Those Who Inspire Me - Tish Hofland

Me and Tish - a self-determined friend of mine!

When I think of Tish, I think of self-determination.  She is unbelievably determined and disciplined.  I think back to the Dr. Seuss Book, "Oh the Places You'll Go."  "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

I believe Dr. Seuss is talking about self-determination here.  We are responsible for setting the course for our own life.  Self-determination is a combination of attitudes and abilities that enables us to set goals for ourselves, and to take the initiative to reach those goals. It’s about knowing what we can control and what is beyond our control.

For example, we can “decide where to go,” but we’re not in control of how things turn out, so we “know what we know” –no more and no less.  Such was the case for Tish, when back in 2011 at the age of 33, she found herself needing to take blood pressure medicine.  She also experienced some emotional hurt and she decided, (SHE decided) "I don't want to be like this anymore!"  

Before

She came to Gold's Gym Clifton and began working with a trainer, Mark Chism.  With Mark's help, Tish lost 50 pounds (over the course of about a year.)  However, one day she came through the gym doors and Mark was gone.  He had moved to Denver.  Tish was hurt and angry with the circumstances of his departure and just flat out stopped going to the gym.  She had not been in "control of how things turn out."  She stayed away from the gym for 2 years!  She gained back about 20 of the 50 pounds she had lost.  (Tish and I both agree that losing a trainer is very difficult and it can be even worse when the circumstances of their departure is less than ideal; however, that said, we do not advocate giving up on yourself.  It is our natural reaction to want to throw in the towel; but we say "Fight it! Fight for yourself.  Do it for you!")         

After

As I interview my friends, I am always curious what got us to be in the same place at the same time.  Well, in 2014, the weight gain had started to bother her, so she decided to come back through those doors again.  This time she trained with Jon Drackett.  With Jon's help she took off the 20 pounds she had re-gained and then even more.  While training with Jon, she noticed another girl that Jon trained.  Her name was Cindy. Cindy had been noticing Tish as well.  So the two of them teamed up and began training with each other.  So maybe one day a week they met with Jon, but then 4 days a week they met with each other and pushed each other like crazy.

This is what I noticed - every day as I would come into Gold's to go to my trainer-led session.  I noticed these two girls pushing each other, working HARD, getting stronger and slimmer.  And I was like "Wow, they are just doing this on their own?  Just pushing each other?  That is extreme discipline and dedication in my book."  I looked for them and watched them every day.  They still do this today.  Yesterday I heard Cindy say something like, "Really, we need to do abs now?"  And I was like, "No, no you don't.  No one is telling you too."  They both laughed and we all knew that yes, yes they did - because they were telling themselves to.

Tish and Cindy all dressed up- great friends!

Tish loves the people at Gold's Gym in Clifton.  I would have to agree 100%.  The people are very uplifting and wonderful.  It's amazing she can even get a workout in (kidding) because she knows almost everyone and she can often be seen giving out hugs or words of encouragement to others.  That's what she did for me that caught my attention and she still does it today.

When I asked her what her happiest moment was, she answered the day my daughter was born and the day I was married.  I loved that.  My wedding day is hands down one of the happiest days of my life as well.

Her wedding day!

When asked what was your greatest challenge, she replied, "My greatest challenge but yet my most fulfilling experience was taking on the role of being a step-mom."  She was quick to reply, " I absolutely without a doubt would do it again.  I wouldn't change a thing in my life, because it has brought me to this point today.  I'm happy where I am."  WOW - how many of us can truly say that!  What a testament.

Tish and her husband, Keith.

A couple of fun facts are - 1)  She has always been fascinated with motorcylces.  So about 3 years ago, she got herself one.  (I look at her as a bad-a$$ motorcycle chick.)  2)  She has always been a believer but once she visited 970 Church in Clifton she found that she was  VERY comfortable there.  Jon Drackett, the trainer mentioned above, is a pastor at the 970 Church.  She went to his church once and was hooked ever since.  She's been trying to do Bible study everyday and she hadn't really done that before.  (Good job, Tish.)

Her goal for the new year is to learn to love herself.  I'd say she is well on her way to accomplishing that goal.  In fact, let me close with another quote from "Oh the Places You'll Go."   So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)   Kid, you'll move mountains.”

Those Who Inspire Me - Joe Deters

I joined the NLP (Next Level Performance) program because of this young man, my son, Joe Deters.  It was within the NLP program that I met Ryan, the trainer who has helped set me on the road to success.  I would not have met Ryan had it not been for Joe.  I’d like to tell you a little bit about Joe and I believe you will see why he inspires me so much.

Me (Patty) and my son Joe - age 17.

I have always loved the record of Joseph in the Bible.  Joseph was the first born son of Isaac and Rachel.  He had 11 brothers. The brothers sensed that their father favored Joseph, so they threw him in a pit and were going to leave him to die, but instead sold him into slavery and then lied to their father - telling him Joseph had died.  Even in this situation Joseph found favor in his master Potiphar's eyes and he was put in charge of Potiphar's household.  Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph and then lied about it, so Joseph was put in prison.  In prison Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer and asked them to remember him to Pharoah.  They forgot.  Time passed and Pharoah had a dream and then the cupbearer remembered.  Joseph accurately interprets Pharoah's dream and Pharoah puts Joseph in charge of all Egypt.  I mean the guy went through some trials and tribulations but always came out on top.

Well when we named our firstborn son, Joseph, I certainly didn't think he would have this many obstacles to overcome already in life, but he has; and he has done so with such fortitude.

Joe was born December 23, 1999 (just 8 days shy of the "millenium.")  His delivery was fairly easy.  I think he let out one cry and then was content.  This pretty much describes him still today.

I remember the doctor pointing out to us when Joe was about 2 that his speech was not progressing normally.  We started testing through the state and yes he was behind.  It was recommended to us to check his tonsils.  At three years old that poor little boy had a scope up his nose and down his throat to look at his tonsils on a tv screen.  Joe remembers Jessica (age7) laughing and him crying.  Those tonsils measured at a 3+.  (Note to new parents.  Be clear as to what kind of scale they are referring to.  I thought that was a scale of 1-10.  6 months later I found out the scale was 1-4.  4 meaning there is no more room to breathe.)

 Once they were removed, Joe took part in speech therapy for several years.  When I asked him what he remembered about getting his tonsils and adenoids removed; he said he remembered being wheeled away to the operating room.  And he remembered waking up and being offered a popsicle.  He remembers just wanting ice cream at home (like McDonalds soft ice cream; but we had bought a 1/2 gallon ice cream from the store. It was too hard to eat.)  Both he and I were up almost all night for six nights during recovery.  We watched a lot of Nickelodeon.

Joe pre-tonsil surgery

Joe's tongue was almost always resting outside of his mouth;
the reason for that we found out was when he put it in, it closed off that
space for breathing because the tonsils were so big.  Not being able to position
his tongue correctly in his mouth is what caused the speech delays.

I asked Joe if this was the most challenging experience of his life.  It was not.  Thank goodness some of the childhood memories don't stay with us.

In the spring of 2010, right before Spring Break and a scheduled cruise to Mexico, Joe’s permanent front tooth got knocked out in a schoolyard mishap.  He was as calm as could be and I was a wreck.  I had to call my husband (who dislikes medical situations) to come drive us to the dentist, I was so distraught.   The dentist got the tooth back in and we went on that family vacation.   Joe couldn’t swim or drink from a straw, but he just didn’t let it get him down.  A year later the tooth was pulled, a root canal was done, and he is preparing now for an implant.  He just takes it in stride.

We took this to document the tooth.  The dentist had a wire glued
to five teeth for 16 weeks.  This was taken on the cruise.

I asked Joe if this was his most challenging experience of his life.  It was not.

But the mother of them all would be when in the fall of 2014, Joe was diagnosed with scoliosis.  His back pain had begun in 2012 and we had been seeking chiropractic care weekly since then.  When an x-ray was finally taken the curvitures (yes two curves) were 54 degrees and  31 degrees.   We went to Children’s Hospital in Denver for the surgery, December 10, 2014.   He now has a rod in his back from T4 to L4.   This was a very difficult recovery and Joe was in the hospital for 5 days.   The surgeon told him he needed the full 6 months recovery.  After 6 months, he could go to the gym, etc.  The surgeon said, “Just because I am doing surgery, does not mean you will be pain free the rest of your life.  You should maintain a strong core.  That will really help you the rest of your life.” 

Joe's back before and after; and Joe's x-rays before

Picture on the right was less than 24 hours after surgery, getting Joe up.
Picture on top left was therapy dog- that perked Joe up.
Bottom left - his sister Jessica was a huge help.  Here she
is walking the hallway with him.  He had to walk several times every day.

I asked Joe if he was nervous about the back surgery.  He said he had run the statistics through his mind and was convinced that there was a very slim chance anything would go wrong.  He did however feel nervous when they rolled him into the surgery room and stuck a needle into his arm.  Regarding recovery, he said I remember waking up to eat and waking up to walk.  I asked Joe if this was his most challenging experience of his life.  This was not.

(Joe wrote this for Literacy if you would like his point of view. http://detersdynamics.blogspot.com/2016/01/learning-how-to-walk-again.html

Joe states that when he was 6 months out from surgery and he could walk again and he was cleared to exercise, he stepped on the scale and saw that he was 260 pounds.  He said "enough is enough."  Well that's not what he said, but I can't print what he said.  He asked me to take him back to Golds gym.     Joe trained with Zach two times a week.  Zach ended up moving away and Joe began training with Mana.  Trainer sessions were breaking the bank and we were told about NLP.  The Director of Fitness added some semi-private sessions with Mana at the helm so that Joe could still train with Mana.  Joe states that Mana pushed him to get to the gym more often - every day if he could.  Mana and Joe made great strides together.  Joe is now training with Semaj (because Mana has left Golds).  Semaj is able to help Joe build a lot of strength.  The entire process has been nothing short of miraculous for me to watch.

Joe was 15 years old when he joined NLP.  Well when you are 15, you cannot drive yourself.  So I would drive him and then stay and exercise on the elliptical while Joe trained.  Once Joe joined NLP, I was like "I should just do this with him, since I have to be here anyway."  That is what got me through the door to the "Fun Room."  (That's what we call the room where a lot of the NLP classes are held.)  I asked Joe what he liked most about NLP.  He replied, "I like the semi-private sessions.  I find them to be the most beneficial for me because I get to make a relationship with the trainer and because the sessions are more strength based.  I like being strong."  

He looks pretty strong to me!

Joe is now 17 and a junior at Central High School.  He has applied to graduate high school at the end of this his junior year and Central has approved that.  He has an application in at Colorado School of Mines and we are waiting to hear if he will be accepted for the Fall of 2017.  His goal is to be an astrophysicist.  He would like to be able to help with a Mars Mission or with an asteroid mining company.  These are two careers that are up and coming in the future.  Right now he would be thrilled to work with Space X and their project of working on reusable rockets.  He's passionate about school and about learning more about space.  

I am not thankful he ended up with scoliosis, but I am thankful that he needed a ride to the gym back in May of 2015 and that I was that ride.  I'm thankful he joined NLP and then so did I.  Joe's ability to meet every challenge in life with tenacity and to stare down those challenges and to overcome is inspiring to me daily.   He helps to keep me grounded with his calm demeanor and his easy going character.  At school his teachers call him "Above-average Joe."  and at the gym you will hear "over-achiever Deters."  He's just a great kid.

What is Joe's biggest challenge in life?  This is his reply.  "Talking to people."  So you all that know him, know that he is pretty quiet.  However he has been talking more lately at our semi-private sessions.  And finally one of Joe's goals is to be the first person to pop up when you search Joseph Deters on Google.  Right now it's a politician that pops up first.  Well Joe, I have no doubt in my mind that you will meet your goal!

Those Who Inspire Me - Gary Phillips

I think without a doubt the movie that has made the most impact on my life is the 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life."  George Bailey is distraught on Christmas Eve and is about to jump off a bridge to end his life when Clarence his guardian angel stops him.  George gets the privilege (if you want to call it that) to see what life would have been like had he never been born.  The most impacting part of that for me was that George had saved his younger brother Harry from drowning when they were kids.  Harry went on to be a Navy Pilot and shot down a kamikase fighter and saved his enitre unit.  When George sees his life as if he had never been born, Harry is not alive because George was not there to save him from drowning.  And that entire Navy Unit had lost their lives in that battle because Harry was not there to shoot down the kamikase fighter.    MAN, that has stayed with me for years.

We need to realize just how important our lives are.  When interviewing my friends, I have this in mind.  I really want to know how we ended up in the same place at the same time.  I'm a firm believer in God and I believe God set  us in the same place on purpose.  But others may not have the same faith as I do and perhaps you see it as just being in the right place at the right time.  However, you look at it, I believe the people I am going to write about were placed in my life at the right time to make my life better.

Gary truly is a legacy in the making!

This is my friend Gary.  Turns out we both joined NLP right about the same time - Fall of 2015.  NLP stands for Next Level Performance and it's group training with a certified trainer.  You have to understand when I first joined NLP, I knew my son, my husband, and one friend Marivel.  It took every ounce of courage just for me to step in that room every day.  My self-esteem and confidence were at an all time low.  So I don't think I really got to know Gary until we both signed up for the 12 week challenge in January of 2016.

We both were giving it our all and showing up every day or close to every day.  I remember thinking if he can do it, I can do it.  But let me go backwards a bit and introduce you to my friend.

Gary was born December 25, 1953.  He married his wife Cheryl on August 20, 1978.  They have two daughters and (fun fact) one of his daughters teaches Body Pump and Combat at Golds Gym.  A defining moment in Gary's life came to pass in July of 2005.  They were living in Fruita at the time.  Cheryl was concerned about Gary's health.  Gary's doctor actually told him, "Tell your wife to quit worrying.  You just lasted 14 minutes on the treadmill."  11days later, Gary had just returned from over the mountain and was grabbing sandwiches at Subway.  While in line at Subway, his chest began to hurt.  He felt like something wasn't right, but he continued with his order, paid, and headed home.  After telling his wife how he felt, she said we are going NOW to the doctor.  Long story short here, he ended up at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction and he had experienced a heart attack.  He was 51 years old.

As they ran some tests, the doctor came in and said, "You have 11 aneurysms around your heart.  The doctor had NEVER seen anything like that and the surgeon had only seen 2 cases in Denver - but never 11 in total.  The only time they were aware of someone with that many was after the fact - after they had passed away.  What do you do? was a question Gary's family had.  The surgeon said you perform a bypass.  So Gary underwent heart surgery and 5 bypasses.  They were not able to complete 11 bypasses, but they did the best they could.

Gary told me it was at this point that he realized he was still alive for a reason.  As soon as he was cleared, he began rehab at the Life Center.  He faithfully went 3 days a week to Cardio Rehab.  He took it very seriously because he believed that God wanted him alive.  He continued with this rehab until he and Cheryl moved to Delta.  Cheryl is a well-known quilter.   She designs rulers and tools.  She writes quilting books and quilting patterns.  They work this business together and they travel to shows together.  FUN FACT:  They thought they had health insurance, but it only covered up to $25,000.  They were able to pay for the surgery, because God prospered their business big time.

Quilt Market

Sometime in 2014 they moved back to Grand Junction to be closer to grandchildren.  He tried NLP in July of 2015.  In August he had too many things going on, but in September of 2015 he started with an NLP membership.   We were in classes together, but like I mentioned above, I didn't get to know anyone else at the beginning.

In January of 2016, both Gary and I signed up for the 12-week challenge at Gold's Gym Clifton.  We were both faithfully attending classes and we started to get to know each other.  I was working out about 3 hours a day,  so I distinctly remember the day that I was exhausted in class.  I was keeping a private blog at the time and I wrote about how tired I was.  You know when you are at the point of  starting to feel sorry for yourself a little bit.  Well it was on this day, that Gary told me that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

I don't even know if I can explain the flood of emotions that came over me when he told me that.  First of all he was in class busting his butt right alongside me.  I was complaining about being sore and here he is fighting cancer.  Secondly I lost my dad to cancer when he was a young man.  I didn't grieve much at the time of loss; my grieving comes in waves and in situations like this when someone tells me they are fighting a battle.  My heart goes out to them and it hits me right in my heart.  This conversation marked a turn of events in my fitness journey.  It helped me a lot to keep things in perspective and to not be a complainer.  My respect for Gary shot up 1000%.

NLP class

I'd like to say another miracle here.  Because of his previous heart attack, Gary was on blood thinners. So he has regular check ups to make sure all is well.  At this checkup, the nurse who drew his blood said, "You look a little pale.  You should have that checked out."  Well since his wife had just said the same thing, Gary decided to go to his doctor and get checked out.  This early intervention by his wife and then again the nurse just may have well saved his life again.  The doctor said he was anemic and upon further tests colon cancer was diagnosed.  It was at stage 3 or 4, BUT it had not breached the colon.  He was able to have surgery and did NOT need chemo.   His surgery was at the end of the 12-week challenge.  With all of that he still received an honorable mention for his age group for the 12-week challenge.

Every time I see Gary I am inspired to push harder.  I have seen many health benefits in my own life because of the progress I've made so I want to keep it up.  Gary was counting his steps while recovering in the hospital and he was chomping at the bit to get back to NLP because he missed everyone.  He believes without a shadow of a doubt that NLP was the reason he was up and about so quickly after surgery.

Gary absolutely loves the NLP program.  He loves how everyone encourages everyone.  It has been a big blessing in his life.  Well, I love that I met Gary in the NLP program and that he enourages me to be a better version of myself.

Gary and Cheryl

Introduction

My name is Patty Deters and I have been on a successful fitness journey since January 18, 2016.  It started at Gold's Gym in Clifton, Colorado but more notably with a trainer named Ryan Teal.  Ryan was willing to put in the time and effort to teach me nutrition and exercise.  I put in the work to follow the plan.

Along the way I met many people who inspired me to keep giving my all.  This blog is my opportunity to introduce you to some of the many people who inspire me.

I am meeting with my first interviewee next week and will have a post up by the end of next week.  I hope you will follow along and I hope their stories will inspire you as much as they have me.

Sneak peak - 1st post (coming soon) - Gary Phillips