Get H3 Inspired: Leigh

I am 49 years old. I have been overweight my entire life. This is very difficult to write about because it is very personal. I have been generally successful in everything I have done in my life that is important (such as, I have a wonderful family and a great career); the exception of my success has always been my repeated failure at weight loss. This has caused me enormous frustration and heartache over the years. Beginning in my early teens until I came to H3 last September, I tried every diet and failed miserably over and over again. Making it more difficult for me to succeed at weight loss is that my husband is a gourmet chef and everything he cooks includes butter and cream. Everything he cooks is so delicious and sadly, I loved great food and hated exercise.

Last September [2011] I went to Hilton Head Health. At that time, my only exercise was walking from my car in my office’s garage to my office. In addition, my lifestyle was very unhealthy. I have a stressful job and I worked about 70-75 hours a week, slept maybe 5-6 hours per night, and only ate one meal a day. This combination was my recipe for being overweight and unhealthy (and probably a recipe for an eventual heart attack). When I arrived at H3, all my blood tests (cholesterol, diabetes, etc) were in the high range, just a bit over, but still over the “high” mark. My doctor wasn’t overly concerned except that he was worried about pre-diabetes. I decided that I needed to diet and needed a “kick start” to a diet. All I wanted to do was lose 20 pounds since I understood from Adam in one of his seminars that losing 10% of body weight would result in significant health improvements. (Yes, I was over 200 pounds at that time, which is now very hard to believe.)

During my first week (of two that I stayed at H3) I met Jeff. He was leading Treading. I happened to select a treadmill in front of Jeff (he had not arrived when I selected my treadmill). I thought I was going to die in the class or at least have a heart attack. I asked Jeff if he knew CPR. I will never forget that hour … Jeff was yelling, in an encouraging way, at the class and doing all kinds of crazy stunts but between all that craziness, he was talking to me very softly and compassionately. He was encouraging and telling me what to do so I could keep going. By some miracle, I finished the class (albeit on a very remedial level). Because I took the treading class, I started training with Jeff. It was hard, he pushed me and he was very tough on me. It is what I needed. I decided to train with him two more times and never tried another trainer.I left H3 and Jeff was my H3 at Home health coach. Health coaching started in early October 2011 after I left H3.

As I mentioned earlier, all I wanted was to lose 20 pounds. Fast forward to August 2012 and I have now lost over 70 pounds and have reached my goal weight (according to my doctor, the BMI charts, and the Microfit assessment I did in May at H3). I persevered because of Jeff. I will forever be grateful for what he’s done. We have met (via conference call) almost every week since last October. He has helped me through every possible challenge. I made it through holidays, business travel, huge special projects at work, special events, parties, vacations, struggles with my husband's work … just to name a few challenges. Jeff encouraged me to exercise and change my lifestyle. I now usually get 7-8 hours of sleep a night and have significantly reduced my work hours. All my blood tests have improved by 50-60 points and my doctor now says my blood tests are “excellent.” I have gone from HATING exercise to sort of enjoying it (not loving it but somewhat enjoying it). I am now working with Jeff on sustaining this weight loss. 

H3 in general and Jeff specifically have changed and saved my life. I have been given a gift by H3 and Jeff of good health and I do not intend to squander this gift.

-Leigh