1. What caused you to join our contest?

"I was depressed and unhappy with life in general. I had been struggling with my weight for years. I recently just finalized my divorce and paid out a large settlement and was hampered with low self esteem and to cope I was playing a 24 hour massive-multi-player online war game. I would sometimes sleep at my computer (yikes) for fear of being attacked, often pulling all nighters.  I had gone through a divorce and used video games as an escape, to take my mind off my troubles. Then the gaming took on my whole life. The computer-chair attached lifestyle became my body's undoing. Kraft dinner, Pizza, burgers, fries and a coke were everyday meals because I was afraid to leave my computer for more than 15 minutes at a time for fear of being attacked, it became a real problem as the weight poured on and I couldn't go a day without taking at least 2 antacid pills or I would develop painful acid reflux if I didn't take them. I became tired sluggish, unmotivated, my memory was failing me, it was like I was going through life in a fog as my performance in real life dropped at work as well.  I knew I had an addiction but I was frozen, unable to do anything about it.

People whom I had worked with at my former job were shocked to see that I had gained so much weight and I knew I had to turn the tide of weight gain. I was lethargic and depressed with my deteriorating condition.  I felt unattractive and unwanted. I was having problems keeping up with my 8 year old daughter and this fact was screaming at me in the back of my mind because  I remember saying to myself when I was younger that I would stay in shape for my daughter so that I can play with her. I want to live for my daughter and I knew my health was going downhill rapidly. It was a vicious cycle, I'd eat, get depressed, play the video game, eat, ect. My daughter asked me please can we please stop playing video games and I realized I was wasting my life on my addiction to a video game. I made a promise to my daughter to stop playing that video game.  I made a promise to her that I would lose the weight and be healthy for her.

I had a talk with my 36 year old sister who is in fact over 300 pounds, she listened to me as I told her about my bad eating habits, my video gaming, headaches and acid reflux and she told me to stop the weight gain immediately while I am  no where close to where she is. I had always been the skinny person in the family and she wanted me to stay that way.  She told me about the hardships she was experiencing as an obese person and genuinely wanted the best for me.

It was not long after that conversation that the gravity of my situation hit me. My grandfather died of a massive heart attack at the young age of 42. My Mother has serious complications due to her own weight control problems. She was in her late thirties when she started to gain weight herself, I am 39. She is a Type II Diabetic which was brought on by weight gain, and now weighs in at 300 pounds and is unable to work and support herself. I was on a collision course with that unhealthy lifestyle gaining 20 pounds a year. I was ONLY 4 years from passing my mother in weight.

I was playing games with my health and my life in general, I saw the contest sign at the world health and my eyes lit up. I went up to my trainer and told him I was going to do it. The New Year's came and I committed myself."

2. What barriers have you experienced in the past when it relates to achieving your goal?

"I went through several attempts to lose weight.  I decided to lose the weight last year but kept up the video gaming as well. I only realize now how truly addicted I was. I tried to change one thing at a time. I knew I ate very badly using food as an emotional crutch, I ate out all the time with my daughter and whatever she ate, I ate 3 times more.  First I tried just a Diet change, I ate as little as possible in a day, and boy did that only make the fog and sluggishness worse. Now I only wanted to stay in the computer chair with no energy to burn for anything further eroding my metabolism as my body fed on itself, no energy for moving around at all, let alone exercise.  Atkins was no better, with the low carbs sometimes I would end up succumbing to cravings and I would consider that week to be a disaster, and told myself I would start again on Monday and eat badly the rest of the week.   Then I tried to exercise with little sleep and with that came massive headaches every single time I tried to workout, it was debilitating for hours afterward. I tried to play basketball as hard as I could as often as I could and I ended up getting injured. Overuse rendered my legs useless for working out for a time because I over did it. I had jumped into a sport I was not physically ready for. I went to Gold's gym and had a trainer there as well, but I still hadn't reeled in my bad food eating habits so it was to no avail. Then I had problems with timing as well, something would always come up interfering with my workouts and /or diet. I made excuses for myself; I just didn't have the time I told myself.  Clearly the weight gain, poor diet, lack of sleep and video gaming had hijacked my life and I needed to take control. I knew I had to put it all together. I needed to be organized. I realized I needed to set an example for my daughter, I had to stop the unhealthy eating for her, I had to stop myself from figuratively turning into my Mom or my sister.

I also discovered that instead of trying to work out after work or at lunch where there were constant demands on my time, I discovered that there was time when there was minimum distraction and demands on my time at 6 am. This was an Oh my Gosh discovery as I was never a morning person. I made this morning workout as the mainstay of the beginning of each day."

3. How did this contest assist you in achieving your goal?

"The contest was a motivational starting point for me to focus on with many of the tools already in place at the World health to help me along. It had a timeline for me to follow and I already had a designated goal in mind. Lose the excess weight in a healthy sustainable matter. I quit video games cold turkey, got my body composition and pictures taken for the Health to Wealth challenge the first day it was available to register at 7am on January 10th, signed up for additional sessions with my personal trainer, went to a dietician who completely changed my diet, practiced portion control, slept at least 8 hours a night, exercised daily doing both cardio and strength training and followed a schedule. My trainer knew I was participating in the challenge and pushed me every single day and let me know whenever I was doing something wrong. I told everyone I knew I was participating in this contest to keep myself accountable. When a potluck happened at my work my coworkers were even bringing foods that I was allowed to eat on my food plan with me in mind. I used the contest as an excuse to eat better and workout.  I wanted to feel better for all the reasons I already gave but now I had a timeline. With all the support I got from all the trainers at the World Health I felt like family. This contest and its timeline forced me to be organized and I had to stick to a schedule."

4. Now that you have achieved (or are on your way to achieving) your goals, what impact has the change in fitness made on your quality of life?

"I used to finish a workout before the weight loss and I would be done, finished, tired the rest of the day. It was really becoming difficult just to walk up a few fights of stairs and I was wheezing. 50 pounds lighter and everything is easier. My head aches are GONE! 12 weeks ago I was running 50 pounds heavier! I pick up my 50 pound daughter and I think "No way, I used to weigh this much more, why did I let that happen! I just lost a second grader but not my daughterJ" I'm no longer exhausted after playing with my daughter and that makes me smile; now sometimes, not all the time though, she gets tired first. I'm off the antacid pills! I no longer wake in the middle of the night with the agonizing burning of acid reflux.  I was hoping that my weight loss would get me off the antacid pills that I was taking every day, sometimes twice a day and YES I no longer have acid reflux problems like when I was over weight.

My mind is sharp and in focus again. I have renewed vigor and focus at work and at home and this is just the beginning of my transformation. I am going to keep up the fantastic healthy changes I have made. I have already set new expectations and objectives for myself while maintaining and improving my new self. I remember I wanted to be able to run easily again without killing myself and I'm up to running over an hour at a time with no breaks easily.

Yes I achieved these goals, but honestly feel like I already won. I kept the promise to my daughter and I proved to myself that if I set out to do something, then I can do anything. I achieved the most difficult task of my life. I have already won. Though $ 10,000 would be nice too.

I wake up with a smile and … I'm not going back, there is no way I am ever going to take that 50 pounds back, there is no way in hell I want to have to endure my trainers gruelling 6 am workout routine again in my life. Ok that's not true, maybe I'll do it voluntarily for my own personal fitness  :-)"

5. What advice would you give to someone else who may be thinking about getting started on a healthier, more active lifestyle?

"Anything is possible; it's your choice whether or not you choose to make IT happen." - Unknown

"Do it! It's a commitment but you will feel and look so much better.  A change in lifestyle for the better. You can do it; the only thing in your way is you. I struggled over and over, I failed but I kept trying until I put it all together. Failure precedes success. Attack your obstacles one at a time that are preventing you from adopting a healthy lifestyle or do it all at once like I did. It doesn't matter just start with one step at a time, the result will be the same, a healthier you.

Find the time to workout! I found the time; it was in-between 5:30-8 am! There was no one around, no distractions, only my own belief that morning workouts were not for me. I thought I was always a lunchtime, and after work workout person. I discovered that no matter what happened the rest of the day, I had that time for me and my workout. Find your time!

I can tell you  I cannot wait for the summer so I can take my shirt off and not feel embarrassed, my self esteem is back and it's all because I committed myself to this healthy lifestyle. There were times I wanted to quit and I had to use every mental trick in the book to keep going. Thank goodness I told everyone at work about the contest and I would tell them to do the same. I was holding myself accountable. I wanted to skip days, I wanted to make up excuses not to go to the gym but I looked to my promise to my daughter for inspiration, to set that example and my future unhealthy self to shock myself into motivation. Find your motivation!!

I won't lie, the first few weeks were hard, alright not just hard, there were days I just had to get it done and it felt like an impossibility but the results were coming immediately. The weight was melting off at a rate of 4 pounds a week and the centimeters were coming off! This constant improvement was feeding on itself and steamrolled to an unbelievable change in only 12 weeks. Everyone I knew was complimenting me on how much younger and better I looked even 6 weeks into the challenge after losing 27 pounds at the halfway point.  I was being stopped all the time by people I know, asking me what I did and how I lost all the weight and I was more than happy to exuberantly tell them. I was feeling better, stronger, doing more, and gaining more self confidence, more energy and the more energy I had the more I wanted to do, it was multiplying on itself. The thing is after 6 weeks the routine became EASY!! This is the single most important thing I could tell people. It became second nature to eat healthy, to exercise, and to sleep proper hours, my health was improving exponentially. Everyone needs to know this. It gets easier as you go and it propels itself. It was a self feeding machine.

Now whenever someone comes up to me and compliments me and then asks how I did it, I enthusiastically tell them every step of my journey and try to motivate them to do it for themselves. I feel tremendously better, fitter, more motivated and I know I can accomplish anything I put my mind too. I have never felt more confident and this is the biggest accomplishment in my life. Nothing would make me happier than if my story helped someone else's transformation and I hope I can inspire someone else to do it as well.

And I just may have gotten a chance to give this gift of a healthier lifestyle to my 315 lb sister in Montreal, who was so moved by my transformation she was in tears, happy for me and has asked that I help her in her own personal quest to lose weight. I set her up with the same nutritionist I had and now she has a one hour consultation on May 17^th @ 3 pm.   I've offered the same every single day support that I had from my trainers to her from myself personally. I will be giving her daily advice to help her overcome the psychological day to day struggles.  She is ready and has 'asked' for this. I am doing everything I can to give her the tools to enable her own weight loss story to happen and empower her every step of the way."