In March 2012 I went to my Dr for my physical. He was very concerned about my weight and therefore my health. I weighed in at 320 pounds. I've never been a very active person but I had never been over 220 pounds ever. I was at the point where I thought oh well nothing I can do how could I ever lose weight at my age and with my medication helping me gain. I gave up.
I couple months later I decided that being a zombie from all the medication was driving me nuts. I was missing out on my girls lives. So I stopped as many of them as I could without compromising my health. The withdrawal was horrible. I had head aches I was bitchy and had trouble sleeping.
After a month however I noticed that my pants weren't digging into my stomach anymore. 2 more months passed and I went to my dr he weighed me and I had lost 20 lbs. he said it was water weight loss from the pills I stopped taking. No matter the reason it was encouraging. I decided to start eating better and I had a bit of energy now. My girls noticed every time something changed. They are my biggest supporters.
Over the next 6 months or so I lost a bit more weight. I was down to 280 lbs and I thought that was excellent. I slacked off again and became lazy. Until this March. I was sitting in my room attempting to reach my feet and paint my toenails which was a huge task for me then. I saw that my 2 big toenails had turned yellow which I thought was weird. When I picked at the one it came off in my hand and I freaked! 3 days later the other came off.
I went back to my Dr and he said I was lacking in certain vitamins and my weight was dangerous he said I needed to work harder. That night I was sitting alone on the couch and I pictured my girls having to cope in this world without me. I cried myself to sleep and the next day I quit drinking pop, eating junk and I started only eating healthy food and counting calories.
A month later I did the best thing I could ever do. I had thought about joining Jiu Jitsu before but my weight always stopped me, that and the fact that I had secluded myself from social situations for 4 or more years and only communicated on fb and twitter pretty much.
I called MAS and I spoke to the man who would help me change my stars. He was friendly and caring and genuinely wanted to help me. His name is Jeff Harrison and he's my hero. He showed me that I can do anything I just have to work harder than others to do it. He always tells me to stay true to the cause and never give up. Jeff is exactly what I needed to succeed.
My first week at MAS I couldn't even stand up from my knees. Another student, Craig Higgins took time out of his training and let me practice on him. He laid on the ground while I pushed all my 280 lbs off his stomach and struggled to stand. He pushed me on when I wanted to stop. Not many ppl had ever done something like that for me. I started to realize what an amazing place this was.
As the weeks went by I didn't even notice that I was getting better! I could move my body and I didn't lay like a stump under everyone I was learning to fight back. I could stand up and do sit-ups and I was moving my body around the mat easier.
On Mother's Day I bought a MAS t-shirt and went home to model it for my girls they took pics and we joked around. Later I was looking at the pics and I noticed something amazing! I had a waist! For the first time in years I had a waist. I cried.
I have gone to MAS nearly every day since April and last night I earned what I thought would take me a year to get. I got my first stripe! Yes I cried, right there on the mat in front of everyone! And yes I hugged Jeff, with a coach like Jeff Harrison behind me having my back I can do anything. I love that man he's one of a kind!
Thank you for believing in me and never giving up Jeff xx
