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 By: Female Transformation Of The Week. You Are Being Redirected...
BodySpace: DawnMarie
Height: 5'4" (and a half!)
Before
Current...I'm not done yet!
  Click Image To Enlarge.
See all of my progress photos on BodySpace.
One day right before my 30th birthday, I came across a documentary about morbid obesity and gastric bypass surgery. The longer I watched, the more I identified with the people being interviewed, how they felt and how they looked. I knew I had put on weight over the past 10 years after getting married, getting a desk job and having 2 children, but at that moment I realized how heavy I actually was and how much I was risking my health. After years of eating out of boredom or emotions, making excuses not to deal with it and putting other things first, I was now nearing 30 yrs old and I couldn't go up a flight of stairs without getting completely out of breath! I was constantly sick, tired or aching somewhere. I was missing out on things I used to enjoy and becoming withdrawn and depressed instead of positive and outgoing. I was not being the mom, wife or person I wanted to be and I felt out of control. After sitting there feeling sorry for myself for a while, I got angry. I couldn't believe that I was even contemplating a risky surgery when I knew in my heart that I had never really made the commitment to lose the weight.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Jun 11, 2005 Size 16, After About 70 lbs Lost. If I could give 110% and reach my goals at home or at work without letting anything get in my way, why couldn't I do the same when it came to my health? The honest answer was easy: I chose not to. That simple realization made me feel in control of my weight for the first time and I knew that I was finally ready to make the commitment. I gave myself just over one year and set a goal that I would do whatever it took to change my lifestyle for good and lose 100 lbs by my 31st birthday... and I did! Since then I have made some additional progress and am still continuing to work toward my goals, but the most important part of my transformation is not visible on the scale or the tape measure. I FEEL better than I ever have, both physically and mentally, and the benefits of that affect everything I do in a positive way. I have regained aspects of my life and my personality that I thought I'd never get back and I am extremely grateful to my family and every person who has supported, encouraged, and inspired me along the way... and continue to do so!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Apr 1, 2006. Thank you so much, I could not have done it without you!
My strategy was to look at my past failed weight loss attempts and focus on the things I did right and then find solutions to the main obstacles or excuses from the past. I approached it as a marathon instead of a sprint and used "baby steps" to ensure I would keep going longer than a couple weeks and truly change my lifestyle. Diet had always been a struggle so I went with the path of least resistance and focused on making exercise a habit first while making smaller changes to my diet. Over time I gradually increased the duration, frequency and intensity of my workouts and enhanced the quality of my diet and the amount of tracking I did of both diet and exercise. I also tracked my progress with weekly weigh-ins, measurements (and eventually body fat %) monthly, and progress pictures whenever I could force myself to take them.
Here is an idea of how I progressed in phases over time to get to where I am today:
I started going to Jazzercise 1 day a week with some friends. The non-intimidating, supportive environment was just what I needed. I worked up to 3 times a week, and then added in beginner level DVDs at home until I was doing cardio at least 4-5 days a week. I used small goals/challenges to motivate myself like: making the "100 club" (attending 100 classes), adding or increasing lbs on hand weights, moving my step height up, doing the higher intensity movement over the easier version, or doing another 5 minutes of the DVD than I did last time (or not fast forwarding it!). On diet, I eliminated obvious things like fast food, soda, sweets and focused on watching my portions, trying to make substitutions for a healthier version, avoiding things that triggered me to binge and reading labels. When emotions, boredom or cravings kicked in, I looked at my weekly weigh-ins, success stories of others, or did activities not tied to food to occupy myself. As the weight started to come off it motivated me to keep going and keep challenging myself. After 3-4 months, I had lost about 24 lbs, exercise was a habit I enjoyed, and I felt ready to take it to the next level.
I joined a gym, took every kind of group fitness class I could get myself to and rotated in the cardio machines. At home, I moved up to intermediate/advanced DVDs, mostly from Cathe Friedrich who I discovered on FitTV. Her workouts kept me challenged and got me doing barbell squats and SLDLs for the first time ever!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Jul 1, 2006 During My Training Program, Doing A Step DVD At Home & Learning To Love Airborne Plie Squats! After a lot of modifying exercises and yelling at the TV, I could eventually complete the workouts and had maxed out my cushy, padded, "girly" barbell and dumbbells. I added in a full-body workout with weight machines 3 days a week and continued doing cardio 3-4 days a week for 1 hour. On diet, I started eating smaller, more frequent meals, drinking more water, and keeping my diet low in fat. By the end of this time I had lost over 100 lbs but I wanted to go further with my weight training to change my shape and not end up a smaller version of me.
I discovered BB.com and after much lurking it was time to conquer my fear of the free weights. I got a Push/Pull workout from a member and forced myself to do it - after a couple times I was hooked! I eventually moved to a 3-day split and continued cardio 3-4 days a week for 60 minutes.
 Click Image To Enlarge. July 3, 2006 Taken For Online Physique Improvement Competition After A 14 Week Diet & Training Program. On diet, I started tracking my macros, upping the protein, adding good fats, eating more calories (I had been under eating), and eating cleaner with more whole foods. I added a protein supplement and started experimenting with various other supplements and weight routines. I started logging online to help me stay accountable and learn from others. The closer I got to my goal weight, the harder it got. I had a lot of body fat to lose and after hitting a long and frustrating plateau, I hired Michael Elias to help me change focus from weight loss to changing my body composition.
I started his plan of a 4-day split with 6 days of cardio and a clean diet using carb cycling. After 14 weeks, I lost significant body fat, gained muscle, and learned a lot. I worked the hardest I ever had in my life! Inspired by the potential I could start to see through the body fat, I continue to work on getting lean and look forward making visible progress by November of 2007, three years since I started this journey - in some ways it seems like yesterday and in others it seems like a lifetime ago!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Aug 1, 2006
I experimented with many different supplements, mostly during the last phase of my transformation and did various supplement logs. Prior to getting my diet and training in check I used a few things to try to jump-start when I hit plateaus and had varying success. 
My biggest successes with supplements were after my diet and training were in check. For me, Whey Protein was the most important supplement to ensure I could get the protein I needed despite a busy life. When training hard, I've found Xtend to be very helpful in reducing muscle soreness. I also like to rotate in various thermo or stimulant type products, currently I am using Basic Cuts. Some products I have used and found helpful depending on my goals at the time were: 
My typical diet is to eat at least 6 small meals a day (eating every 2-3 hours), usually consisting of 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fats. I try to drink at least 1 gallon of water per day and choose whole foods over processed foods whenever I can. Some frequent food choices include:
Proteins: Carbohydrates: Fats:
I typically do cardio at least 5 days a week for 30 - 60 minutes and weight train anywhere between 4-6 days a week depending on my goals and my schedule. Currently I am training one body part per day on a 6 day split and doing steady state cardio 5-6 days a week. My current routine is below:
 Click Image To Enlarge. Sep 27, 2006 Almost 2 Years Into My Journey, 125 lbs Lost & Reached Goal Size 8!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Feb 5, 2007
 Click Image To Enlarge. Just Do It.
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