Team Beachbody Guest

All of my life I have been a dreamer. I remember being a little girl and
dreaming about the future life that I had ahead of me. I dreamed of traveling
to great places, having many friends, graduating college, getting married and
starting a family of my own. In a perfect world all of these things may have
happened. As a teenager I faced reality dead on. Diagnosed with depression
and panic disorder, I isolated myself from the world. My dreams were
shattered. I went through most of my early adulthood isolated from people
due to my panic attacks. I flunked out of college many times, and was not
able to work full time, but was lucky enough to have one or two friends that
stood by my side. To comfort myself I turned to food. I loved all kinds of
food: fast food, candies, cakes and CHOCOLATE. Food had become my best
friend. It never judged me or made me anxious, instead it comforted me and
filled a deep void in my soul.

In 2005 I met my now husband, Joel. He taught me about unconditional love,
not only for myself but for other people. He inspired me and taught me that
with God all things are possible. He helped me to believe in myself for the
first time. In 2006 I enrolled in college (for the third time) with a new attitude
about life. I couldn't simply dream about things happening in my life, I had to
MAKE it happen. I had to work HARD to accomplish my goals. I knew for the
first time I could DO it. I am proud to say that almost two years later, I am
still in college and hoping to graduate with my AAS degree.

This brings us back to my weight issues. By early 2007 I had tipped the
scales at 200 pounds due to my continued poor eating habits such as
comfort eating and emotional eating. Then in February of 2007 my sister
Whitney died of heart failure. She was born with Down Syndrome, and one of
the medical tragedies that come with it quite often are birth deformities.
Whitney was born with a deformed heart. Her left ventricle was completely
missing. The doctors told us that she would likely live only a few hours after
birth--if we were lucky. Whitney was a strong soul, and she fought valiantly
for her little life. She fought for 19 long days before God called her home.
This was the first time in my life that I had dealt with death and I really
started to overeat. Once again, I was dealing with my emotions the wrong
way by turning to food for comfort. Only this time, it was in overdrive. Then
in May, just three months later I got a call from my father saying that my
grandpa was severely ill due to lung cancer and that he was dying. All of his
children and grandchildren gathered at the hospice to say goodbye. Once
again I turned to food for comfort (in overdrive) and within a four month time
frame I had gained 27 pounds.

2008 started on a sad note as well. My husband and I were faced with fertility
issues after trying to conceive for almost two years. I entered into the new
year with a heavy heart as it had been so greatly damaged and bruised from
the deaths of two very special people and the inability to create life. I hit rock
bottom. I was so depressed I did not want to get out of bed. This prompted
me to go and see my doctor, who told me that if I lost some weight I would
have an easier time getting pregnant. It sounded like an easy enough thing to
do, but I KNEW that I was addicted to food. I knew that I had tried many times
before to lose weight, but it had never worked over the long term. I knew that
something had to change within me mentally and emotionally before I could
commit to losing weight. Then I remembered that a year before I had joined
the Team Beach Body club, but had not really done anything with it since. I
logged on for the first time in a long time and found a whole new world of
health and fitness waiting for me. I checked in with my coach Earl
Broughfman (Wink) and he has not let me check out since. With his help I
realized that I needed to look at eating well as a lifestyle and NOT a diet. I
needed to change my relationship with food. That is when I really started to
succeed. I also realized one day that I had to stop eating for emotional
reasons and start eating for logical reasons. I needed to start eating for
health and nutrition and not for comfort. I needed to start exercising for my
health; not for vanity reasons or to please others but for my mental and
physical health and well being.

On February 11 of this year I pushed play for the first time after a hiatus of
six months. Turbo Jam and Slim in 6 had been sitting on my book shelf
collecting dust up for far too long. I pulled out Turbo Jam and never looked
back. With the help and support of my family, my coach Earl, the Team
Beachbody community and a new found attitude about food, I have been able
to change my lifestyle for good. Since starting in February I have lost 59
pounds. I have now found the hope that was once lost. I am
now a Beachbody enthusiast using their weight loss programs, core vitamin
pack,recovery drink, and slimming formula to maximize my results. Since February, on average I have lost 1-2 pounds per week.

I no longer consider myself JUST a dreamer, but an ACHIEVER!


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My Before Photo: Was taken on February 18, 2008. Here I weighed 222 pounds (even though I started the program at 227).

My Current After Photo: Was taken October 28, 2008. Here I weighed 169 pounds.

-Sara M =)