The “You Go Girl” Award: Allyson S

Over the last several weeks you’ve met the first, second and third place winners of the Stumptuous Fitness Model Contest. Now it’s time to meet a few of the honourable mentions. First up is the “You Go Girl” award, which goes to Allyson S. Alaina was particularly impressed by Allyson’s dedication and enthusiasm in starting out. High fives and fist bumps to you Allyson — we wish you all the best!

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My name is Allyson, and I’m 37 years old. I have had one child, biologically speaking, and she’s 13 now. I am bringing up four others, step-children, aged 19, 17, and two year old twins. I’m a stay-at-home mother, and I’m currently working at bettering myself, on many fronts.

For the past several years, I have lived a very sedentary life. I’ve watched babies grow up, cleaned house a couple of times a week, and generally pursued a lot of internet time. I’ve played EverQuest until my fingers ached and my shoulders seized up. I’ve gained, in the past five years, 40 pounds, and I’m not proud of it. I have hated the way I look for a couple of years, and I’ve been dismayed into ignoring the scale and all nutritional food for just as long. I reached a point where I figured, “Why do I care? No one else seems to.” I was depressed, overweight, and undernourished.

When my other half realized that he was depressed, he went to his doctor and was prescribed an anti-depressant. It changed his life. He got active, began going to physical therapy for an old injury, and joined the gym. He reached a place, physically and mentally, that allowed him to survive when the worst happened a few months later, and he was laid off from his job. We’ve suffered through a lot, the past few months, but we’ve survived. His change in attitude (and body - he’s lost 20 pounds!) really impressed me, and I began dealing with my own issues.

I joined a gym around Thanksgiving. I’ve been going three or four times a week. I’m currently taking a yoga class on Monday nights, a spin cycle class on Tuesdays, and a general all-body work out at least one other day a week. This has been a huge change for me, because prior to this, I’d been largely sedentary. The most frightening part of it, for me, was the spin class. I’ve seen all the Barbie Doll types in that room, up there, with their sleek spin outfits, their headbands, their matching water bottles. The very idea of sitting on one of those little seats for 40 minutes or an hour just terrified me! Yet, it seemed to be the best way to go about things.

The first week I showed up, the gym was filming a commercial. There I was, in DayGlow yellow sweats, looking bright and awful, my hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, sweat pouring down my face… with a camera crew grinning at me. I was, by far, the heaviest girl in class. The next heaviest lady was older than me by some years, but had obviously been doing this a while. She bounded up and down, sprinted, jogged, and otherwise kept up with the instructor, while I slogged along in the back. I was told, before the class started, that if I could make it through the first class, I had done the hardest part.

Well, I made it through, thanks to the understanding instructor and the helpful classmates. Everyone was encouraging, and the following week, another lady almost as heavy as me had joined the class. Apparently, she’d been thinking of joining, but her weight had discouraged her. When she saw me, it made her re-think her decision, and she joined us! I’ve gone several times now, and truly missed the spin class over the holidays (my class happens to be on Tuesdays… Christmas Day and New Year Day this year). Tomorrow, I start up again, and while I’m wincing in anticipation, I know that it’ll be good for me.

Yoga has turned out to be something much more interesting and enjoyable than I thought it would be. My friend Tony has been my exercise partner, and he wanted to join the yoga class, and I promised to come along for moral support. What I found was a group of ladies of all sizes and shapes (though admittedly considerably smaller than me), again supportive and friendly, who welcomed us both with open arms.

The instructor is great at showing you how to do simpler moves if you’re not up to the advanced ones, and we often work with the lights down low, so it’s very relaxing. At the end of my second class, I lay on the floor relaxing, and realized that I was PAIN FREE. I think that was the first time I’d been pain free in months. I am a yoga convert.

The weights are another issue entirely, for me. I first ran into the idea of lifting weights by running into Stumptuous’ site a few years ago. I spent an entire year hefting iron at home, dragging the whole family along for the ride, and then managed to injure my shoulder badly during our move to our new home. That ended my weight exploration, for the time, but I missed it. The dusty weight bench in the basement stood silent testament to weight training that I never finished, but the idea of the shoulder pain really discouraged me.

Now that I’m back in the gym, and my shoulder has had two years to heal, I am feeling that verve and excitement again. I’m a little dismayed, to find that lifting even the 45 pound bar has become almost impossible for me. I’m using the lower weight free weights a lot, ignoring the easy-to-use machines in favor of bar bells and hand bells. I do use the cable pull machines for a couple of exercises, but that’s it. Yoga has shown me a handful of core strengthening exercises that are simple, and extremely difficult. I’m doing my squats again, although only weightless right now. I am doing weighted lunges, though, and watching my thighs come back into shape. It’s amazing just how quickly my legs are going from flabby to fab!

My biggest setback, right how, is the flab at my midsection. I am flexible enough to do most of the yoga moves, yet my belly fat gets in the way, preventing me from performing them adequately. It’s embarassing, but I’m persevering. I know that if I keep my wits about me, and don’t lose my resolve, the fat will go down, and my natural flexibility will return. I try to keep my mind focused, and having a partner really does help that. Tony picks me up for the gym when I’m feeling down, and vice versa. He reminds me to eat well, and I remind him, too.

I wish I could report rapid weight loss, but I can’t. I’ve lost 7 pounds since starting my current program, about six weeks ago. I gained back 3 of those pounds over Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I’m not going to punish myself. I didn’t gain the 10 pounds that’s the national average weight gain over the holidays, and I didn’t lose track of my goals during the time off. I maintained my focus, splurged only a couple of times (my mother-in-law sent toffees for Christmas, which I find hard to resist), and continued to go to the gym even though my classes were not on. I even went to the gym and swam laps when I was in a hotel for 3 days between Christmas and New Year, and found healthy and delicious options to eat while keeping the calorie count low.

Am I a fitness model, such as you might see on the cover of one of the dieting magazines? No, I am not. I’m overweight, and I’m not proud of that. I am a model, though, a role model. The kids see me continuing my exercises in the face of adversity. My sister and friends are applauding my efforts. I feel great, so much better than I did even two months ago! I’ve made a long term commitment, not to diet and exercise to lose weight, but to change my life for the better. This isn’t a temporary thing I plan on doing until I’ve lost a few pounds.

I’m changing my life. I’m making time for me. And I love the new me!