Holly is truly a success story! When she first came to boot camp she showed the desire and hunger for a better life. She is one of the most consistent dedicated boot campers that I have. She has followed every direction that I gave her without question and put her confidence in me 100%! I am so proud of Holly and feel blessed to have her as a friend and client. Way to go Holly!!!
My initial struggles with food and body image started in the 7th grade. My best friend and I decided it would be smart to starve ourselves during the day satisfying our hunger with only hard candy and then for dinner have a bagel and a huge Mountain Dew. I’m positive this actually stunted my growth as I should probably be a lot taller than I am now. I played all of the typical sports in high school but was never really taught about nutrition or the importance of exercise beyond two-a-days. During college I joined a women’s only gym but hardly ever ended up going; I also would resort back to the same old starvation habits when I felt the scale was creeping up too far.
At the beginning of 2007 I had foot surgery and was basically getting no activity for three months during the recovery period. Over the next few months my weight slowly crept up and up, leaving me with no choice but to buy pants in a size I thought I would never be. In February of 2008 I joined Weight Watchers and ended up dropping 13 lbs but wasn’t really doing anything for exercise. Then I decided to join a small gym and hire my own personal trainer for 10 sessions; which was great as I dropped another 12 lbs. However, I felt like I was at a point where I could go no further, even if I added more weights to the machine I wouldn’t see the scale budge which was very frustrating. A few months after my final trainer session, I began to see the scale start to increase by 1 then 2 lbs. I knew I needed to do something different this time.
My friend Ashlee convinced me to join her at a CrossFit boot camp with Coach Zach. She told me he was one of those trainers that wouldn’t let you get by just giving it 50% - he wanted 150% and by the end of class you would know you had pushed yourself to the max as you would leave a complete ball of sweat. I initially thought it was something I would not be able to afford but she told me to stop buying the clothes I wasn’t happy with and spend that money on the program. She said before you know it you’ll be back in to your old clothes which were already the smaller size I was after. I took that advice and now I’m back in to my favorite pair of shorts from high school (even though they are a bit dated I love knowing I can still fit in them).
After the trial boot camp I went home and debated overnight and by Sunday I had decided to sign up for a 6 month term. A few months in to the program I met with Coach Zach on a one-on-one basis, he went over the Zone diet with me and told me if I wanted to see results I had to change my eating habits. It was hard for me to not count calories and fat since that was what I’d been trained to do. I put a lot of trust in the information he had given and it has worked. Since joining CrossFit in February of 2009 I have lost a total of 43 lbs since I had surgery with the last 22 lbs since joining CrossFit and 3 (almost 4) pant sizes.
The first three weeks of class were tough; I remember having to stop and catch my breath quite a bit but Coach Zach never made me feel bad – he just encouraged me to push it and keep going. I can now keep up with the ‘fast kids’ in my class and I actually use them to push myself harder. This past July I began taking three different supplements from the Advocare Trim line and around the end of September I began to notice the scale nudge down at a much steadier and greater pace. I feel like the supplements give me more energy without any of the caffeine highs other weight loss supplements give you.
I have a new sense of self esteem which I don’t think I’ve had since back in high school. My entire body has lost inches and I feel I can now wear tank tops since my arms have a bit of definition – I never knew girls had those outer upper arm muscles. My legs have also lost inches and I am wearing shorts again instead of suffering through the TX heat in my jeans.
I look forward to each CrossFit boot camp because I know how energized they make me feel. The workouts are different every time so I never get bored or feel like I’m at a gym. Plus the extra weekend boot camps and kettle bell classes are amazing!
5PM and 6:30PM LCRA boot camps getting one more workout in before the Christmas Holiday. My gift to them for being dedicated, hard working and just great friends and clients. I just have to thank everyone that comes and takes an active role in my life and inspires me to push forward and to make changes in my fitness and every day life. I hope everyone has a great Christmas break and and awesome New Year!
