Team Beachbody Guest

In Feb.08 I turned 50, I live in Tampa, FL. I work as a Master Stylist at a
beautiful spa and salon, currently in the National Educator Program for John
Paul Mitchell Systems. Planning to get certification as a Turbo Kick instructor
in March. (If I'm ready by then) ;)
Mother of 5 children, Ages S 33, S 31, D 27, D 19,S 17. Grandma to 2 sweet
girls ages 5yrs and 2 yrs. Life is GOOD!

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In Feb.08 I turned 50, I live in Tampa, FL. I work as a Master Stylist at a
beautiful spa and salon, currently in the National Educator Program for John
Paul Mitchell Systems. Planning to get certification as a Turbo Kick instructor
in March. (If I'm ready by then) ;)
Mother of 5 children, Ages S 33, S 31, D 27, D 19,S 17. Grandma to 2 sweet
girls ages 5yrs and 2 yrs. Life is GOOD!

Wow...My Transformation Story, seems more like a Transformation Dream, a
dream that has come true! I had always loved to be active, when I was a child
I was constantly on
the go, riding my bike, playing outdoors with friends in rain, snow,
sunshine... it didn't matter! I
was ON and ready to go no matter what the circumstances. I participated in
as many school sports
as I could, in fact that was the main reason I kept my grades up so I could
participate. Dance,
Gymnastics, track and field, basket ball, swim team, tennis, hockey,I just
loved to move my body
and see just how far I could take it!

Always interested in Health and Nutrition. I raised my children on a clean
diet, mostly organic and
vegetarian. We would sometimes eat fresh fish or chicken. Had an organic
garden...ran a health
food co-op. Studied Sports Medicine in college, started a lactation support
group in the small town
we lived in. Didn't smoke or consume adult beverages. Worked out in the
gym 6 days a week body
building. Coached gymnastics at the local YMCA. At one point I even
managed a weight loss
management center! I ran every morning at least 3 miles, I had even
successfully done a few rounds
of P90 and P90X! I had it going on!
Fast forward...what happened to me? Where did that energy go, that love to
move my body. Seems
like that was just a dream, and my reality was now a divorced woman in her
mid 40's whose
children were all pretty much gone. Still have two at home part time but they
are attending
Academy in Ohio, where they live in the dorms. It was me, the dog and the
parrot. I guess you
could say the nest was empty...and so was I. So to fill up, I would FILL UP!!!
Late at night while
laying on the couch eating cheezy curls and ordering stuff from infomercials,
all day long grabbing
something quick from the news stand, driving home a quick drive thru for
some fries and a taco,
middle of the night can't stop thinking about those mint Oreo's with double
stuff... it didn't matter.
If it was cheesy, greasy, fried, sweet or tasty... all the better! After all, who
was around to see? I
didn't have to be a role model anymore, my kids were all gone! Im
free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey while I'm at
it, I can smoke and drink now!!!! Go out after work with my friends for drinks
and dinner!!! WOW!
This is the life!!! I'm a grown up! I can do what I want!

Soon...I hated to even walk to the mailbox to collect the mail! Why did I hate
walking to the
mailbox? Well hey, I stand on my feet all day, they hurt, I'm too tired, was out
late... and besides,
its way over there==> Maybe if I don't pick it up the mail lady will get tired
of stuffing it in there
and just bring it to the door. LOL You get the jest of it. I had found ways to
justify my lack of
energy, lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of self love. Yeah, I really think
that is where it begins.
I had forgotten to love myself. I loved my kids, my friends, my clients, my
pets, my new shoes

even! But I took no time to love me. And what about the feet that hurt? Well
I guess when you

pack 204 lbs of pure fat on those small bones, yeah, eventually they are
going to hurt! There were

days I would be working on my last client and dreading the walk to the car.
Crawling would

havebeen more comfortable, but then I would have to get up from that crawl
and that would have

been a problem too! LOL

My kids tell me they were always proud of me being their Mom, I was strong,
fit & toned, healthy
and active...BEFORE. But not anymore. I was overweight, lethargic, lazy and
unmotivated. No
longer did I challenge my kids to a game of hoops in the drive way. No
longer did I challenge my
friends to a game of tennis on a Sunday afternoon. My 10 speed was rusty
and covered in cobwebs.
I totally hated shopping for clothes, my size 16's were getting tight. No
longer did I care that I was
slowly killing myself. The weapon??? JUNK FOOD & BAD HABITS!

So where does the transformation come in? I had ALREADY transformed!!!
Yeah! I had
transformed into a lazy out of shape slug! And the worst thing about it is, I
am in an industry that
promotes beauty and healthy living! And it was starting to affect my income,
after all, who wants to
come to someone for advice on looking your best, when she looks like a
mess! I think the real wake
up call was when a new client of mine called the salon to make an
appointment, he had only been to
me one time and couldn't remember my name. I happen to be at the front
desk and took the call, I
asked him to describe his stylist to me, so I could properly book him... "Well
she's OLDER, KIND
OF HEAVY"... "Hmmm how heavy" I ask? "Would you say she's heavy thick or
heavy obese"?
"Ummm...I'd say she leans more towards the heavy obese category". "Whew" I
think. "Glad he's
not talking about me"!!!... "Oh wait, I just found her business card...her name
is Lesli"! Now, I'm
sure that if anyone were watching my face at that time, they most likely
would have seen an amazing
transformation. At that moment I had transformed from what I thought to be
a voluptuous, not
too bad young looking 40 something to an 'older heavy obese' nothing! And
yeah, my client (who
could stand to lose a few lbs himself) *two circles and a snap* was really
embarrassed when he
realized who he was talking to. And NO, I didn't jack his hair up when he
came in. LOL

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