I was unprepared for the mental changes I would go through during my weight loss journey, and there were many. I vowed to never "cry" in front of my trainers - Ryan or Mana; yet many tears were shed in front of my friends. These three ladies will attest to that. We are four friends from different walks of life, one in her 20s, one in her 30s, one in her 40s, and me in my 50s. I will cherish these ladies for the rest of my life. We met in NLP semi-privates and we worked out with Mana and/or Ryan just about every day (M-F). They were my counselors, my encouragers, my rocks, my friends. I am talking about Jenna, Natasha and Nancy. Today I tell you a little bit about why Jenna inspires me!
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| We called ourselves "The Morning Crew" |
I was working out daily in the semi-private NLP training sessions with Ryan/Mana from January 18, 2016 on. Jenna had been an NLP member, but not a part of semi-private training. Guess who talked it up for her? Marivel McClelland - the very woman who I wrote about last week. Marivel encouraged Jenna that if she wanted to take it to the next level she should get to know Ryan and she should sign up for the semi-private training. Up to this point, Jenna had not been seeing any weight loss and it was frustrating to her; so she considered what Marivel was telling her and she went to talk to Ryan. She began training with me in February of 2016.
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| Me and Jenna - February 15, 2017 |
Jenna tells me that she had been serious about the gym and the workouts, but not as serious with the nutrition. She loved that Ryan was able to help her with the nutrition aspect. AND he always checked in with her. He'd ask her how her weekend went (especially in light of her food.) He reached out and checked in often. (I love that about Ryan too. He doesn't just lay out a path for you and walk away. He lays out the path; and then checks in to see if you are traveling down the right path for you.) As soon as Jenna implemented the nutritional information that Ryan taught her, she began to see weight loss, but I am getting ahead of myself.
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| Daniel and Jenna |
Jenna and Daniel got married when they were just 20 years old. They were married in 2011. They had a baby girl in 2012, a baby boy in 2013, and another baby girl in 2014. They are now 25 with three kids and they are doing a great job together raising their family. What I love about Jenna is the maturity and confidence she carries herself with. Here I am old enough to be her mother, yet she is a great friend who helped me tremendously during those times of my mental distress. Daniel and Jenna have had to handle some very serious life challenges in their young years and they have done it with grace and maturity.
One of my questions I ask before I write is "What was one of your biggest challenges in life." Well they've had a few. Dalaynee (their first born) was 15 months old when Jenna went into labor 6 weeks early with her son, Karson. He was breech and the decision was made to deliver him early by c-section. Because he was 6 weeks early, he spent two weeks in the NICU at St. Marys. It was during these two weeks, that Miss Dalaynee was not feeling well so they put her in bed with them that night. She began coughing a lot, so Daniel picked her up and rolled her over (in case she was to get sick - it would go to the floor not the bed.) When he picked her up, she was limp and she was blue. Daniel gave his baby girl CPR. Daniel's CPR got her breathing again. Jenna recalls that they then called for an ambulance and Dalaynee was taken to St. Marys Hospital. So Dalaynee on one floor and little Karson was just upstairs on another floor. (Dalaynee was diagnosed with febrile seizures. She's had a total of 3 and they typically go away by the age of 6. Dalaynee is 4 now.)
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At St. Mary's Hospital before they knew Karson needed
heart surgery. |
After two weeks in NICU, little Karson was having a difficult time wanting to eat and his heartrate kept dipping down. The doctor called in a cardiologist. The next thing you know this young couple is being told that their 2 week old baby boy needs heart surgery and he needs it immediately. The hospital was unable to secure a flight immediately and Karson was stable so Daniel and Jenna went home to pack a bag. Almost as soon as she got home, she got a call from the hospital saying Karson's heartrate kept dropping and he was not able to breathe on his own. At this point they needed to intubate him. They were on a roller coaster of emotions.
Jenna and I have both been taught that it's good to have someone with you at a doctor's appointment or in a hospital situation and she was so thankful Daniel was with her. Because she heard "heart surgery" and then really didn't hear anything else. Jenna shared with me how her husband, Daniel, was a rock during this time. When Jenna was told Karson would need heart surgery, all she could think of was "he's going to die." Daniel was calm and reassuring telling Jenna, "that's not what they said. Karson is not going to die. He just needs the surgery and he will be okay." I love this. They are both so young, yet so capable, so mature.
Jenna and Karson were flown by helicopter to Children's Hospital in Denver. Karson needed a few days of intubation and rest to prepare for the surgery. (The diagnosis was coarctation.) Now think about this. Jenna is 2 weeks out from having had a C-section. She and Daniel are all of 22 years old. They've got 15 month old Dalaynee with them at Children's. And Dalaynee had just given them a scare with the febrile seizure. HOLY COW! They had family support there with them too, but kudos to Daniel and Jenna for believing for their children to be okay. Karson had the surgery and was immediately better.
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| Jenna feeding Karson after the successful surgery. |
Their children are doing great now. Daniel and Jenna are doing great. Daniel is really proud of the progress Jenna has made. Jenna set a weight loss goal and crushed it and surpassed it. She is smaller now than she was when they got married. She says the weight she is at now is the weight she was in 9th grade.
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| Daniel, Karson, Santa, Reagan, Dalaynee and Jenna |
I love that Jenna always encouraged me. I love that she saw the weak side of me (emotionally) and it didn't drive her away; instead she stepped it up and poured on more encouragement for me. I feel as if I have conquered a lot of that "emotional change" now and Jenna and I just have a blast together working on that "physical change." I absolutely love working out with her. I didn't know all of this back story on Jenna when I first met her, but I knew she was mature way beyond her years and I knew I loved being around her.
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| Always having fun together. |
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Kind of a private joke - but let's just say we
struggled learning that snatch. |
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