And the Winner is……
Katie from Team Mental Toughness- Extra Effort
I am so proud of those that participated in Sizzlin Summer Slimdown 2018. This year our challenge was a Coach driven as each person chose a coach to work with for six weeks. It was a group effort and we all need peeps.
Get Fit NH also awarded the individual with the biggest percentage of inches lost from their hips and waist.
Katie chose Team Mental Toughness- Extra Effort. With her team behind her she won the Grand Prize of over $2400. I'll let Katie tell you more of her story.
"In April of 2017 I began my weight loss journey. The boot camp I go to runs a weight loss challenge every spring. I hadn’t been going regularly, but decided to finally get serious about losing weight. I started off at almost 180 lbs - always tired, in pain, and depressed. I struggled to keep up with my young son. During the 8 week challenge, I lost 25 lbs. I continued to lose over the summer and by October I had lost almost 45 lbs. Then my mom got cancer, and things got stressful and the pounds started packing back on. I stopped going to boot camp and gained 15-20 lbs back over the winter. I was sad and frustrated because I had been so close to my goal.
Fast forward to this April. I was really looking forward to the weight loss challenge because I was set on reaching my goal, and hopefully winning the grand prize. It wasn’t always easy, but I stayed focused with the help of my family and coach. I ate clean, got back into hiking, ran up and down my driveway too many times, and push mowed my lawn with my old jalopy mower (the one that caught on fire last summer, lol).
During the challenge, I lost 19 lbs and several inches off my waist and hips (the inches were what counted in the contest). I’m down almost 50 lbs from last year and only 6 lbs away from my goal weight. This past Saturday was the reveal party to announce the winner... I knew I did well, but I had no idea how well others had done (there were over 200 people participating). To make this long story short, I did it - I won!
I’d really like to thank my amazing and patient husband Jon who was there to listen to me stress, help me out, and who was happy to stay home with Jonathan while I was off hiking or exercising (even on Father’s Day). He even ate veggie wraps that tasted like lawn.
Also a huge shout out and thank you to my coach, Nancy Carlson of Get Fit NH. You make training personal and fun, and you’re always there to push me harder or email me when I don’t show up. You changed my way of thinking and taught me how to eat right and not diet, which is huge. And, you are a huge inspiration to me. During training I always think, what weight would Nancy pick up?You’re old enough to be my mother and you’re still stronger than me 
(and you have a great sense of humor, lol).
So in closing, here are some before and after photos, my coach and I, and a photo of my first purchase with my prize money - a new push mower!"
Katie did an amazing job. She rocked it and so did many of you. Katie didn't stop after S3 last year. She kept on pursuing her goal. The take away is life can get in the way if you allow it or you can make a decision and keep on going until the job is done. Katie has more to go and with that new lawn mower and all of Get Fit NH behind her, she will be there soon.
Keep Making It Happen,
Coach Nancy
I love hearing ‘ah ha’ moments. You know, those special points in time that transformed a life for the better? There are so many different and amazing moments that change a person for a lifetime. I think I like to hear them so much because I don’t have one. I grew into healthier eating. I slowly gravitated towards being more fit. It was a process for me. Now I am being encouraged by others with similar stories to my own. Hearing that our 2016 Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown winners had a similar story thrilled me. Kellen and Carolyn Sawyer motivated each other through the six weeks of S3, but they are tackling S3 2.0 with that same determination. I’ll let Kellen tell you how it all got started.
e had it rough as well, as he had not been regularly active for too long. The first few weeks were really difficult and tough, but he stayed with the encouragement of Carolyn, and especially Coach Nancy. The biggest things we learned after the initial 2 weeks was it was important to try, no matter your limitations; we actually felt really good after training; and to beware of Fun Fridays.
o train there and by all of the coaches. Getting to be a part of GFNH has changed our lives for the better, and we look forward to being part of the family well into the future.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.