Have you ever been inspired by someone in such a way that you couldn’t wait to share those words, thoughts, ideas with every other person you know and care about? That has always been my greatest joy….to pass on the amazing wisdom that others have shared with me, to everyone I know, and many times, even to strangers.

For me, it is pure excitement and joy to learn from others, things that truly make a difference in each and every moment and “season of life”, try to put it into practice in my own life, and then share the wisdom with everyone I can. I have always kept notebooks filled with my favorite sayings, ideas, teaching moments, etc.. I have even started writing  a book of everything that I would want to pass on to someone (but that’s another thing I have to finish)..

For me, the joy of being inspired and then inspiring others is something that I can barely put into words. It literally takes my breathe away.

The one area, however, where I have never felt that I had the ability to inspire others, is in the area of weight loss. I have battled weight my entire life. The last time I was happy with my fitness and weight was in high school. I have gone on many diets, lost and gained it back, over and over again. Now, at a time where my children are a bit older, and I am now in my late 40’s, the time when everyone says you start to become wiser and learn that you have to come first in order to live your best life, Well,  I guess that’s where I am now….and for the first time in my life, I BELIEVE I CAN DO IT!

By now you’re wondering….How did you get to this point?…

Every season, I watch The Biggest Loser. I sit and get inspired each time, and then I start with a strict diet and exercise, and I last a while. But then each week as they shed pounds in the double digits, I get frustrated that my weight doesn’t come off as fast, I then give up.. and just continue to watch, wishing that I could be one of them.  Then…Season 11 came. This season was going to be different for me, (or so I thought), because we sort of knew someone on the show. You see, Olivia Ward’s husband, Ben, lead worship at our church, and so now we were watching every week praying for her and checking in with Ben each week if he had heard anything. I even kept a notebook of all the “behind the scenes” questions I had while watching the show. In my mind, I was going to lose the weight along with Olivia this time. A few weeks into it, I hadn’t even started. Then, she was sent home for a few weeks at Christmas. I remember her walking into Church on Christmas Eve, she had already lost sooo much weight. She looked stunning.  I was so happy for her, and again told myself, “ Wendy, just start after Christmas”. Well, the only one who really did it along with her was her husband, Ben. Every week at church, we watched him lose the weight. It was so exciting when they saw each other on the show during makeover week. The two of them looked amazing! Again, all I could do was beat myself up for not starting and sticking with it. So…in my mind at this point I thought, maybe Olivia would be willing to give me a few tips when she got back.

As most people know by now, Olivia won the entire season. It was so exciting to see her win, especially as we all followed her journey and prayed for her. I was so happy for her, yet so disgusted with myself for not losing even a pound since the show started that season. I wrote to her to let her know what an inspiration she was, and shared with her from my heart how desperate and defeated I felt in the weight loss journey.

It was only a few days after the last show had aired, she was already a superstar in the eyes of everyone, people were stopping her wherever she went, and yet she took time to write an email to me. Right in the midst of all of her fame, Olivia wrote this email that changed my life that day… and started me on this journey of BELIEVING that I could be the “Million Dollar Me” I was meant to be, and win Dr. Oz’s Transformation Nation….

Hi Wendy!

I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog!!  It has been a joy to work on.  I would love to get together to chat about all of this and working with you to help you achieve your goals.  I know you can do it….believe me if I can you can.  Like me you just don’t have the knowledge…it’s as simple as that.  It’s not because you have failed…you just need some instruction.  Start to look at it that way…mentally it will make the BIGGEST difference in how you view weight loss.  What are your plans Sunday after church?  Would you like to go to lunch with Ben and I?  I’m going to write down some instructions for you and we can go over them then.  You will start on Monday. 🙂  Let me know if that works for you, if not we can find another time…no worries.  I look forward to hearing from you!

When I read her words, “I know you can do it…believe me if I can you can…..you just don’t have the knowledge…It’s not because you have failed….”   The fact that she took time to write to me, and believed that I could do it, meant the world to me.

Olivia and Ben took the time out of their new crazy schedules that next week and had breakfast with me and began to share their greatest tips and wisdom regarding weight loss. When I got home, I wrote down everything they said so that I wouldn’t forget. The fact that they won the battle with weight loss and believed in me..they believed that I could do the same, was a moment that I will never forget. As I started to put the knowledge together and try and make a plan of how to accomplish this goal, I found myself watching Dr. Oz one day (as I tape him every day). This was the day that he launched Dr. Oz’s Transformation Nation, Million Dollar You” Challenge. As I watched the show, a renewed hope and an indescribable belief came upon me. I took notes during the entire show (as I always do), and I proceeded to the computer and took all of the steps to join the challenge.

This journey has been incredible so far, and for some reason I have kept a journal since the first day I signed up on October 2, 2011. I now realize, through many amazing circumstances, that the journal was kept so that I could share it with everyone through this blog. Everything that has happened so far, has led to this exact moment, where I am writing this “about me” section.

I am sooo excited to see where this journey and blog leads me. I am praying that through it all,  great wisdom will be shared and lives will be inspired!