Where do I begin? Aside from marrying my wife and having my two boys, this has been one of the best weeks of my life. I am transforming once again this time from the inside out. I don’t know how much I lost this week, I chose not to weigh in till next week. I will say that I know I am losing weight because my clothes are all getting too big!
For me, this week wasn’t about weight loss. I knew that would happen. This week was about finding a healthy balance in my life and gaining knowledge about myself. The classes have been phenomenal, I really believe that had I learned the things I am learning here when I was on the ranch, I would have maintained my weight forever.
Don’t get me wrong, I learned a ton on the ranch but the things I am learning here are going to make my new journey much more enjoyable. I had classes on emotional eating, reading labels, and how to prepare low calorie yet nutrient rich food. I learned that carbs are not the enemy and that the Leptin our body produces is our food alarm clock. Leptin tells us when it is really time to eat. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that true happiness doesn’t come from a number on the scale.
I have loved watching other participants stretch and grow. Watching them has made me realize that inspiration is all around us. All we need to do is open our eyes. Here I am not Matt, The Biggest Loser, (maybe a little). I am Matt Hoover, a guy that struggles with the same things that everyone else does when it comes to weight. Here I am a person who is learning that until I take the things I know and then implement them, I will keep facing the same battles again and again.
Here I am learning that the only way to have the life I want is to live that way each and every day. I am so excited for my new start and know, without a doubt, that when I get home to the love of my life and the two joys of my life, I am going to be a better man.
I know I am going to be better at everything I do from speaking to life coaching at Vision Quest Sport and Fitness. I can’t wait.
I am going to take this next week here at The Biggest Loser Resort and build on the base that I built last week. I am going to stretch myself even more and push myself even harder so that when I leave here I have zero regrets.
I want to thank the staff here and the people I have met for an amazing week. I can’t wait to share this next week with all of my readers. And to my readers, If you like what you read here, please tell others. My goal is to help as many people as possible through my writing and each person that reads this blog and enjoys it, can help me do that!
See you tomorrow!
#1 by TSquires - June 20th, 2010 at 21:14
Hi Matt. I just wanted to let you know that you were such an inspiration to me during my last week at Fitness Ridge. I was so burnt out, so self-conscious when I showed up there on Sunday, I didn’t know how I would put my all into the week and get out of it what I really needed.
You so inspired me! I have hope again – and I haven’t had that in months. Thank you! And enjoy your second week in Utah.
Trisha
#2 by Barbara - June 21st, 2010 at 19:44
Here’s the rest of the poop on leptin. Leptin is a neurotransmitter that crosses the blood brain barrier to warn you when you’ve had enough to eat. Only problem is like with most brain neurotransmitters leptin requires a transport molecule in order to cross over into the brain. When an animal is normal weight there are a sufficient number of those transport molecules to send enough leptin to the brain which lets you know that you’ve had enough to eat.
However, the number of transport molecules does not increase to compensate for obesity, so not enough leptin crosses over into the brain and the obese person continues to eat.
This is why once you are obese it becomes difficult (but certainly not impossible) to lose weight.
Normally I wouldn’t write a comment like this, but you had to go and mention leptin!