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Tenacious Tess
New member
Well, here is my story .....It all started back in 1998.My fiance'(now my husband) and I saw the Muscle
Media in Safeway. We browsed through it and could not believe the champions were real people who had made such amazing transformations. We thought it had to be a gimmick, but we were game to try it. We began our first challenge attempt in September. Later that month we found out we were expecting. We were excited and we decided that we were still going to go ahead with the challenge and just be careful. On November 21st I had a miscarriage. This put an end to our challenge and a beginning to my depression. In January we began another attempt, this one was foiled with an emergency room visit that had me in for immediate removal of my gall bladder and 11 gall stones. We were 8 weeks into our challenge when this happened. Time and again we attempted to complete a challenge and never had we seen so man roadblocks placed into and on our path of success.
Another challenge was stopped dead in its tracks when a undiagnosed heart condition was discovered by a cardiologist. his recommendation, no cardio and no stress..yeah right!! He put me on three different medications for my blood pressure and also suggested I carry nitroglycerin at all times. Still not defeated, I persevered and in my mind I knew that I was going to complete twelve weeks before I died. Another attempt in 2000 was halted when my annual check up and pap smear showed cancerous cells. On December 21. 2000 at the age of 32 I had a hysterectomy. This seemed to be the final straw. Depression had completely overtaken me. I was drinking a pint of Rum every night and eating to try to ease my pain. Basically I was committing suicide the slow and painful way. I ballooned up to 160+ pounds and told myself and everyone who seemed concerned that I was happy with myself...NOT!!! All I thought about was poor me...look what life has dealt me, why can't I ever get any breaks, why is it that everyone but me gets what they want. How come I can't make things change?
Then September 11, 2001 happened and it truly rocked my world. It made me think about life, real life and how we as humans are capable of changing the hands that are dealt to us. How we cannot ever take a moment for granted, because it may be our last. How we adults must pass on wisdom and growth and love to our children and our fellow man every day, every moment.How just when we think life is unfair those are the moments when we can truly shine and show the world and ourselves what we are truly made of.
At that moment and in that day, my life forever changed. I made the decision to take control of my life, my body and my future. I went to the doctors and got his approval and studied the BFL book and set up specific goals both short term and long term, talked my husband into joining me in my quest for a better life for ourselves and our children and on Sept. 24, 2001 we began our adventure into our new life. Now almost twelve weeks later, I cannot explain the pride, the confidence and most of all the peace we feel. Finally we are who and what we want to be. Our lives are so enriched by the lessons we have learned on this journey and by the strength we have gained in ourselves, our marriage and our future. We now live each moment in that moment, we plan for future moments and we learn from this new life everyday. We share this journey with any and all who feel the love and hope exploding from us and want to feel those feelings too. Our children have been given a legacy that I know for generations will be passed on to the next. Of health, happiness, hope, courage and above all else love of ones self........This is my journey and I cannot wait for the next day to come and then become another memory. I competed in my first contest in May 2002 and placed fifth in the womens Novice under 125. I will compete again this May in the Open Class and bring home the BIG trophy this time.
I hope this inspires you all to live each moment and never put off until tomorrow what you know must begin today.....tomorrow....may never come...and then what? WHAT WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE IF YOU BELIEVED IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL????
Media in Safeway. We browsed through it and could not believe the champions were real people who had made such amazing transformations. We thought it had to be a gimmick, but we were game to try it. We began our first challenge attempt in September. Later that month we found out we were expecting. We were excited and we decided that we were still going to go ahead with the challenge and just be careful. On November 21st I had a miscarriage. This put an end to our challenge and a beginning to my depression. In January we began another attempt, this one was foiled with an emergency room visit that had me in for immediate removal of my gall bladder and 11 gall stones. We were 8 weeks into our challenge when this happened. Time and again we attempted to complete a challenge and never had we seen so man roadblocks placed into and on our path of success.
Another challenge was stopped dead in its tracks when a undiagnosed heart condition was discovered by a cardiologist. his recommendation, no cardio and no stress..yeah right!! He put me on three different medications for my blood pressure and also suggested I carry nitroglycerin at all times. Still not defeated, I persevered and in my mind I knew that I was going to complete twelve weeks before I died. Another attempt in 2000 was halted when my annual check up and pap smear showed cancerous cells. On December 21. 2000 at the age of 32 I had a hysterectomy. This seemed to be the final straw. Depression had completely overtaken me. I was drinking a pint of Rum every night and eating to try to ease my pain. Basically I was committing suicide the slow and painful way. I ballooned up to 160+ pounds and told myself and everyone who seemed concerned that I was happy with myself...NOT!!! All I thought about was poor me...look what life has dealt me, why can't I ever get any breaks, why is it that everyone but me gets what they want. How come I can't make things change?
Then September 11, 2001 happened and it truly rocked my world. It made me think about life, real life and how we as humans are capable of changing the hands that are dealt to us. How we cannot ever take a moment for granted, because it may be our last. How we adults must pass on wisdom and growth and love to our children and our fellow man every day, every moment.How just when we think life is unfair those are the moments when we can truly shine and show the world and ourselves what we are truly made of.
At that moment and in that day, my life forever changed. I made the decision to take control of my life, my body and my future. I went to the doctors and got his approval and studied the BFL book and set up specific goals both short term and long term, talked my husband into joining me in my quest for a better life for ourselves and our children and on Sept. 24, 2001 we began our adventure into our new life. Now almost twelve weeks later, I cannot explain the pride, the confidence and most of all the peace we feel. Finally we are who and what we want to be. Our lives are so enriched by the lessons we have learned on this journey and by the strength we have gained in ourselves, our marriage and our future. We now live each moment in that moment, we plan for future moments and we learn from this new life everyday. We share this journey with any and all who feel the love and hope exploding from us and want to feel those feelings too. Our children have been given a legacy that I know for generations will be passed on to the next. Of health, happiness, hope, courage and above all else love of ones self........This is my journey and I cannot wait for the next day to come and then become another memory. I competed in my first contest in May 2002 and placed fifth in the womens Novice under 125. I will compete again this May in the Open Class and bring home the BIG trophy this time.
I hope this inspires you all to live each moment and never put off until tomorrow what you know must begin today.....tomorrow....may never come...and then what? WHAT WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE IF YOU BELIEVED IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL????
