WEIGHT LOSS STORY

Amy Mercer

February 28, 2006

I WAS TOO BUSY BEING A WIFE AND A MOTHER...

I was always a small person growing up! I never had to worry about what I ate, because I was always active. Going into Junior High School was when I finally started to gain some weight. I was still not big, but I was an average weight.

I got pregnant at a very early age, that’s when my battle with weight began.  I was around 123 lbs. or so when I got pregnant. My weight at the end of my pregnancy was between 150lbs. – 160lbs.  I didn’t really try too hard to lose any of the weight I had gained, even though I was very unhappy with the way I looked.  I just let it go! I was too busy being a wife and mother to have any time to worry about getting into shape.

When my daughter was around three years old I decided that I was going to lose the weight!  It took about two months or so and I lost the weight and got back down to around 130lbs. That’s when the second surprise came along!  Just when I had lost the weight I found out I was pregnant again.  With the second pregnancy I gained about 40lbs. I tried little diets here and there, but nothing that I could stick to.  The motivation was just not there! I stayed between 170lbs. – 180lbs. for about 4 years.

Then I met Brian, most of you know him as Sensei.  He was always coming into Kinko’s to have work done.  He would only deal with one person there, which was Colleen, everyone else tried to stay clear of him because he looks so intimidating.  Colleen had just been accepted into management and I had taken over her job, which meant I had to deal with Sensei!  I remember when he came into the store and was very pissed off because Colleen had forgotten about some work she was doing for him.  I helped him that day and I have been helping him ever since then.

Of course now that I see him all the time he started to ask me when I was going to come to one of his cardio classes.  I told him I would talk to my husband and I’d let him know.  It must have been a year of him asking and I finally did it.  I went ahead and paid my 6 months up front before I even started my first class, because I knew once I gave him my money I was not getting it back!

I remember my very first class like it was yesterday!  I had not really worked out like this ever!  I struggled just to make it through class that night.  When class was over I was walking out to get in my car.  When I opened the door to get in I fell into the car!  My legs were retaliating; I had to lift them into the car.  I was sore for a week after that.  I started to drink only water and eat right.  My first two months at the Dojo I lost about 12lbs.  I was on a roll!  My husband was always giving me compliments, but I guess it just didn’t feel the same coming from him.  The girls at the Dojo started to give me compliments as well as the people I worked with.