My EA SPORTS Active Journey

I have always been one those people that went on and off the workout/gym bandwagon. I love to workout when I get there, but the problem is getting there. I get unmotivated very easily, and being a busy mom of four, I often had excuses to not get there. Three years after my twins were born, I got back on the workout bandwagon and finally dropped that left over weight that I still had on me. I was doing good and made it back into size 6 jeans. About a year and a half later my life turned upside down for awhile. I went through a 2 year stressful period and needless to say, I piled on the weight. I was heavier than I have ever been except when being pregnant. And it was horrible. I was ashamed for putting on so much weight and found myself being more reclusive. Finally, I decided that this was not a good place for me and I needed to lose this weight. On and off I would diet and exercise, but nothing seemed to keep me going and I failed over and over at dropping and keeping off any weight.

In March of 2009 I filled out a survey Ammo marketing had about participation in a new video game designed for fitness. I qualified to be part of the launch, and asked to take the 30 Day Challenge beginning on June 1st. I wanted to get a group of neighbors together and take on the challenge with me. I rallied my friends and so did another neighbor and together we merged our two groups and began our challenge together on June 19.

I stuck with staying on track with the Active’s 30 Challenge and watching what I ate, putting myself on a 1,200 calorie diet. It worked, the first week I lost 5 pounds. The next week, 5 more pounds. I thought I can do this and I liked the workouts. It kept me motivated and they were fun, plus everyday offered different types of exercises. There are over 25 exercises and activities that combine fitness and fun, inline skating became one of my favorites. I also used the built-in journal to help monitor my progress. I set my fitness goals and tracked how well I was doing. Week 4 ended and I was down 15lbs! I began going on 4 mile walks with my neighbors and found they were getting easier and easier. Soon we were going 4-5 miles and we started to jog a little too. Something I have never done. Running was never my thing, never had a desire to include it in any activity I did. I am an aerobic and circuit training girl. I moved on to the next 30 day challenge, this time moving up to the medium intensity, and I lost another 7.5 pounds. Wow my goal was becoming attainable now. I pushed myself through the next weeks and kept at it working out with the Active and walking and now running. Slow running, but still moving quicker than walking, and fast walking. My endurance was building.

Our challenge ended 15 weeks later and I am happy to say that I lost 33 pounds! I won our neighborhood challenge having lost the most percentage of body weight in the group! Woo Hoo. I know that I didn’t have the motivation to do this on my own. Having the Active in my house and ready to use whenever I wanted to, made it easier for me to fit in exercise. Having a group of friends doing it with me made me push myself too.

I am now embarking on the 5K challenge with my friend Kathy. She started this challenge with me and we both have never been runners in our life. We set out to do a 5K before Active came out with the 5K challenge. Talk about timing, it was if someone heard us contemplating such an idea. Just when I needed that next push to keep me going. I am so excited to be a Community Leader in IL and I look forward to participating in my first ever run. I can’t believe I am actually going to do this. Four months ago I would never have believed that I would actually be running in a 5K let alone training others and being a Community Leader! ME! I can’t back out now; I have people counting on me, including me!

Thanks EA Sports for introducing me to a new Active lifestyle and showing me the way out. I did lose weight, I feel great and it built confidence in me that I didn’t know I had.