Y-lose it

Me,  my trainer Kayla, and my team partner Beth at the awards night

This February I started a program at the YMCA called Y-lose it.  It was a modified version of "The Biggest Loser"  I need to stop making excuses for not losing weight and just do it.  So I signed up and I can say it changed my life.   I met with a trainer twice a week for 13 weeks and I had one other team member.  My trainer was amazing and she pushed us hard.  The first few weeks I thought I was going to die, literally die!  Every week things got a tiny bit easier and she would some how find the next threshold of pain I could endure.  I am glad she was tough, but at the time I did not like it.  I worked out 6-7 days most weeks and changed my diet drastically and the pounds came off.  About half way through the competition I found out that our team was in the lead and I was the individual leader of all the Y's in lincoln.  This gave me more of a push to want to win the competition because when I signed up I didn't care if I won.  After 13 long weeks I had achieved one goal and that was to win.  We won both the team portion and I won the individual portion.  I lost 47.5lbs total.  There were 57 other competitors and several teams at each Y.  Most importantly I have my health back.  My resting heart rate when I started was 72.  It came down to 57 by the end.  I was able to do 9 push ups and ended by doing 50.  I did 30 situps in 1 minute in the beginning and maxed out at 60 by the end.  My sit and reach improved, my 3 minute step test heart rate when from 148 to 110.  my body fat came down by 7% I think.  I had my yearly physical and all my blood work came back good and my cholesterol was 126!  I also thought I would never be able to run much again and I have ran 6miles.  Something I have never done.  I usually run about 5 miles now, but I couldn't even run a mile when the program started.  I still have some more weight to lose, but I am taking it slower now.  I need to learn how to adapt back into the real world and be able to make smart choices.  I am so happy that I was able to do it and it feels great to be healthy for my kids and husband. As a prize for winning the competition I got $200 as the individual winner and $100 as the team winner.  Not too shabby.  I cannot thank Kayla enough for all her help, encouragement and pushing me to my limits. 

I didn't take a picture of my team check.  It came later and I forgot.