Winner: Health Improvement Category
Laura H.
My T-Tapp “journey” actually began over three years ago when I first read about T-Tapp in Woman’s World Magazine. At the time, I was recovering from a rear-end accident in which I had suffered a whiplash and back injury. Although initially attracted to the exercises because I needed to lose weight (since I had not been able to exercise in the three months since the accident), I searched for T-Tapp’s web site to learn more about its benefits. I was very pleased to learn that there were exercises specifically aimed at helping with back conditions as well as tapes that included the exercises from the magazine article.
Well, I dove right in! I used the “try before you buy” exercises on the web site, the back exercises that were illustrated, and the exercises highlighted in Woman’s World. Within a week, I knew I’d hit on an exercise program that would change my life. I even spoke to the other driver’s insurance agent about the program and got her to agree to reimburse me for the T-Tapp Instructionals and Beginner-Rehab tape. T-Tapp Twist ended up being the exercise that helped my spine recover from the accident. Within three weeks’ time, my back felt nearly like new – just when I thought I’d be disabled for life! An added bonus was that I lost 25 pounds and countless inches (don’t know how many because I’d started the program for health reasons and didn’t measure) within five months and felt better than I had in a long, long time.
Now, where does that fit into my recent two-month journey to better health? Let’s fast-forward to nearly a year later. By that time, I’d attended three clinics and a retreat in Bodega Bay with Lani. One month prior to the retreat, I began to feel very anemic and tired, and I was experiencing unexplained bleeding. I had great difficulty getting through the sessions at the retreat, but Lani was very understanding and let me take extra breaks. As I was bounced back and forth between my medical doctor and my gynecologist, with each proclaiming my health problem to be in the other’s realm of expertise, I began to T-Tapp less and less. I could no longer get through even one set of an exercise without sitting down to catch my breath. My health continued to deteriorate in other ways, and I even developed numbness in my hands and feet. I gained back the 25 pounds and “the countless inches” after one-and-a-half years of my illness. To be truthful, I thought I was dying.
Finally, late last March, I put the pieces together and looked up gluten-intolerance on the Internet. One of my symptoms drew me there, but as I read the list of other common symptoms, my jaw dropped. Nearly all of the symptoms were ones I had lived with since I was a child, and doctors had never been able to explain them. Within two weeks of following a gluten-free diet, the unexplained bleeding (which had lasted for more than 18 months) stopped, and many of the other symptoms cleared up, as well. My reading on this condition helped me to understand that my small intestine could not absorb vitamins, minerals, or hormones properly; for that reason, I had developed severe iron anemia, vitamin deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances throughout my body. However, I also learned that it would take between six and twelve months for my body to recover and be able to absorb everything properly again.
So…to make this long story short (uh oh – too late for that!), on March 27, 2004, I began to add T-Tapp back into my life little by little as my health began to improve. At first, Tapping helped with my strength, but I failed to lose weight or inches because I felt deprived of my favorite foods, such as pasta and bread, and ate comfort foods that, while not containing gluten, contained too many calories. I’m talking about cheddar cheese – and lots of it! When the T-Tapp contest was announced, I decided that the accountability that came with it might be the answer to my unsatisfactory existence. I threw myself into T-Tapping for a minimum of three times a week using Maxi-Max 1 because I liked the sequence of exercises, the tempo, and the strong workout for the abs. Some days, I could only do the first half or the second half, but I continued with the program for the entire two-month time.
In addition to working out to Maxi-Max 1, I also walked 2-5 miles daily while incorporating SATI principles. Not surprisingly, when I measured this evening, my largest inch losses occurred in my lower thighs and upper back (bust measurement), since these are primary target areas for SATI – with those lats pulled back, KLT, and pelvis tucked. Each week, I felt less tired and more energized – especially as I noticed my body changing the way it had previously with T-Tapp. It wasn’t just a fluke the first time it happened! Both times, T-Tapp came through for me when my health was poor and brought me back from what I refer to as a “disabled” state of mind. At both times in my life, I felt as though my situation was hopeless and that doctors could no longer help me. T-Tapp has shown me that I must live my life healthfully if I’m to reap the rewards of good health.
Although I consider myself a work in progress, I know that if I continue to T-Tapp, take my gluten-free liquid vitamins and iron, and allow my body to return to a state of balanced hormones, my health will continue to improve. I have a much brighter outlook on life now, and I feel that I am back in control of my body. That body is now 13 pounds lighter and has lost over 13 inches in the past two months. As a true believer of T-Tapping and the good it does for a body, I have no doubt that no matter how long I live, I will remember the moments that T-Tapp has helped make possible. T-Tapp has handed me back my life…in fact, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: “I’m a Tapper for life!”
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LOSSES:
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Bust:
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-2
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Waist:
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-1 1/4
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Abdomen:
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-1/2
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Hips:
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-1
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Right
Upper Thigh:
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-1
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Right
Lower Thigh:
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-2 3/4
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Left
Upper Thigh:
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-1/4
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Left
Lower Thigh:
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-2 1/2
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Right
Calf:
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-1/2
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Left
Calf:
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-1/2
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Right
Arm:
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-3/4
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Left
Arm:
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-3/4
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TOTAL
INCH LOSS
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-13 3/4
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