Hello, my name is Tabitha and I wanted to share with you the journey I have taken to a better way of
living my life, for not just myself, but for my two phenomenal children and husband!
My weight loss journey began in September of 2018 when I reached the heaviest weight of my life,
208 lbs. I was unable to keep up with my kids, everything I did seemed to be a struggle. For 17 years I
had been suffering from several medical conditions, among them were endometriosis and ovarian cysts
which both caused me chronic pain. Through exercise and proper eating I was able to keep myself
working and raising a family. But one day the pain was no longer tolerable and something had to be
done. I had to endure a hysterectomy and was put on medication that put me into full-on menopause.
Most women spend years slowly going into menopause, I was given a shot each month and
BAM…weight gain, hot flashes, bone mass deficiency, mood swings and sleeplessness.
I spent two years on the medication and in menopause. When my doctor said the treatment worked I
was delighted to be taken off the medications and start a new! From September of 2018 to January of
2019 I was able to loose 28lbs just by eating “better” and not being on the medication any longer, but it
was not enough, I did not feel like myself still and wanted to get a better handle on my health and
fitness. I remembered how great I felt when I exercised in the past and knew that was what was missing.
My super awesome friend Jason Forest, who had been going to Strong Together for months,
recommended I give it a try. This brings us to February of 2019 where I started a six week challenge,
logging in at 180lbs, 32.4% BF and 29% BMI.
After my first class I really thought I was going to die, I could hardly breathe and was not able to use
weights for any of the all-out classes! I remember thinking to myself the next day, when I could hardly
walk, why would anyone keep doing this? But I had committed and was going to see this to the end no
matter what. I told myself that no one was going to make me better, that was all up to me and if my
mind and body had made it through all this medical crap then I could make it through these classes and
meal plans.
After just two weeks of the challenge I was hooked! There was such a camaraderie at each class that kept
me motivated and driven to do better and better each time. My energy level was outstanding and I was
running laps around my kids. The coaches really cared about my struggles and reveled in my successes
no matter how small. Every challenge that I set with the coaches was obtainable and realistic. I ended
the six weeks logging in at 161lbs, 28% BF and 26 BMI. I was SHOCKED at the success and was so so so
pumped to keep it going!
After six months of being at Hackettstown Strong Together I am now at 146lbs, 24.5%BF and 23.6%
BMI…that is 34lbs lost and 7.9% of my body fat lost! I have set some pretty challenging feats to obtain
in the future, but know that with the fine folks and coaches at Strong Together I will get there and will
have a ton of fun doing it!
