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Stories of
Walk Stars!

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Laura's story

While I had always been relatively fit before (around 140 pounds, 5'5", 29 years old), I really let myself go with my first pregnancy (2009). I was tired, listless, and overwhelmingly hungry...the works! I didn't feel like working out nor doing anything constructive. Before I knew it, I had gained 70 pounds and was tipping the scales at 215! Oops!
It was definitely fun to have a new baby in the home, but not quite so much fun carrying around all that extra weight and I was STILL wearing maternity pants after three months. In October 2009, I decided I had to do something. On a whim, I rented a WAH video from Netflix - a Mile Each Morning.

I'd never heard of Leslie Sansone before, but walking at home sounded like a neato ticket. What better way to get exercise while my infant was sleeping? I love to walk anyway! It's easy, quick, and efficient!

I popped in the DVD for the first time and during the initial warmup, I thought, "Uh oh...this looks like something my grandma would do." But I stuck with it. After the first mile, I was huffing and puffing and cursing, "I am too old for this!" It was amazing! Moves so easy and fun, it doesn't feel like working out at all, and yet you're covered in just as much sweat as you would in any of those "other" videos that make you do acrobatics! Immediately, I was hooked.

I immediately returned my Netflix copy, bought my own, and bought a few more just for the fun of it.

I made a routine out of it. When it was my daughter's naptime, that was time for me to walkout. I'd get in a few miles as she slept, and sometimes she was just happy to sit in her rocker or carrier and just watch.

As soon as one DVD got "old," I'd buy another, and another. Daughter in tow every time!

After about a year of consistently walking at home, my daughter started to talk - that's when things started to get interesting. My little one had given up naps by this point and I had to be a little more creative in when I got in my walks with Leslie. Usually I'd plop my daughter in the corner of the living room with a bunch of toys and get going. That's another great thing about WAH...not only are the walkouts fun, easy, doable and efficient, but you can also babysit at the same time! Who says you gotta look at the TV the whole time? Just use your ears! Let me tell ya, I know from experience that you can leave the room, prepare a bottle, grab some toys, practically do everything except change a diaper while STILL staying in-step! What other workout allows you to do THAT, huh? (Incidentally I once cleaned her entire room while doing a 3-mile video. I can't think of ANY other video series or workout in the world that allows you to be able to do chores at the same time! Just stay in step, that's all it takes!)

When my daughter was about a year old, only saying things like, "Mama" and "Dada," I put in a DVD as usual and as soon as she saw Leslie's face on the screen, my daughter said, "Walk, walk, walk!!!" Oh my! I'd been walking-out in front of my daughter so much, Leslie had actually taught her how to say, "walk!"

On particularly sunny or pleasant days, I'd take my daughter for a walk around town in her stroller. Sometimes you just need that change of pace. More often than not, we're at home doing WAH videos and my daughter still tags along to the store to check out any new releases (or older ones I just haven't bought yet!)

My daughter is three years old now, and I've lost ALL of the pregnancy weight. What's even better is that she's really aware of what is going on now and WAH is just another fun thing we do together. She tells me all the time, "Mama, let's do a 'step movie!'" (that's what she calls them!) She follows along the best she can, mostly marching in place or doing side-steps. She loves doing it as much as I do!

If not WAH, she requests, "Let's go walk around town," or "let's go walk at the mall!" Walking has been a major recreation to her - something we do together and have done together nearly since she was born. She even knows how to use stretchie bands and hand weights!

It took me the first two years to lose the weight, but that's okay. Slow and steady is the best! You don't feel deprived or like you're killing yourself exercising! The weight just comes off naturally, its so easy to stay consistent with it!

And as my daughter grows up, she's there to walkout with me almost every step of the way. I always have a partner to walk with! Surely she doesn't have any weight to lose, but I am so happy to know she's growing up knowing exactly how important (and fun!) fitness really is. I'm truly humbled that I have been the role model for her.

The attached picture is a before/after. Before was Halloween '09, just as I'd begun walking with Leslie. The after is October '11 (she 2, me 31), 70 pounds lighter. I've maintained the loss for a year now, still consistently walking and eating right. I regularly see the scale go up from time to time, but a good series of walks always gets me back on track!

Any time someone asks me what my "secret" is, I always tell them WAH! The secret's out!

Lots of love! And thank you so much! Walk, walk, walk!

- Laura and Valerie Buchanan

More inspirational walk stars

Joanne's story

Discovering Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home system has helped me to lose 70 lbs!

My common sense approach to exercise and healthy lifestyle have aided in attaining and maintaining my 70 pound weight loss! And now I am a proud Walk Leader through Walk at Home. I have even achieved a lifelong goal… my husband and I completed a Half Marathon!

I am an elementary teacher, and have been in the classroom for over 38 years! I need to be energetic and on my game, and this weight loss has helped me achieve my goal. I have endurance throughout the day, which is necessary when working with 26 ten year olds! In addition to losing weight, I have also experienced better glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure normalization. And who can quantify the enhancement of self-worth and increased optimism?

Lori's story

I began my weight loss journey in April of 2010. I have struggled with weight my entire life. My blood pressure had started to creep up and I knew I was at a high risk for diabetes and other health related issues. I couldn't walk up the stairs without getting out of breath, I could no longer get comfortable while sitting because I carried so much weight in my stomach area that I felt like I couldn't breathe very well. My husband had bought the book, "The End Of Overeating" by Dr. David Kessler. He read the book and began to make some healthy changes in his diet. I saw the changes and thought maybe, just maybe, I could do it too. The first 6 weeks were the hardest, but I kept going. I started out walking 15 minutes, four days a week on the treadmill and eventually worked up to 3 miles, six days a week. I got bored with the treadmill and hit a weight plateau, so I decided to look into other means of exercise. I found Leslie Sansone on Exercise TV and immediately felt more energized. I bought some of her DVD's and the rest is history! I love the WAH program. I feel so much stronger and healthier. Leslie's words stay with me throughout my day and keep me walking tall and strong. I still have 49 lbs. to lose and I know that I will do it. I also know that my journey will not end there...this is a lifestyle change...I have gone from "existing" to living...=)

Joni's story

At nearly 400 pounds life was hard in a lot of physical ways. Getting in the store and just keeping up with kids was all so tiring. I felt lost for any exercise I could do that would compliment my new healthy eating style with Weight Watchers with out hurting my knees. I wanted to move, I wanted to feel free, and then I found Walk Away the Pounds.
I started with one mile and sweat all through it. It did not hurt my knees like other videos did. It wasn't hard to do, no tricky moves. I was hooked! I worked my way up with Leslie's encouragement and now have been doing the 5 mile most days.
I started this lifestyle change with a promise to myself that if I was not comfortable adding something to my lifestyle for the rest of my life, I would not do it to lose. No spending hours at the gym for me. I am a stay at home wife and mom, and excess exercise would not be a part of my forever routine so I would not lose my weight that way. I vowed only sensible amounts of good for my joints exercise that I could enjoy would be what I would stick with.
Now my blood pressure has lowered. I have gone off my arthritis medicine. I make as many healthy choices as I can and I forgive myself for the rest. Each day is a chance to start fresh. This isn't a race for me. This is me living this life the best way I can.

Holly's story

I wrote to you a year or so ago to tell you about my weight loss success story and to thank you for your family-friendly exercise DVDs that enabled me to lose from size 16/18 to a 6/8. I couldn't (and wouldn't) have done it without the Walk at Home program!

However, Walk at Home has blessed me in a very unexpected way. This summer we packed up our Winnebago here in Colorado and took the kids on a two week vacation to Tennessee. On our way home we were involved in an accident that totaled the Winnebago and sent me skidding up a steering-wheel at 55mph! Because of God's Providence, we all survived with only very minor injuries considering the magnitude of the wreck, but because of this I was utterly sedentary for about a month (and had not exercised during the two weeks of our trip prior to that). When I was back up and at 'em I had not really gained weight, but I was flabby, weak, chronically exhausted, gloomy and plagued with nightmares about the accident every night. I kept remembering Leslie's exhortation that, "Walking is man's best medicine!" So, I started walking down the road to pick up the mail. After managing that for about a week, I dug through my DVDs and found the shortest workout, Fast Start 2-Miles, and popped it in. I was so weak and out of shape that I barely made it through that doing all low-impact (and I used to do a 5-Mile workout five days a week), but Leslie's reminder in that video about you don't need to walk so much for weight loss as you do for HEALTH caught my attention. Her reminders to work at the level that you are able (low vs. high, arms vs. no arms) and keeping focused on your best health and best life kept me going (without feeling ashamed at how much my fitness level had dropped).

I can now do that DVD going high impact through all the intervals (though it is a challenge) and I am getting some muscle tone back, have far more energy, sleep soundly through the night with no nightmares and am motivated to keep walking my way back to a vibrant, robust health. Man's best medicine, indeed!

I had no need to walk for weight loss (thanks to Leslie), but I had great need to walk back into physical, emotional and spiritual health. When it is "count the blessings time" I thank God that Leslie's spiritual gift is encouragement.

I thank you all again for working on a program that is clean-cut, edifying and keeps exercise focused on the right goals.

Aiming to start doing 3 Fast Miles again soon,

Holly Meadows
Hesperus, CO

Stu's story

I was just on the blog for the first time and read my story (http://bit.ly/ovP85o) and all the nice comments posted by all those wonderfully nice people. I am writing right now because i have an update to my story.

Firstly as i went back into my daily records i found that my weight loss started at 293 not 288. I had started weight watchers at 288. But I reached my goal several months ago and did even a little better. I am now 194 pounds and counting. That is about a 99 pound weight loss now. I cannot ever remember being this thin other than when I came out of the army in 1964.

My doctor said my blood work up was perfect. My blood sugar is at 94 from 127.

I am still walking and have added pushups and dumbbells along with the AB coaster machine I bought. So I work out for an hour or so every day and count my calories like my life depended on it (which it just may.) I keep my calorie count at 1200 or less.

My waist went from 51 inches to a loose 38. It is hard to believe where I came from and where I am now.

People in this country need to get very serious about their health. Obesity is running rampant in this country and it is mainly because of places like Macd's that are causing it. All the different chemicals they feed animals to make them grow faster is another cause for concern.

Diabetes is off the scale and people need to take a hard look at themselves and get that weight off as soon as they can. If I can do it at 69 you can at 30 and 40 and 50. It is no longer, "Your life may depend on it," but rather, "Your life DOES depend on it."

For all Leslie's walkers, Congrats on your success also. I am proud of my success so be proud of yours. I do know how hard i work so I also know how hard you work. Keep Walking, Keep Healthy and God Bless

Stories of Walk Stars!