Testimonials

Hello everyone,

I've been asked many times for pictures of what I looked like before this weight loss thing started and just kept putting it off until I had an "after" picture.  I finally had one taken and I'm sharing my story with friends and family because I finally reached my goal and surpassed it. 

When I was in junior high I tipped the scales and around 394 pounds.  At the time I was eating two servings of breakfast, a snack, two servings of lunch and then when I got home I would have a can of Spaghettio's and two or three packages of Ho-Ho's.  After that was two or three helpings of dinner and a late night snack.  I would sit in front of the TV and watch from 3-10pm; I still remember the line up of shows.  I remember walking up a flight of stairs at school and feeling like I was having a heart attack.  I didn't want to die at 14 so I started to cut back on my eating and walked around with friends.  Anyway, throughout high school I lost close to 100 pounds...but this took years.  Fast forward to college when I met David (my husband).  I was still quite a bit heavier than I am now by about 40 or 50 pounds.  Well he didn't care and boy does he like to eat!  So that's what we did...I worked finished my degrees and we went out to eat a lot.  By the time I graduated college, I had two Bachelor's degrees, a fiancee and 45 extra pounds.  Then came a house, marriage (where I was over 300 pounds again--see wedding pictures) and Lily.  When I gave birth to her I was 306 pounds (granted some of that was baby weight...but not much).  I lost most of my baby weight in the first two weeks and went about my life until Lily's second birthday.
When I got the pictures back I was literally sick to my stomach (see the pink sweater picture).  I had no idea how much I had gained, but I was close to 300 again.  I remember seeing these pictures and thinking what a hypocrite I was.  How was I going to teach Lily to eat healthy, use food to fuel her body and maintain a healthy body image when I looked like I was eating four large pizzas per night?  Well that was it.  I started my plan in January of 2008 and I am so happy to announce that in July of 2010, I lost 101 pounds!!  I am now at 108 pounds lost and counting.  I went from a size 24 to a size 10/12 and I actually have wrists, ribs and a collar bone!  I have been doing kickboxing since October of 2009 and I credit those classes with finalizing my goal.  I don't think I could have finished this without the help and support of everyone from Sensei Shawn to the students and friends I have made there.  Since October I have lost around 35 pounds and I can do things now that I never thought I would be able to.  The other day a fellow kick boxer told me I was a fast runner and he was having trouble keeping up with me.  I don't think he could ever know what that meant to me--the "fat kid" was just called a fast runner!  Being complemented on my weight loss is an amazing feeling but I have discovered how absolutely wonderful it is to be told I'm good at physical things.  This class and these people have really changed my life.

Anyway, I did it, and I wanted to share it with you all.  Every one of you has supported me through this at varying times and I cannot say thank you enough.  Without this kind of support and help, there's no way I could have lost that much weight, and I am so grateful to you.

***Pictures***
That's me when I got married obviously.  The one of me in the pink is at Lily's 2nd birthday.  The one of me in black is from a few days ago with David.

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John Iwanicki Londonderry, NH  Age 50

I started kickboxing as a way to help me control diabetes.   I was on several medications including insulin shots The side effects were making it hard for me  to be motivated to just get of bed in the morning.  12  months into the program I am approaching my 50th birthday and I am in the best shape of my life! I have lost almost 70 pounds and my body mass is now converted from fat to mostly muscle. I do have to stress that I also avoid red meat, chicken, beer, desserts and  especially  sodas!  My Doctor recently removed me from all my diabetic medications Junavia, Byetta, and Glucafage... ALL GONE! I am maintaining my blood sugar levels with diet and exercise Sensi Shawn is the best!. All you have to do is show up to class 3 times a week . Only 45 minutes per class! He. will take care of working all your muscles . Before kick boxing I was a 48" waist! I'm down to a 40" waist and my pants are becoming too big again! I look forward to shopping again as now I will purchase  38"  pants!   I plan on do kickboxing for life now. I am currently a blue belt and look forward to earning a black belt. 

Some of the other things kickboxing  has done for me is to lower my stress and to be more patient handling the daily problems life throws at you.

Thank You Shawn for helping change my life! I feel great every morning now!

  
                             Before Kickboxing                                              After Kickboxing       

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