3rd Place
Less to Lose Category

Harper W.

To be honest, the hardest thing about the Challenge has been the question, “Why do I deserve to win?” I’ve thought about that question during the sixty days.

I have had the opportunity to attend a clinic with Teresa at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, and soon will have the opportunity to attend a clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, with Kirsten Tucker.

There are hundreds of women (and men, I hope) who have entered the contest who may not ever have an opportunity to attend a clinic, let alone a retreat, and it feels a bit disingenuous to write about why I should win when so many other Challenge participants deserve it.

And after all, even if I lose, I’ve won.

I have gained so much these past 60 days; even in the last weeks where I was unable to workout due to a case of bronchitis, which set in on May 23. Kitty was so kind to say, when I asked if I may still participate, “Absolutely! Don’t drop out; just explain it in your essay.” So, I was sick as a dog Memorial Day week, and slept and coughed most of that week away. When I didn’t get better, I went to the doctor on June 3. I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and was told not to work out until it cleared up. I have only a couple of days of antibiotics / inhaler prescription left, and am counting the days until I can T-Tapp again. (*Especially* since the Broom workout came just as I got sick, and I finally nabbed a copy of Women’s Fitness with the TappCore DVD!)

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t stand in KLT/T-Tapp Stance, or “suck and tuck,” or push a shopping cart palms up and lats engaged, or remember “Yes! You can!” while bemoaning the fact I was missing my T-Tapping sessions with Teresa.

I’ve mentioned this story before on the forums; T-Tapp cleared up a nerve problem I experienced after tweaking my leg during a rebounder workout in 2006. This was in 2007, when I first found T-Tapp. My doctor had ruled out a blood clot, but advised that if the numbness in my leg didn’t improve, I’d need more tests to see if it was a disc problem, and possibly need surgery. The numbness didn’t improve, but it wasn’t bothersome, and I didn’t want to face the prospect of surgery. So I didn’t mention it again.

When I started T-Tapping in the spring of 2007, I was surprised and elated one morning while shaving my legs to notice there was no numbness in my right calf any longer. The only thing I changed? Incorporating T-Tapp and buying a new pair of shoes. I don’t think it was the Nikes.

I’ve been working out with home videos since the mid-90s; tapes from The FIRM, its off-shoot FitPrime and WHFN, Cathe Friedrich tapes, Lotte Burke tapes, etc. None of those tapes has given me the results T-Tapp has – sure, my muscles grew.  Certainly, they toned and tightened. But T-Tapp is more than just a physical manifestation of health, and has given me a much better understanding of the way in which muscle, bone, the lymphatic system, and neuro-kinetic flow works…in other words, how this machine of a body God gave me works.

I set out to do this Challenge with one goal: Be consistent with workouts. I decided I would not diet during the challenge, would not “weekend warrior” it up and go crazy with workouts. I just wanted, – after three years of traveling for work and seeing my body get soft and out of shape – consistency. The outer physical results I have seen have led me to make better choices food wise; the inner physical results I’ve experienced have been more of a zest for life, easier periods during the challenge, less hormonal crabbiness, smoother skin from brushing…and just such a general feeling of contentment and happiness.

Even though I have years of home video workouts under my belt, I would sometimes dread “workout time.” I can’t tell you how much of a joy and relief it is to find a workout system that I do not dread. Sure, I may dread Teresa telling me, right when my arms are fried and about to drop, “Yes, you can!” And I may dread a T-Tapp Twist when my abs are sore. Or legs. Or calves. Or…well, you know, T-Tappers.

I end these workouts energized; feeling as if my body has been fully worked, but strangely, energized. Physically and mentally.

T-Tapp puts the power of improving one’s body in a person’s hands, because of its holistic approach, and because of Teresa’s encouragement, explanations in videos and books, and because the only equipment a person needs is his or her own body.

The approximate 7 inches and 9 pounds I’ve lost pale in comparison to what I’ve gained by consistently T-Tapping, even in the last three weeks when illness prevented a workout.

I wish I could personally congratulate every Challenge participant who has made it to June 11. By now, T-Tapping is a part of life for all of us; not just something to cross off on our “To Do” lists.

Thank you for this opportunity; it is mighty kind of you to offer these prizes, in so many categories, to us. Most marketing folks would say, “Don’t do that! You might as well roll down your car window and throw your dollar bills out one by one!”

What those marketing folks don’t understand is this: We T-Tappers feel embraced by you, Teresa, by you, Kitty, and by all the trainers and staff who tirelessly serve at the office and on the message boards, answering myriad questions time and again, offering tips, suggestions, encouragement and hope.

We feel like T-Tapp is not just a method; it is a way of life.