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Voiceover: We're inspired by women who have restarted their lives
using health and fitness.
We hope you are too.
(lively music)
Gwyneth: I'm Gwyneth Paltrow.
Tracy: And I'm Tracy Anderson.
Gwyneth: This is The Restart Project.
(guitar music)
Tracy: Kristi's restart comes in two stages.
The first when she repairs herself
and the second when she repairs her relationship with her children.
Male: Okay what happens if I see really big wave coming at me?
Can't go over it, can't go around it, can't go through it,
I got to go under it.
Kristi: I grew up in a beach family.
Always in a swimsuit but there was a time in my life
when I felt pretty miserable about myself as a person.
I was still at the beach, had my feet in the sand
but it was definitely not the same joyful experience
that I wanted from the beach.
Tracy: In the moment when you hit rock bottom,
can you tell me what that was?
Kristi: Well I decided it was time to leave my husband.
Tracy: Okay, that's a big deal.
Kristi: We literally packed the car and left very abruptly.
Tracy: Wow, in the middle of the night?
Kristi: It was literally an overnight decision
and it was a very quick change for the kids.
(music)
I knew I was unhappy in my marriage
but I saw that my children weren't happy anymore.
It was causing stress in their lives
and I realized at that point that I needed to put an end to it.
(music)
Gwyneth: You made the decision that you were going to leave
in the middle of the night?
What actually happened?
Kristi: It was a very spur of the moment thing.
I literally packed what I could in the car
and realized that I needed to come back for the rest later.
Kids and I got in the car and we left, that was it.
Gwyneth: Very brave, and then what happened
to the things that you left at the house?
Did you go back and get them?
Kristi: Everything else that was in the house went into a storage unit.
Then basically everything that we had put in storage was lost, it was auctioned.
Gwyneth: Oh my gosh, and all of your -
Kristi: Everything was gone.
Baby pictures, pictures of my grandmother who had just recently passed away.
Gwyneth: How did that happen?
Kristi: There was a process where we were making payments
back and forth.
I would make a payment, another payment would be made,
and then not all the payments were made
and so the unit was auctioned.
One of the hardest things, I ever had to do
was to tell my kids that even though we had a place to live
they weren't getting their things back.
First of all, I take you away from your Dad.
Now, all those things that make you feel safe and home are gone.
I don't think it could have gotten any lower
and I felt miserable.
I was 200 pounds and I was not feeling very good about myself.
I realized that it was affecting my children.
I felt I was letting my kids down by not doing things with them.
There was a turning point when I'm miserable walking along the beach
and I'm wondering why am I miserable?
I've gotten out of this bad situation,
I have all of this beauty around me
but I don't feel good about myself.
I realized that was no way to live.
Tracy: This was more than just physically uncomfortable.
Kristi: Right.
Kristi: I felt like I owed it to my children.
Although I was talking about all the things I was doing for them,
I couldn't go do them, with them.
Tracy: You couldn't participate.
Kristi: Exactly.
(music)
Gwyneth: What did you do? What did you change?
Kristi: I decided, I needed to get myself helping.
I wanted to have the energy to do the things I wanted to do with my kids.
I needed to take care of myself to be able to take care of them.
I decided, I'm going to start eating healthier
and was able to lose 65 pounds.
Now, I'm comfortable being able to walk around in a swimsuit
and bring my kids to the beach.
(music)
It's been great!
I get to do things with them that I didn't get to do with them.
Before I just sat as a spectator.
Are you read Frank?
Frank: Yup, I'm ready.
Kristi: You're ready. You're like I've been ready.
Do we ever wait, let's go!
Kristi: My 13 year old recently has been saying how much he wants to surf.
So I'm going to ride the surf board and I'm going to do this.
Male: You guys ready?
Kristi: I'm ready.
Male: All right.
Kristi: I've always wanted to surf with my kids.
(music)
Kristi: It's awesome.
Was that cool? To finally surf with your mom?
Child: Yeah.
(music)
Gwyneth: We do the best we can as mothers
and our priority is always our children
and we always want to do the best for them, by them.
Sometimes we create situations that are uncomfortable for them
or painful for them.
As long as we make that repair then the relationship can heal.
Kristi: I think that I continue to repair it everyday.
Things change and things get better.
I stop when my kids come and give me that big giant hug
and thank me.
I realize that those are the moments I have to remember,
"You know what this is happening because I'm taking the right steps."
We've been through rough times,
I know that things haven't always been perfect
but you guys know you're everything to me.
I mean I wouldn't change anything.
Girl: We're proud of you mom.
(guitar music)