Leaving my comfort zone… one mile at a time.
Leaving my comfort zone ... one mile at a time.
When I woke up this morning - besides giving myself a little high-five for the blog turning 4 - I realized two upcoming races were also going down on the 26th of the month. Yes yes I am a MathNerd and Numbers Dork. I accept it.
So which races are also taking place on the 26th of the month?
Read MoreI'm wicked honored whenever anyone wants to chat with me about my weight loss, fitness or running journeys. Now I figured I should keep the pieces together in one place so I can truly cherish how lucky and blessed I am!! ---
September 21, 2011
Inspiration Of The Week - Just Weighing In And Moving On Blog
December 28, 2011
How I Lost It - TimeOut Chicago
April 3, 2012
Real Life Biggest Losers - FUDiet.com
May 14, 2012
BEE Active - Athlete Interview - Bee Well For Life
May 29, 2012
Biggest Loser Blog - "Losing It On Their Own" - phillyburbs.com
June 1, 2012
Blogger Of The Month (June) - Sparkly Soul Headbands
September 12, 2012
September 17, 2012
Weight Loss Success Story - Half Size Me Podcast
October 3, 2012
CHANGE Spotlight - TrulyJess.com
October 16, 2012
Twitter Can Help You Lose Weight - FOX 25 News
December 20, 2012
Fitfluential Ambassador Spotlight - Fitfluential.com
Fitbie.com - One of the web's best weight loss stories of 2012
February 1, 2013
Featured Fit Friends - DivaOnADiet.com
February 14, 2013
Runner Spotlight - RunToTheFinish.com
March 21, 2013
Blog Post: A Boston Marathon Virgin - Runkeeper.com
March 29, 2013
Featured Blogger Friday - RunStretchRepeat.com
Dani Holmes-Kirk; How She Got Her Start - Fit-Journey.com
April 9, 2013
Marathon Profile: Dani Holmes-Kirk Runs For Stroke Awareness - SomervillePatch.com
April 15-22, 2013 - Boston Marathon Posts
Boston - MrsFatAss.com
Boston Marathon 4-15-13 - BusinessOfLosingWeight.com
Finish Line Heartbreak (For Boston) - FoodFoodBodyBody.com
Red Sox can help Boston cope - FOXSports.com
Phone Interview - Chicago Tribune Live
May 27, 2013
Featured Sneakers #28 - SneakersAndFingerPaints.com
May 29, 2013
I Lost Weight - HuffingtonPost.com
November 20, 2013
{Runners Who Rock} Dani - ThisCrazyLifeOfMine.com
December 16, 2013
I Wanna See You Be Brave - TheValentineRD.com
January 2, 2014
Blogger of the Month (January) - Sparkly Soul Headbands
January 8, 2014
1,150 Miles In 2013 - Runkeeper.com
January 23, 2014
Faces of Assembly Row (Video 5) - Youtube.com
February 22, 2014
Dani Holmes-Kirk Story - DietsInReview.com
March 31, 2014
Why I Run: Dani Lost 64lbs - UniversalSports.com
April 9, 2014
Why I Run: Meet Dani - UniversalSports.com
Meet Team X-1: Dani Holmes-Kirk - X-1.com
April 17, 2014
Boston Marathoner Spotlight...Dani Holmes-Kirk - LittleFancyNancy.blogspot.com
April 25, 2014
Feature Fridays: Dani Holmes-Kirk - OnFireFitnessPT.com
May 27, 2014
Running Toward Her Goals - WeightWatchers.com
June 26, 2014
Guest Post - Running for Fun vs. Time… Can it be both? - CMDot.Blogspot.com
August 3, 2014
[GUEST POST] Top Threeve Things I’ve Learned From My Weight Loss Journey - TheFFKid.com (Fotographing Fat Kid)
August 10, 2014
Runner Spotlights #98 - RoadRunnerGirl.com
September 26, 2014
Health Nut Hero: Dani - HealthNutInTraining.com
October 10, 2014
Blogger Spotlight: Dani "Weight Off My Shoulders" Holmes-Kirk - 300poundsandrunning.com
November 13, 2014 Weight Loss Success Story – Dealing with your “Before” when you hit your “After.” - Comeback Momma
November 24, 2014
Motivational Mondays: Dani of Weight Off My Shoulders - CMCDOT.Blogspot.com
January 16, 2015
9 Bloggers Who Changed Their Lives One Post at a Time - DailyBurn.com
Join me as I embark on the journey with Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 30-day workout plan. I will not be following her meal plan, but will be doing the workouts. Check out how Day 1 went and how the workout is structured! [embedplusvideo height="281" width="450" editlink="http://bit.ly/1akAQRn" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/izzuFCQRmh4?fs=1" vars="ytid=izzuFCQRmh4&width=450&height=281&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep9601" /]
Tattoos - to me - tell a story. Every tattoo I have means something different to me and has its own back story. Now many people say they ended up with their tattoo after a night of drinking with friends or on a dare. That's Not Me! A ton of thought went into each thing I put on my body.
Hello! These things last forever.
Or until you have thousands of dollars to get them removed. :P
I promise there will be a whole different post explaining the meaning behind these 5 tattoos, but today is all about #6.
Since early 2013, I knew I wanted to get another tattoo on my left foot. I needed my tattoos to be symmetric. What can I say? :P
I had a general idea of what I wanted, but told myself I would get it following the Boston Marathon. I knew the tattoo would pay homage to my fitness/weight-loss journey to date.
But what exactly to do was eluding me. I had a few ideas, but not a concrete plan.
With the events of the Boston Marathon, the tattoo idea kind of went by the wayside. But, once the triathlon became my main focus, I knew the tattoo would have to happen soon after that.
A triathlon had never been on my radar so completing that would take my fitness journey to a new level.
The week after the tri (which was August 4) the design came to me. I knew exactly what I wanted on my left foot. I turned to the best designer I know - my wife - to get the idea from my mind to paper.
She didn't disappoint. She showed me what she came up with and it was SPOT ON! :)
Once I had the design, which I kept a secret, I had to find the right tattoo parlor to go to.
I reached out to 3 or 4 shops before I found the one.
Empire Tattoo in Somerville, MA - just a mile or so from my house.
Photo Courtesy Empire Tattoo
I actually found them when they liked a picture of mine on Instagram - thanks Social Media!!
After emailing back and forth, I went in for a consultation with tattoo artists Amanda Abbott on Sunday (August 11) and knew immediately that this was the right studio and artist.
Amanda actually shed over 70 pounds herself recently ... Hello instant connection!!
We showed her the design and she was on board. We made an appointment for just over 48 hours later - Tuesday (August 13) at 3pm.
I was PSYCHED. I would've done it right then and there if she had had time. :P
On Monday (August 12), I made sure to get a nice fresh pedicure. I mean I was really doing it for Amanda. No one should have to endure staring at "runner feet."
Did I convince you all that the pedicure was a necessity? Good!
Before I knew it, it was Tuesday and I was walking through the door of Empire Tattoo. The shop is clean and each tattoo artist has their own little booth (with a door) to work in. I liked not being so out in the open like some tattoo parlors set-up.
I was calm, cool and collected which let me know this was exactly what I should be doing.
Amanda was a true professional and made the whole process painless.
Her booth was really warm and inviting with walls covered in artwork she did herself. There were some truly gorgeous pieces. The tattoo only took about 45-50 minutes to do and we chatted the whole time.
So are you ready to see the finished product?
Now you probably want to know I came up with it?
I used to watch The Biggest Loser religiously back in the day and there was a specific episode where Bob Harper told a contestant to "Stand Up And Finish What You Started." Ohhh boy did that stick with me.
So when I started my weight loss and running journey, I used that statement over and over again. It really became my mantra. I even added it to my GoSportID bracelet as a reminder.
I knew that I needed "Finish What You Started" as the centerpiece of the tattoo.
I owe huge props to a blog reader that actually noticed that the font for it is actually the same as the blog header font. I'm sorry to admit I didn't pick up on that. My wife is one clever lady isn't she? ;)
I think the top of the tattoo is pretty obvious - they represent the half marathons (13.1), triathlon (swim, bike, run) and marathons (26.2) I have conquered ... and will continue to conquer thanks to the changes I have made over the past 4+ years. :)
And finally the date - 4-15-13 - a date that will forever be engrained in my mind. For those that don't know it is the date of this year's Boston Marathon. I was lucky to cross the Finish Line that day just 1 minute before the bombs went off so I was able to Finish What I Started that day. Yet so many of my friends were not.
Oh! And to answer the biggest question - it really didn't hurt. The only spot that really hurt would be the little biker and runner dudes right on the top of my foot. The rest of the tattoo just felt kind of annoying rather than painful. Does that make sense?
There it is. My 6th and probably most meaningful tattoo I have.
And now I am symmetrical - 2 wrists, 2 ankles and 2 feet. ;)
So if you are in the Boston-Somerville-Cambridge area, I cannot recommend Empire Tattoo - and Amanda Abbott in particular - enough if you are looking to get some ink done yourself.
Tell 'em I sent ya!
***
Do you have any tattoos of your own? Does it hold a special place in your heart?
"If I could just get on the Biggest Loser, my life would begin and I would finally lose the weight" - me on numerous occasions while watching The Biggest Loser and eating pizza/french fries. Please tell me I wasn't alone in this vision?
Well, there have now been 14 seasons of The Biggest Loser and hundreds of people who were lucky enough to make the show and have their lives filmed and changed forever.
Ever wonder what it was like to be ON the Biggest Loser Ranch?
Well, I was lucky enough to interview a pair of cousins who had that honor ... Sione and Filipe Fa.
Do you remember them? If you know anything about the Biggest Loser how could you not?
The Fa cousins joined the cast of Season 7 of the Biggest Loser not to "save their lives," but to inspire people - especially members of their Polynesian community. The duo combined to shed 281 pounds.
I wanted to break this interview into a couple parts and for me, the most important was: once the cameras stopped rolling (aka THE AFTER)!
For any of us that have embarked on a weight loss journey, we find that maintenance ends up being a whole beast of its own. After getting rid of the weight, we sometimes think it will be all rainbows and unicorns, but it isn't always that way.
And even past Biggest Loser contestants are susceptible to that.
Within eight months of the Season 7 finale, Sione had gained back 60 lbs and used it as a wake-up call.
"After the show, I think we were coming off that 6-8 hour workout day and trying to go back to normal life. You can't workout 6-8 hours and you can't work out that strict regiment. You have to work and get time with family. It's just not realistic," Sione said. "We were messed up in the head. I remember the first time we got a workout in after coming home it was 1.5 hour long and we felt like we were failures because we didn’t do the right amount."
So how did Sione take charge of his life and take the weight back off? By NOT stressing about being a certain number on the scale or a certain pant size. He took the focus off of a number and he dropped about 80% of the weight again. But this time he the weight loss was slow and steady.
"I'm just gonna take it each day at a time because I know what I need to do today. I reminded myself that I am working towards long-term goal," Sione remarked. "What can I do to get myself there? Stop stressing where I would be in a week or a month ... I can eat right today and get my workout in today ... and wherever I am going to be will be."
Besides inspiring thousands of people by sharing his story, Sione became a trainer at the Biggest Loser Resort in Utah. Instead of keeping the focus on the number of pounds a guest wants to lose, Sione helps them change the focus to the long-term health/fitness goals.
But, what happened to Filipe?
Filipe didn't have his wake-up call after a 60-pound weight gain. His came after he put back 119 of the 135 lbs he lost on the show.
Many wonder how could this happen?
"Maintenance was so difficult, especially maintaining the finale weight," Filipe revealed. "The biggest misconception after the Finale was I got here and now deserve to treat myself, but not just for a meal but for a full week. I think people can relate the thought of getting in a good workout meant that we deserve something good and delicious. That good is not often a healthy choice."
After starting to back out of Biggest Loser alumni events and Finales and hearing how worried his son was that he would die early, Filipe decided it was time to make a change.
And there was Sione and the Biggest Loser Resort waiting to lend him a helping hand. This time he would be on a Biggest Loser Ranch without the cameras and without the pressure to stay another week.
Longtime Biggest Loser sponsor Walgreens heard of the Fa cousins planned and offered yet another avenue of help.
Walgreen’s dedication to helping people “get, stay, and live well” through their Way to Well Commitment program inspired an eight episode web series on NBC.com centered on you guessed it - the Fa cousins.
During the 3.5 months the series covered (which aired in early 2013), Filipe lost 49 lbs and said goodbye to the 300's - which was his goal for the series. From recent pictures it looks as if he is continuing on a path of healthy eating and exercise, while I do not know his exact weight at this moment. But as Sione says, this journey is about more than a number on the scale.
“The biggest difference in Filipe is that he’s got his confidence back,” Sione said. “It’s OK to mess up and admit you’ve fallen off. You don’t have to hide.”
It just goes to show that we can all stumble, we can all fall, we can all gain some of the weight back, but it's what you do when you pick yourself back up that truly defines us.
You can find Filipe and Sione on Twitter constantly motivating the community at large!!
***
Stay tuned for Part 2 where Filipe and Sione share more about life on the Biggest Loser Ranch.
My name is Dani and I am blogging out of the Boston Area. I started this blog in May of 2011 after suffering a back injury and subsequent back surgery in December 2011-January 2011. This space was to serve as a way for me to release the inner feelings I was carrying around and maybe help some other people going through similar situations: eating disorders, depression, weight loss and more.
