The Lighter Side Of Debbie Gillespie

posted by eric on 5th, 2010

LAKE Magazine’s Fit For A Change Winner

Written by Michael Harris, Photos by Anthony Rao

Tears flowed down Debbie Gillespie’s face shortly after she had won LAKE Magazine’s second annual Fit For A Change contest. The tears were not because she had won, but because on the day of the final weigh-in she was happy to see what everyone else was wearing.
“It just amazed me to see what everybody accomplished and see the change in themselves,” Debbie said through the tears. “It’s not what everybody has said to me, but what everybody has accomplished. It thrills me to see them all dressed and looking nice, showing what they’ve done.”
Debbie finished the contest by losing a whopping 13.5 percent of her body fat and even more impressive – dropping 53 pounds.
Diet, training and … more training, from her trainer Matt Cardiello at Infinity Fitness in Fruitland Park, all played a role in helping Debbie lose the weight. But Debbie also says the support she received from family and friends also played a major role.
In fact, one of her biggest supporters came from another contestant – Valerie Pasternak, who finished third by losing 9.2 percent body fat.
“She would come over to this gym and we would work out together,” Debbie says. “It’s the support I got from her. If I was having a hard time, she was there to lift me up. And if she was having a hard time, I would try to be there for her.”
Waning confidence is something Debbie didn’t have a problem with throughout the contest. She says the only time she didn’t have confidence was the day she was selected to take part in Fit For A Change.
“I was initially scared after receiving the phone call to be in it,” she says. “But confidence came over and I knew I was going to succeed. I can never say that there was a little doubt here and there that didn’t creeps in. But I knew that with the lifestyle change that I was going to continue it [the weight-loss].”
There is a time when someone begins to notice they’re losing weight; whether it is when they look in the mirror or they look at their results after a weigh-in or even when the old clothes become a little to much looser.
Debbie was different when she noticed she was losing weight.
“Every time I would feel a bone,” Debbie says. “I was driving down the road one day and I went to scratch my knee and I was like, ‘Hey, I can feel my knee bone.’ It’s been awhile since I felt my bones. Hey, I’m just being honest.”
Honesty and sincerity has been a trademark of Debbie’s throughout the contest and that is why she won, although winning didn’t matter to her.
“I was excited to win, but I would have been just as excited for anyone else,” she said with tears in her eyes.