An Estevan woman is the new star of a national television commercial now airing, plus its sister online promotion.
Chandell Tytlandsvik and her family were flown out to Los Angeles this summer where she appeared in the recently released Bowflex commercial, after losing an amazing 105 pounds with her Treadclimber.
Chandell bought her Bowflex TreadClimber in 2013 and a year later received an email that said “'Share your story and you could win." So, she sent in her weight loss story. “I thought I would get like a 'participation' water bottle or something."
“Well I got a reply right away," she explains. “And then a conference meeting was set up. All this time me still thinking like 'well it's not like they actually want me.'"
But they did. Chandell was chosen to appear in the commercial and tell her inspirational story. Bowflex flew her, her husband Lorne, and son Penn we to Los Angeles for filming.
“Me being me, I laughed a lot, seriously a lot, then did a lot of pacing and smiling. I just couldn't stop thinking 'ya right where is the catch' and 'isn't there someone better they want'"
No, it was true.
“This is by far the coolest thing that has happened to me, not to mention I feel - not in a negative way - I am average. My story is just me, I just thought there has to be someone more exciting than me; a married mom, from a small city in Saskatchewan. Most importantly I just feel super-honoured. It's all just absolutely crazy."
She recalled that when she got to the actual shoot, “For some reason in my head I thought that this was going to be like 12 people and a camera guy. I was wrong. There was the director, the camera guy, the lighting people, the sound girl and screens and people behind. Just all around me people doing 'jobs'" When she went to makeup, she thought she “would be like 'dolled' for this scene. But no again - they wanted me mostly natural so that was really nice!! I felt like myself a lot."
“I was wearing jeans and a white tank and the scene just looked really pretty and 'real' - and I felt awesome, just like myself - but prettier" she laughed.
After doing a photo shoot on set and filming a lot of footage, Chandell was asked to talk about her weight loss journey and how it's affected her life and her family. “As soon as I sat I could feel my body tensing; I knew I was going to tear up, I could feel it. The director Bill started talking to me and it took me a good two minutes before in my head I'm like 'frick we are shooting, everyone else is quiet!'"
After a few tearful attempts, Chandell completed her story of losing 105 pounds in under a year.
Chandell concluded, “being in a commercial is awesome! Everyone was so nice to me and really just wanted to make sure I was comfortable and happy!"