My
name is Sara-Lyn Mazza, and this is the story of my journey to
reaching my weight loss goal.
When
I was in high school, I was in marching band and PE, so I was in
pretty good shape. After high school, however, life quickly went down
hill. My friends all either moved away or got married and didn’t
stay in touch. I didn’t make any new friends my first couple of
years at WCC, and I didn’t get a job until my third year. I became
depressed, and without marching band or PE I really started to gain
weight. I became as heavy as 210 pounds and a size 18 and I’m only
5’0”. I joined Gold’s Gym and lost about 15 pounds, but since I
wasn’t fond of the instructors and wasn’t very good at working
out on my own, I left that gym.
In
January of 2009, my doctor recommended Weight Watchers because they
have the highest success rate. Since I knew three people from work
who also did Weight Watchers, I decided to give it a try. My first
day, I weighed in at 195 pounds. Two weeks later I joined City Gym,
weighing in at 188 pounds. After three months of Weight Watchers I
decided to drop the program and continue tracking points on my own
while corroborating with my weight watchers friends for support. I
continued to lose weight and got down to my goal weight of 132 pounds
in August of 2010 wearing a size 6!!
But
life isn’t always easy and I gained back 25 pounds. However, I
didn’t let that get me down. I enrolled in Boot Camp in January of
2012 and came out of it feeling pretty proud of what I managed to
accomplish. It gave me new ideas to incorporate into the workout
routines that I write for myself to keep things interesting,
especially when I can’t take a class at the gym.
Then,
in summer of 2012, a very good friend of mine committed suicide.
After that, I started gaining weight again. Maintaining a healthy
weight is harder than losing it, I’ve learned. I’ve gone back to
tracking my points using the Weight Watchers point tracking system
that I used in the past, and I’ve already started losing weight
again. It feels good to get on that scale and see that I lost weight
that week. It’s motivation to keep up what I’m doing because it
works for me. I even bring my points tracker with me to the grocery
store to help me decide what to buy. In Spring of 2012, I decided I
wanted to become a Personal Trainer and help others lose weight like
I did and make fitness an important part of their lives. I studied
with the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and became certified in
Spring of 2013.
Fitness is such a big,
important part of my life now that I can’t imagine not exercising.
I take Cycle, Body Strong, and Kickboxing regularly at City Gym. I
also hike on the weekends and ride my bike during decent weather.
Working out is not a “chore” or something I “have” to do.
It’s something I love to do, and that’s why I know I can keep it
up. Maintaining my ideal weight has proven much harder than losing it
in the first place, but I just keep telling myself this: “If I lost
it once, I can lose it again.” I still get on the scale but it
doesn’t dominate my feelings about weight loss because I know that
if I didn’t lose any weight a particular week, I may have lost some
fat and replaced it with muscle. I just pay attention to how my
clothes feel on me and how I feel when I look in the mirror. If I can
look in the mirror and say, “I look pretty good,” then I’m
happy.
~Congratulations, Sara-Lyn! I am so proud of you! You have accomplished so much and you continue to work hard and make great strides in fitness! Way to go! L~
Thank you for all your help, Lor!!! You're amazing
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