Michelle at Goal!

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Winner! 50 lbs in 12 Weeks Challenge

Winner! 100 lbs in 7 Month Challenge!!

113 lbs Gone and Goal in 8 Months Before and Afters

Michelle’s Before And After Show Case

Michelle Hits Goal with 113 lbs Gone in 8 Months January 15, 2015
Michelle Hits Goal with 113 lbs Gone in 8 Months

What can I say about Michelle that I haven’t already. She started with us on May 12th of 2014 and on Jan 12th of 2015 had reached her goal weight of 123 lbs. She never broke her plan. She never skipped a day of walking. She declared the summer of 2015, the Summer of Mommy and let her family, friends, and her fat brain know that she was putting Michelle at the top of the priority list. They have supported her through all of this. Now her daughter is worried mom is going to clean out her closet!

Michelle went from a size 22 pants to a size 2. How unbelievable is that? In 8 months.

To see all of Michelle’s Before and Afters go to her Rawk Starz Diva Journey Page.

While you may say wow, what an accomplishment, which it is, it is more than that. Michelle’s drive has powered many others. Not just her diva team, but all those who have watched her succeed and all the women at camp she has supported, encouraged, motivated and inspired .

Now as she transitions to maintenance, we are going to be calling in all those favors! Our rawk solid diva is now on shaky ground. Her weight loss was still happening, so I upped her calories to 1600 and she began steamed veggies. And gained a pound! She freaked. It was the first time the scale had ever done that to her. She’s good now. Menza, Jan and I talked her down! It’s just bulk from the extra calories.

This is a good lesson for all. Go weigh yourself, then go pick up all the fruits and veggies you’re going to eat for the day and weigh yourself again. We’re talking pounds of food consumed each day. So to add more, of course adds bulk. This is an okay thing. We’re going to let her settle into this phase of the transition before adding anything else. I’ll keep you updated on her success.
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Michelle Wins 100 lbs in 7 Month Challege December 15, 2014
Michelle Wins 100 lbs in 7 Month Challenge

The last picture in Michelle’s Before and After is her holding her $500 Visa Card, still in it’s holder, and wearing her Pre-RFBC Jeans! Okay, you’ve got to be impressed. Here’s something funny, when I received the photo, it was super large and I had to scroll through it. I was scrolling down. At first I thought, wow, she tucked her shirt in, cool. Those are baggy jeans, and then I scrolled down, and saw the inside of her leg, I thought, hmmm, I thought she had these lomg lean legs. Then I got to her feet and cracked up when I realized she had both legs in one!! Awesome photo, Michelle.

Michelle’s daughter sent me the before photos from her cell phone. I wrote her back when I sent the collage and asked what she thought of her beautiful mom and if she was afraid of losing her wardrobe. Here’s what she wrote back:

Oh I am definitely proud of her. She is so gorgeous, I am ecstatic! And yes, hopefully she won’t steal my whole closet
haha.

A daughter calling her mom gorgeous. How cool is that!

Scroll down to read Carlene & Michelle’s thoughts on such a great achievement!

Click here to go to Michelle’s Full Journey Page with all of Before and Afters with Comments

Michelle Wins 100 lbs in 7 Month’s Challenge

Click here to learn more about our 100 lbs in 7 Month’s Challenge

Actually, it was 108 lbs in 7 months. Here is what I wrote in our Friday thread:

Hi everyone. This is the big day. Michelle’s big day. She has been at RFBC for exactly 7 months and has lost her 100 lbs. I put her $500 Visa card in the mail yesterday. As of today, she is 128 lbs. Her goal weight is 125. What a transformation. She told me yesterday the greatest thing she has gotten from this journey is self esteem. That is a powerful gift. A gift she gave herself. We have been her guide, her strength at times, her humor at others, but in the end it came down to her absolute desire to change. There was never a doubt there.

I know that she will tell you that her Rawk Starz Diva group, her other family, was instrumental in getting her here. She believes in the power of our challenge threads, she has been teacher and student in her group. Every day, she and her diva family have come to camp, they have shared their ups their downs with one another, they have laughed together and held each other through some tough times. Most importantly they have committed to one another and held up that commitment to be there daily, to stay on their program, to be accountable and expect their teammates to do the same.

It worked.

For each of you, I wish that same sense of camaraderie Michelle found, I wish you that same sense of determination she used to say no to cravings, emotions, and nay sayers. I wish that you would believe in yourself and your ability to do this the way that she has. So you too can find your success.

This summer, Michelle told her family it was the Summer of Mommy, that she was going to put what she was doing here as a top priority. Her family wasn’t neglected, they didn’t fall apart or feel unloved. They watched her and were proud. Right now her daughter is working out with her each day to tone up her muscles, her husband when hearing she was going to use her winnings for her kayak, said, no, I’ll get you that, you go buy yourself clothes. That is not a family who resented her journey, but one that sat back in awe. Maybe today she’ll tell you her secret, but I believe it was because they saw from the start that she was serious, that she meant this. She didn’t vacillate. Do I want this. Do I want the old food. No. She just wanted this and made it happen.

I know not everyone can be as steadfast as Michelle, but wait. Menza, JanBree, KaCastro and Free, her diva teammates are. She’s the first to cross the threshold, the others are close behind. How? Because they too want this. They have been just as steadfast, just as determined, and worked just as hard. Maybe they didn’t win a Visa card, but they have won everything else. Why? Because like their teammate, they want this and they have been hell bent on getting it.

So today, ask yourself: How bad do I want this? You don’t have to walk 2 hours a day. You don’t have to do the Rawk Starz diet, you just have to want this and want it bad. No more excuses, no more fat brain lies. When in doubt about yourself, ask yourself what would Michelle do, what would Menza do, what would JanBree do and KaCastro and Free. Then follow in their footsteps to find your own success.

Michelle, you already know, but let me say it again. I am so proud of you. And I am grateful for the gift you have brought RFBC and all that follow us by winning this challenge and showing the world what can be done with a healthy diet and walking. Thank you.

Here is what Michelle wrote:

Oh my Gosh! I’m so touched by Carlene and everyone’s elses comments. Thank you so much!

When I first joined RFBC I made a vow to myself that I would NEVER let myself down again no matter what. That was a pact with everything in my life not just weight loss. I truly have become a different person, okay maybe not a different person, but a better version of my former self.

None of us can go back and rewrite our books from the beginning, but we ALL have the power to change the ending of our books. Everyone of us that have joined RFBC have gotten sick of reading the same chapter over and over…now is the time to start new more exciting chapters in our lives.

I went to see my favorite band last night and when they played last year I did not want to go because I was too self conscience of what I looked like, I didn’t have anything to wear, what if he looked at me , what if I couldn’t stand that long, I wouldn’t be able to find a place to sit, blah blah blah…
THIS year I went, this time I squeezed my way to the front, this year he looked into my eyes and I didn’t look away in shame..I looked back and I belted out the song and I was proud and happy and I was LIVING LIFE!!

We cannot let our weight or our addiction to food control our lives and dictate who we are. We need to stand up and take charge and remember the old saying JUST SAY NO! Just say NO to our fat brains when we might want something to eat that will take away our self esteem and our right to fun and life. We need to choose to live in the game and not sit on the sidelines anymore. The only way we are going to get what we want is to leave the past in the past and lace up a new set of shoestrings. The only way is to JUST DO IT! We can all do this..we just have to want out of our fat suits enough to do what we know needs to be done…

Thank you again! I would not have been able to do this on my own. I will forever be grateful to Carlene for starting RFBC and for all the coaching and support and just all around awesomeness that makes her be her. Also, like she said my Diva family which I love each and everyone dearly. They have been my friends, my rocks, my support, and my push and drive on days I may not have been 100% gung ho to get this done.

Some of you have formed some strong bonds like we have and I know that will help take you far!

Of course having Foteen, GreenQueen, and Otavia being successful and so supportive has been such an awesome thing to have in my life as well.

Together will will all be successful, like I tell my kids when they don’t want to do something…suck it up buttercup and do what needs to be done. Of course I also sing the Rolling Stones song, You can’t always get what you want, but in this case WE CAN GET WHAT WE WANT…we just need to want it bad enough… I KNOW I do!!

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Michelle – 100 lbs Gone in 6 Month with a Raw Food Diet November 13, 2014
Michelle – 100 lbs Gone in 6 Month with a Raw Food Diet

Click here to go to her Journey Page and see all of her before and afters

Six months to the day! 100 lb Gone. Michelle achieved her fast weight loss with a raw food diet and two hours of walking a day. Okay, our raw food diet is not the typical one. We do low fat, low sugar, low sodium. We walk to burn fat. It is the best way to lose weight.

Michelle is a classic example of what can happen for many. She did not break her program even once. She did not skip one day of walking. She is a leader here at camp, not just in weight loss, but in support, motivation, and encouragement.

As for the 100 lb Challenge, she doesn’t win that until Dec 12th’s weigh in. That is a way I ensure members don’t hit the goal and run back to their old ways. Now she has a month to settle in and finish off her last 11 pounds before goal. I have no doubt she will have her final before and afters on Dec 12th. Then off to maintenance for life.

Okay, get out those tissues. Michelle started at RFBC on May 12th of 2014. Today, Nov 12th of 2014, she is 100 lbs lighter. Why the tissues? For two reasons, you can’t help but be touched by her amazing progress and how wonderful she looks, and you wished you had started with us back in May! Okay, I’m teasing. But really. Hold on. She’s beautiful.

I asked Michelle to write something out to share with all of you who follow her story. I was it expecting it to be about her, about how her life has changed, but instead she chose to write to you. To tell you that there is hope for all of us who have lived with obesity.

In her own words:

No matter how many times you have tried to lose weight and failed, no matter how many times you doubted yourself know this…You CAN do anything you set your mind to, you ARE worth putting the time and effort into yourself, you are stronger than you think you are. When you feel like quitting….that is when you have to push yourself even harder than you thought you could go. With Carlene as your coach and all the wonderful and supportive people at RFBC you WILL be successful. If you put the work in and stay on plan and do your walking you will reach your goals!

Although I’m not at my goal weight yet one of my goal was to lose 100 pounds.

I would like to thank my Diva family, they are my friends, my push, my support, and my success is not only for myself, but for them as well. I love each and every one of them and thankful that they are on this journey to a new life with me!

Michelle

Just to clarify, her Diva family is the other women at camp she works intimately with every day. And she is just 11 lbs from her goal weight of 125.

Michelle is a Rawk Starz Diva all the way!

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Michelle Hits 80 lbs Gone in 4.5 Months September 24, 2014
Michelle Hits 80 lbs Gone in 4.5 Months – Fast Weight Loss with a Raw Food Diet

That’s right, 80 lbs gone in 4.5 months. She should hit her 100 lbs gone mark by 6 months gone, just like Carlene, Faith, Beli and CB did. It’s not surprising because just like the women before her, she has been perfect on plan with both food and walking since day one. Okay, not everyone can do that, but if you were willing to do that, where could you be by mid February. What would you look like with 80 lbs gone? Get your fast weight loss with a raw food diet and walking!

See that sweater? It’s a size small. Those black pants. They’re 8s. Michelle was in as much disbelief as you, if not more.

Click here to see Michelle’s fast weight loss with a raw food diet journey page. It includes all of Michelle’s before and afters

Today at camp, we were talking about taking the emotions out of dieting. Instead of lamenting over how hard dieting is, how long you have to go, how much you hate your fat suit and don’t believe in yourself, if you instead saw this like a job or a project you had to get done, how that Just Do It! attitude could get you to goal so much faster.

That is what Michelle, Carlene, Faith, Beli and CB did. No fussing about it. No letting the idea of dieting get in the way of getting it done. Just getting fast weight loss with a raw food diet and walking. Grab and Go, Get up and Go!

Here’s what Michelle had to say about her milestone this morning and our discussion:

I have officially released 80 pounds. I will NEVER have to lose 80 pounds again EVER!! I fit into a pair of size 8 pants and a size small sweater that I took off the rack and I never would have imagined they would have buttoned or slipped over my torso. Granted the sweater is still too tight for me to feel comfortable wearing out in public, but I wore it for my 80 pound photos.

I think for “professional” dieters like most of us here have been it is very hard to separate emotions from dieting. We have tried weight loss in the past had success and then have had a downward spiral to gaining all and usually more weight back again. This has caused us to think of ourselves as not being worthy of success with a lot of different aspects of our life not just weight loss. I think if we think about weight loss and exercise as being a job like Carlene said it puts a detachment from emotions which is exactly what we need. Eating healthy and walking are just what we do to get healthy and thin and eating healthy and walking are just what we will do after we get that way to stay thin and healthy. I’m with Carlene, Menza, and Nike and I choose to JUST DO IT!!

The other day, we were talking about the things on our bucket lists. These lists were not for when we die, but for now as we start to experience life again with the fat suit. For fun, here’s Michelle’s. Realize these are no longer day dream goals, these are things she is about to go experience. I especially love the last line.

I’m still planning on getting my kayak in the spring. I looked into lessons this fall and they no longer offered them, not until spring. I am already signed up for the first sessions that will be held in May.

I am going to go and sit in the front car of the roller coaster that I was too big to fit into at Great America!

I am going to go Shark cage diving, I have always had a fear of great whites, since I was way too young when I saw the movie Jaws! I’m going to conquer that fear. I have wanted to do this for a very long time.

I am going to swim with the dolphins. This is something that has been on my bucket list, but I figured they would not have wetsuits in my size and there was no way I wanted to have my girth on top of one.

I am doing a color run with my daughter this next year. I would also like to do a mud run/obstacle course.

I am going to actually enjoy shopping for clothes and trying them on instead of dreading having to go into the dressing rooms fearing I need the ‘next size up’, but the ones I like don’t go that big.

I am going to look for trails to go cross country skiing this Winter.

I am going to LIVE and not watch others living around me!
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Michelle Hits 70 lbs Gone in Less than 4 Months September 10, 2014
Michelle Hits 70 lbs Gone in Less than 4 Months!

She won the 50 lbs gone in 12 weeks challenge in 11 Weeks

She is one of our 100 lbs in 7 Month Challengers

Imagine that. 70 lbs in less than 4 months, and feeling great. What more could you ask for from a dieting program. But I’m not going to tell you, I’m going to let Michelle tell you. I have copied, with her permission, two posts she made this past week in response to our discussion thread. Needless to say, we are all so proud of, and motivated by Michelle’s diligence. Even when not feeling well this past week (I think it’s her second round of detox), she has never wavered. From day one she has done our Rawk Starz Diet with 2 hours of walking a day. Now, let her motivate you!

Oh yeah, with winning the 50 lb challenge, she earned 4 free weeks of camp with the ability to earn 4 more, if she hit 12 more pounds gone in the next 4 weeks. She so did that. So she will not get another 4 free weeks of camp, and as of today, she is just 1.2 lbs away from hitting 75 lbs gone and earning a coupon worth $75 off her next membership fees which are far from now!

We were talking about dealing with a fickle scale. Here is what Michelle had to say.

“This time” is going to be my “last time” of having to take weight off. This time I am doing it for a change of health, a change of attitude, a change of perception, a change of fitness, but most importantly a CHANGE OF LIFE.

A few months ago I was thinking about how I would have ____when I reached goal. What? Why in the heck would I be thinking of what crap food I wanted to eat when I finally get to the weight I dreamed of. Skip forward to today…

I am looking at the water when I go over the river bridge and thinking how good it looks for a kayak ride. I am thinking about the color run my daughter and I are going to do. I am thinking about what trail my son and I can go on for a bike ride. I am thinking about being active and happy and fit and I am thinking about finally being the role model when it comes to food and fitness and health that my children need to help them be fit and healthy adults.

I still have changes to do with my fat brain, but every day I get better and feel better and every day I learn more about myself and more about how and why I want to live a healthy and fit life for the rest of my time here on Earth.

I will NEVER forget how I felt when I joined RFBC and I will NEVER be like that again. It is baby steps, every second, every minute, every day I am getting there and I know that I NEVER want to go back to being morbidly obese again.

I can finally say out loud that I AM WORTH IT!! I am worth the life that I want to live and I am worth working for and I am worth feeling proud of !!

Yesterday, we were talking about having as much faith in ourselves as we have in the RFBC Programs. Here’s what Michelle had to say. Oh and when she says, she’d rather have a blank from aisle three, she means food! 🙂

When I started any type of weight loss “diet” in the past I would start them knowing that I HAD to do it for weight loss and only weight loss. When I signed up for RFBC I not only knew I HAD to do it for weight loss, but also that I had finally WANTED to do it for weight loss, health, and a total lifestyle change. I have heard that 100 times over…you have to have a total lifestyle change. I had never been willing to change enough…UNTIL NOW!

Every other time I started a “diet” I had binged on so many things and told myself I have to have this and that kind of food still so I can’t start this week. When I signed up for RFBC I didn’t do any of that. I didn’t binge the night before, I didn’t think oh man I gotta have __and__ still, I can’t start yet.

I was finally sick of being sick and tired and sick of being fat and unhealthy and unhappy with who I had become. I looked in the mirror (as little as possible) and I didn’t recognize the woman that I had become, the wife that my husband was stuck with or the mom that my children were supposed to look up to.

I finally knew that I needed to change the way I was living. Was I really living? I was watching others live and my days of fun were in the past. I would have much rather been intimate with a ___from aisle 3 than my husband. I would rather watch another parent play catch with my son before a baseball game, after all it would have taken too much energy to get up from my seat. I was satisfied with my daughter not wanting to go to the mall with me. Why would she want to be seen with her morbidly obese mom that couldn’t walk very far without having to take a seat?

I was/am finally ready to see something all the way thru until it is done and beyond! I am finally ready to be proud of myself! I am finally ready to live the life I was meant to! I am finally ready to be the wife my husband deserves! I am finally ready to be the mother my children need! I am finally ready to be the woman that I am on my way to becoming! I will never stop and I will never give up and I will live the rest of my life Happy,Healthy, and FIT! But most importantly I will NEVER let myself down again!

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Michelle Hits 60 lbs Gone in 13.5 Weeks! August 15, 2014
Today, Michelle Hit 60 lbs Gone in 13.5 Weeks

Michelle fought for her 40 lbs in 8 weeks, but then wow! She lost the next 10 lbs in 3 weeks. She then lost the next ten pounds in 2.5 weeks!! She worried the other day she may have hit a sticky point. I set her straight on that one! 🙂 When she won the 50 lb Challenge, she received four free weeks of camp. She had to lose 12 more pounds in 4 weeks to earn a second four free weeks of camp. Well, she’s at 2.5 weeks and already dropped 10, so I guess that’s a shoe in!

Michelle is such a strong, solid, Rawk Starz Diva at camp. In her 13.5 weeks, she has not once broken her plan or skipped a day of walking. That’s how I did it, and most of our other 100 lb Winners did it. What about you?

Think back. Where were you on May 11th, Michelle’s start date at RFBC. Could you have imagined being 60 lbs thinner by today, August 15th?

Many think when they see these types of results, that this woman, Michelle, is different, she’s unique, she’s special. Well, in some ways she is. What sets her apart from others is her sheer determination to no longer be stuck in a fat suit. She has decided she wants to live and enjoy her life. Not sit around waiting for the fat suit to shed on its own, but to remove it, to peel it off with each piece of fruit she eats and each step she takes. Other than that desire to just do this, she is just like everyone else. You can easily say, if Michelle can do it, so can I. But you have to want it as bad as she has and refuse to give into excuses, emotions, and fat brain lies.

Michelle is a major player at RFBC. Her desire to stay on plan daily, inspires and encourages us all. I know I can speak for all the women at camp. We are all very proud of Michelle and are thankful for what she brings to RFBC.

Michelle does our Rawk Starz diet with 2 hours of walking each day
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Michelle Wins 50 lbs in 12 Week Challenge July 29, 2014
Michelle Wins 50 lbs in 12 Week Challenge

Okay, that’s not really true. She did it in 11 weeks!

Michelle fought for her 40 lbs in 8 weeks, but then wow! She lost the next 10 lbs in 3 weeks. She is now the proud winner of our 50 lbs in 12 Weeks Challenge. That means she gets 4 free weeks of Raw Food Boot Camp and if she reaches 62 lbs gone by August 25th, she’ll earn another 4 free weeks. For hitting 50 lbs gone she also gets a coupon for $50 off her next paid membership.

But that’s just money. This past weekend, she went water skiing and her son got excited that he could put his arms around her waist. That’s priceless!!

Oh, what a wonderful journey we are all on!

Michelle does our Rawk Starz diet with 2 hours of walking each day
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Michelle Officially Enters the 100 lbs in 7 Months Challenge July 8, 2014
Michelle Officially Enters the 100 lbs in 7 Months Challenge

It’s official, Michelle is a 100 lb Challenger. Okay, she didn’t get 40 in 8 weeks, she got 38.4. Close enough for me. She has been perfect on plan since her first day and has walked her heart out. She might be 1.6 lbs short, but she is far from short on effort and attitude. She has that winner’s edge, that desire and focus to take this all the way. At camp, she inspires everyone.

Check out her before and after. Wow! It’s hard to believe she has 60 more lbs to go!! Oh, and did I mention she also reached Onederland (that’s being in the 100’s). For those of us who live so long in the 200 and 300’s reaching Onederland is a milestone worthy of tears. Seeing that 1 as the first number on the scale means so much to us. Who cares what the BMI charts say, for us, 199 is the difference between being overweight and obese. It’s the door to regular sized clothes and not having obesity be the first thing people see when they see us. For most of us Onederland is bigger than total lost. So, Congratulations, Michelle!

Michelle does our Rawk Starz diet with 2 hours walking each day

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Michelle’s 25 lb Gone Before and Afters June 21, 2014
Michelle’s 25 lb Gone Before and Afters

Michelle is going after the 100 lb Challenge. She dropped this first 25 her first 5 weeks at camp. Now she is going for 40 by her 8th week. She lost 3 more pounds since these photos, so now has 12 pounds to go in 3 weeks. That’s a push, but she’s one of our Rawk Starz Diva’s doing our 100% low fat, low sugar, low sodium raw diet and 2 hours of walking in her fat burn zone. She is psyched with her loss so far and is pushing to join VforLove as an official 100 lbs in 7 Months Challenger.

Michelle is doing the Rawk Starz Diva program with 2 Hours of Walking

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