Team Beachbody Guest

When I found Beach body I was not only overweight, but I was depressed and chronically ill. It was a time in my life that I don't really like to talk about. My teen son was going through a dangerous depression, and my mother was very ill. I had just found out my youngest had aspergers. My father had dementia. It was a time where everything in my family's life was going wrong and I was the one everyone was counting on to hold the family together.

I remember praying for energy to be able to keep up with my family’s needs. I believe my prayers were answered when a friend told me about Slim in 6. She said she had lost weight with it and felt so much better and had more energy. I needed more energy. I did not care about losing weight to look good, I just wanted to have enough energy to deal with life and be able to help my family. I also joined the Beach body community for support.

I thought I had obstacles before I started on my journey, but once I started I ended up with many more road blocks. I have a deteriorating disk in my neck and it started to flare up and became a “bulging” disk. In the meantime, I had chronic bouts with upper respiratory, sinus and bronchial infections. My father had a stroke that left him nearly blind, my young son was having some sort of disorder that doctors couldn't figure out. My mother's health issues were getting worse. Between my parents and my young son we have had 8 hospital stays. These last 3 years have been the most stressful of my life. If it weren't for the support of Beach body I would have quit my health journey a long time ago. I am so grateful for this community.

I am now the same weight as I was on my wedding day almost 21 years ago and my wedding dress fits perfectly! I love the way I look and feel now and never want to go back to that dark place I was at before I started my journey. Now I am just working on toning my body and getting stronger and more flexible. I really enjoy healthy foods now and I love to exercise - something I never thought I would every say!

Through this process I learned so many things. I learned that it is okay to make mistakes. I learned to love myself and accept myself at any weight even when I blow it. Through participation in the message boards I discovered a lot of very loving people and many of them became life-long friends. I found out that we all make unhealthy choices and the most important thing is to forgive yourself and get right back to exercising and healthy eating.

Losing weight/getting healthy is a long process. It is not easy, but it does get easier with time, patience, diligence and peer support.