By Eva T. 2021 $10,000 National Challenge Finalist In the Summer of 2020, I was embarrassed at how much weight I’d gained after having my three kids. My youngest was almost six, and I had slowly gained weight, despite wanting to get back to my healthier self. I was ashamed, uncomfortable, frustrated, and struggling with many health issues. I had tried many times, but didn’t have success and/or couldn’t maintain the momentum, and didn’t stay disciplined. I would get discouraged, mad at myself, blame my body, and quit. To others, I looked happy and like I had it together on the outside. But on the inside, I felt awful. I finally reached a point of surrender and humility, and knew that I needed help and something radically different. My desire to be healthy, fit, and to feel better about myself became stronger than my shame, doubt, and worries. My husband and sister were so helpful and supportive leading up to this decision. I reached out to Farrell's, one of the owners was great. She gave me lots of her time, showed interest in me, asked me questions about myself and what I wanted to achieve, and explained how everything worked at Farrell’s. I decided to jump in. On the very first day, I was nervous but excited. I met a few really nice members and the instructor, and they all made me feel welcome. My first week, I was sore and exhausted, but felt amazing! I wondered why I hadn’t done this sooner. I loved the energy, intensity, and fun in the classes, and loved how I felt afterwards. It felt so good to be putting my needs and health at the forefront again, after being a stay at home mom for the last 11 years and always putting my boys’ needs first. They were happy and excited for me, and cheered me on! That gave me a tiny glimpse into how this could be a good example for them, to see me exercising and taking care of myself and my health. Through my 10 week session, I didn’t miss a single class. I was determined. I loved being surrounded by people, because that motivated me to push myself and not quit when it got hard. I quickly made friends and felt their encouragement and support. I set a goal to get down to a certain jeans size by Thanksgiving, and ended up crushing that goal 2 months earlier than expected! The intangible rewards of my clothes being looser, feeling strong and disciplined, being able to band up on strength training days, making friends, and feeling so supported were amazing! At the end of my 10 weeks, I lost weight, inches, and body fat, and increased my situps, pushups, and flexibility numbers. I was thrilled and so proud! I learned that self-discipline gives me self-confidence. I won 3rd place and the MVP award for our studio. After I completed the 10-Week Challenge one of the managers asked if I’d like to do the 1 year national challenge, and I knew in my gut that it was exactly what I needed: something to have out in front of me to keep working towards. In my second month, my family participated in a squat challenge through FXB. We did squats every day that month, increasing in number each day. It was a great way for us to be active, have fun, and meet a goal together! When Covid-19 shut down the gyms in the winter, I struggled to stick with routine and consistency, working out at home. My three boys were also home, doing full time distance learning. When the gyms could finally re-open, I danced and sang my way into the gym. I was SO relieved! I met regularly with my coach to talk through everything going on, good or bad. I walked out of our meetings feeling encouraged and better, and with a tangible plan moving forward. I have learned SO much about food, nutrition, mindset, exercise, discipline, and strength. I am so thankful to have learned all of this from my coach! I decided early on that I was going to give this challenge my ALL, and my EVERYTHING. I wanted to know at the end, in my heart and in my gut, that I had done everything I could, and was leaving everything on the mat. I didn’t want to regret anything. I am proud to say that I did it! I am thrilled with my results! My weight loss, inches loss, body fat percentage loss, muscle gained, and increased numbers are all something that I’m very proud of. I worked very hard for all of those. But more importantly, I feel that the prize is truly who I have become: strong, confident, healthy, fit, happy, and disciplined. I feel like a new person, renewed and refreshed by learning the skill of taking care of herself and of her health. I am now the best version of myself, and it is incredible. Crushing Goals through Support and Determination
