Team Beachbody Guest

Once upon a time I was a skinny little girl and didn’t have to think about what I ate or if I exercised. I used to live in NYC in a 5-flight walkup, I would walk for miles around Manhattan rather than take buses or subway, and was a professional puppeteer so I had a physically active job. I mostly ate vegetarian—largely top 2 tiers of Michi’s ladder (even though I’d never heard of it at that time). My roommate and I didn’t keep sweets in our home, once every few months we had a “cannoli fit” and would go to the nearby Italian pastry place and get cannoli and cappuccino or we’d go get an ice cream cone. When my husband and I started seeing each other seriously, I changed my job to an office job, but everything else was the same, so I still was thin.

But when I got married it seemed like everything conspired to add weight to me. We moved away from NYC and suddenly had to go everywhere by car. My husband always wanted to have sweet goodies and snacks in the house—and I didn’t have the willpower to resist them. Also, he wanted to eat more meat, so my diet got “heavier.” Within a few months I had gained almost 10 pounds. Then after my first pregnancy I ended up another 10 pounds heavier than before. Nine years later, my second pregnancy left me yet another 10 pounds heavier. And I had been exercising regularly before, during, and after that pregnancy. But I think my age was starting to work against me (I was 36 then). As I got into my 40s, it seemed that every few years I had added on a few more pounds that just hung around no matter what I did.
The first health wake-up call happened a couple of years ago, when my cholesterol started getting high. I cleaned up my diet a bit and also started walking regularly. I hadn’t had a scale for a while and was shocked to find that I weighed 185 pounds—20 pounds more than I had weighed when I was 9 months pregnant! Regular aerobic walking and eating better helped me lose 20 pounds, but after another year went by, I hit a plateau. I knew I needed to add weights to my routine, but I couldn’t motivate myself to do it on my own. Then my dad passed away, and eating comfort foods I gained back some of my weight. That’s when I saw an infomercial for Slim in 6. I looked at the BB (now MDB) website and was really impressed by all the before and after photos and success stories. But when I first started, I wondered if this only worked for people in their 20s and 30s. I was 52 then.

So to get myself off that stubborn fitness plateau, I did my first round of Slim in 6, finishing in August 2004. I even did the 6-day express the last 6 days. With hard work and dedication I did see some results that pleased me. Of course my MAGIC thinking wanted to me to achieve my complete fitness goals in those 6 weeks—when it had taken more than 50 years for me to get that way! But I did lose weight (8 pounds for the first time in more than 6 months) and I lost inches.

I found on the message boards lots of people in their 40s, 50s, and even some in their 60s who have been successful and who have been very supportive. The message boards are great—lots of support and motivation, plus the opportunity to share support and motivate others. I also respect the BB/MDB fitness and nutritional advice—and I am finishing my masters in Holistic Nutrition, so I've looked at this with a critical eye. Perhaps I didn’t lose weight and inches as quickly as younger people, but I started seeing a noticeable difference in my pictures and proof in my measurements and clothing size. After SI6, I used Slim Series and I love it, although it is very challenging! After my first two rounds of Slim Series Slim Training I lost MORE weight and inches—between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2004!! THANK YOU DEBBIE AND BB! That was amazing!

I then did Project:You in early 2005 and loved that. Then I did a combination of YBB Live and PHH—a great combo-and the belly fat was SHRINKING; TurboJam—and the belly got even FLATTER; YBB; and even a full round of P90X ending in January 2006! What a feeling of accomplishment THAT was for a 53-year-old woman! Throughout my MDB journey (so far) I went from a size 16 (heading towards 18) to a size 8!! My arm and ab muscles are defined and I'm definitely stronger and more flexible, and I’ve lost almost all the flab and jiggly stuff. AND I feel like I can do ANYTHING if I set my mind to it! After P90X and eating 90% clean I came down to my lowest weight in 18 years! Hip Hop Abs has given me still more ab definition. And eating vegetarian and mostly living foods I have shed 10 more pounds in just a few month. But the most important thing is that I have established the routine of regular exercise and retrained myself to eat smaller portions and to eat at the right times. Regular exercise, particularly weight-bearing exercise, is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for the health of women my age (now 57) and older. BB has given me a lifestyle change that I can definitely live with! Now I hate days where I can’t push play. I see myself as a 57-year old success story. I am confident that I can achieve my fitness goals—as long as I keep pushing play and keep my diet clean. As a BB coach since 2004, I have cheered on and tried to encourage many other people, and happily accepted their loving support as well! As a Team BB coach I hope that I can continue to inspire and encourage many other people—particularly women in my age group who also face the challenges of slowing metabolism and the effects of changing hormone levels in addition to the fitness and weight loss challenges that everyone faces as they age. We can ALL be success stories together!!