%20(1).jpg)
Health & Fitness Redefined
Health and Fitness Redefined with Anthony Amen. Take a dive into the health world as we learn how to overcome adversity, depict fact vs fiction and see health & fitness in a whole new light.Fitness Is Medicine
Health & Fitness Redefined
Transforming Life's Weight into Fitness Fuel: A Journey of Health, Self-Discovery and Resilience
(Originally aired 2021) Have you ever felt the weight of life holding you down, both physically and mentally? What if you could transform that weight into the fuel for an inspiring journey of fitness and self-discovery? Join us as we sit down with a remarkable guest who did just that, turning a life at 300 pounds into a beacon of health, fitness and resilience starting on July 12th, 2013.
From the ‘airplane method’ of self-care to the power of journaling and setting small goals, our guest takes us through the highs and lows, the challenges and triumphs of their transformative journey. They offer generous insights into meal planning, mindful eating, and the delicate art of rewarding yourself positively. Their story from the first year of their journey, in particular, is laden with encouragement and wisdom for those who are embarking on their own path to redefine their health and fitness.
But it’s not just about physical transformation. Our guest helps us delve deeper into the broader benefits of fitness, painting a vivid picture of how it can be a driving force in overcoming mental hurdles and living our best lives. We also touch on the ripple effect that personal health has on our loved ones, and how setting a good example can inspire the younger generation. Whether you’re taking your first step towards fitness or are already miles into the journey, this episode promises to redefine your perspective on health, fitness and the power of self-belief. So, lace up your running shoes, and let’s redefine our lives through fitness together!
Hello and welcome to Health and Fitness Redefined. I'm your host, anthony Amen. Join me today as we take a dive into the world of health and fitness, where we're learning to overcome adversity, to pick back first fiction and see health and fitness in a whole new light. Today, guys, we have a wonderful guest on with a truly amazing and passionate story, and I'm super excited to kind of get back into real life stories about how health and fitness is health people like myself, like some of our listeners. So, without further ado, just a welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you for having me, anthony, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I'm super excited to kind of get your energy to kind of talk about your journey and I want you to take us back all the way to day one where you had that little spark about hey, I need to do something with my life. Sure, absolutely so tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Okay, actually it's July 12th, 2013 is when I started. I was 300 pounds. I woke up, I went to my friend Megan's son's birthday celebration at St Charles Hospital, who has passed. He had a nice little leaf in his memorial. After that I went and I got a big bacon, egg and cheese sandwich in St Charles Hospital, because you know what do you do? You comfort yourself with food after something. That's kind of emotional and sad. And then I went home to my house where my sister was watching my three boys and my nephew, and I kind of just made a decision then that I wanted to take care of myself.
Speaker 1:Why, though and that's the biggest thing for people is everyone always asks me when I get clients like when does that spark come? What point did you have that light? Like, hey, I need to do this now. Was there anything that led up to it, or was it just like a thought that you said go?
Speaker 2:Yes, well, my three boys have always been my driving force, and my middle son at that time he was eight and he was playing travel hockey and I was rushing around everywhere, going here, there, doing everything for the kids and let myself go. And I kind of had an aha moment that here I am rushing for my son, getting up early, taking him here, doing this, doing that which is what we do as mothers, but yet I wasn't taking care of myself and I had this vision if he was to be drafted in the NHL, and they called him up on stage and pan to mom, there's mom like obese, not able to take care of herself, and there's this athletic kid. So that was one of my huge aha moments that I wanted to be healthy and fit for my children and to see my children grow and also continue their own success with good motivation from me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's got to be tough. I mean, I personally don't have kids, but I can just kind of imagine you raising these kids and you want to be there for them as long as possible and having that realization that living an unhealthy lifestyle will ultimately take effect on your life. We hear the and we talk about it a lot, but the airplane method.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, which is what you have to save yourself. Put your mask on yourself before you can save others.
Speaker 1:Exactly Take care of yourself before you can truly take care of others, because if you put too much energy into others, you burn yourself out, Whereas if you could put it into yourself, give yourself back that energy, it's a lot easier to help others, including your kids. So you were 300 pounds. This is July 12th. You said 2013. So what happened July 13th?
Speaker 2:July 13th, I still woke up and was still on my diet, because I've done a million diets before this journey, a million Ever since I was younger. I was always heavy, I was always comforted by food. So July 13th, when I woke up, I was still on my diet, which was day one. I documented every single day of my journey. I stopped somewhere around day 1,000 and something, but it was always hashtag day whatever, because that kept me going.
Speaker 1:So you were just writing out everything and keeping a log. Was it what you were doing for the day? Was it the foods you were eating?
Speaker 2:Everything. I'm very big in writing down journaling, prophesizing and asking. I wrote down little goals. I then also wrote down my food that I ate. Back then it was like I had a reduced fat turkey bacon sandwich and a Subway sandwich because I'm a big fried food eater, so that's like my comfort. And then I would also write down day one and I did weigh myself every single day, which I do not recommend, don't recommend, do not recommend. But I did for many, many years document also for my own self, and wrote down my weight every single day, what I ate. I wrote out my weekly goals, stuff like that I did. I even still have it.
Speaker 1:I just want to point out for all of those watching right now and listening I know this is coming out, I believe in August, but today is July 12th, the day we're recording this.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is.
Speaker 1:And that was just by chance, and I know you're a big believer in everything happening for a reason, and that just kind of blows my mind that today actually is that day that you decided to do something to help yourself.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is. It's a great day too, because it's my friend son's birthday, who would be 11 today Michael Matthew so it is. There's so many beautiful synchronicities and I'm glad I started that day, because it's never stopped eight years later. And that's what you have to do is continuously do your work. It's not just one little thing, it's many things that you have to do. It's not just about the food.
Speaker 1:Did you have help to lose the weight? Did you reach out to any gyms or nutritionists, or was this all self-knowledge that you taught yourself?
Speaker 2:No, definitely not all self-knowledge, and I always give credit to everybody because I say everybody is a piece of my journey. I would not be where I am if it was not for all the great communities that I have around me, that I did find support in but that I've grown also over these past eight years. But yes, I've always asked for help and I've always received. Again, I'm very big and ask and you shall receive. But back from I used I started out at. I started in my home.
Speaker 2:I started in my home with we Fit because my kids had we and we Fit and it was like just the greatest thing because nobody saw me. And you know, one of my earliest videos was me on my we Fit because I was in my house, I could wear what I wanted to and you know, I didn't have to worry about back then. I cared about the outside world and what they thought of me because that was my own insecurities I had within myself. And then I joined Lucille Roberts and I found like some great ladies there that kept encouraging and supporting me. And then I've also started CrossFit Gym. I started another regular plant of fitness. I mean, it doesn't matter where you go, you still have to take yourself with you and your mindset, and the people around me were always encouraging me, and that's why my biggest thing is that I want to be somebody else's encouragement, because I know how hard it is.
Speaker 1:Well, what advice would you give? I'm gonna really want to stick to you. Think the most important part is making that commitment to yourself in the very beginning. Yes, and a lot of people I hear. I don't know where to start, I don't know who to reach out to, I don't know what to follow. I mean, we can Google how to lose weight in 30 days, but let's be real, we both know that's just a bunch of hogwash.
Speaker 1:Right so where would you recommend to somebody? They come to you. They say hey, you know, I saw you lost all this weight. Where can I start? What recommendations would you give to somebody listening?
Speaker 2:The recommendations I always give is start small, because when I was 300 pounds, if I looked at the fact that, like my goal weight was 170, how is that gonna happen? It's small pieces that you have to break down. So to me, I tell everybody first write down a small goal, whether it's take a walk around the block or just drink a bottle of water, or you find a friend. That's like. I'm big in commitment and accountability. You have to stay committed and be accountable to what you say you're gonna do. And if you can't within yourself, at least that's when you know you have a friend, a partner or a trainer or an accountability coach that is there for you to crack that with and tell you you have to get on it and you have to do what you said you were gonna do. But you always have to hold yourself accountable. So I would tell them there's so many resources, as we both know, between all the social medias, between YouTube, you can really just start small and your small, tiny goals will add into big goals.
Speaker 1:And I want to ask this question. I didn't preface this first on purpose because I want your honest reaction. I want to do a future episode on this and I know a lot of listeners asked me the same thing, but I want to tip it on gash of bypass. Why didn't you go that route?
Speaker 2:So, to be 100% honest, many, many, many years ago, that was a thought process for me. I know many people that have done it. I went, I went for the consultation I still have my paperwork I cannot put the year to it, but it was definitely long prior to my journey and when I went there for my consultation and he put the gadget on the table and showed me what was going to be inside me and I was just like I can do this myself. I can do this myself, and I didn't go back for the future follow-up and I probably gained another 30 to 50 pounds from then.
Speaker 2:However, I always say no matter what you do whether you take a fat burner, whether you have surgery, whether you do any 30-day diet or any of these different types of diets out there Weight Watches program, it's an assistance and it's a tool. Because I take fat burners, I take pre-workouts, you know, but you cannot be reliant on them. They're all temporary things to take If you get the surgery. I have plenty of people that come to my meetings that have had surgery. You still have to do your work. It's not a quick fix. None of it's a quick fix. Maintaining weight loss is the hardest thing ever harder than losing weight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's definitely a challenge. I'm just going to disclaimer here I do not recommend fat burners.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think there was a study that came out, I think for like six years ago. I think 30% of users ended up with the ER within the first year. I take fat burners because they just they believe be careful what you put in your body.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I agree.
Speaker 1:But every that commitment to not rely on a tool is what I really like about all of that. You made that commitment more to yourself as opposed to saying let me get this done and then do it. My biggest problem with gastric bypass I've seen a lot of people lose 100, 150, 200 pounds, but I've never seen commitment pass that. I've seen all of them gain the weight back. I've seen all of them have GI issues for the rest of their lives, especially with protein intake and stuff like that. But this is something I really want to dive into in a future episode. I'm just let's move on from there where we're going All right. So July 12th, you start July 13th as day one. Take us like every three months at a time. What did you? What happened when you had pitfalls? I'm sure you did.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, so what was that like explain how you were able to pick yourself up and continue moving forward from days? That kind of felt like why am I doing this? Why should I just give up? Talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2:There's many days, even today, speaking that that happens, where you do have those pitfalls or those down days. All I do is just remind myself of what I have already accomplished and I try to keep getting up and keep going, because I don't ever want to go back and again building that excitement of, let's say, three months in and you drop weight quickly. In the beginning of it it's exciting, and it's exciting and rewarding when you're shirt all of a sudden has a. It's like wow, I got room in my pants, because that's really the true way to know when you're losing your inches. So days that I would feel down on myself. I would remember like I still have my size 24, 26 pants that I used to wear and I would remember what that felt like not being able to move as quickly from myself.
Speaker 2:Anything I speak I speak of for myself, because not everything attains to everybody in their own personal journey, but for me, I found myself always wanting to push harder and to keep beating, whatever my little goal was. But those days are a lot, I'm not going to lie. They come and they go. They come and they go, even eight years later.
Speaker 1:But what would a specific method be? So I know for myself and, yes, even trainers struggle with all of this it's more of I take things as treats and this is how I teach my clients. It's you do really well throughout a week and then you can treat yourself. Yes, instead of cheating, you don't want to cheat yourself, you don't want any negative connotation, but if I'm able to eat really healthy for six days, day seven I can treat myself with something that I really like and miss. Like. My thing is baklava, full disclaimer.
Speaker 2:I'm a big Greek food person.
Speaker 1:And after you've probably never even heard of that delicious, but that's my treat. So what do you preface in your head as your reward? Is it more of that cheat method, like I can't cheat myself? Are you doing more of a treat style, where let me reward myself for doing well?
Speaker 2:Well, the cheat meal, yes, that's exciting and finding a place that you're going to go to and picking it and then knowing you're going to have a meal there, like it's all part of planning the process, of it, to get yourself excited for something you've earned. So, yeah, I call it a cheat meal, but I like treat better.
Speaker 1:Treats a better word.
Speaker 2:And it's always only supposed to be a meal. It's supposed to be a meal, not a whole day. That's my problem. Sometimes I like a whole day of bad eating, but it's not healthy for you because then it screws up your mindset and everything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does weigh more than I want to. You mentioned something that kind of just brushed over, but I want to. I want to bring it back, bring it back. Where you plan your meals before you go out to eat.
Speaker 2:Well, no, but if you find a restaurant that you're going to go to for your cheat meal you know what I mean Like you get excited about that, like it's like a date, like you're already look at the menu, you know what you're gonna maybe order, you have an idea. So if it's Wednesday, you know you're going there Saturday or Sunday, something like that. I like that a lot.
Speaker 1:Because you're then at that point, going into it, you know exactly what you need to throughout the day and you're not just showing up to the restaurant, looking at the menu, going oh, what's good.
Speaker 2:Especially if you're hungry. Yeah, I was gonna say that.
Speaker 1:Us, as humans are really bad at making food decisions while we're hungry. Yeah, like never go grocery shopping when you're hungry.
Speaker 2:No, you want everything and things wind up in your basket. That shouldn't Exactly.
Speaker 1:So I really like the pre-planning the kind of meals you're eating and what exactly you're ordering. So it's a lot easier to cut you off because you know exactly what you're getting into.
Speaker 2:Right, so that's really good advice Right, so move on.
Speaker 1:you got a year done right.
Speaker 2:The first year I lost about 80, 5 to 90 pounds.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't change like really too much. I was probably very low carb and I stayed off, like fast food is fast food and fried food, like I told you, like some people have this or that. That's my downfall, and so I stopped, you know, picking at the kids fries and putting my hands in the McDonald's bags and I did a lot of low carb that first year Low carb and a lot of, probably, cardio. I would say Okay, and so that was about the first year that I maintained around that type of weight loss.
Speaker 1:And what did you learn If you could sum up everything, cause I'm sure there's a lot of trial and error, like there's with everything in life. You take all those eight years and you put them together. What are some things that you've learned and can give advice to people listening right now?
Speaker 2:Start small. Set your goals. Know that there's gonna be the downfalls. There's gonna be hard days. You're worth it. Your body, mind, spirit and soul is everything. Write it down, ask for help, ask for support. People aren't gonna always tell you. Nobody ever grabbed me and was like Patricia, you're 300 pounds, you have three kids. You should do something. Some people need that.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you're getting a little emotional. That's kind of what I was going for Is at what point? That's always a struggle. So if I have my significant other or a parent and someone that's really close to my life, we get embarrassed to tell them hey, you need to do something about this. Coming from that standpoint, would you now reach out to somebody and say, hey, you need to do something about this, or do you still feel like that's taboo and they need to figure it out on their own?
Speaker 2:I always offer help to everybody and I tell them that whatever it is that they're trying to do, that I'll be there and I send out a million text messages and motivational things and weight loss things to many, many people.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't think being harsh and rude by any means is gonna create results, but I do and a lot of people that I have that have done like what I did prior to this journey yo-yo dieting, losing 30 pounds, gaining 50, I do try to keep on encouraging them because I know also, once you keep going and going back like you're like oh, I only gained 10 pounds back, or that I do try to grab them by the hand and tell them oh, did you join that gym yet, did you?
Speaker 2:Oh, you said you were gonna do this, did you? So I do try to hold the people accountable and I do remind them that, especially as we're getting older, like, health is the one thing you can't buy and if I can take a walk with you like, I'll offer to get coffee and walk with you so that we can talk about what's going on, because we know that it's never the food, the drug, the alcohol, it's always like other stuff that's holding us back, and sometimes people just want somebody to talk to or believe in them, so that they can then wind up becoming belief in themselves.
Speaker 1:And that's a lot of it, a lot that.
Speaker 1:I see that people, when they come see us, it's they want somebody to hold them accountable, they want somebody to push them forward. I just it's hard from our standpoint where we see people after they decide to take the action. So when you're walking into a personal training studio, in your mind you already made that decision that this is something you need to do. And I really like doing this because now I can talk to the people that haven't made that decision yet, that haven't decided that today is the day that I'm gonna take this step forward and reach out for help. So that's the most important part about hearing your story. Sharing it to other people is showing there is a way to move forward and take that first step Right. So what? Just kind of summarize your everything. I just want to start wrapping this up. Just take you lost 150 pounds. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:130 at the at my leanest competition days though 130 pounds at your leanest.
Speaker 1:How many sizes did you drop?
Speaker 2:I was. My highest pants size was a 26. Um, I have size eight dress and eight to 10. I'm like eight to 10.
Speaker 1:Are you drop 16 sizes, which is way more of showing how much weight you lost as opposed to pounds, and that could be another whole episode, but going by how pants fit instead of looking at the scale. But I actually want to bring it back to that. I'm sorry Cause. I'm having five hundred thoughts right now. The scale thing you mentioned, you weighed yourself every day. Why do you not recommend not to weigh yourself every day?
Speaker 2:Because it's going to be different every day and based on your body and your mood and your water intake, and for women, like what you know, what they go through and um, and it's just not healthy Cause then you're putting your worth and your identity, identifying yourself, to that number and it's not a healthy choice to weigh yourself every single day. I weigh myself on Friday. Sometimes I do go on mid week, but I try to really just weigh myself either on Friday or if it's competition, I have to submit it Sunday, Sunday morning.
Speaker 1:I like that and I'm going to throw in my two sentences. Here is take your scale. Everyone right now, go find it. You're going to throw it out your window into a huge birch tree and make sure it shatters into a million pieces and then never buy one again.
Speaker 2:I hate scales. I'm not a believer. I understand why I get it. I get it.
Speaker 1:It's here Cause one thing you mentioned, where you, as humans, we range five to 10 pounds based upon how much water is in our system. If we go to the bathroom this morning, how much food did we eat today or the night before? That's all going to gain you weight and you're going to take that as oh, I got fatter, or realistically could just be well, maybe I just drank more water than which is good for you.
Speaker 1:You want to drink more water, but going by closing sizes taking. I like your weekly thing, but instead of weighing yourself, why not just write down on a scale of one to 10, how you feel this week? Today I feel like a seven Great. How can I improve from feeling like a seven to an eight next week? I think I should try this. Go through another week. Now I feel like an eight Awesome, and you can kind of keep track of what drives your moods and behaviors just by a simple one to 10. And then the third thing pictures. I love pictures. Take a picture of yourself once a month. We can't see ourselves in mirrors, and I think this has become more and more well known. We look in the mirror and see somebody that's not us, and I'm sure you feel that same way even now.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, I can look in the mirror sometimes and still see that 300 pound woman. Absolutely, it's just. It's a struggle and I'm very real. I try to be as real as possible because I know many people go through the same thing and we all think sometimes like, oh, it's just us and it's not exactly even myself.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I look in the mirror and go oh, you look weak today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's true that I mean I had six pack and was lean as anything last week. Today I feel, you know, I feel even on top of the world and stronger because I'm sitting here with you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that, but the six pack might not be as predominant.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1:So pictures, though, will show a thousand words. Even with yourself, you can take a picture of yourself. You don't have to show anybody, but just I show everybody If you want to, if you're that kind of person go for it. You. Sometimes people need the outside accountability. We got clients that send us pictures just to hold themselves accountable. But sometimes they don't want to show anybody, so we just say hang in on your fridge.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And then every month do that and then what you'll see is a completely different person in a month and then in two months you'll see another complete different person. And you look back six months. You take that six month pinch, you go to the first month picture and you're like, wow, what a difference.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm very big into picture taken. If it wasn't for somebody I found on Instagram that documented their whole weight loss journey, I probably wouldn't have started documenting mine, but I'm thankful that I have all the content that I do from back when I started now, even though it was hard. It's not easy sometimes.
Speaker 1:I am so thankful that I have it, and I know you wanted to give a shout out to some people for helping you out right now. So who are those people and how did they help you in your journey?
Speaker 2:Well, my god, first I'd like to thank and my family, my three boys, my father, and then I would also like to thank my extended family and everything like that. I don't want to ever exclude anybody. There's so many people that it's really, really hard to pinpoint one person. I'd like to thank Carlos, who was the first guy to help me with heavy weightlifting in 2017. He put the heavy weights. One of my customers took a chance on me, which taught me bodybuilding. My good friend Kira, who's into fitness, who's always helping me and encouraging me. My friend Megan, who brought me to you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, megan. Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2:Megan. Shout out to Megan Gosh, my Ann Marie Sacarato, who's a three time women champion, who was the one in 2015 to beat my mental mindset into me. She was one of those hard, hard trainers Hard, very hard trainers. But she would be. She'd be like well, if you don't want it, I can't want to be more than you want it for yourself, like she was so simple in her harshness but it made sense and it stuck with me still to this day. And if it wasn't from then in 2015, changing that mindset from her, I probably wouldn't be where I am today either. And then I would just like to thank the Get Tanked company that represents Fat Burning Company, and Drive, who represents me, a clothing company. Like I said, my family, my friends, all my communities, my spiritual communities I wouldn't be here without any of them. Honestly, I have so many great people in my life, between my customers, my kids, that I cross the parents.
Speaker 1:I can keep going, so I really couldn't, and I don't want to specifically leave anybody out, but I've had, so there's a lot of people that really helped you.
Speaker 2:There's so many people and pieces, pieces A lot of everybody's a piece of my journey.
Speaker 1:I just want to make this as a point, which is where I was going with this. You're never alone.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And even if people think you're alone, you're not, and there's always people out there that want to help you. They just are waiting for you to ask.
Speaker 2:Yes, you're right, 100%, that's the simplest truth.
Speaker 1:It's not no one's going to come to you because it's embarrassing for somebody to say, hey, let me help you. They want you to reach your hand out first and then they will jump on it like a bullet train and say, absolutely, let's go. So I totally love that. And last two questions that I ask everybody on the show. The first one is give one last take-home piece of inspiration, something that we're just going to resonate with everyone listening or not, that you can help.
Speaker 2:Do your work. That's always my number one. Do your work, do your self-work, do your work. You have to do your work on yourself, your body, mind, spirit and soul. You have to, every single day. You have to feed yourself your brain with good thoughts, good people, good intentions. You have to ask and you have to do your work. You have to. Whatever you put into your eyesight, your mindset, all of it, it all is what's in you, so you can do it, in the negative and the positive. You have to do your work though, your daily work, every single day.
Speaker 2:Nobody's going to do it for you.
Speaker 1:Exactly Do your work, guys, and where can people find you? Get a hold of you? If you have any questions, want to reach out. I know you're big into support.
Speaker 2:Yes, I have an Instagram ejpinspirations. You can find me there. I do have YouTube, also ejpinspirations that I'm still trying to build up. I am on Facebook, patricia. We can put it down, or do you just put?
Speaker 1:I'll put it in the screen. That's for you.
Speaker 2:OK, and pretty much. Oh, you can come find me at Starbucks or on the street.
Speaker 1:Just find issues of always willing to help.
Speaker 2:I'm everywhere and I have a lot of great friends and people in my life that if I am not personally able to help you, I will help somebody find that can help you.
Speaker 1:Thank you and thank you, guys, for joining us on this week's episode of Health and Fitness Redefined. Don't forget, hit that Subscribe button and join us next week as we dive deeper into this ever-changing field. I think this is the most appropriate time. Don't forget fitness is a journey, not a destination. Until next time For us, we know what it's like to feel unhealthy, depressed and downright defeated. We want to show others there is a right way and through fitness you could do anything you set your mind to. Fitness can give you that motivation, confidence, energy you need to bridge that mental gap and prevent you from missing important life events. We understand it's about feeling better, living longer and being good examples for our kids. We understand this because we live it, and for us, that's the redefined difference.
