Team Beachbody Guest

I am Italian and Polish and grew up with big Italian meals. Aside from that, my house was never lacking in snacks and junk food. Combine those with me being the kid who never played a sport growing up and always was picked last in gym class and it's safe to say I grew up as a chubby child. I had a bad addiction to sweets, especially chocolate and ice cream.

In college I hit my highest weight- 145 lbs. I was wearing a size 8 and though chubby and struggling with the scale my whole life, I never was this big. At 5'5" everyone saw and I felt the extra pounds on me.

Having no confidence and feeling bad about my body, in 2007 I decided to take control of my life and change it. My mom always told me our family had "thick frames" and I would never be a size 2 skinny. This being hard to accept, I was determined to prove her wrong.

I lost 30 pounds by exercising consistently and learning to eat right. I taught myself tons on nutrition. I also learned that to successfully lose weight you have to work out AND eat right- you won't get results you want with only one of the 2- it is a packaged deal. The more weight I lost, the more confident I felt and on top of feeling good about what I saw in the mirror, I also began to love the way I felt inside- lighter, healthier and more energy. I have one body in the life and ultimately I want to treat it as best I can.

I began working out using an elliptical machine but results were pretty slow and it was boring. In June 2007 I saw the infomercial for Slim in 6 and didn’t think twice about ordering it! Slim in 6- along with the rest of the slim series really helped me lose the weight fast and effectively.

On top of exercising for vanity, energy and health, consistent work outs help to keep my fibromyalgia & myofascial pain syndrome under control. I still have flare ups, some worse then others but when I keep my body moving, and build my body strong, for the most part I feel a whole lot better.

I treat exercise like I do my job- I wouldn't miss work for no reason so why would I miss a sweat session unless I'm in severe pain? And truthfully, it's a job I enjoy since I look forward to working out 5-6 days a week and really pushing myself beyond my limits.

I struggle more with eating then with missing workouts but I came to a happy medium with food- if i eat clean 90% of the time, I can have a treat and give into craving 10% and this saves my sanity. I went through a lot with food- out of control portion sizes, addiction to sweets, binging, practically starving myself and just about everything in between. But the more I learned about food, nutrition and clean eating, and how great nutrient dense, natural foods are for the body- the easier it became to make healthy choices and avoid processed, artificial food. Also, experimenting with healthy cooking clean recipes made eating natural much more enjoyable. Since eating clean and eliminating junk food and sweets from my diet, most of the time I don’t even have cravings.

However from time to time I do struggle with food, I am human. It is a never ending battle and every day is about making choices. They aren't always the best but every second is another second to start over and continue eating good again.

I have done many of the beachbody programs including Power 90, P90X, Chalean Extreme, Slim in 6, Slim Series, Slim Series Express, Turbo Jam, Great Body Guaranteed, Hip Hop Abs, Yoga Booty Ballet, One on One, and Insanity. I guess I am a DVD addict? Each program is unique and I like rotating them all so I never get bored.
One program that made a big difference for me is Total Body Solutions- a program used to help pain, stiffness and increase joint mobility. I’ve been using this since Sept 08 and the constant pain in my upper back and neck is almost all gone.

Oct. 09 marks two years anniversary that I have lost the weight! Though I did fluctuate a little with 10 pounds, for the most part it's been gone! (plus some of those lbs are muscle!!)

Now that I lost weight and proven I can keep it off, my ultimate goal is to have more defined toned sculpted muscles and not look so "soft"- I am working on a true beach body.

Check out my website blog:
www.naturalfithealthcounseling.com
www.naturalfitblog.com


Have a great day! =)