Friday, August 31, 2007

Weight loss success of Andy Sorrells


He says he started without a specific goal weight and reduced his portion sizes to lose 280 pounds.
Name: Andy Sorrells
Age: 29
Hometown: Franklin, Tennessee
Occupation: Loan Processor
Height: 6 feet 3 inches
Heaviest weight: 500 pounds
Current weight: 220 pounds
Pounds lost: 280 pounds
Defining moment
My wife, Maggie, had started the Weigh Down Workshop program. We were newlyweds and continued to gain weight. We had tried other diets but this one worked for us.
How did you finally lose the weight?
Diet: Weigh Down Workshop, a spiritually based weight loss regimen. I just started without a real goal of losing a specific amount of weight and reduced my portion sizes. I spent so much of my life thinking about it and planning for it. Finally, I stopped focusing on food, stopped counting calories and eating low-fat foods. You just have to eat what your body craves and reduce portion sizes.

Exercise: I didn't really exercise. I walked occasionally but I never followed a specific fitness regimen.
How long did it take you to lose weight?
Just about 17 months from January 2003 to May 2004. My wife had tried the Weigh Down Workshop and had success with it. I was trying diet foods and fat-free foods. But I knew there had to be a way someone could eat normal food and still lose weight.

How has this changed your life?
When I was born I was close to 11 pounds and all of my life I've dealt with weight issues. People always teased me about being overweight. Once I started this program, I realized that I had to stop being angry at the world and I needed to look internally.

Once I started this program, it changed my outlook on my entire life. I realized that being happy is a choice. I can either be filled with hate and despair or I can be happy and help others.

Do you have any tips for other people who want to lose weight?
It is more than a temporary change. It's a lifestyle. Open your eyes and see that there's more to life than food. Food is used as a comfort, but just like alcohol or anything else, it can be overused. Eat smaller and be content.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Weight loss success story of Sorrels family - 580 pouns off

When Maggie Sorrells looks at her husband, Andy, she doesn't see the man she married. In fact, most days, she doesn't even recognize herself.
Before the Franklin, Tennessee, couple met online, both had endured lifelong struggles with weight and emotional overeating. Together, they had a combined weight of nearly 1,000 pounds.


Maggie, who had a family history of heart disease and diabetes, had been warned by her doctor at the age of 27 that she wouldn't live to see 30. But her real moment of truth came when she visited her mother in the hospital.

"The biggest shock of my entire life was stepping on a hospital scale and realizing I weighed 440 pounds," she recalls.

Until that moment, Maggie says she never knew how much she weighed, because she was too heavy to register on a household scale.

Andy, like Maggie, tried countless diets but failed to keep the weight off. At his heaviest, he was 505 pounds and had to have most of his size 64 clothing made by his mother to fit his 6-foot-3-inch frame.

Maggy, on the other hand, tried to conceal her misery by making other people laugh.

"I was so depressed and so miserable. I was always the funny fat girl, but on the inside I was miserable," recalls Maggie. "It held me back in many ways and I started to accept it as being genetic and felt this was just the way I was going to be."

Though she never let her obesity keep her from traveling or socializing, it had affected her quality of life. Maggie had to use a seatbelt extension on airplanes and was once asked to get off a roller-coaster at an amusement park.
In August 2002, the couple was married and they soon made a decision that would forever change their lives.

Before getting married, a friend introduced Maggie to The Weigh Down Workshop, a faith-based weight loss program, which teaches people to conquer their addiction to food, as well as other substances and vices, by turning to God.

Maggie says she was never consistent or committed enough to stick with the program. But shortly after their wedding, the couple started packing on the pounds and while Andy tried another diet, Maggie gave Weigh Down another try.

"At the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, I called Weigh Down and started taking the classes," says Maggie. "My whole life, I had always wanted somebody to [lose weight] with me. But I knew if I wanted it bad enough, I would have to do it alone."

She began to lose weight.

"I ate whatever I craved, but only when I was truly hungry and then I ate a lot more slowly, so I could tell when to stop," Maggie says.

In February 2003, after seeing his wife's results, Andy stopped counting calories, gave up the low-fat foods and reduced his portion sizes. Fifteen months later, he had lost 257 pounds.

"Once I started this program, it changed my outlook on my entire life. I realized that being happy is a choice. I can either be filled with hate and despair or I can be happy," says Andy, who realized he no longer needed the anti-depressants.

Maggie's weight loss was more gradual. Shortly after starting the program, Maggie became pregnant with the couple's first child. Sadly, she lost the baby when she was seven months pregnant.

"Many of our family members were afraid that we would turn back to food after we lost our first daughter, since we had turned to food to solve our problems our whole lives," remembers Maggie.

Faith, she says, helped her overcome the loss and continue on the program. Three years later, she had not only lost 300 pounds but she also gave birth to another daughter, Lily. Last week, the couple welcomed their son, Jacob.

How has the weight loss changed their lives? Maggie, who now weighs 140 pounds and wears a size six, and Andy, who weighs 220 pounds and wears a size 36, say they had no idea their lives could be this good.

"It blows my mind that we look the way we do," says Maggie.

The couple shares their success and strategy for weight loss by leading online classes for Weigh Down. Maggie believes if just one person's life can be changed by her story then her struggle will have been worth it.

"I want people to know there is hope. I looked for hope my whole life," says Maggie. "I want that person who is just like the old me to look at where I am now and know that you want to be here!"

Via http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/23/weightloss.sorrells/index.html


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Monday, August 20, 2007

Interview With Jeanette Jenkins - Author of "The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan"

I recently spoke with Ms. Jeanette Jenkins, while she was out touring the country, promoting her new book, The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan. She is a genuinely caring person, who values family and friends. No wonder the stars love her!

Ms. Jenkins: I love the inside photo of your mother and yourself. Tell me about your reason for writing The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan and how it is related to your mother, Karen Jones.

I was supposed to publish The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan in January. Then I received a call that Mom had had a gallbladder attack. I was raised by my mom—she was my sole parent. I had to prioritize; I quickly realized how I would be devastated if I lost my mother. It’s important to have a mental and spiritual connection with your family and not always be motivated by external factors.

I was under pressure to get the book out, but decided that I had to go to Canada to make sure my mom was OK.

Publishing in May is a Mother’s Day gift, and a blessing in disguise. Mothers are the number one provider, and sacrifice their own time for their children and families.

However, they need to find time to incorporate family into healthy living because we need them.

That’s my connection—to inspire other women to motivate themselves.

How did you become a trainer to the stars?
I moved to LA ten years ago from Canada. I was originally born in Hollywood, my parents divorced, and Mom took us kids to Canada. I moved back afterward. California is the mecca of fitness. Wanting to do what I love to do, LA was the place to be for the most lucrative income.

I chose Hollywood and received referrals; Christina Applegate among other celebs would show up in front of my class. I knew I was doing something right! Then I got a call one day, “We’re looking for a trainer for Queen Latifah.” All of these clients have come from a personal referral.

Location is the case. I capitalized on the Hollywood thing. Queen Latifah is so inspiring, she lifts people up around her with her gift of entertainment. I wanted to help people live healthy lives through my Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss book and DVD.

Your forward is written by Queen Latifah. She states, “Here’s the real deal: Jeanette knows how to keep me motivated, and how I can motivate myself when she’s not around.” While on your program, Queen Latifah lost 25lbs in less than six weeks.

How do you motivate your clients?

I motivate clients through education. If you can explain and help people understand who they are, they will be interested. No preaching. “This is why this motion is difficult for you. Your aerobic level is very low.” I have them get initial assessments for fitness, blood, resting and active metabolic rates. I want them to understand what’s going on in their bodies. For resting and active metabolic testing—I encourage everyone to get this.

Today, we know you are biologically an individual. The things you’re going through environmentally and socially will affect hormones and how you burn calories. Clients get results quicker with me than with other trainers. Beginning assessments help me avoid trial and error.

What other stars do you train?

Kimora Lee Simmons—she inspires me. She’s only 30 years old and has two children. Taryn Manning, she’s been through a lot in the industry and she keeps coming back on top. This month she is on the cover of Stuff Magazines 100 sexiest women issue and she has a starring role in Fox’s new Prime time show Drive.

How often do you hit the gym?

Every day. I practice what I preach, and mix it up. Right now I’m traveling to promote my book. This morning I had to be on a show. My wake up time was at 5:45 AM to do treadmill first, before hair and makeup. I plan for it.

What does your eating program incorporate?

Oatmeal without milk. I believe in using raw dairy, not pasteurized, to be as close to nature as possible. I’m a berries person and include them four times a week with the oatmeal.

I eat French toast and buckwheat pancakes with berries the other three mornings.

Sometimes I’ll have eggs and chicken sausage.

I eat four meals a day, every 2 to 3 hours.

What’s your message to women who have delivered babies?

I prefer to address women before delivery. On the mental and spiritual side, women lead careers, have a changing hormonal situation, and lead busy lives. Under stress, the stress hormones (including cortisol) will go to the child in the womb. Women need to decrease their schedules and find a place of peace. As a sign of affirmation—take a day off. We do too much, shut down, make parameters. People will respect them if you set them; make peace in your life.

I see many African–American women with fibroids, which feed off estrogen. They need to decrease amount of estrogen produced. Under a microscope, fibroids have more estrogen receptors than any other kind.

Estrogen is affected by the cortisol, and cortisol is sometimes created by stress.

Find out what’s causing you to be unhealthy rather than getting a prescription to take care of the symptom. Don’t feed yourself with caffeine. Fight or flight, the rise of cortisol, is increased by diet pills, caffeine, and the rush rush go go of life. Cut it off.

Your book comes with The Hollywood Trainer Workout DVD, a great feature to the program. Who will best benefit from it?

I’ve had experience making my own DVDs. They are necessary to help people. I’ll open up Shape magazine, and look at the pictures of the exercises. They can only show so much of the exercise. That’s where motivation and results come from.

For the DVD, I chose 8 to 10 back up people. They include a variety of ethnicities and ages: a 63 year old grandma (She’s in great shape!), a pregnant woman, a 40 year old female with kids, a man aged 40 and another in his 30’s.

It’s important to show how this exercise is for anyone, for people just beginning to workout. The routine is all low impact.

Your recipes look delicious and nutritious. With your busy schedule, do you cook and prepare ahead?

Yes, I made all my own recipes and I love to eat!

Page 27 explains the proper footwear and fit for the feet. This is unusual in a diet book and is a welcome feature. Do I need a special shoe for the workout?

Yes. It’s important, especially if you’re overweight or if you have pain. Don’t wear $7 Target shoes. Some people spend little on the comfort of their feet, but they’re driving a Mercedes. Are you feet flat, do you pronate or supinate? It’s important that your feet are comfortable. Then you’ll stick with the program. Muscular-skeletal issues will be avoided too.

I especially like the Today’s Affirmation boxes for each of the 21 Days. How do they go hand-in-hand with the exercise Weight-Loss Program?

Motivation is a layering effect, involving education, fun, and a little bit of love. I reward or compliment. Everyone needs to feel loved. Through The Hollywood Trainer Weight- Loss Plan, I use daily Personal Affirmation. Next is the workout. Then the meal plan, fitness tip, and nutrition tip of the day.

One tip a day is given. Too much information at once isn’t useful. If the reader wants to read more after the tip, about healthy fat for example, she can read the whole section on the subject in the back.

What else is part of The Hollywood Trainer Program?

Learning to Love yourself!

Besides the book, I have DVDs, teach classes in LA, and I often speak at expos, and other events around the country.

What do you want the reader to take away from The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Program?

Today people have a choice in health, either wake up and once a week collect your pharmaceuticals, or you can wake up and take your grandchildren to the park. There’s so much out there to enjoy. My book can inspire people to change their lives for the better.

Ms. Jenkins, thank you for the interview. Much success to you and your Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan.

Thank you.



Saturday, August 4, 2007

Jen Sall weight loss success - from "Fit but fat" to slim

Jen Sall, 36, managed to lose over 42 pounds, starting from 196 lbs. Her example shows that traditional weight loss is worth and can lead to perfect results with proper dedication! Here's her story:


"Hey, fatso! Get out of the way!" a voice yelled as I pushed through the crowd heading into a concert. How rude, I thought, feeling sorry for the target of his nastiness. And then the truth kicked me in my size-16 rear: He was talking to me—I was the fatso!


Me, the once hard-bodied, soccer-playing girl who had moved to Boulder, CO, for college 12 years ago; got addicted to skiing, rock-climbing, and hiking; and eventually called it home. Me, who'd quit my pack-a-day habit so I could run faster, only to gain 15 pounds in 6 months. Me, who'd put on almost 40 more by staying in a relationship that was so miserable I ate my way through it.


It had been easy to ignore my weight. After all, I was still running and competing in mountain bike races, but the truth was, after a 20-minute jog, I was so wiped out that I'd retreat to the couch and do my favorite exercise: powerlifting a bag of Doritos and a pint of ice cream.


At the end of 1999, my boyfriend and I broke up, and alone at a New Year's Eve party surrounded by cute, thin people, I forced myself to face the facts: I was fit but fat. Even though I loved exercising, I hated dieting, and this is where it had gotten me. I downed a few Cosmos and some fudge, and the pity party was over: I was ready to get slim.

I joined a gym that had a much-buzzed-about trainer, Marcus Eave. (It was impossible not to notice the perfectly sculpted muscles his clients displayed.) I finally snagged a coveted spot in his Spinning class and concluded that even on my sales-job salary, springing for his $80-per-hour private sessions once a week would be worth it.


Proving Myself

"I can't take you on," Marcus said, when I asked him to be my trainer. He only had time for clients who were really committed to getting in shape. Apparently, he didn't think I was, and I hadn't been at the gym enough to prove otherwise. I glanced at a woman parading around in fab fitness wear, and thought, If she can be a member of the buff-client club, so can I. It almost killed me, but I exercised every day for 2 weeks and cut back my calories. When I showed up 5 pounds lighter, Marcus said, "Okay, you're in." His prescription: cross-training, to build up my strength and stamina. My drill was to work out five times a week, whether strength training or running and biking out in the foothills.

What I'd lacked before was consistency. I'd go 10 days between workouts. Now I was going to be lifting weights and doing cardio 5 hours a week. As an athlete, I could handle this challenge. I was less sure of his diet suggestions. I'd convinced myself I could eat anything if I worked out hard and threw in the occasional crash diet.


Marcus explained why my strategy wasn't working: It was almost impossible for me to burn off as many calories as I was taking in each day unless I made exercise my job.


Clean Machine


The diet I'd begun was a start, Marcus said. I'd eliminated sugar, but if I wanted to really lose weight for good, I'd have to make more permanent changes. He pushed me to eat five or six small meals a day—rather than three large ones—to curb cravings.

Moving in Slow Motion


I was all geared up to start shedding pounds, and nothing happened. I wasn't losing a thing! Where were the 5-pounds-a-week losses I was used to from my crash diets? I wanted to try it my way again, but Marcus kept insisting I eat. "Give it time," he said. I visualized his thin clients and agreed. I outlined my meal plans and prepared preportioned snacks of raw almonds or cashew butter and ZonePerfect bars so that I could fuel up on minimeals all week.

After a couple months, I definitely felt fitter. I loved impressing Marcus by doing a one-armed push-up off a medicine ball, but the slight changes in my shape were barely registering, which made it, at times, very difficult to resist sweets.

For a long time, the experience remained more about the journey than the destination. It took months of hard work for the 2 pounds I was losing each month to become noticeable to me or anybody else.


A Thinner, Fitter Me


Half a year later, I got my reward at long last. I was in a dressing room and realized that for the first time since college, I had choices. That first glimpse of success gave me the resolve I needed to keep at it. Now, 5 years later, there's no fatso in sight. I've gone from a size 16 to an 8. I've lost 42 pounds, shaved more than 2 minutes off my mile time, and packed on a lot of sleek, toned muscle. That's not to say that it's over. My get-fit journey continues—and will for the rest of my life.

Via health.yahoo.com

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Thursday, August 2, 2007

Getting slim on the job

Nicole Beagle's prom dress is magenta tulle with spaghetti straps and a bodice studded with rhinestones. She hasn't tried it on since 1999, but in August, she plans to wear the dress as a bridesmaid.


The only hitch: The energetic 23-year-old grew from a size 5 to a size 11 in the years after her prom night. But Beagle didn't go on a diet, join a gym or try weight loss pills to shed the extra pounds. Instead, she got a job.


Four months ago, the East Hartford, Conn., resident started working for the junk removal service 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Since then, she has dropped two dress sizes — and 25 pounds — on her way to fitting into that late-'90s gown.


Hauling junk in the hot sun might have once been the last resort of summer-job seekers who couldn't snag a spot dishing ice cream or guarding swimmers. But as young people become more health-conscious, the fitness perks of such jobs have started to count in their favor.


On a job in South Windsor, Conn., recently, Beagle and her junk-crew partner, Scott Mocek, tackled a pile of unsold goods from a tag sale. Boxes of clothing and kitchenware sailed easily into the back of their truck. Chairs and bureaus posed a bigger challenge. The company charges for junk by volume, so Beagle and Mocek tried to break larger items into smaller, more condensable pieces. One after another, Beagle slammed heavy wooden chairs against the asphalt driveway until the legs and arms broke off.


"It gives me an adrenaline rush and a workout," she said. "It's amazing how many calories you burn just filling up a truck."


Beagle said she previously had trouble fitting workouts into a schedule packed with classes, work and baby-sitting for her young niece. Now, with exercise incorporated into her time on the clock, she can focus on fitness without losing time with her friends or family, she said.
She still has one dress size to go before she will be able to fit into the prom dress, she said. For now, it is a reminder of her goal.


"I look at it every time I go into the closet," she said.


In the fall, Beagle will begin taking night classes toward certification as an X-ray technician. A doctor noticed that she had a natural aptitude for reading scans when she attended an ultrasound with her friend, she said, and it will be a good-paying job.


While she is in school, she will keep her day job working for the junk removal company, she said. Although the clients are occasionally strange — she recalled one job in which they removed 30 computer monitors from a home covered in the number "666" — she said they are usually friendly, and she enjoys feeling trusted when they allow her to enter their homes. And as long as she's working in junk removal, she'll save money and time on a gym membership, she said.


Beagle is not the only employee to have noticed the fitness boost that comes from hauling junk, said Doug Stoyer, Beagle's employer. Mocek has lost 10 pounds in three months on the job, he said, and Stoyer himself notices a weight loss during the summer months, which are the busiest for his 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise.


"I can tell by my own waistline what the season is," he said.


Another worker, Jean Francois, took a job with the company to get fit enough to pass the physical exam for prospective firefighters, Stoyer said. Having passed the test last week, Saturday was his last day at 1-800-GOT-JUNK.


Despite its effect on the biceps and waistline, junk removal leaves something to be desired as a full body workout, Beagle said. Heavy lifting leaves her lower body relatively untoned.


"The thing I still need to be going to the gym for," she said, "is my legs."


Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Weight loss success is simple as stated




Despite contrary opinion, losing weight is not hard to do; it's amazingly simple:


1) Eat a little less than you want

2) Wait five minutes before you start

3) Walk a little more than you would

4) Focus on today (tomorrow will take care of itself)

5) Repeat process until desired results are obtained


Voila! No weight loss pills. No bizarre food concoctions. No expensive plans. Simple. To the point. Successful.


As stated, it's not difficult.


Why then do Americans spend $33 billion a year on a process that can be outlined in fewer than 50 words? Here's the thing: Losing weight is not hard; changing one's mind to accept reality can be another issue.


I offer my own experience as case in point. I am no Johnny-Come-Lately to the rigors of dieting; having been on weight-loss programs since before my memories were formed. As an overweight child who wore "husky" pants and XXL shirts, my mother served skim milk in (non-sugary) cereal and fruit for dessert.


Doctors tried to shame me into losing weight; again and again forcing upon me those purple mimeographed pages overloaded with food lists, calorie counts, and dieting "secrets" (which never worked). Upon reaching adulthood, well-intentioned friends pointed out the health risks of obesity: heart disease, diabetes, and stroke; attempting to nudge me toward change. My life has been forged and melded in the furnace of dieting. I know this stuff better than the back of my slightly chubby hand.


So, why do I still have trouble sticking with it?


The answer? We make the process more difficult than necessary, gunking it up with all manner of artificial mental barriers and obstacles. Instead of accepting what must be done, I lament the process of change; stubbornly hanging on to the ineffective, seeking to finagle my way around what is required. I devise excuses for not waking in time to exercise. I tell myself, "just this once won't hurt" while nibbling leftovers from the refrigerator. I protest the higher price of healthier foods, opting instead for the long-term cost of greasy, crunchy, fried bags of chips.


Our thoughts are the problem, not the diets. We put ourselves at odds with our own best interest. At day's end, it is usual to want to "shut down" and unwind. Close the curtains. Turn off your mind. "Relax," coos the seductive call of well-worn behaviors, "You can start tomorrow."


"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance," said our third president. To obtain independence from the tyranny of destructive habits requires ongoing diligent effort, as anything of value does. Yet, it is equally accurate - and too often forgotten - that when we pursue our passion, treat our bodies with respect, engage our better selves, and witness the results of those actions, there is no comparison to the elation, joyfulness, and euphoria that floods our soul.


At that point, the whole thing almost seems too easy.

----

About the author: Scott "Q" Marcus is a THINspirational speaker and author. Since losing 70 pounds 12 years ago, he conducts speeches, workshops, and presentations throughout the country.He can be reached at http://%20www.theeatingcycle.com/, scottq@scottqmarcus.com or 707.442.6243.



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