I am so excited about our July Health Challenge.

“Whoooosh! As I relaxed in a lawn chair, my six-year-old sank yet another basket. Watching his skill develop, I couldn’t help but dream about him becoming an NBA star some day. I could just picture it…I, his proud mama in the stands adorned in the appropriate team sweatshirt. After the game – a big hug and kiss for his mom while fans surround him and scream “We’re Number One!” And (of course), I could clearly see the big house he’d buy me to live out my old age (come on, if a girl’s gonna dream she may as well dream)!

When my husband and I first recognized my son’s passion for basketball, we did everything we could to help nurture his interest into the talent he so desperately wanted. I found a basketball camp in the area that would teach him the proper way to shoot and handle the basketball. My husband spent night after night watching basketball games with him (what a sacrifice…), explaining the rules and pointing out the techniques of the game.

It’s easy to recognize our children’s gifts and get excited and involved in developing them. Since it is so much fun to see the progress our kids can make, isn’t it strange that the same optimism about developing a new skill or finding a gift doesn’t always spill over to us?

Maybe one reason is that when we look at a child, we see nothing but a blank slate, ready to be filled with whatever outrageous and exaggerated dreams they can think up. Anything is possible! As we get older, though, our slate is no longer clean – we have “responsibilities” and “obligations” that leave no room for larger-than-life dreams. We foster the belief that if we can’t have it all, it’s not worth trying.

Trey and Jenn’s Story –
“In June of 2009 we began our journey. Trey was in treatment for an autoimmune disease and had spent a year and a half on chemo and steroids trying to beat it. He knew that he was not in a healthy state and that the foods that he was putting in were not helping him create health, so he knew that is was time for a change. He really wanted to see what his body could do to heal itself if he were closer to a healthy BMI.

Jenn was not ready for a change. She was very reluctant to start the program because of some of her concepts about what a “diet” should look like. And she had given up hope. Hope that she would be anything but a morbidly obese wife and mother. She agreed to start with Trey, on the same day, so that she would not be the reason that he failed. The rest, as they say, is history.

Trey dropped 105 pounds and Jenn shed 187 pounds. After losing our weight our activity level sky rocketed. Trey started coaching our daughter’s soccer team, trained for a marathon (injury prevented participation), and has competed in the Wild Canyon Games three times. Jenn has ran 5K’s, 10K’s, a half marathon, obstacle races and participated twice in the Wild Canyon Games.

We now consider ourselves ‘half the couple’ we once were and are not looking back. Trey has maintained for over 3 years and Jenn has maintained for 2 years 11 months.