Print This Article

Get Fit Challenge Contest Winner Update

Health & Leisure:  How do I feel today compared to when I entered the Get Fit Challenge?

Elizabeth Schmaltz: When I entered the contest, I was at a point in my life where I knew something needed to change, but I wasn’t sure what to change, or how. I think like a lot of people, when you’re trying to discern what’s broken but you can’t quite figure out what it is, you either get easily overwhelmed and quit, or try to change a lot of things at once. I decided to enter this contest, enroll back into classes for another bachelor’s degree and begin a search for a new job all at one time! I had a gym membership to Bally’s already, and would stop in from time to time just to make sure the treadmills were still there in the event I ever decided to try them. Or, would randomly tuck myself into the back of a yoga/Pilates class, not because I enjoyed it, but because I thought it was what I should do. My point in saying all this, was when I sat down and wrote my essay on why I wanted to lose weight, I was hoping you would pick me because you saw potential (and maybe that I was funny. Maybe!).

Today, as I am sitting here, I just want to hug the old me, and let her know how the story turns out (except I have yet to know!). In the two years it’s been since I’ve started this Elizabeth overhaul, I feel as though I have become a completely different person, and to my surprise, am really comfortable with that! I’m still me, but I’m a better version of me. I’m known in my office as the ‘healthy eater,’ which is a role I’ve never had before, and am happy to have. Don’t get me wrong! I still have days when I traipse through the office with Taco Bell in tow, but for the most part I do what I can to make sure whatever I’m eating has some sort of nutritional content. I’ve also become the person who has been known to schedule days off around classes offered at the gym, something, I myself, sometimes can’t believe. I have also just started taking aerial yoga classes!! It’s very Circ Du Soleil, and as a person who gets tangled in my own bed sheets, I didn’t know if I would be able to do it, but I’m there every Saturday flipping upside down from a cloth hammock suspended from the ceiling! When I first suggested it, my parents suggested that maybe I wear a helmet, as I may be a little clumsy, but it’s actually a lot of fun! (Way better than when I tried Bikram yoga last summer…I didn’t realize 105 degree room packed with 50 people would be quite so hot!!). I’m working out with my new trainer twice a week, plus he runs a Saturday afternoon boot camp for some of his clients, which I go to just about every Saturday. I have to laugh as I am writing because now it appears as though I have become an exercise crazed maniac who does nothing but run laps and eat tofu (a person at whom I would have scoffed a few years ago), but I can honestly say that I am a changed person. I went from wandering around the gym without a purpose to changing work schedules with a co-worker to pick up an extra yoga class during the week.

HL: What was your biggest challenge after completing 12 weeks with Brian?

ES: I don’t know exactly how to answer this because I trained with Brian for almost a year and a half! Really, the only issue I faced was when I changed trainers in January of this year. I met with Aaron before I officially changed over to him, but was still really nervous about it. Brian and I had settled into a routine and worked really well together, and I became really nervous about changing everything. Much to my surprise, a lot of old insecurities began to creep up and I didn’t know if I would be able to keep up with a new trainer, what he knew about me and my abilities, if he was going to make me do push ups all the time (which he does, incidentally! Secretly I don’t mind….much) etc. I remember being on a treadmill one day and toying with the idea of not working out with a trainer anymore, but as quickly as that thought enterer my mind, it left. I need the accountability a trainer offers, their expertise (because even though I work out 5-6 days a week, once workouts get beyond squats and lunges, I have a tendency to still get a little lost), and both Brian and Aaron push me to work as hard as possible during my time with them and on my own.

HL: What did Brian do to help you stay motivated, focused and allowed me to continue on?

ES: When I first started training with Brian I was super motivated and excited, so Brian’s job became to keep me from being really overwhelmed, and perhaps his biggest task was keeping me focused – not only on whatever he had me doing at the time, but just focused overall. From the very first workout, he went around the weight section with me, set up a circuit routine which included how many reps of each exercise to do, where the weights should be set, and even made sure I knew which machines to do and in what order. Because he was literally starting from scratch with me, he made it very easy for me to follow the exercise regime, and I think that really helped in terms of keeping me motivated. As I continued to get more comfortable with the routine and progress, Brian would add various exercises into the workouts, but knew better than to throw 50 new things at me at one time! The other thing Brian would do just to make sure I was keeping up with my workouts (especially the ones I did on my own), was he would check the computer system at Bally’s to confirm I was actually showing up! I don’t know whether that actually helped or if it just scared me enough to keep showing up, but it definitely kept me accountable for my workouts. Actually, I don’t even know if it’s possible for them to check the computer system!! I MAY have to check into that….

HL: What do you say to anyone who doesn’t think they have time or energy to start?

ES: When I started this program, I had no idea how much of a commitment I was actually making. I figured I would be in the gym with my trainer once a week and would then have a couple of day’s worth or cardio on my own. I also figured that I could just keep eating what I was eating, and it wouldn’t matter because I was working out ‘so much’!! Turns out, losing weight is more of a commitment than that! It really more about changing your lifestyle than it is about trying to fit what you think you should be doing into your life as it is. I know it sounds cliché, and when people used to say that to me, I would instantly tune them out. But, it’s about changing your mindset and finding what works for you. My issue was not that I hated exercising; I thought I did, but really I hated not knowing what to do. I have read what seems like 1,000′s of articles about what sorts of exercises to do if you’re a pear or an apple shape, or if it’s raining and you’re standing at a 45 degree angle to the clouds, but it wasn’t until someone actually took the time to sit down with me and say ‘this is a treadmill, and this is how you turn it on’ that I actually got it. As much as no one wants to hear and/or admit it; takes time to go through a significant weight loss process. It’s as much of a mental game as it is a physical one, and I would say to anyone willing to make the commitment, that it is completely worth every moment you put into it. Every ounce of sweat and effort that goes into changing the person you are into the person you want to become is worth it.

HL: What are you most proud of?

ES: I’m proud of myself for breaking out of my comfort zone, embracing the experience and becoming a new person. Two years ago, I was sitting at home waiting for something to happen that would magically make me a size 4. the truth is, I don’t know if I will ever be a size 4, and at this point, the process is more than that for me. I have looked at this process as an adventure from the start, and as a way to help me figure out who I am. I’ve had some missteps along the way, but I have learned something from every one of them. I am so proud of myself for even starting this, because although I was very excited about it, I was also very terrified! I feel like it takes a lot of courage for someone to take on a 150lbs weight loss challenge, and once I figured out I could do it as long as I took it day-by-day, it became a lot more manageable. I’m proud of myself for trying new things; I have been talking about trying cross country skiing for years, and I finally did it this past winter, and it was awesome! I spent a lot of time on my butt, but, I was willing to get out there and at least try it, which is huge for me! Now, I’m working out with a trainer twice a week as a ‘gift’ (such as it is!!) to myself for making it through a really tough academic year, I’m taking aerial yoga (a co-worker gave me the info because he said I was the only person he knows crazy enough to try it!) once a week just for something fun to do and to get me out of the gym one day a week, I’m training for a 5k (I don’t know if people are actually supposed to train for a 5k because it seems like it is something you’re just supposed to be able to do! People train for marathons, but does anyone aside from me train for a 5k?!!), which I have also wanted to do for a really long time, and am hoping to do by the end of the year. It’s just been an amazing experience, for which I am more grateful than I can say. So, there isn’t one specific thing about which I am most proud, but if I had choose something, I’m just proud that I’m out there trying new stuff I would never have tried two years ago!!

HL: What is your current weight loss

ES: When I started, I had managed to lose a couple of pounds on my own before hand, but my highest weight on record was 299.99999 (the scale never once tipped to the 300lb mark!), and I am present right at the cusp of the 80lb weight loss mark!! I have hit a wicked plateau that just may kill me (she says laughingly!!); as I have been playing around with the same five pounds for the past six months or so. I am in the process of doing everything I can to break the plateau and completely understand that it is just a part of almost any weight loss process. In addition to those 80lbs being shed, I have dropped 10 inches from my chest, 12 inches from my shoulders, 12 inches from my waist, 9 inches from my hips, and most surprisingly, 5 inches from my arms!! I didn’t think an arm could shrink like that!!