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Success Stories

What made you take that first step to get in shape?
My turning point was a few months before my 20th high school reunion. Our family moved from Chicago about the week after I graduated, and I had not gone back to see anyone, with the exception of some close friends, in nearly 20 years. I thought, “I’m not rich, I’m not famous, and I’m not going back fat.” And so it was April of 2000 and I started the Bill Phillips Body For Life program, you know, where you can lose 30 pounds in 3 months. So I did that and went to my reunion from a Size 14 to a Size 8. The highlight of the whole thing was overhearing one of the guys say to the other “Who’s the blonde?” and I was like “YES!” So that really got the ball rolling. It changed the way I looked at food, working out, and I got interested in distance running the following year.

Any other motivations?
I had outgrown my size 12’s and said enough is enough. I am not going to buy a size 14. There was always the jeans you couldn’t get into or clothes that I looked fat in. I mean now I never really have to worry about clothes that I look fat in. It’s kind of hard to look fat in a size 1 no matter what it is!

Lifestyle changes:
The biggest change was the way I ate. The way homes are designed now, everything goes to the kitchen. To get to the living room, or the bedrooms, you have to go through the kitchen. And when you have kids, nobody eats at the same time, and they never finish anything so you end up finishing it for them. There’s just a ton of calories that you never even think of. Now I don’t eat any fried foods, and added a lot more fruits and vegetables to our menu. My kids are incredible eaters now – my mom never served vegetables. We maybe ate corn and potatoes, or an iceberg lettuce salad. No asparagus, or green beans or spinach. Now we probably eat meat 2 days a week. Not that we have anything against meat, it’s just the way we cook we don’t eat a lot of it.

Biggest accomplishments:
I came in 5th place in my age group at the Lawrence half Ironman last summer. One of the most emotional moments for me though was finishing the Chicago Marathon. I went from not being able to run to the mailbox to completing a 26-mile marathon in 2 years. Crossing that finish line was cool. My time was nothing exciting and I’ve accomplished a lot more athletically now, but just finishing that was a pretty cool experience. And it’s funny, because I could remember thinking “Why would you want to run 26 miles? Who would want to do that?” and now, here I am. And now I’m training for a full Ironman Triathlon in Oklahoma City in September. It’s a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and full marathon run.

What advice do you have for someone who’s ready to take that next step and start getting in shape?
You have to commit to it. You have to decide that you are going to change your life and do it. Then you have to realize that there are people there to help you, and that it’s worth it. I work with a lot of moms, and they don’t make time for it. They are so busy with their kids activities that they don’t fit it in. Just carve out 30 minutes of your day – it doesn’t have to be a whole lot to start feeling the differences. You have to realize that you’re worth it, and that you need it. And most importantly it’s got to be something you can live with. I see people all the time make these choices that they are going to eat only these foods – you can’t sustain that. It’s not something you can live with! I mean, what about this cookie diet? It’s crazy. You just need to have a balanced program.