PEERtrainer member: 'mrslarsen'

weight loss and fitness success story

PEERtrainer member: mrslarsen, 30
Post Falls, ID
United States

My journey has been long and the road has been rough but I am proof that if you have the will you truly have a way!! I started my Health/fitness journey in September of 2005. I was
the largest I had ever been in my life and was desperate to be
healthy. Not only to look healthy but feel healthy. December 16th, 2005 ~ I had been working out really hard for the last 2 months. Doing BodyPump 3 times a week and BodyStep 3-4 times a week. I started working out to lose the 50 lbs I gained while pregnant with my son. One day in the middle of a Friday morning BodyStep my heart began to race. The Target heart rate for a 27 year old person is between 116-154 beats per minute. My heart rate was 280. An ECG confirms the diagnosis from my cardiologist, I have a rare congenital heart defect called Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome. Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a condition in which episodes of fast heart rate (called tachycardia) occur because of an extra abnormal electrical pathway in the heart. These arrhythmias, or abnormal heart rhythms, can produce symptoms such as palpitations, light-headedness, or even loss of consciousness. In some instances, WPW can lead to cardiac arrest. People with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome are born with an extra connection in the heart, called an accessory pathway, that allows electrical signals to bypass the av node and move from the atria to the ventricles faster than usual. A very rapid heart rate means that the ventricles cannot pump blood effectively to other vital organs. In March of 2006, I had a procedure called radio frequency catheter ablation, where they go into the large femoral artery through your groin and place wires into the chambers of your heart. They stimulate the heart to beat really fast and see where the extra electrical pathway is and destroy it with radio waves. After 5 hours the procedure was complete. A decade ago the only answer was to have open-heart surgery, but thankfully I only have two small scars in my groin. I am also proud to say 4 months after my surgery I went through a BodyStep certification course and taught my very first class exactly 6 months after my surgery! I have been teaching for almost 2 years now. I became certified in BodyFlow, a combination of Yoga Tai chi and Pilates, in November. My recent challenge is a BodyPump (weights to music) Initail training module in 2 weeks! In my journey I have lost 46 pounds, 27 and a half overall inches and 12% Body Fat. I never ever imagined I would have become the person I am today. Thanks to hard work, will power and a TON of sweat I am a new person, inside and out. Peertrainer has really helped me focus on maintaining my health , to always be striving for more and to try new things. I love all the inspiration I have recieved here!! A million thank yous to my Rockin' teammates!!