Our January Ship Shape Challenge winner, Sarah Wlodkya, is living proof that the motivation to lose weight can come from anywhere.
For Sarah, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, it was the rude comment of a stranger on Facebook that made her realize she needed to make a change in her life.
“I was commenting on a friend’s Facebook post and someone, who was being absolutely mean, posted a meme that said ‘Life is like a box of chocolates for fat people, it doesn’t last long,’” Sarah recounts. “I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
At first she was shocked, appalled and offended. She could not believe that someone would say something so rude to a person they didn’t even know.
But, the more she thought about it, the more the words resonated with her.
She knew that she needed to make a change in her life and health in order to be around for her two sons, 3-year-old Tristan (T for short) and 2-year-old Rex.
“I didn’t want to have to worry about my husband telling my kids one day, ‘Mom didn’t take care of herself so she’s not with us anymore.’ I didn’t want to have my kids worry that I’m not going to be around for them, because they’re the most important thing in my life,” Sarah says.
The road to weight loss wasn’t going to be easy, though. As a baker and cake designer, Sarah is literally surrounded by temptation every day!
“It’s a really tough industry to be in and not constantly be gaining weight. I mean, I’m good at what I do, I make really awesome cakes!” Sarah admits.
IdealShape was key for her when it came to conquering her cravings. With IdealShake she didn’t feel the need to snack on cake scraps because the dessert-like shakes satisfied her cravings.
She was also able to use her skills as a baker to concoct healthy gourmet smoothie recipes of her own like sugar cookie and s’mores.
“I have all these flavorings and extracts that I use as a baker and I’m able to add them and use them in my shakes.”
Not only has Sarah lost weight using IdealShape products, she’s also gained a lot of muscle thanks to her own fitness routine. When she first began her weight loss journey, physical activity was very difficult for her. Even walking on a treadmill for 10 minutes would leave her winded and out of breath. Now she can run for nine miles straight and plans to run Cleveland’s half marathon this spring!
It’s incredible to think that Sarah went from a size 16 in July, to a size 8 in January! Not only has she lost pounds, she’s gained confidence and the ability to keep up with her kids instead of sitting on the sidelines.
“In August, we took [T and Rex] to the county fair. The year before I couldn’t go on any rides with them because I was too big. And this summer I got to ride the ‘terrifying’ dinosaur roller coaster with them, five times in a row,” Sarah says. “But, it was literally the coolest thing in my life because I was experiencing that fun and those memories with them, instead of just watching them.”
