With my wife, Patty, I teach Crush Kick® cardio-kickboxing. Isabel Garcia-Bedoya began the training two years ago. She has been to more workouts than anyone in our classes, and has made a sensational physical transformation. Isabel is married, has no children, works full-time, and also runs her own small business. She says she had always struggled with being overweight. Today, I asked her to share some of her history and what motivates her success. That interview follows. --Logan Franklin

Isabel Garcia-Bedoya today

Logan: Isabel, I remember when you first came to class, a little over two years ago. As I recall, your husband plays soccer and came with you, I think to strengthen an injured knee. Do you happen to remember the date?

Isabel: Yes, it was mid-May of 2001. I had my birthday pictures developed and was again mortified by how large I had become.

Logan: Were you dieting or exercising before you came to our class?

Isabel: Well, I had actually started watching what I ate at the beginning of 2000, since I was trying to lose some weight for my wedding. Over the years, my weight had fluctuated between 160 and had gotten up to 205, which was my heaviest. Anyway, for my wedding in September of 2000, I had gotten down to 160. I was watching what I was eating and using a cross-trainer machine about three times a week. However, I was still eating pretty large portions and having a full dinner right after workouts!

Logan: People will want to know how much you weighed when you started consistent workouts? And how much do you weigh now?

Isabel: When I looked at my birthday pictures taken in May 2001, I weighed in at 172 and wore a size 14-16. That's when I decided to take some action and make some changes in my life. I now weigh 122 and wear a size 2-4.

Logan: That's a loss of 50 pounds. And if you went all the way back to your heaviest weight, 205, it's a total loss of 83 pounds.

How tall are you?

Isabel: I am 5' 4".

Logan: On average, how many days a week do you exercise?

Isabel: I work out about 5 times a week, for about an hour each time. Once a week on Mondays, I do back-to-back workouts, so I actually put in about 1 hour and 45 minutes on that day.

Logan: Besides the kickboxing workouts, what other exercise do you get?

Isabel: I do a cardio blast class, step class, and on Fridays I do the cross-trainer machine.

Logan: Naturally our kickboxing class is your favorite, right? Just kidding. You don't have to answer that. We think mixing it up, cross-training, is a good idea. When you began, did you set any specific fitness goals? If so, what were they?

Isabel: I actually do love kickboxing. It makes me feel powerful and strong, and it helps me channel my thoughts and challenges. When I began at 172 pounds, I actually only wanted to go back to 160, which was what I weighed on my wedding day. I also knew that this time around I wanted to keep the weight off for life, and in order to do that I needed to make some realistic changes in my lifestyle.

Once I got down to 160, I thought to myself: If could lose 12 pounds, why not another five? Little by little, as the weight began to come off, I would set new goals. I actually never thought I would be where I am now. When I was at 172, I never thought that I could be 122. I guess at the time it was not a realistic goal, and I knew that I needed to make things real in order to keep it up and not give up easily.

Logan: But as it turned out, it was a realistic goal. You just broke it down into small segments, so it didn't seem overwhelming. That's a smart approach, and highly recommended. Are you pleased with your present level of fitness? Do you have other goals?

Isabel: I am very pleased with my current weight. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I almost have to do a double-take and reassure myself that I am looking at my own reflection.

My current goal is to continue to tone my muscles, particularly my arms and tummy. I also continue to work on keeping the weight off. Something I learned from this experience is that anybody can lose weight, but keeping it off is the real everyday challenge. So it is important to take it one day at a time.

Logan: I know you have an active, busy life. My impression is that you are a well organized person. All the time, I hear people saying, "I wish I had the time to exercise." You made the time. How did you do it?

Isabel: I am organized and I rely a lot on scheduling ahead of time, and my husband can tell you that I don't go anywhere without my day planner. What I began to do was schedule in workout times on my day planner, so that every time I looked at it I would be reminded that I would be working out at 6:00 p.m.. Having it in my day planner allowed me to recognize workout time as an event I was already committed to, and therefore avoid doing something else. The other thing that made the difference in getting to workouts was the support of my husband. He would work out with me, and it made us both feel supported and joined by a common goal. So instead of looking at the workouts as time away from one another, we saw it as together time.

Logan: Patty and I always tell beginners to ease into kickboxing workouts. However, after they've gotten used to the program, we urge them to challenge themselves, to kick and punch and move with greater energy and intensity. Of course, no one can give 100 percent at every workout. There's an energy ebb and flow in all of us. Yet you come as close as anyone I've seen in making a full effort at nearly every workout. How do you manage to keep such high intensity night-after-night?

Isabel: I keep my goal in mind, which is to keep off the weight. I am aware that my body has gotten used to these workouts, and in order for me to keep off the weight, I need to continue to make it as intense as possible.

Kickboxing has made a great difference in my life, and I use it to help me work through any challenges I may be facing in my personal life. We all have issues to deal with in our daily lives, so what I do with them is use them as my focus/target during kickboxing.

Logan: That's great. Sometimes I'll hear Patty say, "When you hit the bag, imagine it's that jerk that cut you off in traffic today!"

You have a small frame but generate some real power in your kicks. I've seen it during the bag drills. Do you think your strength has increased since you've started, even as you were dropping in bodyweight?

Isabel: What a change from those wimpy little kicks I did at the beginning. Thinking back, I probably could not kick any harder because of how heavy I was. I feel that my strength has definitely increased. Sometimes I even surprise myself with how hard I can kick. I have always been known as a "girly" girl who would get hurt easily and could not lift a pound. Now I am proud to say that I feel strong and not afraid of lifting, moving things around, lugging boxes, etc. I think that when I was heavier, I could barely carry my own weight, and therefore had no strength to do anything else, and at times I even found it hard to catch my breath. Kickboxing has helped to strengthen my whole body. It has allowed me to be aware of my breathing and has provided me with the self-confidence in knowing that I can tackle any physical task.

Logan: Let's switch to diet for a minute. We know that regular exercise is necessary for fitness. The other half of the equation, though, is eating; and to take off body fat requires regularly taking in fewer calories. Do you follow any particular eating pattern or diet plan?

Isabel: The first thing I changed after I began working out was to reduce the size of the portions I was eating. I also stopped having huge dinners after workouts. My husband and I no longer eat a regular dinner. Don't get me wrong; we do eat at night, but it is by no accounts a regular dinner. I guess we can call it a very small meal. It basically consists of a source of protein, like grilled chicken or salmon, as well as some fruit -- we love making strawberry smoothies. If we have not had a chance to cook anything, we'll eat some sliced turkey breast or nonfat yogurt and nuts. We basically have cut out all carbs/starches in the evening. We eat things that are low in fat and keep in mind the serving portions. We have made this a lifestyle change.

Now we make lunch our bigger meal, and we do enjoy some rice, pasta or bread at lunch along with protein and vegetables. When we go out to eat with friends or family, we make it a lunch date instead of a dinner date. We never skip breakfast, whether it is cereal and yogurt, or a glass of milk and a cranberry bagel, plain. Our grocery shopping has become more detailed, as we look for items that have less sodium, preservatives and bad fats. We do not bring anything home that may make stray from our eating habits, like ice cream or cookies. We do treat ourselves on the weekends, but make sure not to bring it home. Our bodies are now like clockwork and they let us know when we are hungry. We try to listen to the signs our bodies are sending us, so as not to eat when we are bored or frustrated.

Logan: Do you take supplements or any kind, vitamins, protein shakes, things like that?

Isabel: I actually don't take any supplements, but I do try to eat more vegetables and fruits. I used to never eat fruits and vegetables. Now I know I need them ( although I only eat the ones I like). I know that without them I would have no fuel in me to keep going.

Logan: Do you do any weight training?

Isabel: I do some. I have added light weights to my kickboxing workout, and I do free weights with my other work outs. I know that now with the need I have for toning, I should be increasing the weight training.

Logan: A combination of cardio and weight training is the ideal formula.

In 2000, Patty entered the Body-for-Life Transformation Challenge, which required fundamental dietary changes and establishing regular workout routines. The result was a dramatic change in her appearance. Many friends and family encouraged her along the way -- but not everyone. Occasionally, she'd hear little cutting remarks. I told her that overeating and sedentary lifestyles have become so ingrained, that when someone steps outside the norm some people get annoyed. Or maybe it's just plain envy. The Irish have a word for it: "Begrudgery."

Have the fitness lifestyle and physical changes affected any relationships, either positively or negatively. If that gets too personal, maybe you can answer in generalities.

Isabel: Because I now have a better self image and I am more confident with myself, I feel that this change in my life has affected my marriage positively. It gave my husband and me a common interest and goal. It gave us something to focus on and work on together. I know my husband loves me no matter what size I am, but I feel that when he's holding my hand or has his arms around me, particularly in public, he is saying, "I am proud of my wife for what she has become and she looks good."

I feel more confident at work, particularly at meetings or when I have to do presentations, and when I walk down the street I no longer look down. I do have to admit that a couple of people I know can't wait for me to slip up and put some weight back on. These people started with me on a road to fitness, but along the way they dropped the ball and stopped their efforts. I think it's hard for them to see me and think that they, too, could have gotten to where they wanted to get. I keep encouraging them to try again, but I know all too well that the desire to change has to come from within.

In the last year, I have been seeing more and more of my high school and college classmates. Some of the women are happy for me and want to know how I did it, but most of them start out by asking: "What happened to you? You must have been really sick. What illness did you catch?" Others have even gone as far as asking when and where I had the liposuction done, and could I give them the number of my surgeon. It used to upset me that these people could not think that the results were achieved by my hard work and perseverance, but I realize that in the end it should only matter to me. I am happy with the outcome and the people who love me and are my true friends are happy for me, because they now know that my health is better and that my fitness will allow me to be on this earth for a long time.

Logan: Isabel, thank you for your honest answers. Any final thoughts or advice to people who are making changes to improve their fitness and how to stay on track?

Isabel: Do not give up, nothing comes easy. Set small goals, and as you reach them pat yourself in the back, and think of your next goal. If you are going to make a change in your life and get fit, do it for you and for no one else; in the end only you know what you want to look like and what your body can do.

Keep a pair of your old pants in your closet and put them on once in a while, as it will help you remember where you were before getting fit, and will keep you motivated not to give up and go back to old habits. Never take your success for granted, and know that it takes some work each day in order to maintain what you have earned. Somebody once said: "If you always do what you have always done, you will always have what you have today." So depending on where you are on your fitness goal, you can continue to do what's worked in order to maintain or increase/change what you are doing to contnue to shed the pounds and be fit.

Logan: Thanks again, Isabel. See you at Crush Kick®.