The Bumpy Ride

As Ann has shared, my life has been a dreadful ride on a self-engineered weight roller coaster. I am a true champion in weight loss and unfortunately the same applies to weight gain. My weight in the last six years has ranged from a low of 200 to a high of 400 pounds. This severe fluctuation of weight has afforded me a bludgeoned self concept and large scale self hatred. Diagnosing my struggle is easy; I did not love who I was and so allowed myself to eat in epic proportions without any regard for me or my health.

When I began working with Integration Fitness, I weighed 360 pounds. I am now teetering around 325, which to me is great. However, the reality is that our struggles are different and mine is in no way more profound than yours. With this understanding, I know that we all need support! Because it is HARD! We live in a work with an abundance of stresses and temptations, it is not FAIR, but it is our unfortunate reality. This is why it is imperative for us to have a collective stride, team morale and a means of support (this blog) to make the hard times less daunting.

Probably one of the most fulfilling and inspiring aspects of Integration Fitness is the strong sense of a common morale. Although our struggles are varied, I believe we all need support and inspiration in our lifestyle changes. Whether it is leaving the gym seeing the smiles of the 9:00 cycling class, Sara's humor as we work out with weights or aspiring to Hollie and Rachel's more advanced workout levels; I feel a sense of encouragement. We are all a team and this blog will be an essential channel of support, encouragement and accountability.

In Support of Spenser

About 6 weeks ago, we began working with Spenser. He is a 23 year old working for At&T as a sales representative. Spenser has big eyes, short dark hair, and a smile that speaks to you a mile away. He is open and friendly. He is witty and smart. He is talkative and helpful. He does very well at work and has many friends. He grew up in the bay area of California and played football for his local high school. At 6 foot 3 inches, he was quite an opponent.

Spenser is also morbidly obese. He has struggled with this since middle school and is currently over 100 pounds over an ideal weight for his height. Spenser has been a pro at taking weight off and putting it back on. He has been over the moon with his accomplishements and has found his darkest days of self-sabotage as the pounds came back on and the self-loathing grew right along with it.

Vicki and I have agreed to assist Spenser in trying to make this newest attempt to lose weight his last one. Spenser's goal to lose weight is the largest one that we have worked with so far. He began working with Vicki on cardiovascular exercise about 6 weeks ago. He's met with me twice for nutritional counseling and has just started strength training as well.

To date, Spenser has lost 11 pounds. We would like to ask all of you to join us in supporting Spenser on this journey. There are no more compassionate and giving people as those who are clients at Integration Fitness. He has already met many of you and has been so impressed and complimentary to those of you he's had the pleasure of meeting. Vicki and I beleive that Spenser's willingness to memorialize his journey will inspire us all and give him the motivation he'll need to succeed.

Please read his posts and respond in anyway that you believe your words can help. Your own struggles and frustrations in this area will also be of value to him ( and you). Thanks for Supporting Spenser.