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Melissa W.

"YES YOU CAN" and 'YES I DID"!

I guess you can say I've battled my weight for the last 15 years. I noticed the weight creep up after high school, through college, and through two children. I feel that I am the only one in my family that battles weight. Although I feel I am alone in my battle with weight I know other ones in my family are always trying some "fad" diet craze. Monday's are the dreaded day for some in my family as the diet always starts on Monday. I guess maybe I'm not alone in my battle after all.

I've been able to utilize T-Tapp in the past to lose over 30 inches. But for some reason or another exercise seems to be lost in the busy hustle and bustle of life. Yet again the weight and the inches seem to creep back up. This 60-Day Challenge came at just the right time for me. Dreadfully, I was at my highest weight and size ever. Heading towards spring and summer I swore I was not going to buy larger clothes for another changing season. Entering this contest gave me my motivation, my desire, and my drive to make changes. Permanent changes, not just changes to get me through another changing season!

I kicked off the challenge with a full 14 day boot camp. I lost over 6 inches in the first two weeks. I tried to keep up an every other day schedule, but I was able to do at least a minimum of 2 to 3 days a week. By the end of the challenge I've been able to lose over 16 inches. I am not ashamed to say I have gained as well. I have gained confidence. I have gained energy. I have gained a new since of myself.

I have gained the confidence that with T-Tapp change is possible. I am not stuck with a body shape that I am miserable with. I have the confidence to wear fitted clothes that I would never attempt to wear before. I now have the confidence to be me and to be comfortable with myself.

I have gained energy. Prior to the contest I was always sluggish. I yawned all day long. I was starting to get short of breath with moderate exertion. I am still not a morning person, but I no longer wake up exhausted. I no longer spend my whole day yawning constantly. I have the energy to work my 10 hour day and come home and play baseball or go for a bike ride with my boys and no longer feel short of breath.

I have a new sense of myself. People talk about a distorted body image. Well I have a different distorted body image. Most people feel that they are much larger than their actual size when looking at themselves in a mirror. When I look in a mirror it is a complete stranger looking back at me. This stranger is larger and a completely different body shape than what "I" am. My distorted body image is completely opposite. I don't feel (inside of me) that I look anything like that person in the mirror. I know I am smaller and a different shape than that. With T-Tapp I slowly see those two images starting to merge as one.

I've learned that one of the "secrets" to the success of T-Tapp is consistency. This challenge has given me the drive to be consistent. There many many reasons why I would love to attend the Retreat, but one major reason why I would love to be chosen is the further drive for consistency. I know I have further to go to reach my goal, to reach "my" image of my body and I know that with T-Tapp "YES I CAN!" Thank you Teresa.