Living A Dream

One Year Anniversary!

The Horrific, Dreaded, Scary Prince Erik and Fawndear BEFORE....

Who are these good-lookin, o.k. I know that's a bit of a stretch, healthy looking folks. US AGAIN.

One year ago yesterday, I got this terrible pain in my thighs, biceps, whatever those non-existent stomach muscles are called, etc. You name it and it hurt. My pain was caused by a personal (torture) trainer named Lexi. Just kidding, she was awesome and didn’t torture me too much. But that was also the day I started living a dream. It wasn’t easy, I actually had to do the very hardest thing possible – put myself first.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Let me condense this ultra long story. Had six kids and packed on approximately 10 extra mommy lbs. per child. Right after I had number six I started shaking in my boots or crocs, whichever you prefer, literally. Nine months after the shaking started, countless specialists and of course the good old process of elimination, they diagnosed me with Essential tremor. Kind of sounds like a pregnancy, nine months of anxiety and finally the blessed arrival has a name. But finally knowing a name is much better than not knowing anything.

Anyway, back to the story. To make matters worse I cut back on my activity because activity seemed to make the tremors worse. Gained 20 more lbs. The bad news was that the tremors still increased, those pesky things. Took up the hip fashion of walking with a cane when my tremors started affecting my head and balance. But hey, at least I had something to thump my kids with if they gave me lip. Also gave up night driving because headlights made me blink like crazy. Made my poor slave children pull me in a rickshaw on family vacation because I couldn’t haul my own overly large carcass around. Took care of six kids and my kid husband on 40% capacity. Felt like an 80 year old lady with a soul of a teenager. Started taking umpteen medicines to control tremors, anxiety and frustration over what I can no longer do. Saw the downward spiral and finally hit ROCK BOTTOM! And you guessed it, finally did something about it. Yes, that was the condensed version. The unabridged version would take all day and then some.

My husband and I finally humbled ourselves to the point where we knew that we could no longer tackle the fat clutter monster that had consumed our bodies. So we turned to the professional’s at Pro Sports Club 20/20 Program. In the United States, of the people who lose weight only 1 to 2 percent of them are successful at keeping their weight off. At the 20/20 program 48% of them succeed. We wanted the odds in our favor. Believe me, they hit you from all angles possible, personal trainers, dietitians, Dr.’s, Psychologists, Group counseling. I estimated in my case I spent 15-17 hours a week traveling to and from, working out, or in meetings with the dietitian, group and counselor. You cannot help but do well because you are accountable to so many other people, every day. By the time the program is over, you are accountable to yourself as well.

It actually worked. Here I am a year later. No meds whatsoever. I keep pinching myself to let myself know this dream is reality. Down 70 plus lbs, with my first ever 5k's (three of them), two sprint-triathlon’s and just last month a half marathon under my belt. Look out Iron man (kidding)! But the biggest wowwie is the miracle that occurred along the way. My tremor’s all but disappeared. Now they only sneak in when I’m extremely tired, anxious, or in super cold weather. Good-bye cane, frustration, low self-esteem, excuses, etc.

It wasn’t just me, either. My husband dropped 80 lbs and is now lighter than when I met him in college. He got over his sleep apnea, constant reoccurring headaches and almost totally eliminated his high blood pressure meds. Our kids couldn’t help but be affected as well. I won’t even begin to recount how many times they accidently dropped their pants because they forgot to wear belts. Help, we are in desperate need of a wardrobe makeover around here.
We even had to come up with a code name for Evo-man to remind him to pull his pants up. All we have to do is say the word ‘Football’. That’s code for, ‘Hike you pants up son, your showing a little too much of your BVD’s and I’m blushing with embarrassment.’ As a family we have lost probably around 180 lbs.

Thank you, Lexi, Dani, Dr. Burner, Dr. Strater, Dr. Upton, Azucena, Peter, Paula, Michelle, my Great Friend Kami who did the program with me so we could swap kids, and everyone else who helped us find ourselves last year. Oh, happy dream!!!