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I
never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. -Self Pity by D.H. Lawrence
Then,
an acquaintance of mine at the time (now a very good friend), called me
up and convinced me to try her kickboxing class. Despite my fear of trying
something new and breaking out of my lazy routine, I decided to go for
it. After about a month of hard work and eating right, I felt like I wasn't
seeing any results, and was a few classes away from quitting. Just as
I was about to give up, the weight seemed to disappear. My endurance and
strength improved and I felt very energetic. So, I became addicted to
this hard core kickboxing class, and I've been doing it now for about
five years.
I
have never, in my life, felt as wonderful as I do now. I love being fit
and knowing that I can protect myself. I've gained this and so much more
since I've been working out. Before, I had not realized that I had so
much discipline and inner strength. I know now that I can do anything
in this world if I just put my mind and my heart into it. And so can everyone
else. We just need to look inside ourselves to find that determination
and hang on to it. Cristy Lake ©2003
www.CristyLake.com, |
I
was born in the small town of Oneida, Tennessee, where I spent the first
13 years of my life. My family has always prided themselves as down home
country folk, and Oneida has always been the place to find friendly southern
people. Before I turned 14, I moved to another small town in Kentucky.
I always believed there couldn't be too many differences between the people
of the two states that border each other, but I quickly learned that wasn't
true. Everyone teased me over my deep southern draw, big hair, and
tight jeans (Yes, I was still stuck in the '80's during the '90's). I've
never had a problem with being teased because it was all in good fun.
I did, however, manage to meet people that changed my life. I was a little
"wild child" in my old home state, but my new found friends
got me into plenty of high school activities. I was a cheerleader, a drama
coach, & competed in the National Forensics League . I was also the
winner and Miss Congeniality of a little pageant called Miss Stringtown
Ruritan. I always managed to stay pretty busy.
While
in college, my most exciting times were winning several bikini contests
in the downtown clubs. There wasn't very much to do beyond that and I
managed to get burned out on going to school, so I took some time off.
I then started working as a bank teller in Lexington, sitting behind a
desk all day. Doing that every day for a year helped me put on quite a
bit of weight. I've always averaged a size 8, but within that year, I
had ballooned up to a size 13/14. (This picture was taken after I
had lost about 15 pounds!). 