Team Beachbody Guest

Growing up I always had high metabolism. I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted. People always told me it was going to catch up with me when I got older. I was active in sports growing up and was very busy with activities and I never had to worry about how much I ate or what types of foods I ate. I never had to worry about exercise or to try and schedule it during my day, I was always part of a team and that was how I got my exercise.

I enjoyed thin years all the way into my 2nd year of college. During the last 2 years of college and after I had my children was when I started to struggle with my weight and appearance. I was no longer active and my eating habits really caught up with me. I never ate breakfast and often skipped meals. By the time I would eat I would eat huge portions and was packing on the fat pounds. There were days that I could go until 1pm before I ate, but when I did finally eat---BOY did I eat… My struggles were portion control, sporadic eating, and emotional eating. I ate when I was stressed or bored and I was not eating the right foods to fuel my body in a healthy way.

After college and the birth of my two children I would say I was completely becoming the young mother who was letting herself go and not taking the time to take pride in herself, appearance and health. I am 31 years old and I had already decided my bikini, tank top and shorts days were over.
I was seeing a Chiropractor 2-3 times a week for back pain due to stiffness in my back and joints and the headaches it was causing. During this time I yo-yo dieted and tried pills that promised weight loss, low-carb diets and pretty much anything that guaranteed quick weight loss. I lost and gained back the same weight many different times and I was ruining my metabolism. I hated the way I looked. I hated the flab on my belly from my pregnancies. I hated my double chin and the cellulite I saw when I looked in the mirror. My clothes fit tight, I had low energy, aching bones and back, and I felt out of control. I couldn’t believe the body that was staring back at me in the mirror! As a 31 year old mother of two in my eyes I had already seen the best of my “fit and fabulous” days. In my quest for a quick and easy fix to this problem I had tried many things that made promises that they didn’t deliver. I had tried everything but the only thing I hadn’t tried was good ole fashioned exercise, healthy eating and portion control.

While on Facebook one day I was looking at some pictures of a good friend of mine. She looked amazing and so did her husband, her mom and her sister. I e-mailed her and asked what on earth was her family doing to look so awesome. It was at this time my friend and now coach introduced me to the world of Beach Body. She told me all about Beach Body and the different exercise and fitness programs the company offered. She talked to me about the online support community and how to join and I was very excited to get started. I knew her and her whole family extremely well growing up and I could see all of the actual results in all of them in the pictures I had seen. Here my coaches mom at 63 was wearing a bikini and I had already told myself that those days were over and I was only 31! I was INSPIRED….

Needless to say I signed up and ordered the Power 90 Master Series. While I waited for my program to come I began to prepare myself mentally for when it would arrive and I would get started. I browsed the web-site and looked at recipes and watched other peoples transformation videos. I took my before and after pictures and measurements. I also made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve. Both long term and short term. I told myself to commit to the 90 days. I told myself that if I could just commit to the 90 days that I would start there and after the 90 days hopefully something will have changed in me. I didn’t even realize what was about to happen….


Right when I started I saw quick results my body was screaming for some TLC. I was losing weight and inches and I felt so much more energetic. I loved the fact that I got to work out at home and according to my own schedule. Tony made me laugh out loud with his personality on the videos and he kept everything so entertaining and light, it hardly felt like exercise. It was FUN! I started to crave the endorphins and the bursts of energy I would get after working out. Most of all I loved the sense of mastery, self-discipline and sense of accomplishment I was gaining every day that I pressed play.

One of the most motivating results that I saw was the change in my heart after only 1 month of exercising. I had taken the heart rate test before I started the program and right after doing the 2 minute jumping jacks my heart rate was in a redline zone for a 31 year old female. After 1 month of exercise when I did the test again after the 2 minutes of jumping jacks I was in a regular aerobic zone. This stunned me that my heart changed this much in such a short time. It was extremely sobering to know that even at my young age I was already doing damage to my heart with a lack of activity. It was truly motivating to see though that the changes I was making could reverse those effects as well.

I used to see a chiropractor 2-3 times a week and now I see him once every few months or so. It never dawned on me that what I really needed was activity to loosen up my joints and muscles. Things like this seem so simple and obvious now and that is why I feel like before I was in a fog when it came to health and taking care of myself. I lacked so much awareness and knowledge. I feel that Beach Body and their programs and the information they offer has lifted my fog and given me knowledge and power.

When I first started the program I told myself I wasn’t going to change my diet. I told myself I am still going to eat what I want but just exercise. Again---I had NO IDEA what kinds of changes were going to occur in me. After doing the workouts for awhile I decided to change my diet for a couple of weeks and see how things went with that. In choosing to do this I could not possibly have realized what an awakening that would be to my body. I ate super clean for 2 weeks and felt AMAZING! I was energetic, alive and full of awareness. I felt like a million bucks. All of a sudden something clicked into place for my body and I was craving healthy food like crazy. I wanted veggies and fruits, I wanted protein and wanted nothing to do with sugar or processed foods. The thought of fast food made me sick. It was truly unbelievable. This inspired me so much because I felt like I had finally found the answer to my food struggle. It seriously is true that we are what we eat. If we put the bad stuff in us then that is what our bodies will crave and want. If we put the good stuff in, then that is what our bodies will crave and want. I have realized that I can’t take advantage of my body and expect it to get my through many years of life. Our bodies are truly fascinating machines and when we fuel them correctly they will kick into gear and maintain the balance that we need to feel and look great. It seemed so simple and like a huge awakening!

My diet has been a progressive change. I have done a complete pantry, cabinet, and refrigerator rehaul. I made a list of foods that we eat and went to the Whole Foods store and literally spent hours walking the aisles reading labels. The first thing I do now when I shop is read labels. I try to stay away from things with artificial ingredietns, preservatives, high fructose corn syrups etc etc. I now find the best and wholesome healthy brands of the foods we eat. I buy whole grain carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits and lean proteins. I have gotten my family on board and am making and trying new recipes for all of us. At first I thought that cooking clean was going to mean that food was going to taste badly and that it was going to be super expensive. But I was completely wrong about this. When you adjust what your body eats the foods that are good for you start to taste amazing well. There are so many amazing recipes out there made with wholesome ingredients that will put the fast food, high fat, high sugar recipes to absolutely SHAME! A whole new world of clean eating and cooking has been opened to me and I am excited to try new recipes and to find ways to cook family favorites in a way that are healthy and good for us. I swear by a new chocolate pudding that I make now that has a main ingredient of avocadoes! YES--avocadoes, just ask my kids! They devour it and have no idea what they are eating! Cooking clean is actually not more expensive either. That myth has also been put to rest. In the beginning you will have to buy staples and ingredients for the pantry. However once you have them in your pantry and cupboard you will use them over and over again. Then your trips to the store are just for your veggies, fruits, dairy and meats.

I wake up now in the mornings to do my workouts, which I never thought in a million years I would ever become this “type” of person. It is part of my everyday life now and I just can’t do without it anymore. I love the programs that Beach Body offers and love that they have perfected these workouts where we can get the maximum amount of results in a short time of working out. We don’t have to run on a treadmill bored to tears or to look around a weight room wondering what exercise should I do. They have it all figured out for us already--we just have to get up and press play and the results come. So far I have done Power 90 Masters, Turbo Jam, Chalean Extreme, P90X, INSANITY and I am now working out to my own rotations or incorporating all the different program.

I have been so inspired by all that I have learned that I am now a Beachbody coach. I have shared my transformation with many people and truly long for things to click into place for them the way they have clicked into place for me. I want my family and friends to reap the same benefits and rewards that I am experiencing. We all need this! Many of us are walking around in a cloud and fog and may not even realize it. I know I was… Once it is lifted though the difference is astounding! We don’t even realize all we are missing when we live a sedative lifestyle but when we get up and get moving the world becomes different. Just so much more rich and positive and exciting. The sky is truly the limit these days. Beach Body has me dreaming again and I want others to be experience the same.

My transformation started out as one thing and now is about so many other things. It has become about a journey that I am on. One of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual transformation. Started about wanting to lose some weight to get my clothes fitting better and to feel better about myself and has gradually become more than that. Now about learning to take care of my health and to live a long life, about learning to eat right to properly fuel my body and keep it in balance. It has also become about learning to cook and prepare healthy meals for my family so that they can grow up to be clean eaters and healthy individuals. I no longer want to just look good in clothes, I want to get into pristine athletic physical condition and to eat as healthy as I possibly can. This journey has been filled with “Aha” moments and so many things that have reiterated the need for a healthy lifestyle. New Awarenesses and Revelations have come weekly and sometimes daily. I am enjoying it like opening a package on Christmas everyday--I know these things will stick with me and this is for life.

I know that my transformation is not over and I will always be on this journey. My plan is to continue pursuing my goals and when I reach those then I will just make more goals. I believe in the truth that I have found. I am excited about the future and can’t wait to see the continued results I achieve. I am also truly looking forward to the gifts and blessings that living a healthy and fit lifestyle are going to continue bringing my way!