Meet: Tammy

Age: 34

Occupation: Police Records Clerk

Where she lives: Florida

Height: 5’9″

Weight: 147

Pounds Lost: 50

How long it took to lose the weight: 2 years

How long she has kept it off: 1 year

When I overheard Tammy sharing her story at The Arnold Sports Festival, I knew I wanted to share it with you. Her weight gain had created health problems for her, and she was determined to turn things around. Way around. She went from being overweight and sedentary with no athletic background whatsoever to competing in fitness contests in the Bikini division! Go, Tammy!

Here’s your Weight Loss WooHoo! – just FatFighterTV’s fun way of celebrating healthy weight. ;)

How Tammy gained the weight:
When I got married, I weighed around 150, and then I kind of got comfortable and started gaining a couple of pounds here, a couple of pounds there. I became more sedentary. I remember having no energy to even get off the couch. I’d sit there and I’d be like, ‘I should really get up and do some laundry,’ and I’d be like, ‘No, it’s too much work. I don’t even want to get up.’ I just remember having no energy and just being this lump. I think at that point, I had pretty much lost myself.

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Turning point:
I was involved in a car crash. I had already had one knee surgery, and then this car crash basically destroyed the knee again. My cartilage looked like shredded cheese inside – like somebody took a grater to it.

The doctor cleaned it up, but he said, ‘The reason why your cartilage is so soft is you don’t have the right nutrients. And then on top of that, you’re overweight, so it’s just causing more stress on your joints.’ He’s a good doctor because he basically looked at me and said, ‘You need to change or you’re going to be back in my office in two years.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want that.  I don’t want to be back in this office ever again! I don’t want to be 40 with knee replacement surgery.’

It just took somebody basically telling me, ‘You’re overweight and you’re destroying your health for it.’ Once I heard that, I thought, I don’t want to destroy myself anymore. I want to become something that I know I can be. I just started creating goals for myself and went back to living.

How she shed the pounds:
I just started to slowly take out anything processed and started going more for the whole grains, whole foods, and lean proteins. But it was a slow thing. I didn’t go cold turkey. What I would normally eat would be macaroni and cheese and Oreo cookies. I would say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to have macaroni and cheese, I’m going to have whole grain pasta with just a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese. And then I’m going to have an apple instead of the Oreos.’ But I wouldn’t do that all the time – every once in awhile, I’d let myself have the Oreos.

About six weeks after my surgery, I was able to start walking every day and I did – I walked every day on my lunch break. I would make myself goals – today I’m going to walk a mile, tomorrow I’m going to walk 2 miles, and just kept going.

In 2008, I decided to go to Southern States, which is an NPC (National Physique Committee) competition in Ft. Lauderdale. I decided at that moment that I was going to compete the next year. I sat there and I watched these girls up on stage and I said, ‘That is what I want to do. I’m going to be on that stage next year.’ In 2009, I did Southern States. That was my goal, and I made it!

Weekly Workouts:
I work out six days a week, sometimes seven. I rotate my body parts. I have a split where I do chest, triceps, and shoulders. My second split is back, biceps, and traps. Then I have a leg day. I do abs pretty much every day now. During the ‘on’ season, I try to get about an hour of cardio every day. Off season, I’ll do maybe an hour and a half a week of cardio.

Diet Philosophy:
Take it one step at a time, especially if you’re starting the journey. Take something out of your diet and replace it with something healthier and then just keep going and keep going, and as long as you’re moving in the right direction, you’re moving in the right direction.

I do follow Tosca Reno’s clean eating. When I’m not pre-contest, that’s how I eat. I like those kinds of foods.

Daily challenge:
The cardio is definitely a daily challenge for me – getting it in, especially when it’s this close to competition. I’m so tired right now because I’m eating low sodium and low carb.

Sometimes, my daily challenge is not working out – taking a rest day, telling myself, ‘It’s okay, you can take a day off,’ because sometimes, I get very obsessive.

Tips from Tammy:
Get a support group. If your challenge is working out, get a workout buddy. If your challenge is diet, maybe join an online group where there are other people going through the same problems you’re having where you can talk about it.

Throw out the scale. Don’t go by the stupid number on the scale. Go by how you feel, how you look, how happy you are, because if you’re not happy, what’s the point?

Favorite healthy recipe:
Chicken Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes

Tammy’s Weight Loss WooHoo!:
Getting up on that stage in a bikini. That’s a very tough thing to do. I was very proud of myself to do it twice last year and hopefully, I’m going to do it four or five times this year. Every time I walk out on that stage, it’s about all the work to get to that point. Then, to actually have the nerve to get in a bikini and walk out in the middle of the stage with thousands of people watching you and be judged by somebody. It’s definitely an inspirational moment.

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It’s hard to believe Tammy was never into any sports until now, isn’t it? She’s proof that it’s never too late.

See more weight loss success stories on the Weight Loss WooHoo! Wall of Fame.

If you know of someone who deserves this honor, just let me know – send me an email at sahar [at] fatfightertv [dot] com