Yes, Sarah Jenks Holladay won the Biggest Loser here in Rexburg. Here is how it all came about.
One day when she saw herself in a picture, she couldn't believe that that was her. She was so disgusted that she decided to do something about it. She checked out a book from the library, "Body Fat Solutions", by Tom Venuto and read veraciously until the book was done. She set up a plan and started to see results right away, but she needed a support group to pressure her on. When she was running one day at BYUI she noticed a yellow paper on the ground and passed without picking it up. The next time around the paper had blown right into her lane and she would have stepped on it but decided to pick it up and throw it in the garbage. What was on the paper? It was a flyer to join the Biggest Loser contest here in Rexburg. She had found just what she needed. Before she even joined she lost 10 pounds. She tried so hard to keep committed but needed to have people to report to every week. When she weighed in on the first day sometime in October she knew that there was no turning back. If she gained weight during the week she had to pay a dollar a pound, no way! If she lost weight she got a raffle ticket per pound lost. The raffle ticket went for some prize that was given out every week. To say the least it was hard. She was educated each week about how much protein to eat, how much fiber, what to stay away from, etc. Her weight loss actually slowed down dramatically for awhile because she was eating too few calories at the advice of her personal trainer. Finally when she figured that out she started to lose weight again.
Well, the day of reckoning came on December 15. She was so nervous she couldn't hardly think straight. She new that she had worked hard, but anyone could win. The personal trainer decided to start at the third place winner which made things more suspenseful. When she got to the first place winner Sarah was sure she was going to pass out, thank goodness she was sitting down. And the winner is ....................... Sarah Holladay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She had done it! She had won! She not only won $446 in cash, but she won so much more. She won the confidence to set a goal and achieve it. She won the beauty that comes from taking care of the body that God had so graciously given her. She won the self control to turn to the Lord, not food when she was sad, or depressed or happy. She won the gift of self esteem. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said "You must do that which you think you cannot do."
It was President's Day and Josh had a day off from school, so he slept in. The children and I were doing our routine morning thing when I realized that Elisha was missing and quiet. I don't know if you have a child like this, but missing and quiet to me is a warning signal that something terrible could be happening. Something such as writing on the wall, stuffing the toilet with toilet paper, washing the dishes and the floor and everything including himself, etc. So I started to run around the house looking for what could be disaster. I came to my room and all I saw was Josh asleep holding a balloon. I was about to go and ask the boys how dad got a balloon when I spotted a little head cuddled under the covers right next to dad looking up at the balloon. Elisha spotted me and said as he shrugged his shoulders "Daddy not wake up." This pictures show Camden and Elisha, I couldn't get the camera fast enough to get Elisha next to Dad.
