*Clears throat* so, about a week after Thanksgiving, it very well may have been before then, my trainer is totally excited and telling me that the gym is going to be offering this contest for a year of free membership and because he knows my financial situation I could absolutely use that. He tells me that I have to write an essay and have people vote for it. So as he's telling me this I'm thinking to myself, "this man must not know me as well as I thought he did because this so isn't me, but I'll oblige him to make him happy." I didn't have very many expectations going into it because it's no secret I have DEEP rooted trust issues and having to depend on other people to get me to the top puts me in a place of great discomfort. In other words, I just don't think people are thinking about me and for the most part I'm actually okay with that.
So, he's keeping me abreast on the details and finally I get an email with the prize package...let me just say this. This prize package is so beyond awesome that I'm still in disbelief about everything it entails.
• One year membership to all nine Fitness Formula Clubs locations.
• Fifty-two private personal training sessions (one per week).
• Twelve private Pilates sessions (one per month).
• Twelve 60-minute massages (one per month).
• One year of Protein Bar blended drinks (one per week).
• One year subscription to CS Magazine.
• One year supply of KIND Healthy Snack Bars.
• One year of healthy hydration: 12 cases of smartwater® 20oz, two cases of vitaminwater®,vitaminwater zero®, a smartwater® beach towel & smartwater® yoga mat.
• Fifty-two private personal training sessions (one per week).
• Twelve private Pilates sessions (one per month).
• Twelve 60-minute massages (one per month).
• One year of Protein Bar blended drinks (one per week).
• One year subscription to CS Magazine.
• One year supply of KIND Healthy Snack Bars.
• One year of healthy hydration: 12 cases of smartwater® 20oz, two cases of vitaminwater®,vitaminwater zero®, a smartwater® beach towel & smartwater® yoga mat.
They had me at the KIND bars and smartwater!!! So after reading that, I knew that I had to dig down and try my best to win this because opportunities like this don't come around all the time. Besides, my trainer believed I had the contest sowed up from the very beginning and I didn't want to disappoint him so, yea. The contest went live on December 1st, 2012. I waited a couple of days to get my "story" together and have a couple of people whose opinion I value critique it to make sure I didn't sound pitiful but successfully conveyed my message.
All my life I’ve been…large. Chubby, chunky, pleasingly plump, that’s me. I can say that I’ve tried every diet, pill and shake known to man in the attempt to lose 100 pounds in one month. Needless to say, none of them worked. I turned 27 years old and my kidneys failed. I tried to sign up for the transplant registry and I couldn’t because I weighed too much. Talk about a blow to the ego. Now, losing weight wasn’t a vanity thing. It was necessary to improve my quality of life. In March ‘11 I got a membership at FFC using money I’d gotten as a birthday gift. Only problem was I’d never worked out before let alone been inside of a gym. The staff at FFC, especially my trainer, made me feel so safe and comfortable that I knew this was the start of something wonderful in my life. There are many days where I think I don’t feel well enough to make it in, but I know that pushing past that mindset is half the battle. Even if I get to the gym and I know I’m not at 100% I can still get out there and give whatever I have because I’m having fun and actually enjoying losing weight. When I initially tried to sign up for a transplant I needed to lose 120 pounds. Today, I am 50 pounds from my goal. After I reach my goal I plan to keep going because this has become a way of life for me. I’ve come to the gym feeling defeated and left feeling like I can accomplish anything. For me, fitness is a metaphor for life. It’s not easy, but if you’re committed to making it work the benefits are endless.
This was my official entry. After it went live on December 4th, 2012 I basically had to campaign using any outlets I could to have people vote for me...and this was the MAJOR glitch in the matrix and why this whole thing stressed me out the way it did. To reference something I mentioned earlier, I truly believe I am an afterthought to most. This thought is rooted in the fact that I'm not an open person and don't share myself and the things that go on in my life with many people. I was so determined to win this contest that I, QAT, got on Facebook and put AWL my business out for all 500+ of my friends to see. Understand, I had family members who didn't know that I had kidney failure let alone sharing that with people I hadn't seen since I graduated from high school. I remember that night after I posted it, I spent that night and well into the next day overcome with emotion and basically sobbing, lol. To see the outpour of support and that people really cared about my well being, even now, is mind blowing. I received SOOOOOO many notes saying I inspired people...like me! I'm just out here trying to get some normalcy back in my life and having it touch people the way it did...I can't find the words to describe how that feels. I even had someone inbox me and offer me a kidney. All of this because I chose to step out of my box and be transparent for a change. All of this because instead of trying to do everything on my own I decided to share myself and ask others for help. This contest was more of a life lesson than I could have imagined.
As the contest went on, I would pray diligently that if this were for me then I would let God orchestrate it that way. I would check my votes and they would increase and I had NO idea where the votes were coming from. I somehow managed to stay in the top three, primarily in first place, throughout the 31 days. I would later find out that there were people watching my votes harder than I was and making sure I stayed in the running. I come thisclose to quitting a few times, not because I didn't think I could do it. I would peruse through and find that the people I thought would support me most simply weren't and it planted a seed of defeat in me. I eventually learned that I couldn't focus on them but instead maintain an attitude of gratitude for those who were determined to get me to the top and I was very surprised by the people who rooted for me from the beginning.
As the thirty-one days started to dwindle, I started to REALLY think about this contest and what would happen if I won it. I'll never forget. They ran a segment on one of the major news channels about it and I remember how excited the anchor got about the prize package and just the contest in general and all I could think to myself was, "and I'm in the lead!!!" I felt so humbled that I could actually be that close. As it got closer to the end, I had to get very creative and really step outside myself trying to obtain votes. I remember waking up a week before the contest was supposed to be over and saying, "I didn't come this far to just give up and give this thing away to these other contestants. I'm going to fight until the very end," and that's what I did. Most people spent their New Years Eve partying, having fun, celebrating...I was policing my votes and making sure I stayed campaigning and keeping myself in one of the three top spots. I rang in the New Year in first place not realizing the real waiting was about to begin.
Days and weeks were passing and I hadn't heard anything. I kind of felt like an idiot for doing all of this talking and yet I had nothing to share with people, lol. Finally, I just let it go. I prayed and told God that it was his will and there was nothing more I could do but live my life and remain faithful. So that brings me to Wednesday evening.
I'd had dialysis and drifted off into a very rare nap. My cellphone began to chime and it woke me up. It was my trainer. The day before he told me that he would email corporate to find out when they would be announcing the results. His text asked me if I'd heard anything. I replied no, had he heard anything. Basically, his response was that they had made a decision and they would be contacting the finalist either that evening or the next day to give them the news so I needed to keep my phone nearby. So at this point I'm glued to my phone waiting. I get to the gym the next day, still no call. He's insistent that he doesn't know anything and that he's going to make sure that someone let me know something before the day's end. So, I'm leaving the gym after finishing my cardio and I run into him on my way out and he asks me to stop by his office. At this point I know somethings up. I take more than enough time in the locker room to change my things, lol. As I'm walking to his office I see the staff cheering and calling me a Superstar. I start to infer he's heard something, lol. To try and make this EXTREMELY long story go away, a guy from corporate comes in the office, verifies my identity and then congratulates me on being Fitness Formula Clubs' Year of Wellness winner! I felt all the words knocked out of me, I made a few simple jokes to lighten things up but even now I'm speechless.
This contest has been much more to me than just that. It has shown me that a lot of the time in my life I haven't tried or sought things because I'd given up before I tried. I put myself out there and not only did I learn how many people really care about me, but I WON meaning there is no limit to what I can do and achieve if I just believe in myself a wee bit more. This win is beginning a journey that I am so excited to begin. I almost feel like I'll be the FFC poster girl for the next 12 months and I'm so excited to see how many other people I can encourage to get healthy, improve their quality of life and ENJOY doing it!!! I am so blessed...I am so thankful...I don't feel worthy but I thank God that he has chosen me to fulfill this assignment. I won't let him, FFC, or any of you that are rooting for me down. Most importantly, I won't let me down. So follow me and my blog on our way to the TOP!!!!!
*Prize list and entry insert provided by www.ffc.com
*Prize list and entry insert provided by www.ffc.com
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