Average to Lose Category Winner

Faith D.

My history with T-Tapp began last year when a friend from church introduced me and several women to the wonders of T-Tapping. Margaret seemed as though she was shrinking before our very eyes, and we all wanted to know the secret of her success. Determined to workout together every week, we eagerly purchased our books and DVDs. Some women were faithful with it. Others, like me, completely fell off the bandwagon only days into our own “challenge”. Looking back, I struggle to recall any of my “good excuses” for not sticking with the program. Whatever they were, the end result was no results at all. I was stuck with my rolls and flab, a very unhappy size 16 with poor posture, low back pain, and chronic lethargy. The truth is, though, I did not get this way overnight.

I have been a pretty healthy person for most of my life. But if I was honest, I would have to admit that before I had my first baby at age 23, I was able to get away with quite a bit of slacking off and cheating. Before this time, I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight, as long as I followed up with a day here and there of not eating anything at all. I could workout when I felt like it, which was usually no more than two or three times every few weeks. While I had seasons of hard exercise, I would follow them with seasons of not going to the gym for months. I was the definition of inconsistency.

My size six 5’10” combo frame had always been able to easily hide a little extra weight (my mom calls it “stretching the fat”) and I gave little thought to what my habits would bring down the road. After gaining a whopping 62 pounds in my first pregnancy, I assumed that things would go back to normal. Unfortunately, my lack of discipline came back to bite me in the rear, literally. Seven months after having my first baby, I got pregnant with my second, having only lost about 15 of those 62 pounds. During the second pregnancy I gained another 25 pounds and then got pregnant again after 8 months, having only lost about 15 pounds. My third pregnancy was a virtual repeat of this cycle, resulting in my body being overweight and extremely depleted in the winter of 2008.

During my pregnancies, my depressed self-image did not serve me well. I struggled with self-control, paid little attention to what I ate, and rarely exercised. Words cannot express how disgusted I was with myself. Looking at old pictures of me would bring tears to my eyes as I struggled to understand how I could have gotten so big in such a short time. I hated looking in the mirror and loathed shopping for clothes even more. For years, I had taken for granted being tall and slender and now it seemed like that part of me was lost forever.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being a mother. I just could not reconcile being a good mom with taking good care of myself. To me, they seemed mutually exclusive, and I repeatedly told myself as much – e.g. I didn’t have the time, I didn’t deserve it, etc. I would always be the fat mama and there was little hope that I would ever feel good again. I became invisible, unsuccessfully hiding my belly pooch behind my beautiful babies. Needless to say, I had some psychological hurdles to overcome before attempting to change.

My complete desperation for getting fit and healthy came right around the beginning of 2009. I decided to jump in with both feet and really push myself to be a size 8 by the beginning of August. I was motivated by the looming of my 10 year high school reunion that month as well as my 5th wedding anniversary at the end of August, when my husband and I will be celebrating in Paris! My initial plan was to get up and go the gym every day before 6am. In addition, I had an elaborate eating plan to consume only my resting metabolic rate in calories each day. Surprising even myself, I religiously adhered to both of these plans for a few months. However, the discouragement came when I did not lose any weight, and I saw little improvement in terms of firmness and muscle tone. Stressed out and disappointed, I questioned myself constantly about what I could be doing wrong. What was missing? I knew that I had to do something SERIOUS to change my body, but was at a loss to determine what that was. Just about the time I was ready to give up altogether, I received Kitty’s e-mail announcing the 60-Day Challenge. I saw it as an opportunity to implement something new, stay accountable, and give myself the before and after pictures that prove results (or disprove them, as I had not become a true believer in what T-Tapp can do up to that point).

I’m pleased to say that this challenge has done wonders for me, inside and out. Not only do I feel better emotionally and spiritually, but I am in better shape now than I have ever been in my life. The past 60 days have proved to me that I am worth the time and effort. Taking care of myself actually makes me a better mother. T-Tapping on a daily basis makes me feel wonderful. My endurance is vastly improved and I am not exhausted from the workouts as I have been with other ones. I get energized and after all that sweating, I actually feel HAPPIER! Even if the results were not so astounding, doing the workout to feel happy would certainly be worth it. Oh yeah, but did I say yet that I have gotten results?

I started the challenge at a size 16, and now I’m able to wear most size 10s. At this rate, it seems as though my goal of a size 8 by August is more than feasible, and that is SO exciting to me! The other health benefit I have received from doing T-Tapp is a reduction of my abdominal diastasis. I had a three-finger wide separation, and after all those core exercises in the Total Workout, it is now down to a little over one finger wide. My abs have a way to go, but I am ecstatic that I’ve found a workout that WORKS on this area after years of not being able to make it budge. I have lost 38 inches and fourteen pounds thus far, and hope to continue on that track. That’s just in 60 days; I can’t even imagine the results when I’m consistent with this over time! My posture is much better, and my husband is continually amazed at how tall I stand now.

I did the Total Workout for a ten day boot camp at the beginning of the challenge, and again right after we sent in measurements for the first 30 days of the challenge. In between the challenges, I did the Total Workout almost every day, with the Basic Workout Plus on the days when I couldn’t squeeze in the Total Workout. I gave myself at least one or two days of complete rest each week. All these results came without changing my eating habits much at all, other than to take Alfalfa every day. Granted, I was already in a good nutritional rhythm from the months before I started Tapping, but I haven’t counted calories at all during the challenge and I give myself one day each week to cheat with a few treats. Otherwise, I’m pretty disciplined. In fact, it has felt so wonderful to be this disciplined that I have decided to pretend that I’m still in the challenge for the next 60 days, taking pictures at 90 days, then 120 days. Those pictures will provide tons of motivation to me when I have my next baby, reminding me that being a sexy mom really is within my grasp!

I am so proud of myself for accomplishing a goal like this. I managed to survive the challenge while chasing around my 3, 2, and 1 year olds, and I used to tell myself I didn’t have the time! I pushed myself so hard during this challenge because I sincerely hope my story can be an inspiration to other moms of young children. It can be so easy to stay unmotivated, drowning in busyness and never making the changes necessary to feel better. I have to emphasize how T-Tapp really is a fantastic workout for mommies. I encourage anyone who thinks she doesn’t have the time to give it a try. You will love how quickly T-Tapp can change your shape. If you are like me, the motivation of losing inches and seeing results almost immediately can push you for miles. Thank you, Teresa and everyone at T-Tapp for bringing such an accessible exercise program to people like me!