Tiffany lost 68 pounds

Weight Loss Story of the Day: Tiffany lost 68 pounds with the help of a great trainer.  She shared with us how working out with the folks over at Success Athletic Training in Tallahassee, Florida changed her life and her health.

Do you have a great story about how a personal trainer, fitness class or program has helped you? Send it to us so that we can share it and inspire others.

The picture on the left is me during my first week at Success Athletic Training at the end of May 2013 and to be honest I don’t even recognize myself. I joined after watching my brother Vaughn R Wilson train with Oneil Brown for quite a while. I asked him for Oneil’s number several times but didn’t call because in my mind all I envisioned was a trainer yelling and screaming in my face and me walking away (too much TV I guess, LOL).

After months of seeing how committed Vaughn was, I finally made the call and THAT call has changed my life forever. I was at the point of desperation looking for something that I could stick to. I had tried so many fad diets (low carb, no carb, cabbage soup, 3 day, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and so on) and had a Golds membership for years even when I joined S.A.T. From day one, the ladies that I trained with as well as Oneil were so encouraging. That environment is what kept me coming back even though there were days I wanted to quit.

What should have been my breaking point, yet I call it my breakthrough point was one day at FSU track, we were running sprints followed by pushups. I could not do ONE even modified pushup. I was the last one to finish the run, I felt like I was about to die and I was down trying to do pushups and was in tears. As the other ladies continued their drills, instead of ignoring me or telling me to just get up and finish the other drills, Oneil got right there on the ground beside me he did the pushups with me and once the other ladies saw what was going on, they encouraged me until I finished the pushups. That showed me that everyone truly cared about each other. S.A.T. also showed me that what I needed was someone to be accountable to. This made a big difference in my commitment because even though I had a Golds membership, if I didn’t feel like going I just didn’t go and no one cared that I was not showing up. With this group, I knew that I was expected to show up and if not, someone was looking for me.

As time moved on I could see that I was getting stronger and my endurance was getting better, but I knew that I still was not doing the nutrition part. Oneil told me to get rid of processed foods and start preparing my own. He would often text or even call with recipes to try. He was and still is so good about telling me where to make substitutions without losing flavor. Once I listened, the weight really started falling off. He also suggested that I go from 3 to 5 days a week working out because he noticed that I needed to switch things up more for my body to respond. He is very mindful of his clients’ needs and when I tell him that I’m on a plateau, he’ll tell me what to do and when I follow his instructions (sometimes kicking and screaming) I get the results.

Well here I am on the right over a year later, about 68 pounds lighter, from a size 20W to a 10-12. I’ve run in three 5Ks placing 1st and 2nd in my age group in 2 of them. I have competed in 2 fitness competitions placing in the top 3 in both. Through the encouragement and inspiration that I get from S.A.T., I have also become a certified personal trainer.

The journey is not always easy and there have been days where I was pushed to tears and wanted to quit but I know Oneil pushes because he sees my strength and potential better than I do. The entire S.A.T. family encourages one another and I enjoy being connected with the other teams. I look forward to 5AM every morning to workout with my crew and hanging around on Tuesdays and Thursdays after workout to harass Camp 8. LOL!! I’m still grinding to get the last few pounds off to reach my ideal goal and to get to a percent fat of less than 30. Thanks to S.A.T., I know what it takes and I am glad to have the support to get there.

My advice to anyone on this journey is to TRUST the process, FORGET the scale, LIVE a healthy lifestyle and the results will come. Special thanks to Mark Liles for not giving up on his vision and for always serving the community when asked to do so.