Kela: "The Skinny Fat Who Chooses Death" becomes "The Fit, Fabulous Female Who Chooses Life"
Like Michael, Kela appears to be a woman so many other women would choose to emulate. She's tall, skinny, and carries herself with grace and elegance. What's not to like? However, her body composition told the whole story. She may be skinny (5'11" and 134 lbs.) but her body fat was 27%. She was skinny but she had lost muscle from years of under eating and lack of exercise. So, relatively speaking, she had too much fat for her body. I would have expected her fat to be closer to 20%. 27% is too high. She needs to shed fat and build muscle for a strong, tight and fit body. But wait. Kela was once a soldier in the Army. She was more muscular then but dropped the muscles over time for fear that men may not consider her attractive unless she was skinny and less muscular. Also, Kela had made a choice not to pursue a healthier body. For that matter, she was feeling very hopeless.
In March 2007, Kela turned 31 and was faced with her own choice to live or to die. What was this about? After that building challenge, as we all stood on the helipad recounting what had just happened, Kela shared a tremendously painful story. When she was only 5 years old, her mother was brutally murdered in front of her. Her mom was only 31 years old when she died. Like so many survivors of tragedies like this one, Kela didn't feel it right to outlive her mom's age at death. But, after much mental conflict, on the evening of her 31
st birthday, Kela made the decision to choose to live. The only problem was how to do that when she's been living in a more defeated way for so many years.
The first shoot for the show was indeed an eye opening experience for Kela. She now saw what she would have to do to become mentally and physically Fit to Live. She had her work cut out for her. She would have to redo her body composition and, in doing so, pick up the mental strength to go on with her life. The emotional turmoil was Kela's greatest hurdle. However, she began to realize what she'd have to do to live the life of a woman who embraced a long life of health and wellness. Kela showed up to every workout session and took the
Fit to Live challenge so seriously that she took it upon herself to become the human alarm clock, calling all of the others to make sure they were up and at'em.
Throughout the challenge, her greatest hurdles were the mental demons of an estranged relationship with her father, and the need to want to connect with others. Feelings of hopelessness would surface every now and again, and the
Fit to Live team was always there to support her journey. Well, you'll be blown away by what happens with Kela's performance that last day when she had to relive her challenge. Keep up with her incredible journey as she blogs about her choice to live and embrace life to the fullest.
