Its time to announce our July 2014 Spotlight Member. I am simply over the moon to announce Diva Nichole Swafford is the honoree!!! If you have had the pleasure of interacting with Nichole at the Dome you know that she is truly a kind soul and brings along a ray of sunshine where she goes! Nicholes fitness journey is one of courage and healing. She has committed to get healthy, fit, and to live life to the fullest. To date Nichole has lost almost 40 pounds because of her dedication and consistency (the two keys for success). Even with recent car issues, Nichole still manages to make it to the Dome for her workouts. In addition to being an active D3 Diva, Nichole also heads up our quarterly service projects, helping D3 to always give back. We simply love you Nichole and we are so happy you decided to make D3 your fitness home!! Congratulations! Jemila From Diva Nichole Swafford For me, weight loss has been as mental, emotional and spiritual as it has been physical. I was always an athletic, thinner than average, tomboy as a young girl and teenager. I was very involved in sports and anything having to do with the outdoors. I really loved distance running and team sports, and I became very involved in cross-country, wrestling and softball. I basically ate whatever I wanted all the time, because I was so active and never gained an ounce despite my horrible diet. I come from a large Croatian-American extended family, and my mom was THE BOMB at cooking, so to say that we knew how to eat would be an understatement. When I went away to college, I maintained my horrible eating habits, decreased my activity level a little due to work, school and volunteer activities, and it led to a small weight gain of 10-15 lbs. My loved ones at the time expressed concern, but I brushed it off, always telling myself 10-15 lbs could be easily lost with a solid month of dedication in the gym. Then my entire world changed. I was enrolled in a short, intense December class for three weeks after the Fall Quarter of my Freshman year. It was 15 days until Christmas and 9 days until I was done with my class and home free to see my family over Christmas. I received a phone call early in the morning, like really early for a college student. I ignored it, cursed under my breath and went back to sleep. About 5 hours later I received a call from my mom’s job, asking if I had heard from her, because she hadn’t shown up to work. I hadn’t, and that was strange, so I became pretty worried. I went to class, and then to work, calling my mom repeatedly during each and every break. I still hadn’t heard from her. The next morning, December 11th, I called her and left yet another message for her letting her know that I was extremely worried and that if I didn’t hear from her by noon that I would be coming home to check on her and that I’d be missing work. I knew, if anything, that would elicit a response, because my mom was NOT ABOUT people missing work. She never called back. I drove home to check on her, asked for the Police Department to assist me with checking on her since I didn’t have a key to her apartment. And that’s when I found her. She had already been gone about 36 hours. The phone call early in the morning the day before was probably her last phone call. I grew up as an only child of a single mother, and now my best friend and main caregiver, the rock in my life, was gone. I was totally unable to cope with the sudden, unexpected loss of my mother. She was not sick. She was 40 years old. We didn’t even know how she died for 7 weeks after her funeral. Seizure disorder. No one knew. I spiraled out of control, and frankly stopped caring about myself at all. I clung to food for comfort, especially potatoes, a stable of my mom’s cooking. It wasn’t uncommon for me to be found in the cafeteria having a baked potato, french fries and mashed potatoes for lunch. I literally never worked out, and even would drive my car 3-4 blocks to get to class. I gained 100 lbs in 9 months. I had an alarmingly high cholesterol level for a woman of my age (21 by then), and I stopped menstruating because my sudden weight gain caused Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I finished college and grad school, found myself gainfully employed right away (Thank God!), and suddenly I had time. And a little money. And insurance. It was at this time that I found my way back to church, back to God’s mercy. I had been so mad at God for the way my mother was taken from me, that I couldn’t bear to go to Him for guidance. I never stopped believing, I was just angry. I also found that my job’s insurance benefits had really great coverage for mental health services, and I decided to explore that option. After 4 years back at church and a year in therapy, I was finally mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared to tackle my weight gain. At the time I lived in Bridgeport, and I just Googled “gym 60616” and looked at the websites of some gyms near that zip code. I saw the D3 website, thought it looked fun and different from other gyms (where I could sign up to hate running on the treadmill – bleh, no thanks!), so I joined. Boy am I so glad I did! I can’t imagine that I would have ever receiving the training, the nutritional guidance, and the emotional support that has been so critical to my success. I still have a long way to go. I have lost 38 lbs to date, and I’d like to lose about another 50 lbs if possible, but mostly I just want to feel fit and comfortable in my own skin. This story has a happy ending, and each of you are part of that. Each and every one of you inspire and motivate me in some way, and for that I am extremely grateful. Oh, and by the way, my cholesterol is back in normal range, and I have eliminated PCOS… so the health benefits are real and measurable. Thank you so much to Dre, Jemila and Evelyn for your support, encouragement, and for being like my big sisters on this journey. You rock! Diva Nichole with an H ☺
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 17:55:11 +0000
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