Recruit Dances to the YMCA! 30TH STORY

I have been participating as a Warrior of Wine at Schnebly’s Winery under the direction of Oshun, our trainer. Our session has ended and Oshun decided to spend more time as a personal chef which is her first love so I was once again faced with a challenge as to how to continue my physical journey to a healthier me.

The YMCA had stated that they would not have a Boot Camp until January as everyone is busy with the holidays. After speaking with one of the directors of the YMCA, I was informed that they would be starting an interim Boot Camp for a short period of time as the recruits showed their support of the program by signing a petition in favor of continuing the program.

Now I had a decision to make again. Do I continue to personal train with Oshun or do I sign up for Boot Camp? If you have been reading my stories, you must know the answer already. I compensate for my weight by being an overachieving workaholic who has to do everything on her own so it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Of course I chose to do both!

This past Monday, I arrived at the YMCA and was greeted by Nasty Nestor, our trainer. Nestor always screams at me, “Are you going to let me beat you D?” and I always respond with, “There’s no way I will let you beat me.” Immediately Nasty Nestor began trying me by having us stretch and then sending us to run five laps around the entire parking lot of the YMCA. When I first began at the Y, I remember trying to make just one row of the parking lot running and I could not do it. Today, I surprised myself by running one complete lap without stopping to walk. The four other laps were a combination of power walking and running. I felt like Rocky on the top of the steps in Philadelphia! I can hear the tune but can’t remember the words. I’m old!

After the run, Nasty Nestor had us doing steps, push-ups and more. I do believe he actually saw and improvement in my push-ups since the last time I had been in his Boot Camp. When I first started, I could not hold my body off the ground. Now I can hold the plank and bend elbows and lower my body to some degree.

While doing the steps, I realized that my left knee had become extremely sensitive and I took it a little easier. You may recall that I ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament dancing to the YMCA at a Catholic Women’s Convention and now have a cadaver ligament in my knee. I continued on with his demands but did take it a little easier.

On Tuesday Oshun came to my home for personal training. We spent most of the time with hard stretches as my knee still bothered me. Don’t think I didn’t work out. I sweated and worked just as hard stretching as I do with regular exercising! She also warns me about pushing myself too far as she knows how set I am on finishing things and not giving up.

The YMCA Boot Camp is filled with high levels of cardio exercises. On the other hand, Oshun counter balances that with low impact cardio exercises and stretching. I feel that they give me the best of both worlds.

I am icing the knee and on Wednesday, I only power walked the five laps as my knee was still sore. I may be determined but I am not dumb. My fear of injury is tremendous. I spent ten months in a wheelchair, brace, walker and crutches and I will do everything in my power not to injure myself. Oshun and Nestor are very caring in that aspect and both watch over me like mother hens.

I am back into the routine again. I attend Boot Camp on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the YMCA and personal training at my home on Tuesday and Thursday. On Saturday, I clean and do things at home and on Sunday I pray that I will survive another week!
Look out Nasty Nestor! The obese old lady is back and listen up.

You will NOT beat me!

WALK A DAY IN MY SHOES - 29TH STORY

Today’s society needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to people who are not your basic size 0 to 10. Many people today look at a heavy person and immediately judge that they are slovenly, lazy and unhealthy and treat them with disgust. That disgust is shown in stares and remarks thrown at the person.

Years ago, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell were pin-up girls and the envy of every man. They both wore a size 14/16. Today, they would be considered “fat.” Today we also see stick figures on the runways and in the movies. Thin is in and it seems that anyone wearing a size 12 or above are out. If you are not obese or have never been severely overweight, you just cannot imagine how an obese person suffers through everyday events.

I am an obese 55 year old woman. I have always been extremely heavy since I was a child. This article may make some people angry and I apologize in advance but I am just telling the truth. I am asking you to take a walk in my shoes.

As a child, I was laughed at and ridiculed. I was the last one picked for games on the playground and gym class in the later days was a complete source of embarrassment. I was called, “Fat Sissy.” “Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me” is a complete lie! Oh I spilled rivers of tears due to the cruel taunting of classmates.

Most obese people have a great sense of humor. This sense of humor is developed as a protection mechanism. They pretend to laugh at themselves to cover up the tears. My sense of humor got me through my high school years. Yes, I did have boyfriends and I went to the prom and I believe this was because my sense of humor carried me through.

Every day of my life I have to confront fears of embarrassment due to my obesity. Will I have to sit next to someone on an airplane and have a tight squeeze? Will I fit in a theatre seat? Will I go to a restaurant and be crammed into a booth that is too tight? Will I sit on a lawn chair and break it? Will I have to squeeze between people in a crowd? I was once totally embarrassed when I went to a fair and couldn’t ride a ride because it couldn’t lock properly. These are just a few situations that I have to think of and plan for.

Being obese, I strive to look my best at all times, contrary to the beliefs of those people who think an obese person is slovenly. I spend time making sure my makeup is on, hair in place and that my blouse isn’t pulling too tightly around my body and showing bulges. I check my pants to make sure they fit properly and everything is in place. I do not wear shorts or tank tops in public. I do not wear spandex! I shower every day. Do not label me slovenly!

Laziness has become an obsolete word in my vocabulary. Yes, prior to Boot Camp, I was somewhat lazy but did not just sit around eating junk food all day. I swam, biked, etc. but not regularly. Now my trainer tells me that there are many “normal sized people” who could not keep up with my exercise routine and my lifestyle. I attend Boot Camp three days and do personal training two days a week. On the weekends I clean house, cut grass or whatever needs to be done. I rarely get a moment to sit. Do not label me lazy!

Even though I am obese, I am extremely healthy. “Why don’t you diet fatty?” I have dieted my entire life. I have gone up and down just like a smoker who quits and then starts again. I do not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The only medication I take is for an under active thyroid. I go to the doctor regularly for check-ups and everything is fine. Do not call me unhealthy!

In addition, contrary to many people’s beliefs, I am not deaf and I do hear you when you make smart remarks about my weight and fat people do have feelings. Every single remark hurts me like a knife piercing my heart. I won’t cry in front of you but I will in private. I won’t share why I am crying with anyone because it is too painful and embarrassing. I am crying now as I write this article because writing this truth hurts.

It has taken me a long time, a series of Boot Camps and sessions of personal training to realize that the treatment I have received by others has made me feel extremely unworthy in life. I have a loving and supportive husband, children, family and many friends, but I still allowed other people’s opinions to rule me.

On the outside, I have the persona of being confident and secure in all that I do. It is truly a façade and I am beginning to realize this. I am a take charge workaholic who tries to do everything to make everyone happy to compensate for my sense of unworthiness. During this process, I always forget about ME! “ME” being happy never enters into my thought process.

I am mad. No, I am damn mad! I am angry that I have allowed this to happen to me. I guess some will say that I allowed it to happen to me. If you do, you haven’t walked a day in my shoes.

Please do me a favor. The next time you see an obese person, please don’t make them feel inferior. Walk in their shoes.

TRAINER TEACHES A PAINFUL LESSON! - 28TH STORY

On October 17th, our son Daniel married a wonderful young lady, Amanda Chambers. Friends and family came from near and far. Airport runs, dinners, entertaining, etc. kept me hopping. Once all my company left, I left on our annual trip with my daughters to the Mt. Dora Craft Show so I was still running like crazy. I just do not feel like I’ve rested in several weeks. Needless to say, I missed three days of Boot Camp and two days of personal training. On top of that, the stress got the best of me and my diet went out the door.

During our trip to Mt. Dora, tradition rules that we visit the Palma Maria restaurant in Casselberry, Florida. This restaurant is owned and run by the Rosinola family from my hometown of Tamaqua, Pa. When I was a little girl, the Palma Maria restaurant was right in front of my home and I used to walk through the back door into the kitchen to pick up food for our family. Then they moved to Florida and I stumbled upon them on one of my trips.

If you ever are up in Orlando and want a true Italian meal, go there. You will not be disappointed. The Rosinola’s bake their Italian bread so of course, you must have bread. On top of that, they make their own desserts and it would be rude to refuse the samples they bring to the table so to be kind, I end up tasting every dessert that they made. To be truthful, the peanut butter pie began calling my name the minute I opened the door! The main courses are to die for.

This past Tuesday was my first day back to exercising. I woke up early and did 20 minutes on the treadmill until my trainer, Oshun, arrived. The workout continued for an hour of sweating, heavy breathing, yelling and yes, crying. My body went from the floor to the elliptical machine to the floor to the ball to the spinning bike to the floor to the ball and more. At some point during my delirium, weights were strapped onto my wrist to add to the resistance of the exercises. My arms are like logs and I have my own natural weights but still she added more! “Don’t they shoot horses in this condition?”

Oshun pushed and pushed. During the stretching, my inner thighs screamed with pain but Oshun would not let up and continued to stretch my extremities to their limits. I silently begged for the time to pass quickly but didn’t dare ask if the time was up. I did not think I could lift my legs or arms one more time but I knew she would make me do it again if I dared to drop them so I pushed myself beyond my previous limits.

This day, Oshun taught and I learned a very powerful lesson. I will not miss more than one Boot Camp session or training session in a row, if ever. I paid the price for my lack of discipline.

Was Oshun too rough on me? No! If she had not done what she did by really pushing me extra hard, I would be tempted to miss again when stress got the best of me or I just didn’t feel like getting up. Was she too harsh in yelling at me? No! If she had said in a normal voice, “Come on Doris, just five more.” I would have said I couldn’t and stopped.

I think that trainers have their own different styles and you have to find one who fits you. I also think that the sign of a good trainer is that you absolutely despise them during the workout but realize that everything they put you through is because they care about you. Oshun is that trainer but she goes a step further by trying to open my eyes to my own emotional needs.

Perhaps the most important lesson that she is trying to teach me is to slowly retrain my brain that associates my obesity with unworthiness. Oshun proved her worth to me this first day back and I certainly want to prove to her, but more importantly, to myself that I am worth all of her efforts.

Recruit Steps Up Training! 27th Story

If you travel west on Palm Drive at 6 a.m., the absence of street lights creates a dark and eerie landscape. You then turn south down a dirt road and drive the obstacle course that consists of pot holes big enough to swallow a small car. Arriving at a normal looking home, you park on the side and exit your vehicle.

Suddenly your ears are assaulted with a cacophony of wails that are certainly the screams of pain emanating from the garage at the rear of the property. You are drawn to the building and upon opening the door your eyes are assaulted with glistening light bouncing off of metal. As you focus closer, you see a large woman lying on the floor. Another woman, sweat dripping off her body, is brutally stretching extremities into positions that seem abnormal to the large body. Your mind will begin to wonder just what you are observing. After observing all the sights and sounds, you will eventually realize that this is my house of horrors!

This recruit has stepped up my exercise program. Three times a week I attend the Warrior of Wine Boot Camp at Schnebly’s Winery. On the two additional weekdays, Oshun, the trainer, comes to my home to train me.

The glistening light bouncing off of metal that you will observe is created by the florescent lights hovering over all of the gym equipment we own. I stated before that I have no excuse not to exercise. My rear garage is equipped with a professional treadmill, elliptical machine, rowing machine, spinning bike, regular bike, abdominal bar, exercise ball, free weights and a home gym with leg presses, curls, arm pull bars and more. I also have a pool. There is no excuse and Oshun has begun to torture me with this equipment.

Prior to Oshun arriving at 6 a.m., I begin by spending twenty minutes on the treadmill. Once she arrives, the pain begins. The screaming you hear may be from me pushing myself to my limits in repetitions of exercises or as Oshun stretches my body into positions that seem impossible. “Picture your heel touching your butt.” she says as she has me on my stomach and presses my foot up to my behind. With great effort on her and my part, it touches my butt, stretching my muscles while I yell in pain and joy. On my back she presses my outstretched leg up towards my head. During all of this, she keeps telling me to breathe which is difficult as I tend to hold my breath to endure the stretching. On the first day in the pool, Oshun was instructing me, “Jump up high in the water and cross your thighs like a ballerina! Not your legs! Your thighs! Come on my ballerina!” I laughed out loud as this obese woman will never be a ballerina but she got her point across and I worked hard at crossing my thighs.

Personal training is a sacrifice. Getting up at 4:45 a.m., five days a week is a very big commitment that I have made. Pushing my body to the extremes has been intense.

Personal training has been a true dream of mine. Oshun has made it a possibility and, even with the pain involved, I am enjoying every minute of it.

This recruit has completed one week of five days a week exercise and I am here to tell you that contrary to my own belief, I did not die. This recruit is still kicking and willing to continue on this very physical journey to a healthy lifestyle. Next week I must concentrate on rekindling my efforts to healthy eating.

Boot Camp Animals! 26th Story

As the morning dew sets on the grass at Schnebly’s Winery, grunts and groans echo throughout the area. Fast paced music swirls in the air tempting bodies to move with the rhythm. The animals that awake early have already been put through a series of grueling exercises that have pushed their bodies to the limit.

Peering out into the grassy field that holds excess parking, the only thing the eye can see is three long rows of large coral rock boulders. It is too early for any cars to be parking at the facility. It is too early for any workers to be arriving for their daily shift. The field is empty.

But wait! What is that in the distance on the boulders? Is it a herd of galloping gazelles flowing across the rows of boulders? As you look closer, you soon realize that there are a few graceful gazelles in the herd and then you notice the exhausted elephant lumbering behind.

The gazelles streak from boulder to boulder imitating the wind. The elephant stands and watches. She considers the distance between the boulders. Some are closer together. Some are higher than the others. The elephant has no faith that she can jump with her huge legs from one boulder to the other so she steps down between the boulders. She is so discouraged but does not want to fail. She climbs up again and stands at the edge of a boulder. She thinks about taking a running start and leaping over the boulders but fear creeps into her mind and scares her. She really wants to complete the task by jumping from boulder to boulder but she is mentally and emotionally held back. What if she falls? She could injure herself on the jagged edges of the coral rock boulders. She could miss the boulder and break her leg. Injury and failure are what scare her the most.

Finally the exhausted elephant decides that she has got to go for it or quit. Standing at one edge of the boulder, she swings her arms to get a rhythm. One, two, three and she takes a running jump and lands safely on the next boulder. The elephant’s trunk is raised and a loud trumpet of victory is sounded. Again she lines up and gets a rhythm going and leaps to the next boulder. Slowly picking up speed, the elephant becomes more confident with each jump. There are a few boulders in between that she just feels are too far apart so she climbs down and back up but continues to jump over all the other gaps between boulders. The elephant feels like she is on the way to becoming a graceful gazelle. Her mind wraps around the idea that she completed the task and she is proud.

She did it! The elephant did it! She actually convinced herself that it was possible and with the encouragement of her trainer, she completed the task at hand.

Yes, this recruit was the lumbering elephant who once again took on a new challenge that she just could never picture herself accomplishing. This recruit climbed to the top of bar stools and walked across them. This recruit jumped rope. This recruit did frog jumps. This recruit does push-ups. This recruit jumped rows of boulders. This recruit overcame her fear of the situation and took on the challenge of her trainer.

I am a recruit in Warriors of Wine and this lumbering elephant is on her way to becoming a galloping gazelle! What’s next?

Recruit Celebrates Her First Year of Health!- 25th Story

In a little town in Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, October 13th, 1954, Robert Hollenbach drove his wife, Marian, through the remnants of Hurricane Hazel to get to the hospital. After a grueling trip with winds howling and trees down, they made it to Coaldale Hospital where a chubby, red-headed baby girl with blue eyes was born.

The baby girl’s two older brothers welcomed the little baby home and she was called, “Sissy.” At the time of her birth, no one knew that Sissy would have a continual battle with obesity. They also didn’t know that she would become a recruit in a series of boot camps. You see, I am that chubby baby girl who will turn 55 on October 13th.

As I was thinking about my upcoming birthday, I reflected where I was last year at this time and how my life has changed. A year ago, I was living a very sedentary and unhealthy life. Oh, I walked every now and then with my boss, but I just could not seem to get my act together. I weighed in at a hefty 298 pounds, wore a tight size 26/28 and I was tired. My knees ached and I could never think of getting down on the floor or kneeling down to pull weeds.

This Tuesdays, I plan to celebrate much more than my 55 years that God has given me. I plan to celebrate the things He has allowed me to achieve and the people helping me along the way.

A year ago, if someone would have told me that in a year, I would be a recruit in a physically challenging and grueling Boot Camp, I would have thought they were nuts! If they would have told me that I would be exercising five to six days a week or that I would be running, jumping, squatting, doing push-ups and more, I would have checked to see what planet they came from! If they had told me I would be writing a weekly series about my exercise routine and on top of it all, admit in the paper how much I weighed and then appearing on the Today Show and admitting I was 54 and obese, I would have laughed hysterically. Life has certainly changed in one year and what a ride it has been!

Since my birthday last year, I have lost 23 pounds and more that 50 inches all over my body. Although it doesn’t seem like much, it was actually lost since I started Boot Camp in January so it has been over a period of 10 months. I have gone from a tight size 26/28 to a size 22 and am now fitting into some size 20’s. Now for many people, a size 20 is still a very large size! Yes, it is and 275 pounds is a lot of weight, but then I think of where I was and wonder where I would be if I had not taken that first step to get up off the couch? I now have a defined neck and chin instead of the “unineck” I once possessed. My body shape has changed dramatically.

Since my birthday last year, I am able to move. I can now get down on the floor with my grandson, Alex, without having to think about how I am going to get up. I can run around the yard and play ball and chase him on his toy tractor without gasping for air. I can do push-ups, jump rope, sit-ups and frog jumps. My balance has improved tremendously. I feel so different from last year. My physical ability has definitely increased.

Since my birthday last year, I am truly humbled by the number of people who care about me. I started out at Boot Camp at the YMCA where I met Rico, Oshun, Mikey, Nestor, Kevin, Charlotte and others, who I learned, truly care about me. Even though I am currently participating in the Warriors of Wine Boot Camp as I could not work the YMCA Boot Camp into my schedule, the personnel from the Homestead YMCA still stay in touch to see how I am doing. They all care about me which is so hard for me to understand. I have yet to figure out why they care about me!

Since my birthday last year, I have met so many recruits who have been so supportive of my participation in Boot Camp. Most of these recruits are the age of my own children, but they made me feel so special. There is the editor of this paper who privately encourages me and says I inspired him to start training again. There are also the people who read this paper, e-mail or stop me on the street to say how proud they are of me. They are proud of me? They are inspired by me? Why?

As I approach my 55th birthday, I realize now that I have already received the best present I could ever receive. I have been given the gift of being blessed by a support team of trainers, recruits, friends and family. They are the ones who display confidence and pride in me while I feel very unworthy.

I am a recruit in Boot Camp and I am thanking all for the beautiful gifts you have given. The gifts of love, support and friendship for which I will ever be grateful.

DORIS APPEARS ON THE TODAY SHOW...FAT AND ALL

This past week, the Today Show aired a segment that was shown nationally. It was taped several months ago and the only good thing about my appearance is the fact that I can physically, for the first time, see a distinctive change in my appearance. My unineck (chin and neck hanging together) is now gone.

Enjoy the video.