Category Winner
Average to Lose Category

Lisa K.

“You know, if you keep eating like that it will go straight to your hips”…

Hello Teresa and staff!

My name is Lisa Kivin and I just turned 29 in April.  The quote above is mention-worthy to me because people used to say this to me all of the time when I was growing up.  I was toothpick skinny all the way through high school and would eat like nobody’s business.  I was also very athletic (danced for 15 years and participated in high school soccer), and I would laugh at people when they said that I would understand later what they meant when I got to be near 30 years old….little did I know!

This is actually the second contest that I have entered, so I am not a T-Tapp newbie.  In fact, I have been tapping for a few years now.  I started in 2001, at the end of my undergraduate degree and experienced incredible success.  All of the “freshman 15” that I gained in college disappeared.  I loved what T-Tapp did for my body. 

Then, I accepted a full-time position working for a local university and entered a master’s degree program in 2002.  I vowed to keep up with my T-Tapp schedule, but I did not.  I made school and work the priorities in my life- and my body suffered as a result.  The contest last year is what brought T-Tapp back to me, but I was still inconsistent as I was completing my last two semesters of schoolwork and internships.  To make matters worse, I got “ the crud” that was going around this January and managed to stay sick for almost two whole months.  I was so ill that I lived on Sprite and crackers for two months straight.  The cellulite packed on like I have never seen!  I was so depressed and I felt like I had lost all of my good effort from last year.

In the end of February, I vowed that I would make my last semester of graduate school count in my T-Tapp workouts.  I needed the stress relief that the workouts gave me, especially with Comprehensive Exams in the end of March!  So, I joined Habit Formers with Carol and was happily surprised to see another announcement for a contest in April!  Perfect timing! 

Looking at my pictures and measurements, you can see that I am a combo body, but I definitely have the short torso tendencies.  My problem areas are strange- I gain in the upper belly, but not the lower, and I gain in the hip/thigh area also.  I entered the Average to Lose category because I did not feel that I had inches everywhere to lose, but that I really did have a few areas of serious concern, namely my waist, hips, butt and thighs. 

Fast forward to today, in July.  I have lost 5.75 inches!!  I am proud to say that I participated in this contest.  I have learned one very valuable lesson from participating.  Consistency is key to success in T-Tapp.  Form is important, yes, but it is consistency that shows results.  I started with a 7 day bootcamp and went EOD from there.  Once a month, I do a 4 day bootcamp.  That’s it!  No dieting at all, just Tapping for me. I brushed twice a day when I could and drank a lot of water.

The first month was pretty unproductive for me in terms of progress, but I had to remember that I was a slow loser even when I first started Tapping in the beginning.  Frustration set in, but I pushed forward.  The second month is when I started to notice differences.  My measurements were not really changing, but I felt a difference in the way my pants were fitting.  I started to get the dreaded “fat shift” in the upper tummy area.  Progress! Note: I never lost one pound, but check out the inches!  Muscle development!

On a totally separate note, I developed two nasty cysts in January in my left breast.  I had them both drained, but the doctor said that I would probably be back soon for another draining when they refilled.  I prayed I would never have to go back and do that again!  Almost a week later, I experienced horrible pains in my armpit and tenderness in the breast area, along with a couple of little cysts reforming.  I chose to ignore it, hoping it would go away.  When I started in with Habit Formers in late February, I noticed that after a few days, the pain and lumps were gone!  I can only attribute this to the PBS and arm pumping getting the lymph moving, along with the CRT brushing.  I hardly experience any pain now, but when I do, I brush and do PBS.  I am confident that I can control the cyst formations.  This alone makes me glad for T-Tapp- forget about the inches lost- I do not want to go under that needle again!

I have developed a new appreciation for T-Tapp as a result of this contest.  I have read threads about how it is good for women and their changing bodies, but I never really understood that until now as I am approaching 30.  I have learned that T-Tapp is not as hard is it seemed to be to incorporate into my busy life, with the main lesson being consistency.  Tempo is a short little workout- it does not seem like much to do three times a week, but it really makes a difference when you do it consistently.  I have learned that the benefits of T-Tapp build on themselves and when your body knows that it will get the exercise, the inches start to come off!  I have also added in walking an hour after work almost daily.  Tapping has shown me that exercise can be a priority in my life and the hour that I did not think I had to walk for relaxation and lymphatic drainage is there- I just had to make it a priority in my life.

In closing, even though it has only been 4 months, I know my body is ready to start losing the inches.  Losing almost 6 inches in this time is really motivating and I look better all over.  My skin looks better, the circles under my eyes are disappearing and my face is losing the fatty look it had over the winter!  I feel like I have gotten my life back, and my body is returning to my early-20’s form.  I am getting married in late October, and I am excited to see how much I will need to get my dress altered!  This contest has shown me that I CAN fit in three workouts a week and still lose.  I have eased up on my obsessive “all or nothing” attitude in regards to exercise, and I’ve learned to enjoy Tapping again. 

Thank you for all that you do!