Kathleen!! I am so proud of you~ Your new “Happy Hour” is truly transforming you–in mind, body, and spirit!! It’s so cool that one of our origianl TEAM BuffMother members, Jennifer of Austria, helped encourage you along in your journey!! I love how your tummy shrunk over the 70 days and how you are pressing forward to the goal of washboard abs by age 50. I have a feeling you may have them by 49!! Keep rockin’ it!!
Name: Kathleen H of CA
Number of children: 18 year old daughter
Age: 48
Why did you enter the “SuperSTAR Success” contest by BuffMother? I joined the BuffMother team SuperSTAR Success contest because I needed the motivation to tone up and shed fat. Taking my “before” photo was a mind opening experience. I had no idea I had let myself get so overweight and out of shape until I saw that photo and I was immediately motivated!
What tactics did you use to stay focused and engaged for the entire 70 days? I have always eaten clean and I exercise regularly. However, I just started a new job, in a new city surrounded by new people and I fell prey to their ways. Instead of working out at the end of the day, I headed to “happy hour” with the gang. It was the useless calories of alcohol that really did me in. So guess what I did? I created my own “happy hour”! That is what I labeled my workouts and it really worked for me and kept me focused. Just as I reasoned that I earned a happy hour cocktail in the past, I flipped that around in my brain and told myself I “earned” my happy hour workout. And it made me MUCH happier to workout than to sit around and drink after work. That is for sure!
I also had support from my best friend Jennifer Franklin, who is a Buffmother contest winner herself. I emailed her every day (she lives in Austria, I live in the US) what I did for my workouts and how I was feeling. On the days when I was down and feeling like I was not gaining anything from all the effort, she put me straight and got me back on track. She likened the experience to removing paper towels from a roll of paper towels. And that the first couple towels you peel off, dont show, the roll looks big but as you keep peeling off the towels the effect is greater and you can see the difference. Believe it or not, that visual really helped me to keep pushing forward.
I also made a point of letting everyone at work know that I was in this contest so that they did not tempt me or invite me to join them for beer or offer me pizza or other fattening goodies they tend to have delivered into the office.
How do you feel about your success? I am glad I stuck with the program all the way – even when I was traveling extensively. I sought out the gym and did not head to the bar with the rest of the crew on my countless road trips. And guess who was always happy and peppy the next day? You guessed right – the “new happy hour girl”!!
I see this as the first step towards my fitness goals. I still have a long way to go in my quest for washboard abs by my 50th birthday but this contest put me on the right path. I am now looking forward to new goals to shoot for. By making it to the end of this contest I have proven that I have the stamina and motivation to attain my ultimate goal of fitness.
What obstacles did you have to overcome in order to attain your goals? I had to change my entire mindset towards how I relaxed and decompressed after a long day at work. It used to be that I worked hard so I figured I could play hard. Now, when I finish a long day of work, I know the best thing I can do for myself is to hit that gym and start my happy hour workout. By the time I am finished, I have forgotten all about what happened at work and instead am focused on how strong I now am and how many reps, sets and lbs I have lifted. Much better!!
What would you like to tell the world about BuffMother ? BuffMother is an amazing community of women helping women. Seeing pictures of you, Michelle, so fit and rock hard is a great motivator for me. No longer can a woman blame her rolly polly belly on the fact she had children. My goodness! You had four and are fit beyond compare so there really is no excuse not to shine.
The way the team at BuffMother cheers one another on and supports each other is priceless. Especially, if you are in a situation like I am wherein I don’t have anyone around me that works out or cares about fitness. It gave me a virtual group of friends I could hear from and read about and relate to.
Oh! And the mini-challenges are fantastic! What a great way to add a layer of fitness on top of the regular plan. I have made a point of adding 100 reps of a certain exercise each week to my normal fitness routine. It adds an element of fun to the schedule.
Can I have your permission to post your entry and photos online? Yes
#2-Beginning/Ending STATS-
DATES taken- 8/20 and 11/5
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 160 /153 – yeah! Lost 7lbs!
Bust: 100cm / 100 cm
Waist: 84 cm / 81cm
Hips: 100 cm / 90 cm
Thigh: 57cm / 51 cm yahoo!!
Before Picture
After Picture
