This guest blog post is by a single mom, our bootcamp mom, a kick ass, never say quit, super hero of a role model Lynne Mcmickle:
This is my story..
I have been through a lot of pain in my life.
I have lived on my own and supported my self since I was 17 years old. I stared my own business when i was 18.
I’m a very shy person I struggle with social anxiety at times. Crowds and new surrounding make me extremely uncomfortable.
I first met Derek when he started Slim Fit Weight Loss in 2008 at a business networking meeting. That was so hard for me to stand up, tell people about me, and sell my business. But, I did what I had to do for my business.
I have watched and followed Derek’s success throughout the years always telling myself “One day I want to go there!”
I wanted to start to feel better about myself.
I give so much to others that I never do anything for me. Which I never complain about… ever!
I have 2 beautiful children. Being a single mom with no help for 12 years now can be challenging at times. But, I just prayed a lot to God to help me and guide me. Which he has!
The way to success is to always stay positve ,be kind to others, and never expect anything from anyone.
I was on Facebook last year and saw Derek post a 21 Day Beach Body special…I said “heck yeah sign me up!” With no hesitation I signed thinking “well i will do just the 21 days…”
I went the first night and Derek wasn’t there, it was the other trainer Rich that night.
I almost didn’t go because I didn’t know 1 person there and thought “oh my they are going to hate me” ..but i went sucked it up and overcame my social anxiety which was very hard for me.
I loved it!
Everyone was so nice to me help me out. For the first time in years I felt I truly belonged somewhere. The first few day’s I thought “holy crap this is hard”. I was out of breathe and so exhausted…
….and here I thought I was in shape, NOT!! I kept up only because I’m competitive at times. I wanted to be like all the other ladies out there so I pushed myself harder.
I now can say that I can do more then 1 workout per night where before I left after just one half hour workout session. (Derek doesn’t let us call it a class. He says classes are for Zumba sissies dancing in tights 🙂 )
We workout. We workout hard.
I have fallen, nicked and bruised myself, scraped a few knees but, I still come back even when I’m hurting because he can always work around anything that I do to myself!
I can’t tell you how much this boot camp has done for me. More then words can say mentally, emotionally and physically.
I haven’t missed but a few days since I started and when I have to miss I feel like crap, its addicting.
There are things that I thought I would never in a million years think I could do. I’ve done a mud run 5k and I just did a 5 mile Mud Endeavor this weekend…Holy Crap!
Thanks to Derek and the boot camp family I’ve been able to conquer these challenges.
Being a single mom I have to say that the hardest part was telling myself that it’s okay to take time out for you, I still struggle at times with this.
I now feel good when i go out. Before I started I would stay home because I felt crappy in my clothes, always felt like nothing fit and felt fat so I stayed home.
This I say is why I started bootcamp. To feel better about myself.
I now feel like I fit in my skin and feel better about me.
I have struggled with trying to think if i was a certain size i lwould be liked more but, that is my insercurity within. I now happy with my size and my eating habits.
One of Derek’s nutrition seminars that helped me. That’s me in the back right in the black.
Because of bootcamp it has taught me how to eat right and how to workout where before, I would just starve myself to lose weight and I’d always be tired. Now I can’t be stopped!
I would say to everyone, especially single mom’s out there who struggle on a daily basis with trying to keep the kids on track and on a schedule, if you’re not happy no one will be.
So stop an take sometime for you, it’s not that long and trust me you will feel better and everyone will be happy.
Make the time, I have and I’m very busy. Time management is the key.
I have more goals to meet and more weight to lose.
I believe now I will have that beach body this summer thanks to my boot camp family.
Maybe you’ll be next?
“Team Mom” Lynne
——————————————————————————————————————-
I tear up every week when I post these blogs and put together the timeline of pictures.
I do my best each week to only read sentence by sentence editing punctuations and grammatical errors before finally going back and reading it as a “story”. Because when I finally read them them I’m a teary eyed mess!
This one was not an easy one for me. I read it first. Bad idea.
I fought tooth and nail with Lynne in the beginning to take time for herself. To commit to fixing herself before everyone else around her.
She started as a shy, aggressive, short fused stick of dynamite ready to explode on anyone who touched her mat, bat or tire and now….she is the first person to welcome every new person that walks through the door.
She takes time, care and love with anyone who needs help.
She bakes gluten free or natural healthy treats for bootcampers birthdays and well sometimes just because she wants to!
I get really close with all my clients but Lynne has been extra special because I can really really relate to her. I’m extremely uncomfortable in new surroundings and I’m frightened to be in large groups if I don’t know anyone.
This was a personal promise that I made to Lynne to not only work through this together but to help her grow as a person.
Lynne is now an ANIMAL in the most feminine but dominant use of the word!
I am so proud of Lynne.
She is an inspiration to so many other single moms, men, women and her entire bootcamp family!
—————————————————————————————————————-
UPDATE 2/3-
As most of you know, since the middle of last year Lynne has been battling a variety of health issues and doctors could not find the cause. By the end of the summer she/we got the news we all feared. Lynne has cancer.
From Lynne’s daughter Jayla: 
“Hello friends, I am asking for some help in the need of my wonderful mother.
If anyone of you knows my mother then you know that she is a single mom to my brother and I. She has had her own cleaning business for over 27 years and is an extremely hard worker. She has made it her goal to make sure we were always taken care of, busting her butt to make sure she was always able to give us what we wanted or what she thought we needed.
She is the most beautiful and kindhearted woman I have ever met in my life. The kind of person that would give you the shirt of her back if you needed it, always so loving and giving and going above and beyond what was expected of her not only for us but also to her clients that have become like family to us. Until about 5 months ago life was turned a little upside down for all of us.
This led to countless times in and out of the hospital with multiple tests, blood transfusions, and a constant sickness that didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. No doctor could understand why she was so sick or what was going on, as she was as healthy as a horse and in great physical shape. About a month or so ago they decided to dig a little deeper and she went for a D&C that is a scraping of the uterine wall.
The results came back to having very enlarged ovaries and a couple signs of cancerous cells that they wanted to research further. We then got sent to the Moffitt Cancer Center to have her do a full body exam. During that exam a lymph node was found to be a little suspicious right under her collarbone. Before leaving that appointment the doctor had told us she was positive for Cervical cancer and it had already reached to a Stage 2 that means it had spread beyond the cervix but not to the pelvic wall. The doctor wanted more tests to be done so while waiting a week for the results and doing all sorts of biopsies, CT scans, PET scans, and MRI’s.
We had a following appointment that led us to some extremely sad news. It had spread to the lymph node in the collarbone now making the cancer at a Stage 4B. As the doctors say there is no cure for this, chemo only helps to contain the cancer that has spread to the other parts of the body in hopes that after all the chemo treatments are done she can do radiation and hope that will take it away.
Due to this news, she will be working very little while she is getting chemotherapy that is starting on Monday. Money has always caused her great stress in her life always worrying she would never have enough and I would like to take that stress off her shoulders. I am doing this fundraiser to put her mind at ease so she has nothing to worry about while she does her treatments and we can all just focus on getting her better!
My goal is to raise $10,000 for her living expenses and any other expense she may need during this time that she may be unable to work.
She is fighting the fight for her life and coming back swinging!”
Lynne has completed her first round of chemo but the fight is not over. Doctors have said that the original cancer has not dissapeared completely and there were new formations in her chest. Next she will start a combo of radiation and chemo.
Over the past few weeks and months, Lynne has been in and out of the hospital for blood transfusions and for colds from her weakened immune system.
She has continued to fight, she has continued to work, and she has continued to stay positive.
We need to do the same: fight, work and stay positive.
In September, we held a fundraiser at our gym that raised over $4000, but that was months ago. We need to do more!
There are three ways that you can help:
- Order a “I don’t quit when I’m tired, I quit when I’m finished- Lynne Strong” t-shirt for only $10 and 100% goes to Lynne, send email with preferred size to [email protected]
- Make a donation via http://www.gofundme.com/dbnf98
- Send her an email to show your support https://www.facebook.com/lynne.mcmickledavison?fref=ts
Whether you know Lynne or not, let her story be your motivation in life to push a little harder, to give unselfishly and to love a little deeper.
Committed to your fitness success and the next phase of your journey,
Derek Kuryliw, Certified Sports Nutritionist & Personal Trainer
…for questions or comments [email protected]
Try the ultimate fitness experience of my fitness bootcamps. Every night is a new challenge of athletic and explosive training for all ages, previous injuries and ability levels, http://newportricheybootcamps.com/
