Note from Michelle and Mike: From time to time we will be highlighting the stories of members of Team All Ears, a wonderful group of individuals, who have agreed to raise money for Deb Wills’ Avon Breast Cancer Fund by running Disney races in January 2010.
Hi, My name is Amanda McKittrick Gonzales and I am proud to be a member of the All Ears Net running team.
I am running the Half-Marathon in January of 2010 and have aspirations to run the full marathon in 2011 and perhaps the Goofy in 2012!
I am a life-long Disney enthusiast and have been a fan of Deb Wills and follower of AllEars.net for many years. I am also a mother of four young children under 8 years old.
The past nine years have been extremely busy and I, unfortunately allowed my health and caring for myself slip away. This past April, I finally looked in the mirror and did not recognize the person staring back at me. As a former college athlete, I had always been in excellent shape, I was a pixie, but suddenly, my heart sank as I realized I had turned into a heffalump. I stepped on the scale, consulted my doctor and learned that I was 100 pounds overweight. I qualified as morbidly obese.
My children and my family are the most important things in my life, but I realized that I needed to take drastic measures to change my habits so that I could have the best chance of living a long life. I want to be alive to watch my children and, hopefully grandchildren grow.
I decided to register for the Disney Half-Marathon. Disney would motivate me to accomplish this task. What better place to accomplish this dream than in Disney World the place where dreams do come true! I joined weight watchers, consulted my doctors and began changing my nutrition and exercise habits.
I joined Team AllEars to help raise money for Breast Cancer research because several people in my community whom I am friends with are battling this horrific disease. I also lost my father to Cancer and I want to decrease my chances of developing the disease some day.
It has not been easy, but I am proud to say that with the support of my teammates and some hard work, I have lost 25 pounds and am up to 8 miles on my running mileage. I am proud to be a Team AllEars member ad consider it a privilege and and honor to be raising money for Breast Cancer research, changing my health in a positive way and running the half marathon in Disney!
Wow. Congrats to you. I just signed up to do the Wine and Dine 1/2 relay in October. I’m pretty active and work out a lot, but I’m a terrible runner, so I came over here to get some inspiration. I’m a mom of three, a 7-year old and two-year old twins, so I understand how hard it is to get back into shape and how common it is to put your own needs way down on the list.
Good luck to you. Can’t wait to hear how it works out.
yea nice Work 😀
Congratulations on your weight loss! You have worked hard and should be very proud of your accomplishments!