Nicole Staab

I have struggled with weight all of my life.  By 1996, I had reached my highest weight at 215lbs (I’m 5’7”) and was miserable.  I finally realized that something needed to change drastically.  There was no way I could continue to live like that.

My path to health started with Tae Bo workout videos.  Funny, I know.  Next, on a fluke, I won two weeks at a local martial arts school that taught real Muay Thai kickboxing.  I was so excited!  After my first workout I was hooked.  I was finally working out because it was fun not because I needed to burn calories to lose weight.  I have now been training in Muay Thai Kickboxing for over 10 years.

About a year later I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer.  I could tell that I had maximized my fitness level with my current knowledge level.  Help was needed for me to make further improvements.  My trainer helped me to make the necessary changes to my diet and put me on a strength training program as well.  It was fun to see my increases in strength translated into stronger kicks and punches!

Meanwhile, I was working in the travel industry.  I had a cushy job for a large downtown Seattle travel firm.  It’s likely that I would have stayed there for a very long time, bored and unfulfilled, if September 11^th, 2001 had never happened.  I suppose I should have seen the layoff coming but let me tell you , I had never been so mad as when I found out I was to be let go of!  As it turns out, it was one of those things that are part of the bigger picture you can’t see.  Being unemployed led me to take the first job offered to me, which was as a sales person at the Fitness Shop in Bellevue, WA.  My eventual permanent switch to the fitness industry had begun.  I soon became manager of the Federal Way store and immersed myself in fitness knowledge so I could better sell my products.  Eventually I had so many requests from customers to come to their homes and help them use the equipment that I had just sold them that I pursued my personal training certification.  In November of 2003 I became official!  I was a certified personal trainer and had just started my own training business “Lean Body Lifestyles”!

It was in early 2004 that I was talked into my first Sprint Triathlon.  I say “talked into” because I had zero interest in trying something like that.  The culprit?  My good friend, Maryann.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Maryann:      “I’ve seen several women in my office lose weight and tone up and they said they’re training for a triathlon.  We should do that too!”

Me:                “No way!  I hate to run.”

Maryann:      “I don’t like running either.”

Me:                 "Maryann, I don't even own a bike!  I think it's been at least 10 years since I've ridden one that wasn't stationary."

Maryann:       "Same here."

Me:                  "And how I swim isn't exactly a recognized stroke."

Maryann:       "I don't know how to swim either."

Me:                  "OK.  I'll do it.  At least we'll make fools of ourselves together!"

So we signed up for the race, started adult beginning swimming lessons, bought used bikes and trained our little hearts out.  On a beautiful morning in August of 2004 we became new women as we crossed the finish line together!  Like they say at the Danskin “The woman who finishes the race is not the same woman who started the race”.  The Danskin Triathlon has now become an annual event I’m not willing to miss being a part of!

My weight loss journey took several years but was more than worth it.  I got down to 160lbs and felt fabulous!  Life if so much better and so different when you feel good about yourself.  I can’t tell you the number of things that your weight effects that you don’t even notice.  The benefits of being healthy are innumerable.  But this isn’t the end of my story.

A couple of years ago I let life stressors get the best of me.  I let my training slide and started using food for comfort again as I had in the past.  I now realize that I used amazing discipline and determination to reach my goals the first time but I never truly addressed the core issues of why I was a Compulsive Overeater.  Long story short I gained back all the weight I had lost.  This past year I stopped the steady weight gain and faced my demons.  Now I have before me the difficult road I have traveled once before – losing the extra weight.  What’s different?  This time during my weight gain I took the time to figure out how to stop beating myself up and address what the problem truly was.  I focused on healing myself and becoming a stronger person mentally before I could become stronger physically.  This time I know I will be able to maintain my healthy goals because the underlying problems have been dealt with.  Knowing that somehow makes the journey seem less daunting.

I am still training clients while I go through this weight loss journey a second time.  I may not have the physical package you would expect from a trainer but I have been down the road you travel and I know how to help.  I know how to encourage you and when to support and comfort you.  I also know how to call your bluff and when to push you.  Please don’t give up on yourself.  I know it’s hard but it’s worth it.