After graduation, marriage, having children and careers, Kendra and Jayson Thornton of Kirkwood Missouri got out of the habit of regular physical activity, and it showed up every time they stepped on the scales. The busy parents tried losing weight individually, but it didn’t last – sabotaged by inactivity, tempting food and lots of it.
Kendra Thornton loves the Steve Harvey Show and last fall, she decided to look at his website. She clicked through to the “Be A Guest” link, and read through a series a questions She selected the one about having an interest in couples’ weight loss.
“That sounded interesting so I went ahead and applied for it. I didn’t tell him I was applying for it,” she laughs. After all, what were the chances they would be selected?
She told her husband after the fact, although neither thought the show would call them.
“I’m glad I did do that, because the next morning, the Steve Harvey Show called,” she said.
They were signed up to lose weight by participating in The 22-Day Revolution, a book by trainer Marco Borges. It includes a forward by Beyoncé, who stated the plant-based eating plan helped her get into the best shape of her life. Now, so are the Thorntons. It took commitment to exercise, eating prepared organic, non-GMO, gluten free, soy free and dairy free vegan meals shipped to them for reheating, drinking water only (no juices, dairy, sodas, etc.) and no snacking.
“You eat your three meals or your protein shake,” she said. “A lot of Americans skip breakfast because we are just, go-go-go, and [Borges] was like, ‘don’t skip breakfast just start off with a protein shake.”
Kendra videotaped her first meal. It was an eye-opener.
“When I first opened the meal, it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so itty-bitty,’ because it’s the correct portion you are supposed to be eating,” she said, admitting she had been eating three-times that amount.
“The first meal was really, really small and I didn’t think that I would be able to survive the whole 22 days,” Jayson Thornton said. “but then after you get focused, you get a bit competitive and it becomes addictive to be able to step on the scale and see I lost another pound.”
“So you drink water too, while you are eating your meal, so the water actually helps fill you up too,” Kendra said. “I was completely full after the meals. It took a little bit of training – like the first week, I felt like I was going to die, but after I shrank my stomach, there were times when we didn’t even finish the meal because we were so full.”
They received a copy of the book, and checked in with the show checked on their progress each week. Borges checked on them as well and made a surprise visit. Let’s just say that visit was not what they were expecting.
“I thought he was just going to show up and he told us to throw on some workout clothes,” Jayson said. “He put us to work.” He can laugh about it now.
“That was rough,” Kendra said.
“He had us doing like push-ups, and running back and forth on the basketball court…” he co-signed. “Making us touch the line, doing Jumping-Jacks, jump-ups,”
“Sit-ups,” Kendra reminded.
“Push-ups and sit-ups” he added.
Lunges,” she added.
“I thought he was going to show up and maybe give Kendra some recipes or something,” Jayson said, “I had no idea we were going to get a personal training session.”
When working out on their own, what kept them on track was they were able to be supportive of one another while bringing out each other’s competitive side.
“She would be in the gym and would text message me how much weight she lost, then I would have to make sure I got into the gym,” Jayson said. “Knowing that we were going to be on TV, we stayed focused and when we are able to do stuff together, it is easier.
Kendra also received lots of support from Provident, where she is a CPR instructor. They sent email blasts to staff about her weight loss progress and gave her “shout outs” at staff development meetings.
“President Steve Sullivan would send me personal emails checking in with me about my weight loss,” she said. “My supervisor even would go on walks with me during our lunch breaks.”
The Thornton’s weight challenge began in October, and at the televised weigh-in, Kendra and Jayson together lost 78.6 pounds and 15.5 percent of their body weight. They won $10,000 as the top competing couple.
“A blessing,” she said.
Since then, the couple has stayed within a few pounds of their winning weight. While Kendra used to cook a lot more than she needed to feed one set of parents and two small children, the process taught them how much to eat and introduced the family to eating a variety of healthy selections.
“My children have tasted almost every vegetable out there,” she said. “I’m not feeding big portions – that was the big thing. I used to cook like I had a family of 20 … I would cook for a feast and we don’t need it.”
A mindset change precipitates weight loss
“There’s no miracle pill,” Kendra said.
“That’s right,” he added.
Even with the training, the meals provided to them – they still had to put in the work.
“You really have to dig deep within yourself; losing weight is not easy for anybody,” Kendra said. “You still have to get out there in the gym; you still have to get out there and work out; and it’s more a mental thing than it is a physical thing.”
