Total Workout Runner Up Winner

Julie V.

I never was an athlete, nor enjoyed exercising of any kind, other than walking; but when I got in my 30's, I noticed my metabolism slowing. The biggest indicator of this for me was that when I was pregnant with my 4th child, I gained 35 lbs, when the previous pregnancies saw weight gains of 20-22 lbs and no difficulty losing it afterward. So in January 06, I realized I'd better start working out if I wanted to get my pre-pregnancy shape back. I started going to the YMCA for exercise class that spring, then later when the early morning classes were cancelled, I just simply did weights and walked the treadmill. After about 9 months of faithfully working out 2-3 times a week, and still not back to my former size, my mother mentioned T-Tapp to me and we watched the "Yes, You Can!" seminar together. I was impressed with the information presented, but didn't have any extra money at the time to get a DVD at that time. My mom let me borrow her Basic Workout Plus, and I started doing that workout during the winter.

Later that spring, around April 2008, I finally got myself the Total Workout DVD to start using. I did the boot camp and was doing it faithfully for a few weeks, until we went on vacation in May and then had a hard time getting back into the habit. Just when I was getting back into T-Tapp again, I started having big blood sugar drops while exercising, and would have to stop in the middle of a workout. Well, it turns out the problem was I was pregnant and didn't realize it! I had to quit T-Tapp all together for about 2 months because I just was too ill to do it. When I got into my 2nd trimester, I started faithfully doing the Basic Plus 3-5 times a week. I did that all throughout my (5th) pregnancy because it simply made me feel so much better. I had more energy and less aches. If I skipped more than 1 day of T-Tapp, I found I could hardly walk without pain and "waddle". I'm proud of the fact that I kept up the Basic Plus right up to the day before delivery (at 42 weeks too!). In fact, my midwife commented at the birth that my placenta was unusually large and healthy looking. I really believe it was because of all the good blood flow happening with T-Tapp! After the birth, I was physically exhausted and sore for several weeks (he was a 9 lb baby!). I started back with the Basic Plus at about 10 days after the birth, but found it extremely difficult to do because all those abs were so stretched and sore. It was very hard with a newborn to be consistent, but I tried to do it a couple of times a week, at least. So when I heard about the 60-Day Challenge, I knew it was just what I needed to motivate me to get going on the T-Tapp with the Total Workout.

My personal goals were to establish the regular routine of exercising again, and to get back to my pre-pregnancy size (about 2 sizes smaller). My legs were already smaller than my pre-pregnancy size because of all the T-Tapp during pregnancy, but my abdomen and waist was going to need a lot of work! At the start of the contest on May 15th, my son (5th child) was one month old. I found it very hard to do the T-Tapp at this stage because he still nursed as frequently as every hour. I ended up doing about 1 day of Total Workout and 4 days of Basic Plus each week that first month. It just was very difficult to find the time to do the longer workout with a newborn to take care of. At the one month contest mark, I was discouraged at my progress, so I committed to myself to do the bootcamp for 7 days and then the every other day schedule. Almost every time I did the Total Workout, I had to stop just before arms to either nurse the baby, change a diaper, or rock him to sleep; but I just picked up where I left off once that "break" was done until I finished. I'm really proud of myself that I faithfully did Total Workout the entire second month of the challenge. All together I lost 14.5 inches, but most excitedly was inches lost on my hips, waist, and abs. I lost about one size in clothing, and still have a ways to go, but I plan on continuing the T-Tapp until I reach my goal.