Time to Make Changes
By Tracy MazzaPhysique Transformation Member
Dear Dieter,
I would like to tell my story; I'm Tracy
In January 2001 my family was going on a weekend ski trip. 
I
hadn't been skiing in 15 years and was looking forward to it. I
didn't get to ski, though. I weighed 210 pounds and after 2 weeks
of trying on ski clothes, I gave up. So, I sat in the lodge while
my husband skiied and children took their lessons. That was
depressing for me, but not enough to get me to change, yet.
In
February 2001 we took a family trip to Orlando, FL. We spent four
days walking from sun up to to sun down, visiting all of the parks and
the beach! It was so much fun. By the fourth day, though I
was sick. After we got home from our trip, I realized that
carrying all of that weight around for four days made me physically
ill. That was my wake up call.
Women
in my family live well into their eighties. I asked myself if I
wanted to live that long, and if I did live that long, would I be
healthy or miserable? So, I started to work out in the small gym
at work on my lunch breaks with a friend. But it was easy to make
excuses to not work out. 
I
had errands to run on my lunch break or whatever excuse came up.
Meanwhile, another friend had been bugging me (yes, bugging me!) to
join the gym with her because she had lost her work out partner.
One day she walks in to work with a one week pass to her gym, so I
went. I have been working out at this same gym for two years now!
A couple weeks after joining the gym I joined the Weight
Watchers at Work program. I figured what do I have to lose, other
than weight! In 13 weeks I lost 40 pounds! Now, you are
probably thinking Wow!, but for me it wasn't enough. Although I
had lost 40 pounds, I only lost 2 clothing sizes. I knew it was
time to make more changes. Up to this point, I had primarily been
doing cardio and starving myself. (Anyone who has done Weight
Watchers and later did a Physique Transformation program
knows you are starving yourself.)
I knew it
was time to add in weight training, but I had no clue where to
begin. So, it was off to the bookstore! But I really was
clueless! Even with what I felt was a fairly self-explanatory
book, I still didn't know what I was doing. So, I did the next
logical thing and hired a personal trainer. This is when my
transformation truly begins.
It was my good fortune that
Steve Dingman (Mr. Colorado 2002 - I can say I knew him when!) became
my trainer. When Steve started training me, he had not even
started the Physique Transformation program himself. I weighed
about 170 pounds, but the most alarming thing was my body fat was
46%. The first thing Steve gets me to change is the way I
eat. The first time I meet him he tells me to write down
everything I eat, the quantity, and the time of day. So, like the
good client I am (don't believe anything to the contrary that Steve may
say), I do as I'm told. So, the second time I meet with Steve he
tells me to start eating every 3 hours! I just look at him in
shock. I am trying to lose weight, afterall. How could I
possibly lose weight while eating more? I tell him I will do it
but if I start to gain weight, I'm quitting!
Well, I do as I'm
told and start eating every three hours and I lose 8 pounds in the
first week! So, now I'm a believer. Steve and I train, he
keeps changing little things about my food every week, and I start to
see changes. Oh, I forgot to tell you how Steve tricked me into
entering the Max Muscle Max Formation Contest. So, I had to take
pictures. Ugh! But the pictures turn out to be a good thing
because we see the changes happening to my body. This tool came
in handy when I was ready to give up.
Well, after about 3 months
of training with Steve he starts the Physique Transformation program
and is so excited about what he is learning that he starts having me
try the program. So, Steve and I are learning this program
together and I'm a little aprehensive, but I trust him so I keep going.
Well, six months with Steve with the last 3 months
including the Physique Transformation program and I lose 28 pounds, 4
or 5 sizes, and my body fat is down to 23%! When I saw my after
picture for the first time, I was shocked. I took my before and
after picture in to show Steve and even he was surprised! Keep in
mind, my before picture on the web site is not of me at my heaviest (I
had lost 40 pounds prior to taking that picture) and I still saw a fat
person in the mirror. Seeing my after picture was the first time
I had seen myself as not fat in many years.
Well, I take
a week off from the plan, and then two, and then three, etc. I
was still working out, but I wasn't paying as much attention to my
food. I didn't gain weight immediately. After I gained 5
pounds I decided I better nip this in the bud. I had worked
too hard and come too far to ever go back to where I was. But I
didn't track everything the way I should, so it wasn't really as
effective. However, I wasn't in trouble yet.
By
October 2002 I had put on another 5 pounds. So, I call Steve and
tell him it is time for the Physique Transformation program and this
time I wasn't stopping until I had my six pack abs! This is my
ultimate goal and I know I will reach it, if I stick to the
program. I finally start to get serious again when I have a set
back. I was having severe abdominal pain and went through a month
of testing to discover my gallbladder was full of hundreds of stones
and becoming quite diseased. So, it's surgery for me and three
weeks out of the gym. My food went down the drain too because I
really couldn't eat much. Everything made me sick or put me in
severe pain. Believe me when I tell you that not eating causes
your body to hold onto the fat as much as overeating does.
Now
I'm back on track. My workouts are getting better than ever
because I am able to give my body the fuel it needs. I am getting
stronger. I am building my calories back up and before long I
will be able to start my rotation and the rest of the fat will come
off.
The best thing I have learned is that it doesn't
matter how good I think I'm eating or how much I work out, if I am not
getting enough of the right foods, I will not get the results I
want. I have also learned that this is a life-long process, a
life-style. There will always be the ups and downs, but I can
never give up. I have the best Physique Transformation Specialist
by side every step of the way and the next picture of me you see will
be with my six pack abs!
Tracy Mazza
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