Shawn’s First Mile: A Personal Journey

For Shawn Zabel, it’s time to get serious about a change.  She was recently diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and has a goal of losing 300 pounds to save her own life.

Zabel, now weighing 445 pounds, has joined local gym Fit By Faith and has decided to make her weight loss journey a public one to inspire others and, at the same time, create a bit of accountability for herself.

With Krista Johnson as her personal trainer and friends such as Rhonda and Kay from the Silver Sneakers exercise class, she has the support and encouragement necessary for success.

Zabel stated that she has always been overweight, but recently her family has really “been on her” about losing weight.  Now she says, “I’m doing it for me.”  She has been attending Monday, Tuesday and Thursday classes of “Silver Sneakers” which concentrates on range of motion and mobility.  She has already lost 10 pounds in the last week.

Brownwood News was able to visit with Zabel on Thursday morning while she was exercising at the Brownwood High School practice track.  Upon meeting her and Johnson, Brownwood News was told that Zabel was challenged to walk a mile; we could talk while she walked.  Zabel stated, “This will be the first mile I have ever walked.”

Zabel said she moved from Goldsmith to Brownwood when she was 7 years-old.  She enjoys things such as movies, computers, research on the Internet and reading.  She stated with a smile that she was excited about the weight loss and hopes to be “fabulous by her 30^th birthday,” which is December 28th.

While walking and battling some physical challenges such as a back ache and hurting knees that have been through about five surgeries each, Zabel kept a positive spirit and would not give up.  She took each lap, one by one, smiling and at times shedding a couple of tears.

Johnson in the meanwhile was working with two girls that were training for Tai Bo camp.  Johnson asked Zabel to be the girls’ encouragement, “When they want to give up, I am going to tell them to look to you for encouragement, to not give up.”

Accomplishing her goal of this weight loss is really important to her.

“I don’t want anyone to go through what I have gone through,” said Zabel.  “Maybe this will save lives while I am saving my own”.

Johnson stated, “This is not about what we are doing (exercise), it’s spiritual…breaking the flesh is hard.”  This spiritual change is what leads to a lifestyle of change according to Johnson.

As Zabel completed the last lap, it was considered her “victory lap”.  This is the first of many goals she plans to achieve.  When asked how she felt about meeting the challenge of walking that mile, Zabel stated “I feel great!  I knew I could do it, never quit, just rest here and there.”

Adam Tipton, a Brownwood High School athlete that also met Zabel offered her a little encouragement about pushing herself and focusing on the goal, “Know you are almost finished and just keep going.”

Her next big goal is participating in the 2010 Brownwood Reunion 5K.  Zabel has started a blog which can be found at is invited to follow her progress and the count down to the 5K.