In May of 2017, when I found New Age Fitness and met Tammi, I was at my heaviest weight, poorest health state and my personal life was crumbling. I sought out Tammi with very specific plans and a deep need to climb out of the physical hole I found myself in. As a former athlete, I had spent the past couple of years practicing what I knew when it came to health and well-being--hard-work, discipline, persistence--but it wasn't working. I was also practicing A LOT of THINKING in place of DOING. Over-thinking, massive amount of stress and two babies had rearranged how my mind and body responded to exercise and food.
I needed help.
Those were my exact words to Tammi, "Everything that I know how to do isn't working and I need someone to decode this for me." Looking back, I was way more discouraged than I let on and I wasn't even being honest with myself. I was also SO angry, fearful and wounded. I told Tammi about the separation I was going through, how addiction had quickly dissolved my family, how the madness of the past 6 years had changed me, how single parenthood was racking my soul, how not knowing what the future looked like was about to break me. With tears flowing as I write this, I recall Tammi never flinched.
Now that's some heavy junk for just asking someone to help me get healthy!! But I needed her to know how fragile I felt. She never flinched AND she responded with such grace, acceptance and WISDOM! She didn't flood me with any of these blessing either--she watched me through the coming weeks and would give me a bite of something she knew I needed here and there. Tammi's greatest gift to me has been gentle, loving STRENGTH--she's given this strength to me time and time and I watch her give it to others daily.
Over all, I've lost 53 pounds and who knows how many inches. Those details are almost insignificant when I acknowledge the depth of my experience this past year. Tammi never misses an opportunity to help me see the core of my mind and body realities--fat isn't just fat, eating isn't just eating, not caring for our bodies (hearts and minds) isn't just negligence and on and on. In so many ways, Tammi never runs out of ideas, knowledge or energy. She knows so well every square inch of the path and space that it takes to reach these daunting health goals. One of my greatest challenges was figuring out how my body processed food. With Tammi's guidance I have explored many food/eating approaches--I know my body so well now and how to eat to fuel my body for efficiency and balance. Cracking the food code has been one of the most powerful skills for me.
In the past year, my body has changed but not nearly as much as my mind, heart and soul have been touched and healed. When talking with folks about my growth they comment "Wow, I know that's been hard.", I say a lot "This past year has been hard but not nearly as hard as not doing what I've done." What I've lost is measurable but all that I have gained continues to multiply.
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