More to Lose _ Under 50 Category

Tina O.

I did not get what I bargained for in the 2011 Jump Start Challenge. I expected to lose a few pounds and maybe a couple of inches. That's not exactly what happened. Instead I learned that the numbers on the scale and tape are not such a good measure of success. A more significant measure of achievement is being able to do the things you need and want to do and loving it!

When a person has nine children, like me, they tend to start measuring time by pregnancies. I was a little heavy when I got pregnant with my first child, 22 years ago, and by the time he arrived I was overweight. I reached obesity during my 3rd pregnancy, 16 years ago. When my 8th child was born 3 years ago I was over 300 pounds and thought it couldn't get much worse. I have struggled with depression and extreme fatigue my entire adult life. My energy level progressively dropped over the years. The heavier I got the harder it was to exercise or be active at all. The less active I was the more tired I felt and the harder it was to complete even the simplest task. When I did try to exercise, I would be too tired to do anything else that day. I've never been a morning person but lately I could barely function before 1pm. I called it a good day if I managed to get dressed and put some edible food on the table. I kept dreaming of a schedule where I only had to accomplish one simple thing per day. I had heard people, even doctors, blame my fatigue on my multiple pregnancies or simply the stress of being a mother of many but I know plenty of moms with even more children than I who lead vibrant lives. I knew there had to be a better way. I just had not found it yet. After my 9th Pregnancy I gained 50 pounds in 90 days due to thyroid malfunction. Topping out around 380 pounds, I was desperate for a change. My Doctor recommended a surgical procedure. I researched it and although there were some success stories, there were also a lot of risks. Weight loss surgery was not the right path for me. I really believed that God must have provided a better way, a more natural way to reduce weight! I started changing bad habits I had developed. I began eating less sugar, eating more vegetables and grains, drinking more water, exercising, etc… I lost 50 pounds in a year but still wore the same dress size and I was still exhausted the majority of each day. One friend's success with T-Tapp paved the way to a new life for me.

Just a few weeks before the January Jump Start began a different friend purchased a T-Tapp package and asked me to workout with her. Since I had seen a T-Tapp transformation with my own eyes, I knew T-tapp would work if I worked it. I had only done T-Tapp's Basic Work Out Plus for 4 days before beginning this challenge but I was already feeling a difference in my energy level. I was excited to have something to keep me committed to the program. In the beginning I thought the pause button on my remote was going to wear out. The workouts were hard! I would be out of breath and sweating and burning . You would have thought I'd just finished an hour long aerobics class or run away from a hungry bear. I thought it was amazing how these small movements could produce such a challenge to my body. The workouts seemed to be feeding my mind and body. I had a kind of clarity first thing in the morning that I hadn't experienced until late afternoon for years. No foggy brain, no cob webs to clear out, an actual working brain first thing in the morning! I was able to focus on what my kids were talking about, read some articles, work on the budget, plan dinner, work on my business, all before noon! I began applying T-Tapp principles to my daily life, I reminded myself to keep my back straight and shoulders back when I was working at the computer or walking from here to there. I sucked my tummy in when I was standing in line. My posture was improving and I had an overall feeling of wellbeing.

By the two week mark, I was able to get through the 15 minute workout without stopping (most of the time) I felt stronger and I learned that if I felt hungry, I could T-Tapp and postpone that hunger for an hour or so! Or if I over ate, I could do hoe downs and not feel too full and lethargic. I picked up my 2 year old daughter one day and she felt light, it hadn't been that long ago I felt like she was too heavy to lift! I knew my body was responding to the T-Tapp exercises.

One day during the third week I ate a ton of junk food, much more than normal for me. I thought I was too full to hoe down and I felt miserable when I went to bed. I felt like a huge stuffed olive that night and was sure it was due to my over indulgence. The next morning I was in a sugar induced semi-comatose state. I didn't feel like T-Tapping, I didn't feel like doing much of anything and I didn't. The next day was more of the same, a wasted day, where nothing was accomplished and I was getting tired of being tired. I felt like I was about to spiral downward into another depressive episode. I knew that exercising would help, so I forced myself to put the BWO+ DVD in and I literally drug myself through it. It took nearly an hour but guess what? When I was done, brushed and showered I felt ready to take on the world. I was able to catch up on all the things I had let slide for two days in just one afternoon. Amazing! I vowed to not go another day without T-Tapping, EVER. There is no excuse not to do it. It's only 15 minutes, I can do it regardless of my weight or fitness level, I just do my personal max and the benefits are astounding! This is a permanent life-change for me.

By week four my husband and children had begun to jump in occasionally, I was telling friends how T-Tapp could benefit them and I was looking to get the most from each workout. I started reviewing each exercise in the Fit & Fabulous book and each day I worked on the elements of one exercise to improve my form. When the form is correct for each exercise the affects can be felt instantaneously. Just as the 30 day challenge was winding up, I joined an unofficial T-Tapp challenge among some friends in an email group for women who need to lose over 50lbs so that I can support the ones who are new to T-Tapp, encourage the people who introduced T-Tapp to me and stay accountable.

My final results were a total loss of 10.75 inches. Five of those inches disappeared from my waist and abs. Over the last month my weight bounced around in a 5 pound range, ending 2 pounds heavier than my initial start weight. These numbers are no longer significant, though. I've always wanted a lower weight because I believed that is what it would take to feel better. I was wrong. I know that the pounds and inches will melt away eventually but what I needed the most has already occurred, the fatigue has melted away! I am nowhere close to my ideal weight but I feel great! I am able to do what needs to be done and so much more. I'm waking up, sometimes without an alarm, around 6 am. I'm getting everything that needs doing done every day. I'm catching up on things that have piled up for years. I have time to do fun things with my children. My calendar is filling up with activities we enjoy that I wouldn't have even considered before. My husband says I look better, thinner, happier and I am.

I would love the opportunity to meet Theresa and thank her for my new life. I feel there is so much more for me to learn. I want to be able to get the most out of the moves I've learned from T-Tapp and what better place to learn them than from Theresa Tapp and her team in person? I want to be able to help my children and my friends learn these simple moves that have had such a great impact on my life. 80% of women in America suffer from fatigue due to things like depression, thyroid dysfunction, fibromyalgia, adrenal problems etc…, and I would love to be able to tell them all that there is an answer. T-Tapp! The weight-loss, the new smaller clothes, the weekend in Florida, those would all be little perks compared to what I've already gained in this challenge-- living a better life the T-Tapp way.

VIEW THE OTHER 2011 JANUARY JUMP START WINNERS!