Shawn's Journey

Weight loss challenge testimonial

It's been a very challenging 8 weeks. To be in a position to win this contest has been a gradual process for me. It is easy to be motivated in the beginning with just a desire to get healthier. For me, my motivation goes much deeper. Almost all of the daily point challenges I have been adapting to my life for several years now. Four years ago I had a gallbladder ...

attack and found I had some gallstones. I was told to have my gallbladder removed. I did a lot of research and found my gallbladder was healthy except for some stones. I wanted to do what I could to keep it. I found most attacks happen at night while lying horizontal. I have never been a big soda drinker, but I quit drinking soda all together. I stopped eating meals after 6 pm and ate almost any dietary fat in the middle of the day. I also began walking 5 miles every day. All things that helped me with the challenge. Years ago our children's pediatrician attributed much of child obesity to fruit juices, so I quit drinking fruit juice back then. I was fat enough, who needs one more thing. At the beginning of the challenge I had just turned 50. I vowed to live the rest of my life healthier. My father got diabetes when he turned 50 and has spent much of the last two years in the hospital. We almost lost him a couple of times. I decided I needed to do everything I could to avoid this disease and I try to eat a diabetic diet. If all these factors were not enough motivation, about a year ago I got a kidney stone and needed to have surgery to have it removed. Without a doubt the most painful experience of my life. I started taking a multivitamin everyday and drinking a lot of water to keep my kidneys flushed. We are all at different places in our lives. Years ago the points would have been very challenging. Right now the increased exercise and weight loss was the real challenges for me. This is where the competitiveness of going against others was helpful motivation. I determined to look at the exercise challenges as minimums. I hiked timp for example 5 times during the week. I was amazed how much my endurance improved in only 5 days. Some challenges surprised me like lunges. I thought I could knock all of them out the first day. I set a goal to do at least twice the number required. With great pain and determination I finished the last 100 on Sunday night. Only doing those required and no extra ones. Kenny's boot camp class was just brutal and I was lucky to escape without a heart attack. I counted calories until I got into a daily routine of eating much of the same things. Maybe the greatest challenge was very sore muscles and the continual lack of energy from too few of calories. I cant believe how much better I now feel. I am just at the beginning of improving where I want to be. I think about where I would be right now without this challenge. I have gained greater confidence in what I can accomplish. I have a longer term goal of May 11th to be at a good lifetime weight. That's when my son returns from his mission to Peru. I determined that while he was doing something difficult, that I could also. I think about where was just two short months ago. How much weight I have lost, how much better I feel, how grateful I am to Kenny for putting this challenge together.

Shawn Hurley