Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 1 July/August 2015 | Page 46

So we will start from the beginning: My name is Vickie Sims. My transformation began 2 years ago, but my story began 40 years ago. Vickie Sims began her Hitch Fit journey over 2 years ago. This 60 years young mother of 2 and grandmother of 4, chose to LIVE and make positive healthy change during one of the darkest times of her life. Here she shares her REAL and RAW inspiring transformation story. If you all have been following my story, you know I have been through a couple of the Hitch Fit programs. After each program I wrote my testimonial. Every word I wrote was the honest truth. There is just more to my story that I have ever told anyone. Why now? Everything is coming full circle. I want to reach people that are in a dark period in their lives, or who think of themselves as a failure, to let them know there is hope, to inspire each and every one to become the best version of who they can possibly be. Once that happens, everything else will fall into place. When I was younger, I had such a fire within me regarding fitness. I went to exercise classes several times a week and read all of the fitness magazines. I so wanted to be like Cory Everson. I had even thought that maybe someday I could step on stage. Unfortunately, I had married someone who showed his true colors after we were married. A person so filled with jealousy, that there was no way I would ever be able to step on stage in a swimsuit in front of the world. I couldn’t even go to the grocery store without being questioned as to why the clerk looked at me. Before long my self-esteem and confidence were gone, so was my passion for fitness. This led to years of unhappiness and living a very unhealthy lifestyle. I never thought I looked good enough or quite honestly was good enough. However, on the outside, everyone thought I was this happy go lucky person and that I was in the perfect marriage. Finally in 1986, I had the courage to get out of an unhealthy relationship. However, in 1990, I remarried but this relationship was no better and I knew it from the start, but I think at that time, I just wanted someone to love me. He may not have verbally abused me, but what he did was even more damaging. He never said anything, never wanted anything to do with me, and basically stayed away from the house. I lived like this for 5 years. I finally got the courage to get a divorce. I felt like such a failure.