Great Email from a Member
Congratulations Mandy!!! Keep up the GREAT work! xoxo..Bob
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Dear Bob,
I sincerely hope that you are able to read this because the single most important thing in my life (besides my family) has happened to me because of you. My story could be anyone’s story, because honestly I’m your average mother and military wife. My husband is in the United States Marine Corps, and I adore him. We have 2 beautiful boys together, ages 4 and 6 months. I am 26 years old, and I can say that I love my life for the first time in those 26 years. We are moving to Japan in 3 months and starting a new journey together!
I learned at a very young age how to emotionally eat. Fueled by my parents’ divorce, I turned to food to cope. I’ve never been obese though, until I had my first child. I don’t know what happened to me, I don’t recognize the woman in this picture. I was 210 pounds, and I’m only 5’1! I was past obese, I was morbidly obese. I worked out for 2 years solid, and was a yo-yo on the scale. I was up to 150 again when I got pregnant with my 2nd child in 2009. After he was born, my weight was 174.6. It wasn’t so bad, I thought…I was smaller this time than after my last pregnancy. Then my husband and I had a talk that changed my life. It was my wake-up call. That’s when I found you.
I started with your workouts, and well, it was tough! I listened to you though, and read your book. I realized that my problem was internal, and if I was ever going to change I would have to face the demons of my past. I realized that I’ve never been the person that I thought I was supposed to be, because I was afraid of her. I don’t know who the skinny version of me is. It’s been 5 months and 3 weeks of intense therapy and sweat, but I’ve gone further than I ever thought possible.
Bob, with your Inside Out DVD’s, I have lost 50 pounds, and went from a size 18 to a size 6! A SIX! I have never in my life been a size 6. On the BMI scale, I went from “obese” to “normal” in less than 6 months. I am completely blown away! I want to run my first marathon here on Camp Lejeune for the Wounded Warriors foundation in May before we leave for Japan. It’s a goal that I have because of you, Bob. I know that I can do anything, and be anyone that I want to be now. I am no longer defined by my weight. I can almost keep up with my husband who is a US Marine!
I wish so much that I could meet you before we leave for Japan. I am starting my new life this year as we leave for a new country! I am a new me, a healthier me, and I’m finding out now who I really am and who I should be. It’s changed me so much that my husband and I are completely in love again. Learning to challenge myself, dedicate myself, and be a better me has healed my marriage. Even more though, the struggles that we went through together as I was changing and growing in new ways brought my husband and I closer together. For that, Bob, you have changed my life and I owe you everything. Thank you for cutting the string of my yo-yo and giving me a new life! I look forward to being in a bikini on the beaches of Okinawa this summer!!
Semper Fi!
Mandy
