It’s not easy to be candid about your weight. It’s also not easy to overhaul your eating habits and start working out. However, an Edmonton mother did all those things.
After losing 147 pounds, Shannon Mozak is sharing her story in hopes of inspiring others.
It wasn’t an easy start for Mozak, who at 335 pounds, was obese.
“I had four small kids at home and I wasn’t keeping up with the kids,” she said.
The fear of not living to see them grow up pushed her to step foot in a gym.
“In the beginning, when I was coming to the gym, everything hurt all the time,” Mozak said.
She started taking group classes five times a week, but a year passed and she wasn’t seeing the results she wanted, so she asked for help. That’s when personal trainer Shauna Walton stepped in.
“Her transformation was all emotional from the start,” Walton said. “All I needed her to do was break down.”
“We sat in the back room and cried for two hours together and I think that was our big ‘ta-da’ moment. I knew Shannon was prepared to change and she knew she was ready to change.”
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Walton asked her to do three things: drink more water, be open with her husband about how she was feeling, and write down everything she ate. That helped Mozak change her diet and her workout plan. One year later?
“I feel like a night-and-day difference,” Mozak said. “Kind of like I woke up.”
She’s lighter and stronger and it’s changed her life.
“I can keep up with my kids,” Mozak said. “I wake up and can’t wait to come to the gym. I have energy.”
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Her trainer calls her an inspiration.
“People see Shannon around the gym and they know where she came from,” Walton said. “It’s really inspirational to see that eating healthy and exercising every single day, you get results.”
“Some days, it had nothing to do with the exercises we were doing; it had everything to do with attitude.”
Mozak admits it takes hard work to maintain her progress but she doesn’t want others to be discouraged from taking that first step.
“You don’t have to wait to be ready,” Mozak said. “You just have to start.”