Summer 2010 - Results

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NO TURNING BACK
Depressed and diagnosed with diabetes, Lori Yates joined a local health club and changed her life for good!

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by Lori Yates - Get Active! - Spring/Summer 2010

NAME: Lori Yates
AGE: 46
HOMETOWN: Lakewood, Wash.
WEIGHT BEFORE: 306 lb
WEIGHT NOW: 206 lb (and still losing! ) as of March, 2010
LORI’S MESSAGE: ìI want everyone to know that diet, exercise, accountability and a good support system are all that’s needed to lose weight, get fit and stay healthy.

I had been morbidly obese for many years and struggled with continually gaining weight. I felt horrible about myself. I hated looking in the mirror and seeing my face with three chins. Each time I went to the doctor’s office, I dreaded getting weighed. I knew I was fat and didn’t want to be reminded of it, and I sure didn’t want to see the exact numbers. I was depressed. It got so bad that I contemplated suicide.

Being morbidly obese causes serious problems. I knew I should do something but felt really overwhelmed. I asked my doctor about diet pills, but he told me that they don’t work. I somehow felt justified that because I couldn’t get diet pills, there was nothing I could do to get started on losing weight.

My weight ballooned to 306 lb. I was on a diet of fast food and soft drinks. I would eat at home by myself and devour a large pizza or eat a dozen cupcakes in one sitting, and then do the same thing again the next day and the next day.

Then around the time of my birthday, I got the news from my doctor: a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. This is not happening, I thought. I was scared and angry. I told the doctor that I wasn’t going to take medications. He told me I could hold off if I lost weight and changed my eating habits. I decided I would do it — I would not be diabetic.

FINDING A GYM FAMILY
A brand-new Anytime Fitness gym had opened less than a block from the hospital where I work as a clinical social worker. I talked with the gym owner Mindy Lewis. I told her I needed to lose weight and was ready to do something about it.

I needed someone who could guide me, because I was going to lose weight and nothing was going to stop me. Mindy recommended Alexandra Seal as a personal trainer.

Alex did an initial assessment and right off the top worked with me to get a nutrition plan up and going. Then we started the workouts. I remember the first ones. My body hurt, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as my bruised ego. I tried do a push-up and sit-up. I remembered my younger days when I could kick those out. Somehow I was thinking it would be the same, but when I tried to get off the ground, it reality hit me: I can’t get off the floor. Tears rolled down my face. But I told myself, I am not quitting.

I didn’t quit. I kept working with Alex, and eventually started doing Crossfit training with her. I had started my program in May, ‘09, weighing 306 lb. As of Dec 31, I weighed 226 lb. As of February 14 of this year, I weighed 215 lb. On March 8, I weighed 205lb.

I have lost 100 lb since starting my transformation journey and I feel fantastic. I do not have a diabetes, my depression and anxiety are well under control, and I am living and enjoying life.

I am still training with Alex. I work out six days a week, and at least four of those days are two-a-day workouts. I do Crossfit twice a week. I ran my first 3.5 miles nonstop. I compete against my trainer doing 100 sit-ups for time, and I can hold my own against her!

I am completely and solely responsible for my health and have taken 100% responsibility for eating healthy and exercising. I am thankful that I have gone through this experience. And as I celebrate my 100-lb weight loss with my gym family and friends as well as my own family, I know with 100% certainty that this will be the one and only celebration of this weight loss. There is no turning back to morbid obesity, and that’s just all there is to it.