I was looking back in my scrapbook at old newspaper clippings of days in high school when as an athlete I used to run track, one clipping says”Little Places 1st in 300 Meter Hurdles at the Triangular Meet”. Looking back on that I never thought that I would be 273 pounds and out of shape at the age of 39. The beginning of my weight problems started when I was in high school. Although I controlled my weight around 120-125 pounds, I still had struggles. I would always compare myself to other people. I was obsessed with trying to be thin. I would yo-yo diet and take laxatives if I ate too much. I didn’t realize I was heading my body physically and my mind mentally down an unhealthy dieting disaster. Once I graduated school and went to college I gained the typical freshman 10 and continued my “dieting tricks” to loss weight fast. When I got married I was at about 135 pounds. When I found out I was pregnant with my first child I thought I had been given a free coupon to the buffet line. I was eating everything in sight. Did I mention that I had stopped exercising? Bye the time I reached 9 months I was 205 pounds. A year later I had my second child and was up to 220. Over the next several years I tried all kinds of diets to try to take the extra weight off. I wanted a fast quick fix and if I didn’t see immediate results I would get frustrated and quit. I was successful at losing 5-10 pounds but only to gain it all back plus some. I continued this destruction for 7 years. In Jan. 2008 I had reached 273 pounds. I was miserable, unhealthy, ashamed, and depressed. I thought, this isn’t me, how did I let myself get so out of shape. It was time to do something about it. A friend had told me about a contest that was going to happen called The Big Loser. So I decided to join and my journey for a new life began. After my first week of the big Loser I went for my second weigh-in to see how much I had lost. I had worked really hard that week and thought I would have a big lose but to my disappointment I only lost a pound. I will never forget that day. It was my breaking point. I was so upset I went out to my car, set there and cried!! I thought I was never going to make it. It’s the worst feeling in the world! I called my best friend and she suggested that I see Rebekah for personal training. I thought to myself there’s no way I can do training in my kind of shape!! Well, after several more weeks of dieting and weighing in with little to no weight loss I decided to give it a try. I gave Rebekah a call. I had my first week of cross training and it was great. All of my fears were put to rest about training. Rebekah made me feel comfortable in myself and she helped give me the confidence to do the workouts. Her “techniques” helped me to stay focused and driven. As I continued to workout the pounds started dropping off. Rebakah taught me how to make exercise fun and different. I can remember looking at Rebekah’s trophies on the wall and asking her if she thought I would be ready to run the 5k Broom Corn race in Sept. Without hesitating she said of course you can. I had a mission and a goal!! When Rebekah and Tish decided to do the boot camps I was very excited. I joined right away to secure my spot. I did both the summer and fall boot camps. It helped me to continue my journey and set new goals. At the end of October I was down to 225. Also, my scrapbook has a new page. I’ve added a paper with red bold numbers that say 571. That was my number for the 5k race I ran in September!! I hope my story inspires you to pull out those old scrapbooks, reflect and add some new pages to improving your life!! My journey is yet a long one but well worth the travel! Watch my transformation.