss Challenge
What can I say? I love to see who wins the weightloss challenges. I am just as excited as the challengers are and I get so excited to see their faces when they get an award or win one of the prizes.
I must confess, I have always been the kind of person who tears up at a good performance. It doesn't matter what it is. I have been accused of getting misty watching a racer set a fastest record for the mile and my favorite college football team for winning the big ten conference. I shed a tear of joy watching with a mother as her special needs two year old took his first step. I beamed with pride as a bedridden eighty year old lady walked across her living room for the first time in seven years while her daughter sobbed tears of joy. And more recently, my heart became lighter when a sixty year old gentleman couldn't stop smiling as he talked about his hundred pound loss in ten months.
What is it about people that touches me so at some level and makes me misty? Its not easy to describe but I will try to give you some of my thoughts and a smattering of my beliefs. The first is that simply put, life sends our way a myriad of challenges we face. Some are a breeze to deal with while others are difficult, sometimes impossibly difficult. How we choose to face those challenges either brings us success or resignation. The challenges are numerous, background, education, gender, health, size, intelligence, mindset, experiences, I could go on and on. Each challenge comes with its unique struggle, physically, mentally and emotionally. Those people who are dealing with weight issues have their unique set of challenges they must overcome to be successful.
The first thing that really gets me going is the first time a challenger loses some weight and has some success. A lot of people entering challenges are beaten down. They have had so many tried and failed attempts that they no longer believe they can be successful. Many have a tiny bit of hope left but they are too afraid to believe that they can change things. They are not yet willing to believe that consistent practice of good eating habits over time will help them get the weight off.
The next thing that is exciting is when a challenger loses enough weight that they start believing in themselves. A small, tiny flame of hope just got a little brighter. The challengers focus a little more try a little harder.
And for a few people, I witness an amazing transformation as they take charge of their lives and consistently practice healthy habits and lifestyles. They are on fire and their focus is laser. Success feeds their flame and there is no stopping them. They find the belief that they can get the job done, the understanding of how to get where they want to go and they consistently practice good eating habits and lifestyles over time. It is not at all unlike the habits of a world class athlete or an old lady who realizes she can walk again.
I am proud to be passing out awards this week to some real class people. I will bring my tissues just in case.
Tags: Weightloss Challenge Diet
That's right!. Holli has hit her fifty pound weight loss last night at the weightloss challenge and she did it in a little under six months. I'll always remember that second when the scales hit below her target weight and the squeal of excitement when she realized what she had done. Way to go girl! So, today I am adding her name to our 50 Pound Club list. Now, why am I telling you this? Simply because it is a huge deal.
People who have never had a lifelong struggle with weight issues may be hard pressed to fully appreciate what an accomplishment this is.
Holli, like a huge growing number of people out there, grew up an overweight child, overweight adolescent and overweight adult. She literally had spent her life trying to figure out how to get the excess weight off and keep it off. Possibly teased and singled out when young. Insurance companies refused to give her health insurance as an adult because of her weight. Weight loss, Weight gain, weight loss, weight gain; the pattern repeated itself and despite her lifelong efforts she was making little headway.
Can you imagine what continued defeat does to you? You keep trying and trying but little by little your hope gets drained away and you risk losing your dreams of a healthy You forever. Yes, some of you understand.
Loss of hope is something I see so much in the weight loss challenges I coach. Yes, the participant's bodies are there and they try to go through the motions but they have stopped believing that it is really, truly possible to get the weight off and keep it off. They try for six weeks or so and then if they don't get the results they think they should have they give up, make an excuse and go back to the same eating habits that got them into the condition that make them that way.
Not this time! Not for Holli! Balanced nutrition, portion control, exercise, learning what to cut down on or avoid and genuine recognition for efforts have changed Holli from someone going through the motions of weight loss to someone who is experiencing what it means to be lower than your weight from high school. Holli is becoming a 'believer' and let me tell you she is on fire!
Keep this in mind, folks, don't give up on your dreams to be a healthier you. There is too much at stake; your weight, your health, your lifestyle and a little bit of your soul. You can do this. Just ask Holli.
Tags: Weightloss Diet Lose Weight
A few years ago I had a lady ask me if she could still have her 2 glasses of wine a day and lose weight. I wanted to say 'Well, duh!!!!' but I held my composure and responded politely. First, let me say the person I am talking about is not any of my current participants in the weight loss challenges-so all of you reading are 'off the hook'. Lets get back to the subject of alcohol and weightloss. Losing weight and consumption of alcohol is definitely a topic that comes up in every challenge. We want to lose weight but we don't want to live the life of a monk to achieve success. My opinion on that is that it's a balancing act, folks. The first thing I do ask them is how much they do drink on a daily or weekly basis, then I ask them 'are they willing to cut back'. For example, if they have two beers a day are they willing to cut back to a Friday reward for good dieting effort. I find people are much more willing to cut back than to give something up completely and that seems to be a good compromise. Here are some information that may help people have a better understanding of what alcohol can do to any well intentioned weight loss program: First, drinking one alcoholic beverage can increase your calorie intake by 200 to 400 calories. The thinking is that drinking may stimulate overeating, especially in social settings; in addition to its dis-inhibiting effects on a person, the calories in these liquids may fail to trigger the mechanism that produces 'feelings of fullness'. Now, pay attention to this: Although alcohol increases a person's metabolism, the amount of fat burned actually decreases. What happens is that the majority of alcohol consumed gets converted to fat by the liver and gets turned into acetate in the blood stream. The body will then burn the acetate instead of liver stores and the result is that you gain weight. Chronic long term drinking reduces muscle mass which decreases your metabolism making you burn fewer and fewer calories packing on the pounds. AND..... for you men out there hoping to get lucky....alcohol reduces testosterone levels for up to 24 hours. You might get away with things when you're 21 but if you're still tossing back the brewskys at 36, you may want to rethink what you're doing. If you drink alcohol and are struggling to lose weight you are going to have to face the decision of what you want more, that second glass of wine or fitting into a smaller pair of pants. You don't have to cut alcohol back completely but if weight loss is what you want you are going to have to cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink. Coach Marji
Tags: Alcohol Weightloss
Promised I'd get back to you on my 5K results. Awhile ago I had entered a 5K race in a big Detroit event. Since I coach people to live healthier lives through nutrition and lifestyle I felt it important that I practice what I was preaching. So I dusted off the old jogging shoes in July and got myself back on track with the jogging I had drifted away from several years ago. What better way to achieve a goal than to actually set one and follow through.
It wasn't easy. You know I am not a spring chicken anymore but I worked at building my strengh, lung capacity and endurance and actually struggled there for awhile but slowly things started to improve. I got to three plus miles doing more jogging than walking. I figured for me, that was good enough. My goal was to finish the first 5K run I had done in over twenty years.
5 AM race day came before you knew it and we were headed downtown to the event in the morning dark and freezing temperatures. Nineteen thousand other people decided to join us. It was exciting to be there. We found our way to the starting line for our event and before you knew it we were off to the finish line.
Now, I am not a Speedy Gonzales but plodded along, having to catch my breath more than I thought I would need to due to a bad upper respiratory infection I caught three days ago. I didn't care. It was great to be there and be a part. It was great to have a goal and complete it, however humble it may be. I crossed the finish line with a big smile on my face, thinking about the next race I would like to enter. My greatest surprise was to come home and look at my race results that were posted on the internet. To my surprise I actually came in 4th place in my age group and gender.
Its the little steps, practiced consistently, over time, that get you to your goal.
Coach Marji
Tags: Weightloss Achievement Races
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