CKO Kickboxing helps members of all fitness levels reach their health and weight-loss goals, and we are glad to help them in their journeys!

I’ve been struggling with my weight since I had my 1st son 10 years ago. Now that I had my final baby, I want to get back to the old me. I'm just so tired of using the "I'm big cause of my kids" excuse.

My breaking point was just feeling so unhealthy and being so unhappy. I couldn’t fit into any of my clothes. Everything was fitting so tight. There were times when I would look at the mirror and just cry. I hated myself. I couldn’t believe that I let myself go. Going to the stores and trying on clothes was the worst.

Michele was never what you would call “thin.” In fact, no one in her Italian family could be described that way. Michele jokes that if you see any skinny people in her family, they were married in. For many years, she never thought she was any different than anyone else – she had a great family, a loving fiancé, and a seemingly normal life. But Michele began to strugge to walk up the three flights of stairs to her apartment -- her only form of exercise -- and as her weight ballooned, it was a challenge to even walk down the block.

Name any diet or supplement, and Nicole Fingerhut has tried it. From Deal-A-Meal to Atkins, Weight Watchers to South Beach, Metabolife to Trimspa, Nicole has tried it all! But no matter what she did, the weight would come back on – and then some.

“We are Italian, and we love pasta and anything fried in olive oil!” Nicole says of her family. She had never learned about healthy food habits, and even after going on Weight Watchers, she was using foods like butter, bagels, dressing and soda to fill up her Points allotment for the day. Nicole endured panic attacks, sleep apnea, and trouble breathing.

Many people have busy schedules, juggle work and family, and end up taking care of others before they take care of themselves. But few have had such a hectic and stressful year as Carmen Alicia Merced, member at CKO Bayonne.

Not only does Carmen have a demanding job and family responsibilities, she also was the primary caretaker for her sick mother for much of last year, driving hours a day to bathe and feed her. When her mother passed away in February 2008, Carmen thought things couldn’t get worse – until she lost her grandmother in June, cousin’s wife in August, brother-in-law in September, and cousin just this past November.

Today my life changed forever.

I've struggled with my weight all my life and today, for the first time ever, I'm a size 6. While that might not be remarkable to many, to me, it's the world and better than winning the lottery. So thank you for pushing me...especially Jessie for her pushing and bootcamp tactics. I'm a changed person and can't wait to continue to set and achieve new goals with you.

Forever grateful....

Christine Burns

 further. “The service has a maximum weight requirement of 210. When I went in to speak with the recruiters, they told me they had the drive to get in – I just had to lose the weight.” Joe gave himself a goal of May 2009 to lose the weight and pass all the necessary physical tests to join the Army.

Joe began following a diet the military recruiters gave him and starting walking more. Within a few months, he was 30 lbs lighter. Soon, he discovered CKO Bayonne and joined the 10-week program, which includes a nutrition program similar to the military’s dietary recommendations. “The hard part was the beginning – I used to hate vegetables, but now salads and chicken are my best friends.”

What’s more, he started to see gains in his stamina in just a week. “I couldn’t even do one sit up in my first class – now, a week later, I just did one!” He already has more energy and is sleeping better, and he is making other changes in his life. Instead of driving, he now walks everywhere. He does push ups every morning to get energized for the day. He drinks water instead of soda. “I literally feel my body getting better. I realize if I can train myself to eat properly and train here at CKO, I can do anything.”

Joe is on his way to reaching his weight loss and endurance goals, and has become one of Bayonne’s most die-hard members. “You’re constantly moving in class – there’s boxing, muy thai, hardcore calisthenics, even yoga! If you can do all that in one class, why do anything else?”

MICHELE WHITING

Weight lost at CKO: 11 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 244 lbs

Michele Whiting was never what you would call “thin.” In fact, no one in her Italian family could be described that way. Michele jokes that if you see any skinny people in her family, they were married in. For many years, she never thought she was any different than anyone else – she had a great family, a loving fiancé, and a seemingly normal life. But Michele began to suspect she was missing out on a lot of things in the world had to offer. Struggling to walk up the three flights of stairs to her apartment was her only form of exercise, and as her weight ballooned, it was a challenge to even walk down the block.

When Michele’s weight reached its peak of 396 lbs, she started to fear she would be one of those people who became a prisoner in their own homes. “The final straw was that fear of not having any kind of normal life anymore: Being able to take the subway; going to Marshall’s and buy a shirt off the rack. I could only shop at one store. At that weight, you’re not really comfortable anywhere. Chairs are too small, flying is uncomfortable, and I became aware of how not ‘normal’ it was.”

By the time Michele had her wake-up call, she had already tried all the diets out there – you name it, she had done it. She’d had some modest success – 5, 10, even 20 lbs here and there – but nothing to sustain her through the 200+ pounds she wanted to lose! Michele began investigating gastric bypass surgery, and, after much research and soul searching, decided it would be the best option for her. “A lot of people who don’t understand what it’s like to be morbidly obese often say that [I shouldn’t have gotten the surgery]. If I had just stopped eating I would have been literally starving all the time. My stomach was stretched to the size of a football and it took a lot of food to fill it up. Even if I ate healthy, I had to eat A LOT to fill me up. It was next to impossible to lose it the old fashioned way.” Michele points out that her body chemistry was different at 400 pounds, and because of that, she felt the surgery was her best option. She underwent the procedure in January 2007.

Gastric bypass was no quick fix. Though she had met with a nutritionist and psychiatrist often before the surgery to prepare for the changes, Michele admits the recovery was difficult. “Within the first week I thought I made the worst decision of my life, but slowly but surely the weight started coming off.”

Michele worked hard to stick to the stringent diet laid out by her doctor and nutritionist, but she knew she had to incorporate exercise into her life as well. She had never felt comfortable going to a gym at her size, but she decided to try water aerobics at the local YMCA to get her body moving. As she got stronger and the weight continued to drop, she felt comfortable enough to join a cardio kickboxing class offered at the gym at her work. Michele was hooked. But when she was laid off, she needed a new workout option – and that’s when she discovered CKO Brooklyn.

The heavy bags and intense strength and cardio drills of CKO were tougher than Michele was used to. “When I started class, I was like, these people are whacked out!” But she realized she didn’t have to do it all at once; she told herself if she did ten sit-ups, that was ten more than she did yesterday! At the 6 week mark at CKO, she had lost another 11 pounds and was coming to class 5 times a week. She often stays afterward to lift weights, too!

Michele loves her new active lifestyle, doing everything from walking home to going rock climbing on vacation. “I have done things I never thought I would be able to do. I didn’t understand how good you could feel! I leave CKO and walk home 15 blocks – I have a friend who offers to give me a ride and I always say no because I want to walk. I feel so alive! I used to be exhausted, but now Saturday mornings I can’t wait to get out of bed to come to CKO at 930!” Michele said joining CKO has been the best decision in her life.

Her journey has changed her so much she is considering getting a masters in nutrition – or even opening her own CKO Kickboxing franchise! She wants to help others with their health as much as the CKO Brooklyn staff and others along the way have helped her. She gives advice to anyone looking to get healthier:

“Say, ‘I don’t care how much it hurts me, I am going to drag myself out of bed for this one hour’ and just DO IT. That strength inside you…you have to figure out how to tap into it. We are all capable of amazing things if you find it inside. You talk yourself out of it and use words like “I can’t. You feel like you are drowning and you feel defeated before you even start, and that’s what messes people up.

I have never been happier, so that leads me to believe I am making all the right decisions. Find your inner strength, find what works for you – make it a part of your life and you won’t remember your life without it.”