My name is Tammy Lindenmeyer and I wanted to create one page where anyone that wants to know me can come and read my story. I am a 48 yr old single mother of 3, that has never given up on myself or my quest for weight loss and health. Although life has knocked me down and kicked me while down there....I always jump right back up and turn that knockdown into a Burpee (haha).....I have so many acquaintances and friends that marvel at my fortitude and tenacity on my quest for the holy grail I call weight loss! I have tons of thoughts and ideas, tips, and motivational tidbits to share.....so here they are! Welcome and thanks for stopping by.....Tammeegirl WHO AM I?? WHY??? Back in 2000 weighing 232lbs I was so tired of the struggle…. everyday I would wake up and say ok today is the day, and yet another food would beckon me and as I would binge on that food the hopes of managing my food for that day would dwindle. Then I would just say f*$# it…..may as well just eat whatever else I want for the remainder of this day and start anew tomorrow. Hence the pattern repeated itself day after day……each day waking saying to myself today would be the day. My soul was tired, and I was lonely, depressed, discouraged, and disappointed in myself!. I was a single mother living on welfare, and I was just barely existing. Not making a difference in anyone’s life, not even my own. I knew deep down I had the desire to get a grip on this weight and my issues with food. It was like being down in a very deep dark hole, and trying repeatedly to crawl up the walls of that deep dark hole……I continued to try each and every day, until a craving for some particular food would drag me back down into that hole. I knew it would be hard, very hard, but I could see the light and I knew it could be done. I always believed I could do it……just was a matter of when? My father had committed suicide and I had suffered a mild stroke, but I was a survivor, nothing would keep me from taking heed to this burning desire to get my weight under control. People always marvel at the tenacity I have shown thru it all and over all the years, when they want the same thing for themselves but just dont want to do the work, they ask WHY? I say because I listened to that little voice deep inside of me that knew this was not my destiny to sit around as an obese single mother on welfare………JUST EXISTING. I deserved better and my children did too. HOW???Living on welfare, allowed me LOTS of time. I would take my small children to school each day and passing by a big park that lots of people walk around each day. It was a 3 mile track around it and tons of people walked there. I wanted desperately to join a gym but living on $347 per month really did not leave much room for such frivolous spending. So I told myself, if I could walk that track at the park every single day for one month, then I would feel justified in spending that extra money on a gym membership. I felt at 232 lbs it was a reasonable goal and would prove to myself that I am serious about this journey and I would more than likely stick to it. After that one month I went and joined a gym and worked out 6 days a week. I did cardio step classes and used the weights.,…..I also made another sacrifice by hiring one of the nutritionists to help me with a food plan. I was clueless about truly healthy eating and to this day the things she taught me have stuck with me. I lost 60 lbs and kept it off for all these years. The difference I feel was the fact that I not only ate healthy food, but I combined it with exercise consistantly. That made all the difference. I had lost a lot of weight before but never combined the food aspect WITH exercise. I know that’s disappointing huh? I know we all want that magic pill or potion LOL. And over all these years people have asked me how I did it, and when I tell them “diet and exercise” they just say Oooohhhhh with a stank face hahaha. Which brings us to the current date. In 2009 I started gaining my weight back and went back up to 199…..errrrr (hit the brakes) so I decided before I gained it all back I would do something about it. That is when I started logging my food on Myfitnesspal.com. I met a person that would become instrumental to helping guide me back to a path of health. Her name is Joy and she is a Beachbody coach. She became my friend and talked to me about joining her accountability group. I was very interested….. as if we could do it alone, we all would. So I joined and started pushing play on home workouts and let my gym membership go, as I no longer had a need for it. I then became a Beachbody coach so that I can pay it forward helping others in the way she helped me. I have lost 34 lbs in 2012 and continue forward on my journey. I eat healthier than I ever have due to a Beachbody program called the Ultimate Reset. I work out to the Les Mills Pump dvds which utilize weights and the “rep effect”. You can view these on my site. Beachbodycoach.com/tammeegirl Simply put I was in the right place at the right time and have been blessed to be involved with so many amazing people thru coaching with Beachbody. Anyway that gives you a glimpse into HOW…….
I woke up today with an abnormal amount of HOPE, ENERGY and EXCITEMENT about my life. I was eager to get my day started. I love this feeling compared to the lethargic depressed feeling I have been experiencing for the past couple months. I got up, planned my food for the day, and started this amazing day! Part of my mental wellbeing and taking care of myself is loving myself enough to make the time to prepare healthy foods....rather than allowing myself to make excuses as to why I should eat unhealthy options. When I do that I know where it leads me, to gaining weight which leads to self loathing which leads to depression. Since I am aware of these traits it is my loving CHOICE for my life and to my health to adhere to what I know will enhance my mood thereby creating a life filled with appreciation for who I am. Yes I know it sounds complicated perhaps, but it has taken me 50 yrs to come to the conclusion that I am an eating disordered person.....nothing is going to change that. So this is the hand I have been dealt so DEAL WITH IT LOL. I am ok with who I am today, and proceed just for today with compassion and empathy towards recognizing my addiction. Admitting you have a problem is half the battle, I have no problems doing that. Afterall how can we address what we have not acknowledged. I have recently discovered an amazing website its AMIHUNGRY.COM. It is an entire site with lots of links and info, quizzes, etc to raise your level of awareness. As an eating disordered person, I know that I do not know what true satiety is. I am not in tune with what true hunger is, I have grown up that way.....eating for many reasons OTHER than hunger. Such as social cues to eat, or seeing a commercial, or smelling a certain food....but that is not true hunger. I am reading an amazing book by Michelle May M.D. it is EAT WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU EAT (how to break the eat-repent-repeat cycle) which is helping me learn my true hunger cues and how to eat for nutritional purposes and nothing else. Food should not be a stress reliever, or fill some kind of emotional void, or numb the pain of everyday life, rather foods sole purpose is to provide NUTRITION to my body. PLAIN AND SIMPLE NOTHING MORE! How could I have gotten it so wrong for sooooo many years? It is just how I was raised, as most of us are. When you hurt yourself as a child they give you a cookie to stop crying, you get a shot at the drs office you get a sucker, your boyfriend broke your heart you drown your sorrows in a bucket of ice cream, ITS JUST WHAT WE DO. But there has come a point in my life where I don’t want to think about food 24/7. I want to be like a “normal” person hahaha whats that right?, and just eat to live, not live to eat! It is mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting! My eating disorder has already robbed me of too much in my life. I will not take this obsession to my grave. I am a very strong, very smart, capable girl! I want something I have never had.......PEACE regarding food. Oh I will achieve it.....just you wait and see! Today starts day 1. Doing all the things I know I need to do. I have waited so long to feel this good about my food issues. Carpe Diem.....stay tuned....
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