My name is Lisa McManes and I am 40 years old and have struggled with my weight all my life. I was born with a genetic predisposition to obesity.
I was born with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a type of autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys the thyroid gland. The sole function of the thyroid is to make the thyroid hormone which affects nearly all tissues of the body where it increases cellular activity. Therefore regulating the body's metabolism; this is the rate at which the body creates and uses energy. Every day since diagnosed at age 6, I have taken a synthetic form of the hormone in order to have a metabolism.
This has caused many health issues and struggles in my life. My husband and I have been married since 1997 and had our daughter in 2006. It was a high risk pregnancy with complications and constant blood checks of my TSH level to make sure it was okay so our baby would be born full-term and healthy. When Piper was born I wanted to make sure that I instilled in her the values of good self-esteem, eating healthy and being active so she would live a healthy long life.
Three years ago at 288 pounds my friend and I joined Antonelli's PTS for personal training to lose weight and get fit. I always struggled with my weight due to my condition and did not think a trainer would help but gave it a try. My trainer, Lisa Antonelli has been a godsend. I was learning how to eat right, logging my food, exercising, wearing my EXERSPY to monitor my steps and calories burned. I also fell in LOVE with running and after some pounds came off I tried a beginner’s run club at the gym and have been hooked ever since. I also started to use dotFIT nutritional items along with my training and health diet. I use the Omega 3, Multi, Pre/Post and Amino Boost. I really must give the Pre/Post shakes and the Amino Boost credit to my recovery time being shortened. With my Hashimoto’s my recovery time is longer than normal but these products really made a difference when I started to use them in my training and in the races.
I have lost 92 pounds so far and am close to my goal weight of 185 pounds. I stay within a certain calorie range each day while eating normal foods (no diet food or shakes or pills), train with my trainer and cross-train/cardio at least 2 times a week. I also teach Eat To Lose classes (Certification from dotFIT) and Beginners Run Club at the gym to help others with their weight loss journey. I have completed 4 half marathons and completed my first full Marathon in October.
I want to be an example to others and inspire them to lose weight and get healthy. My condition requires me to work harder than others and it is taking me a little longer to get the weight off. However, IF I CAN DO IT, ANYONE CAN.
Lisa McManes
