Melinda Jacob

My journey to finding the Healthy Me!
I’m not really sure how or where to begin!  For as long as I can remember, I have always been the overweight out of shape one of the bunch.  I was not very active growing up, primarily because I didn’t want people looking at me or making comments about being a big girl. It took many years to get to where I am now and I owe my success to everyone at this gym and my friend/coworker Debbie K  for pushing me and believing in me when I didn’t even believe in myself!  I have been on many “diets” in my lifetime and have lost decent amounts of weight. However, I always seemed to stumble upon that weight and then some during times when I least expected it!  My highest weight was over 315lbs when I was pregnant with my son in 2003, leaving myself to wonder How Did This Happen!?! I did lose some of the weight over time with diet and exercise, but too often life gets in the way. Complicating a regular exercise routine was the fact that I was single and lived out of town with no family to help out and limited child care options outside of my work schedule, leaving little time for focus on myself. When I finally lost weight and felt good about myself, I found out I was pregnant with my second child…so much for that weight  loss! Following my second child, I was once again at the morbid obese size. However,  I was by all accounts healthy. I did not have diabetes, high blood pressure,  or high cholesterol, leaving myself to not be too concerned.  It wasn’t until I moved back to Tell City that I decided I needed to change somethings about my diet and lifestyle.  I continued to struggle with time management, exercise, and diet. I had also won the crown for being the queen of excuses! Then things changed! Debbie and I both received an email from the gym about the season 1 Biggest Loser Competition. Receiving this email intrigued me, bringing out my competitive nature. One obstacle I faced while deciding whether to join the completion was my lack of confidence. After talking with a few other coworkers, we all decided to join a team together, support each other, and give it a try. Despite losing coaches and having very few team workouts with others outside of our group, we won the competition and best of all I lost over 25lbs in that period of time!  The competitive nature of The Biggest Loser as well as the encouragement I received from others, was the push I needed to keep going and join multiple other teams, dragging Debbie with me each time. This competition gave me the platform to continue to lose weight and over the timespan of 18 months I had lost close to 120lbs, never to be found again! Did I have doubters? Yup, I sure did.  I was even told by a family member that there was no way I could lose over 100lbs with diet and exercise alone,  so why even try? Was it easy? NEVER! It was sacrificing time with kids to be in the gym. It was twice a day workouts.  It was giving up going out with friends in order to go to the gym. Did I have gains? Sure did! Was it worth it? Absolutely! I am doing things now that I never imagined possible! I have completed 10 half marathons and signed up for a few more! This is a coming from a girl who NEVER ran! I may be slow but I go! Thank you Breanne and Blair and everyone else who gives encouragement, support, and the opportunity to change our lives. Because of you all I am able to keep up with my kids, enjoy life, and finally have the confidence to try new things!