Team Effort

When Sandi Budny attended her nephew’s baptism in September 2005, she was in the second decade of a debilitating food addiction. During the ceremony, the then 35-year-old found herself mourning the father she had lost to alcoholism and diabetes. If only he had taken care of himself, she thought angrily, he’d be here for his grandson. The broker from Omaha, Nebraska, then went home, stood before her mirror, and saw a 330-pound hypocrite staring back.

That very month, Budny met with Nathan Harsh, a trainer at the Tara Plaza 24 Hour Fitness in Papillion, Nebraska.

Supersized
Budny had been a 24 Hour Fitness member for 8 years before calling Harsh, yet she’d actually entered the gym only a handful of times. There were always too many men walking in and out—men whom she feared would react, if only inwardly, to how far she’d let herself go. And while she knew she had, it was still painful.

In high school, Budny didn’t date —she ate. A self-described “fast-food junkie,” she supersized three times a day, often ordering two sodas so it looked like she was buying for two. Feeling too exposed at the counter, she’d hit the drive-thru. Again and again. The pattern stuck, and the pounds piled on.

“I knew when I walked into 24 that day, it was time to go big or go home,” says Budny. “I decided to get a trainer because I needed to be accountable to someone else. I’d yet to learn how to be accountable to myself.”

The Power of Two
Harsh and Budny started slow with a combination of basic exercises, stretching, a simplified endurance-type workout, and 20-minute cardio stints. Anyone the least bit fit could easily do the exercises she struggled with, but Harsh never judged her, says Budny. Instead, he explained each exercise—what muscles it targeted and why it mattered.

Harsh also put Budny on a 2,000-calorie-a-day eating plan, requiring her to document everything she ate. And that, she says, was a huge piece of the puzzle: “I decided I wasn’t going to lie—to Nathan or to myself.”

It was hard, she says, but Budny is nothing if not determined. For instance, she knew Harsh had backup exercises in case she couldn’t hack the harder ones, but she didn’t want to settle for less than her best effort. “Whatever we do, she pushes herself,” says Harsh. “She never quits.”

It’s paying off. Budny does 100-pound barbell squats now. She works out 6 days a week, devoting 4 hours to cardio. She runs 45 minutes on the treadmill at an 8:30-per-mile pace with intervals at a 7-minute pace. She plays competitive volleyball. And while her motivation was once to not disappoint Harsh, her new resolve is to not disappoint herself.

By early 2007, Budny had lost 93 pounds and 12 inches each from her waist and hips. Her percentage of body fat had dropped from 43 to 29.7—and she was still losing. Fellow club members were calling her—a woman who once couldn't talk after climbing the stairs—an inspiration.

It didn’t surprise Harsh, but it did Budny, who knows how tough it is to truly change. Her advice: “If you can’t believe in yourself, let someone else believe in you first.”