Winners / Misty D.

Misty D.

21.03% weight loss (39.2 lbs)*

*Results not typical

She Believed She Could and She Did. These are words that I have lived by most of my life. Most of my life until the last few years. The last few years seemed to be more of survival mode: a bad divorce, death of a parent, hypothyroidism with a 70-pound weight gain and a dear friend telling me that I had “lost my sparkle.”

My final breaking point was going to see a surgeon for a gall bladder removal consult. He was in the room for about 30 seconds and told me that what I really needed was gastric bypass because I was fat and would always be fat. He told me women like me with hypothyroidism who are close to 40-years-old won’t ever be able to lose weight. I left his office feeling crushed and defeated. Who was he to tell me that I couldn’t lose weight? Had I really lost my sparkle like my friend said? I knew now was the time that I needed to start believing in myself again. I wasn’t sure how yet, but I knew I could.

I had driven by the large Life Time Fitness in my area a million times and was always intimidated by it. What I didn’t know at the time, is that it would assist me in my journey to believing again. As I finally entered Life Time at the end of May, I was overwhelmed. During the tour I saw a sign that said 60-Day Challenge, Weigh-In Weekend. I knew I wanted to do this. I wanted to know more.

Then I met Patrick Edenfield. I knew right from the start that he was a good fit for me. He asked me about my goals and what I wanted to accomplish. He was wearing a shirt that said “We Commit to Help You Succeed.” I could tell by his energy and passion that he would be committed to help me succeed.

I signed up that day for the 60-Day Challenge for Weight Loss. I left the gym with the D.TOX program to give myself a kick-start and an appointment for my RestingMetabolicAssessment. I was on my way to believing in myself. I was determined I could do this.
I signed up for personal training and nutritional coaching with Patrick. I made an agreement with him that I would believe in him, if he would believe in me. Next, I did my resting metabolic testing and it showed that I burned 1,379 calories resting. This was more than I was expecting, but less than I would have liked to see! I followed this by the ActiveMetabolicAssessment that gave me the zones for my fat and cardio burn —optimizing my fat-burning potential.

All of this work and the 60-Day Challenge had barely even started. They say it takes a village to raise a child; it often felt during the 60 days that it took a village to support me. I woke up at 4:30am to get to the gym at 5:30am for fasting cardio with my friend. There were also days that we would mix it up and do Barre class. I did personal training twice a week with Patrick. I also went to yoga class with other friends to do something different and to stretch my sore muscles. The gym that I had once driven by and felt so intimidated by had now became my happy place and my safe haven.

It would have been easy in the last 60 days to have stopped and not believed that I could have achieved all that I have done. My stepfather had been in the hospital during the competition. On top of working full-time and continuing my workouts, I wanted to be there to support my family. In addition, about 30 days into the competition I started feeling terrible; my body was weak, and I was achy all over. I was diagnosed with the shingles and told by my physician that I had to stop what I was doing and give my body a rest because it was overworked. I was devastated because I had been working so hard and was determined that I wasn’t going to give up.

Over the next 60 days, I looked forward to walking across the parking lot into those double doors. I knew as soon as I walked in I would be greeted with a “Good morning” and “Enjoy your workout.” Once this had been an unfamiliar voice, but now I look forward to seeing a familiar face, a friend.

As I walk up the stairs to start my workout, I smile at the familiar faces I meet in the hallway and the other 60-Day Challengers I have met along the way. As I start my workout, I see the other trainers I have met while working out with Patrick who say “Keep up the good work” or Sarah who walks by with another client to do another metabolic assessment and says, “You’re looking great.”

I am thankful for this journey, for the friends and family that have supported me, and for the new friends that I have met along the way. Not a day goes by that a stranger, co-workers, friends and family do not compliment me on how great I look. I love it. It makes me sparkle and it gives me the opportunity to tell them about something that I am so passionate about with Life Time. There are so many options at Life Yime, there is something for everyone!

I have found my sparkle again by believing I could and doing it! We only get one body; we have to make it last a Lifetime!