Desiree

My name is Desiree and I am a 35 year old single mom of two beautiful daughters, ages 8 and 9 and I never thought that I would be where I am today and I have John to thank. He has known me since I was almost 200 pounds. I started to train with John back in the Spring of 2003 because I wanted to lose weight to fit into my wedding dress. I did everything he told me, from diet down to exercising and in the short amount of time I managed to lose 20 pounds. I was now 180 pounds on my wedding day and fit into my dress. That was my goal.
 

Over the next three years I had two beautiful daughters, 14 months apart and gained even more weight than ever after I had my second daughter. Sure I tried dieting and tried losing the weight but it kept coming back and every time I gained more and more weight. It wasn’t until October 2010 when I weighed at least 280 pounds and wore a size 22 WIDE in both pants and tops, that I realized I needed help. I wanted to lose weight the right way. I wanted it to come off and stay off. So that’s when I reached out to John again.

I knew this time it would be a challenge for me to lose the weight for many reasons but the main one was John living in San Diego, California and me living 2800 miles away in Silver Point, Tennessee. But I made the phone call that ultimately changed my life forever. When I called John, he was very supportive. Like he always has been, and told me he was just a phone call away. I remembered everything he told me, not only over the phone but also everything he taught me back in 2003; and that was watch what I eat, don’t starve yourself and don’t deprive yourself because if you do then once you eat your indulgence you will go overboard and that was so true for me. If I ever deprived my body of that donut or piece of cake, I'd end up eating more than one donut and almost the whole cake then feel awful or guilty soon afterwards.

Me at 260, I gained even 20 more pounds after this pic was taken in July 2010 (I just do not have a pic at that weight, this was the last pic I took) . My new, healthy self at 150 pounds this Christmas 2013. That’s a total of 130 pounds lost.

  I can remember this one time, it was very late and I called John, crying hysterically, it took us a while to calm me down, and when he finally did, I was upset because I wanted to eat an entire chocolate cake. I was stressed and upset because the weight was not coming off, I wanted to give up, and all I kept saying was I CAN’T do this, I am not strong enough to do this by myself. I wanted to give up so many times but John was right there, the only person I can truly say was in my corner, he had my back the whole time. He told me I was strong enough to do this because I was a single mom of two beautiful girls, I was working more than one job and he knew I could, he had faith and trust in me and it was at this moment I knew I could, all I needed to know was that I had one person in my corner.

He helped me change my whole outlook on life and especially working out and eating. I began to realize I am what I eat, if I no longer wanted to be unhealthy, I needed to change what I put in my body, those donuts or chocolate cake or the fast food I was eating was not going to get me healthy, they were going to put me in the ground and I had two daughters looking up to me to make the right decisions. So each day I began to look at what I put in my body as fuel; what was going to give me the energy I needed to make sure I was able to complete my chaotic schedule and still have energy at the end of the day. I started to bake all my food; I started to snack on healthy snacks, cut up fruits and veggies. I began grocery shopping and preparing all my snacks in ready to each grab and go pouches. What happened next, I could not have ever thought would have happened, you never realize who is watching and soon my daughters started grabbing my ready to snack pouches right out of the fridge, little did I know that my changes would have changed my daughters way of looking at food as well. I knew from here on out that my actions spoke louder than my words and soon my daughters became my little cheer leaders, cheering me on during my workouts, telling me things like “you can do it and just one more mommy” and I knew if I had them and John in my corner, I knew I could conquer my weight and ultimately win.
 
Has this been an easy road, oh heavens no, it has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I mean I had to change every aspect of my life. Do I have regrets, just one, and that wasn’t calling John earlier. But other than that I am loving life now, I am that mom who can go swing on the swings or chase their girls at the park. I am that softball coach/mom who is running with the girls, I am that mom who practices cheerleading or gymnastic with her youngest daughter and who plays basketball and soccer in the yard with her oldest while making sure we have a healthy dinner on the table five nights a week. It has taken me years to realize that John truly is there for not only me but you too. Sure, you might disagree with him or you might not see eye to eye because you may think you know what’s best, but guess what, you don’t. I was that girl who thought she knew what she was doing, I was that girl who challenged John, a lot, in what he was trying to tell me, but once I realized he was there for me, he was there to make sure I became the healthiest I could be, once I realized he had my back, I let go of all inhibitions and the weight started to come off, and yes, it may have taken me two years to lose weight, but we never sought out to lose a certain amount of weight, I never told him I wanted to lose x amount of pounds, I only set out to be the healthiest woman and mom I could be. I never knew I would have lost 50 pounds let alone 130 pounds.

 

Every day used to be a challenge for me, every day used to be hard for me to decide what to make or what to snack on; but it has been a total of three years in the transformation. It is now a way of life, there are no more challenges for me. I know what I am cooking for dinner or what workout I am doing today. My new lifestyle changed my life. Every day I see someone I haven’t seen in years, and they all say the same thing “wow you look great, how did you lose the weight, surgery, lap band, or some other gimmick?” I say, “actually the ole fashioned way, I got up off my butt, I work out 6 days a week and I eat right.

 

I make sure what I put in my body gives me the energy I need to get me through my day.” People find it hard to believe that I lost all this weight with no help, I tell them oh I had lots of help, I had a great friend in my corner helping me the entire way.
 
I am not here to tell you what do to, what works for me and John might not work for you. For me I have to eat 6 times a day, I eat 3 meals and up to three snacks a day depending on my work schedule. I also have to work out 6 days a week. Every one of you is a different, unique person. I am just here to say that John has given me my life back. He is has given me the strength to conquer this weight and come out ahead. I know if you just listen to what John says, you too will become the healthiest you can be, but you have to want to do it for yourself, he cannot make you lift the weights or choose wisely with your food choices. Once you decide you really want to become healthy, once you decide that you want to change for yourself, only then will everything John has to say will work for you, only then will you see the weight come off and stay off. I cannot thank John enough for giving me a healthy life, my life that I am so thankful for. I get to spend another day with my girls and that means more to me than any amount of weight gone.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I wanted to show this pic because my girls’ combined weight is 160 pounds. I cannot believe I used to carry almost this much weight around on me for many years. It just puts everything into perspective.

 
 
Sincerely,

Desiree