Weight Loss Challenge

I have a "Biggest Loser" type challenge starting for anyone interested! This isn't a Beachbody challenge but anyone that's interested in combining the two together for extra support and accountability is more than welcome!

The challenge lasts 16 weeks and the cost is $50.  

All entry fees collected are paid back out ~ I do not keep a cut :)  1st place receives the entry fee pot (this new session will be at least $850) and 2nd place receives the penalty pot (which averages at least $100).

I have been running this challenge for like 10 years now! We fit in 3 rounds a year!

Here is a breakdown of the rules. If you're interested in joining, you can email me at dina.edwards@yahoo.com!

*********RULES & INFO**********

~Dates: Thursday June 26th thru Friday October 17th

~$50 due to me at the beginning

~1st & last weighin: At my house or via digital pics with a pic of you on your scale and one with the # showing and text to 570-0231 or email to dina.edwards@yahoo.com.

~No one sees your weight but me. Only percentages of weight lost are given every week. Calculation is your your total loss/your starting weight. i.e. if you're starting weight is 150 and you lose 15 lbs. total, your percentage of weight lost is 10%. 10% is a good goal to shoot for no matter your weight 

~Weekly weighins: Only weight needed. Text to 570-0231 or PM on FB. If not recv'd by 11 a.m. and I'm not notified as to why, you will be charged a $5 penalty. I do this so no one could coast thru without anyone else knowing what their weight is AND to be sure people are held accountable...the whole reason for this challenge in the first place 
1 mile = 1 pt
2 miles riding bike = 1 pt
15 minutes of any other type of exercise = 1 pt

~Penalty breakdown:
Gains           Owed
0.1 to 1.0 lb. $1.00
1.1 to 2.0 lb. $2.00
2.1 to 3.0 lb. $3.00
3.1 to 4.0 lb. $4.00
4.1 to 5.0 lb. $5.00
5.1+ lb. $6.00

~If you are going to miss a weigh-in, please weigh-in early whenever possible.

~Keep track of your exercise points ~ I give a separate prize for top exerciser:

~There are also penalties for weekly gains ranging from $1 to $6:

~Penalty $ is due at the finale.

~No diet pills allowed. Only healthy weight loss methods allowed (if you question what this means, let me know  ).

Do Something

A lot of people have asked me in the last few days "How was Vegas??" My answers have varied from "AH-MAZING" to "AH-MAZING!" to "AWESOME!" 

But, not because it was Vegas. Ok, I mean seriously, who wouldn't wanna stay at the MGM for five days and hang out at a pool with drinks and friends in Vegas when it's 100+ BUT even though our one day of downtime was wonderful, what was really wonderful were the opening & closing ceremonies and listening to the messages from corporate and workshops from top coaches and live workouts with TONY HORTON and photo ops with the celeb trainers and finally meeting another coach face-to-face or meeting someone for the first time AND a lot of time team building!

It wasn't three days of preaching to us how we can make more money or how to "sell" our products to customers.

It was three days of personal development and tears and laughter and soul searching and priority & goal setting, both on a personal and a professional level.

It was hearing what we're doing is all about helping people.

It was being reminded life is all about relationships.

It was being reminded we need to have date nights with our spouses or significant others.

It was hearing we have to fail over and over to succeed.

It was hearing how a military wife had lost so much weight while her husband was deployed that he didn't even recognize her in the crowd when he came home.

It was seeing a fellow Team Impact coach, Rebecca Privitera, who lost 221 lbs., win $100,000 in the Beachbody Challenge and transform her life forever!

It was listening to Diana Nyad's story of overcoming INCREDIBLE odds while NEVER GIVING UP on her dreams.  (This is a MUST listen to!)

It was hearing the life story of our top coach, Lindsay Matway, who said on paper she did not look like a success story. "The world would've said that girl probably won't do much with her life...but God said something different about my life. He said I was fearfully and wonderfully made in his image." ~ Lindsay Matway.  What a powerful statement. And, this once bankrupt 25-year-old is now a millionaire with more than 18,000 coaches on her team....now that's a LOT of lives touched all because one person decided to do something different!

It was listening to Chris Hogan (anyone familiar with Dave Ramsey???) talk about financial freedom. "Let's grow our own legacies....not credit card company's legacies!"

It was hearing Darren Hardy talk about overcoming his childhood to become a New York Times best-selling author and publisher of Success magazine.

And, it was hearing the winner of this year's Humanitarian Award, Melissa Hudgens, read the lyrics to "Do Something."  

"If not now, then when?"

DO SOMETHING by Matthew West

Click here to follow my fitness page on Facebook for motivation, nutrition ideas, recipes & fun!

Transformation Tuesday

I decided I'm going to try hold myself more accountable by doing a Transformation Tuesday once a month. Brooklyn & I were spending the night watching Frozen....because I hadn't seen it in like 6 days...and we both fell asleep. I woke up and she's not budging so I decided to blog quick! 

I found a picture of me on her 1st birthday and I couldn't believe how different my face looked. So, I decided to find a more recent picture and do a quick collage to remind myself of how far I've come. I admit that I sometimes still get lost in the whole it's not happening fast enuf mentality. Before & "during" pictures, as someone told me to say, are the best reminder to keep going.

The picture on the left was taken in 2011 and I was 198 lbs. The picture on the right was taken this year about a month before Brooklyn's 4th birthday and I was about 155. 

I didn't put the weight on overnight, so it's not gonna come off overnight! 

What's especially exciting for me is that in October when I first starting Team Beachbody coaching, I was weighing in every week with my Biggest Loser group at between 170 and 175. So, of the 43 lbs. I've lost, about half of it happened since I started coaching and using Shakeology compared to the almost 3 years it took me to lose the first half!

I'm going to print this off and hang it at my desk and on my fridge! I still have goals to hit and a bikini to ROCK in Cancun next year!

So, my message to you is ~ start now, take before pictures because the scale doesn't always tell the whole truth AND don't be disappointed if it happens slowly...it's the best way to lose AND transform!

#livefitlivestronglivepink

Never Give Up

Well, thank goodness I'm still on a high from Coach Summit because I'm going on just a few hours sleep after a 14-hr trip home yesterday from Vegas. There were tornado warnings and flight delays and debit cards getting stuck in the machine to get out of airport parking. But, all that matters is I made it home and am feeling super energized to get back into my normal routine and knock out some more goals!

Summit was such an amazing experience that I will be talking even more about it on Friday's post but I wanted to get up a sneak peak tonight!

This is my big team, Team Impact! Our team color is volt yellow and we all sat together whenever we could in the MGM Garden Arena, and we even got a shout out from Mr. Daikeler himself during opening ceremonies!

We have grown so much that coaches have been branching out into their owns teams and I am now also a part of Team 2.1 ~ Upgrade Your Life AND Team Aspire to Inspire. I don't have a team picture of my 2.1 team AND this is a picture of my all North Dakota (so far) team Aspire to Inspire....and this team is MUCH larger than pictured already.

I will be sharing more specific statistics in my Friday post but when I started back in October of last year...towards the end of October...I was told there were around 140,000 coaches in the network. There are now well over 180,000 and that number is growing every day. It's just amazing to me! And, I know many coaches, including my own, who are ranked within the top 1000 coaches overall! Wow! I'm not at all sure where I rank right now but my goal by the end of 2014 is to be in the top 1000 as well!

Not only are we growing every day but the power of Summit is beyond evident today. Corporate announced a great deal on next year's ticket for Nashville and the tickets sold out before the deal even expired!! Thank goodness I didn't wait to get mine! Nashville here I come!....in about 13 months! Can't wait to see where I'll be at in this crazy, wonderful, humbling journey!

I leave you for now with this year's slogan ~

Never. Give. Up. 

Coach Summit

By the time this posts I will already be in Vegas for my Coach Summit event. I'm so excited for this that the first time I watched the video on the Summit site, I teared up a little. Yes, as I've said before, I'm a dork. I just know it's gonna be an amazing experience and watching last year's clips and seeing coaches that I've now been following is pretty cool!

It's now Wednesday morning and my newsfeed on Facebook has been blowing up with coaches that are already there. I can just feel the positive energy and can't wait to meet some of them I only know through Facebook and video calls.

I am, of course, going through the anxiety of leaving again! Not only do I not feel like I'm ready to leave yet, I'm feeling bad about leaving Brooklyn again and this time for a few more days than last. But, this is the top Team Beachbody event of the year and I didn't want to miss it!

It won't be anywhere close to my typical Vegas type of trip but that's okay! We will be in workouts and workshops and team building events and parties pretty much nonstop!

(Fast forward about 19 hours.....) It's about midnight and I'm finally finishing this post.

Did I mention I get a photo op with at least one of the celeb trainers? I'm honestly not sure how it works...if we get to pick...if it's just one of them...etc. AND, if we have to pick, I'm still undecided! Tony Horton? Chalene? Autumn Calabrese?? One of the Body Pump trainers? Shaun T??? Decisions decisions. Actually, the most important question I need to answer is WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? If I wear an X3 tank and don't get Tony, then what??....lol. There was actually already a party tonight and a bunch of coaches from my team are posting pics with them! Jealous.

So, I'd love to get some feedback. I scheduled Saturday for the pic, so please go back to FB ASAP and comment on my post about who you would choose if you could AND....what would you wear????? Seriously. Workout clothes? Casual shorts & a t? A non-beachbody top just in case I don't get the trainer who's program I'm wearing???? POST UP! Everyone that posts will be entered for a random prize drawing!  Thanks in advance!

Just a warning that my next blog post will also be about Summit! A lot of pics...but maybe not up until Tuesday! And, my fitness page will probably be pretty busy with it all as well!

A Running Start

One of my first blog posts was about running. You can read it here if you haven't already but I talked a little bit about how I got started and some of the people that were with me along the way and that I grew closer to because of a common interest.

I'm not sure I'll ever get over making fun of myself, so the above image is perfect. And, I know it to be true because I've seen a video of myself coming across a finish line. Isn't there a song "It Ain't Pretty?" That should've been queued for my little video. BUT, honestly, however painful it was to watch, the feeling I had in that moment was surreal. And, that's what running has been for me....painful, challenging, and mentally & physical draining yet empowering, strengthening, and very rewarding.....from one second to the next.

I've had an on-again/off-again, love/hate relationship with running. But, over the past few years, if I haven't been consistently running, I've been consistently active with other exercise...which has meant getting back into it much easier. And, because of this, I often hesitate to call myself a runner.  I'm not a runner in the sense that I've been avidly doing it my whole life or that I run more than 20 miles a week or that I'm fast or it's the only exercise I wanna do. But, I do it. I love it...especially when I'm done. It used to be something I couldn't get out of my head when doing and now it's something I do to clear my head. So, when I came across this image today, I had to save it. I'm not good at golf. I don't do it every day. Sometimes I don't even do it once a week, but I wouldn't really hesitate to still call myself a golfer. So, today, I'm calling myself a runner. Because I can and I do.

One thing I am definitely not is an expert...on anything...lol. While I'm not a running expert, I am a girl who wanted to give it an honest try. I am a girl who has failed at it. I am a girl who has succeeded at it. And, if my story of some of the things I researched and learned or learned on my own...often the hard way....can help anyone else get started, why not share?!?

• Look into an interval training program like Couch to 5k. Not only will training in intervals of walking and running ease you into a 5k distance, it can burn more fat and calories.
• Make sure you have good shoes! I've read before a lot of aches & pains and injuries are due to either worn out shoes or improper fit. Have someone at Scheels or preferably a running store analyze your gait and find a shoe in that category.
• Find a running partner! Having someone waiting for you will often be the push to get out the door. I had that in the beginning and I probably would've given up had I not!
• Bring your smart phone along and download the app for whatever program you choose. (I wish I would've had this when I was starting out! There were times I bet in a half hour training run I would check my watch or phone for time like 50 to 100 times.) Not all training apps will have GPS in them so you can also use an app like Endomondo or RunKeeper to track your distance, and with Endomondo, it's basically like a Facebook for exercisers. The social aspect is fun!
• You will find your pace....a speed your body is "comfortable" at. It doesn't matter how fast that pace is. If it becomes difficult to talk or you CAN'T talk, you're going too fast.
• Sign up for a race! It will be an extra incentive to stick with the program!
• Make sure you have proper form! I had no idea when I was starting that it mattered. It does.
• Make sure you're hydrated! If carrying a water bottle is too annoying, stash it somewhere along the way.
• If you get side stitches, a way I've found online and works for me is to exhale when your opposite foot hits the pavement or treadmill. So, if you have a side ache on the right side, blow out your air when your left foot lands.
• Get a good playlist!
• One of the best purchases I've ever made was wireless headphones! Extra cords really bugged me and I hate when the earbuds would fall out of my ears once I started sweating. Over the ear, wireless headphones solved both problems.
• Don't stretch cold muscles with static moves. You could do active stretching like side lunges or walking lunges, etc. But, really the best warmup is just a brisk walk ~ typically for 5 minutes.  Warmup & cool down are just as important before a run as for a workout. Cool down also for about 5 minutes before you stretch. AND, be SURE to stretch after. Hold each stretch for at least 15 seconds.
• You could very well be sore as you go. It's perfectly normal. Listen to your body ~ if it feels like more than muscle or joint soreness or stiffness is probably is. Be sure to stay hydrated even long before and long after you run.
• Fuel yourself properly. If I do eat before a run, it's at least an hour before or I have something really small like raw almonds or a protein bar or a banana. 
• STRENGTH TRAINING! I became so much stronger and running was SO much easier after I added in strength training. I would definitely recommend 3 times a week! It WILL make a difference! And, you can find tons of circuit programs online that just use your body's resistance if you don't have weights at home or can hit a gym. Check out Pinterest! Be sure to study up a little bit before you start anything on proper form!
• Most importantly, have fun!

Even better than signing up for a race on your own is signing up as a group for something like a Color Dash. I recently did one with a bunch of girls and it was a blast!

Being Brandy

For today's post, I'm super excited to share a transformation story with you. Brandy is one of my coaches, a good friend and an amazing person. She inspires me every day. She has knocked out her goals one by one and isn't stopping any time soon. Check out her story!

Being Brandy

"When someone asks me to tell my story, I never really know where to start. I mean, everyone has a story and some of them begin very early on in life, which mine does on so many levels. But the part of my story that I want to share is the part where I take back control, or maybe I never had it, so I am just flat out taking control of ME!

December, 2013, just weeks before I turned 32. That’s when I FINALLY took it.

I have never been a “small” girl, and I have no unhealthy vision of every being so. In September, 2010, I got on the scale at a Dr. visit, weighing in 3 pounds heavier than I was at 9 months pregnant with my third baby, and I KNEW something had to change. It took me 3 ½ more years to do it, but I changed!

Last April, May & June (2013) were horrible months. I gained the little bit of weight I had lost back in a very short amount of time. I was a mess for awhile trying to deal with life. I was to the point that I was desperate to lose the weight and contemplating surgery. …..In December, I joined my first accountability group on Facebook. I ordered Turbo Fire and chocolate Shakeology (and no, I didn’t love it at first), and I jumped in with both feet. I started the workouts, I began drinking a shake every day and I started losing weight! (amazing how that works!) In January, I joined a clean eating challenge group. It was a 5 day challenge….I can do anything for 5 days! THAT week, I learned SO much…and dropped 5 pounds, JUST by eating healthy, yummy foods! That 5 days was a game changer. I started eating healthy every day. (not 100%, more like 80/20) 

In February, I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach. I was reluctant at first because I have not yet reached my goals. I am not a “success” story, I am a work in progress story. I did it, though, because I want to help others realize that losing that unwanted weight can be done. I am surrounded by an amazing team of women who are also on a mission to help others. I absolutely love it. Being a coach has held me even more accountable to my goals. I have met new people and reconnected with people I haven’t talked to in years. Gaining all that weight made me shut so many people out because I didn’t want them to see me like that.

It takes time, sweat, determination, patience, sometimes tears, and will power to lose the weight/get fit/eat nutritious foods…..but I can guarantee you, when you crush your first goal, it will all be worth it. AND when you look at your progress photos, you can proudly say, “I worked my ass off for this…and Iam NEVER looking back!”

I do still have a ways to go to reach my big goal, but every day, I get closer! Since December 20, 2013, I have completed 12 weeks of Turbo Fire, 12 weeks of Chalean Extreme, ran my FIRST 5k (!!!), and lost 44 inches and 45 pounds off of my body. 

My question for you is this: What do you have to lose by joining an accountability group on Facebook?

“Never look back! If Cinderella went back to pick up her shoe, she would have never became a princess.”" ~ Brandy

Progress Pics ~ December to May

Thank you for letting me share this, Brandy. You truly motivate, encourage and inspire me every day with your candidness, your caring attitude, and your commitment and consistency. I can't wait to see where this adventure takes us!

Clean Eating

I'm doing one of our monthly 5-day clean eating challenges this week and LOVING it!  So, I decided to talk a little bit about how I got into clean eating.

In my attempts to lose weight over the years, I've tried every plan under the sun: 

WeightWatchers (still a fan...minus the prepackaged frozen meals...btw check them out on Fooducate ~ the disclaimer with fooducate is foods are based on criteria where some things will get a not so good grade but I believe them to be healthy ~ I feel they're spot-on about the frozen meals, tho)
South Beach
Atkins
Biggest Loser
starvation (I should actually refer to this one as the Diet Coke & ephedrine plan ~ this one didn't last long either...thank goodness)
low carb (my own not so healthy version of eggs, bacon, cheese & a plethora of beef jerky)
Fat Flush
Flat Belly
Zone
Carb Cycling
and even looked into Paleo recently.

When I say I've "tried" all these....I should clarify I'm using the word "tried" very loosely. I would maybe give them a go for a day or two...in very rare cases several weeks or maybe even months/years if you count WeightWatchers. I was a meeting and online WW member for probably 10 years. But, even on WW, I'm not sure I was ever absolutely consistent with it...day-after-day. Yes, I can say I lost weight on WW over time but not by following it in its design. And, what's worse about how I "followed" WW was I lived off of SmartOnes and Lean Cuisines. I was never satisfied with them. And, although I loved how good some of them tasted, they just can't compare to fresh, clean food. OR I "followed" it by working out for hours to earn more points so I could eat more food...a.k.a. junk food. Points were just points to me almost the whole time I was on it...I didn't care what I was eating as long as I had enuf points for it. 

Ummmm....ok......looking back, I should maybe just say I "dieted" on Mondays....lol.

I'm not here to say any of these programs aren't good ~ I honestly don't even know enuf about them now to say one way or the other. What I DO know, however, is that clean eating is by far the best thing I've ever tried....and...can finally say...am succeeding at. And, I think it's in large part due to the fact that I no longer think of what I'm doing as a "diet." Yes, it's a diet in terms of its my nutrition and what I eat but it's by no means a short-term thing. It's a lifestyle change.

And, it's a lifestyle change in that I have a goal of eating clean 80% of the time. Do I have days or weeks where I'm under 80%?

Absolutely.

I'm just so not about deprivation. And, when I use the word deprivation, don't think I mean clean eating is about being deprived...because it's not. Clean eating can be SO good! I'm talking deprivation about never allowing myself to have a drink or a cheat meal or snacks I shouldn't or popcorn at the movies or CAKE at a birthday party (did someone say CAKE?...you should know I love cake and will probably talk about it often)....ok I could go on for an hour on all my "allowances."

(If you haven't already noticed if you've been following my posts or know me, I love to use quotation marks...and in person LOVE to use air quotes! And, I'm not sure air quotes ever fit the instances I use them or are appropriate but I still do it without even thinking.)

NOTE TO SELF: THAT WAS RANDOM....GET BACK ON POINT.

My first serious attempt at clean eating was doing a 10-day Advocare cleanse. While I now do Shakeology vs. Advocare Meal Replacement shakes, I do think this cleanse is safe and healthy. It's not at all what you'd typically think about a cleanse. You eat a ton of normal CLEAN food. You don't drink anything crazy. You take some herbal cleanse pills, some pro-biotics and drink a fiber drink on certain days. There weren't any disastrous digestive issues. And, I felt great once I got past some of the detox into Day 3 & 4. And, the best part was, I stuck with it 100% for those 10 days...even thru a shrimp & crawfish boil at work!

I did this cleanse before I was a Team Beachbody Coach. And, now I totally give my own Coach, Valerie Woeste, serious credit for keeping me on track. Not only is she the one I'm most accountable to, she is a nutrition ROCKSTAR. She creates menu plans like she's putting together a puzzle for ages 2 to 3. Her menus are all clean, creative, and delicious. If you haven't read her blog, you should!  You can follow her as she goes thru her own adventures in clean eating and how she incorporates healthy living into her daily life. How she finds the time to run a daycare business, a coaching business AND develop these meal plans while raising 3 girls is beyond me! You can click here to read her blog!

Anyhoo, if any of what I've dabbled in over the years sounds anything like you....actually even IF this is NOTHING like you....I really have to recommend giving clean eating a try. It's not necessarily EASY to start. I had some serious sugar withdrawals in the beginning and still do when I'm at 50/50 and then get back on the wagon...lol. 

BUT.....it can be simple.

If you do it right, you honestly don't even need to count calories. Yes, there absolutely can still be too much of a good thing (ask me if I knew the correct portion size of almonds prior to clean eating or that a typical chicken breast I was having was probably twice the portion I should've been). And, what's great is that between google search and Pinterest, you can find recipes and info right & left when it comes to clean eating. If you're not already following me over there, click on my Pinterest icon to start or click here. You should also follow my Health & Fitness board as a lot of my clean recipes & ideas are pinned there. And, if google search & Pinterest aren't your thing, please feel free to email me if you have any questions on how to get started. I can point you in other directions OR let you know when my next challenge is....my BB team runs the free 5-day challenge I'm doing right now monthly! 

My Vices

These are in no particular order...lol!

• Pizza
• Beer
• Beer
• Pizza
• Diet Coke (well any diet pop really, but especially Diet Coke)
• Orange is the New Black
• Real Housewives of OC
• Tanning (but I now tan out of the bottle & the natural sun...with sunscreen!)
• My iPhone (essential for me but nevertheless a vice)
• My Macbook Air (essential for me but nevertheless a vice)
• SHOPPING
• Zappos
• Sunflower seeds
• Days of Our Lives
• Homemade donuts (makes me miss my Gma O.)
• Buying stuff for others
• Silver earrings (can a girl ever have enuf silver earrings, tho???)
• Buttered popcorn
• Fitness gadgets (probably not necessary but addicting)
• PINTEREST
• FACEBOOK
• INSTAGRAM
• YOUTUBE
• Lifetime
• Candy Crush (recovering addict)
• Blonde hair
• Sleep (although I probably average 5 to 6 hours a night these days)
• Chocolate
• Coffee (WITH CREAMER!)
• Nail biting
• Salt
• Hitting snooze (I was doing really well on this but in the last 4 months I SUCK)
• 50 Shades of Grey
• 3-card poker
• Texas Hold'em (haven't played a game in a LONG LONG time, tho!)
• Ok, seriously....gambling in general! lol
• Running late
• Procrastinating

Wow....ok....this list makes me look a tad indulgent and possibly a tad neurotic. I have to work hard every day on the whole "delayed gratification" concept. Some days are better than others....lol.  Here's to the better days!

Reasons

I have quite a list of reasons why I've wanted to lose weight and get fit, become a Beachbody Coach, put myself out there on social media, AND start this blog. I talk some about my reasons in My Story but I wanted to talk more about them.

If you are reading this and don't know me AND haven't read my story, know that I've had self esteem issues for as long as I can remember.  I've also thought I was overweight for as long as I can remember....which looking back, in high school I really wasn't....but at that point in my life I spent every day comparing myself to the girls I was growing up with and magazine covers.

So, as you can imagine, spending the better part of 25 years worried about being "fat" has been exhausting. I really did gain too much weight in my first year of college. I think mine ended up being the freshman 20 or 30. I enjoyed partying and pizza....a lot. I did a ton of late night eating and a ton of drive-thru eating. I'd never had a healthy relationship with food and once I was on my own, I really had no limits or boundaries...but the guilt only got worse. There was no longer a reason to hide food because no one was really watching me. So, the internal struggle only worsened.

Over the next ten years, my weight yo-yo'd back & forth. I was down to almost 140 after meeting my husband Daryn and then I moved to his hometown. There was something else that happened then and I'm not quite ready to talk about it on here but it turned my world upside down. The weight slowly crept back over the next several years....then I got it off....then it crept back on again until I eventually hit 199. That number hit me hard and I wanted to do whatever I could to not gain even 1 more lb. AND......then I got pregnant! I've already talked about this on here but I got up to 217. I did lose that fairly soon after I had Brooklyn. (Daryn says I can't really count that in my overall weight loss total but sometimes I think I should  be able to because there was a pretty good potential for me not losing that baby weight.)

I did lose it though and proceeded to lose another 15 lbs or so...over the next THREE years. Yes, I took the whole losing weight slowly thing very seriously. I had gotten into running and working out but my nutrition was nowhere near on par. And, for most of those three years, I was only getting cardio in. I really started to notice changes when I added in strength. I should say I really started to notice changes in my size because the scale still wasn't really moving.

This brings me to when I met my coach Val after Zumba one Saturday in October last year. I did know who she was but I had no idea she was a Team Beachbody Coach. We got to talking that day and I just couldn't help but be drawn to her. She had such a passion for helping people and for health & fitness. And, although I had taken a lot of strides by getting into regular exercise and then becoming a Zumba instructor, I still didn't quite have things figured out. I was still missing something. I was trying to help other people in Biggest Loser groups I had been running, I was working out for hours a week, and I was learning more about clean eating but I really still wasn't completely focusing on myself.

I had been looking into coaching for almost a year at this point. I had dreams of becoming a personal trainer on the side and learning more about nutrition but I had researched and found the certifications to be expensive and they needed to be renewed and then I had a slight problem with gym access for any potential clients. There just aren't options where I live and if I was only going to do this part-time, it just wasn't feasible with a full-time job and a toddler. So, I decided to sign up to coach instead! It was free to sign up and the monthly fee was less than $20. I knew worse-case scenario, I would benefit from the discount on Shakeology and fitness programs and best-case I could maybe help people lose weight, try a new workout program or just feel better.

But, after I signed up, I pretty much freaked out. I was watching other coaches on social media and my feelings of insecurity came flooding back. I looked NOTHING like a lot of these coaches. I was finding coach after coach who was already a transformation story and looked amazing. It paralyzed me. Not only was I not sure how to even START coaching, I didn't feel like anyone would want to join me....after all, I wasn't a transformation story....I was still struggling with food issues....I was someone who had drinks pretty much every week...and I although I don't think I'm shy (a lot of people do), I would MUCH rather listen to someone than to talk about myself.

So, what did I do? I finally decided I'd had enough sitting on the sidelines. Towards the end of November, I started to put myself out there. I know some get annoyed with my...what may seem like incessant...posts about Beachbody or motivational sayings but I just decided that for a lot of what I see come across my newsfeed, a post about focusing on the positive or that a great fitness program is on sale can't possibly be the worst things anyone could see. And, I knew that if I was going to be truly successful and finally get to my goal and be a successful coach, I had to do it.

And, now, going on 7 months later, being a coach and putting myself out there have become two of the best decisions I've ever made. I've had people willing to join me because they could relate to my struggles. I've had people join me because they want to try a program that I've already tried. I've had people message me to say they have loved my vulnerability in my blog posts. I still have a lot to learn as a coach and blogger and in how to help people when they each have very different needs but I have a passion every day to do just that. Not everyone I'm working with needs to lose weight. Not everyone likes the challenge group aspect. And, not everyone is 100% ready right away. But, I love helping in any way I can to find out how to best reach people and I love working 1-on-1. I'm not a fitness or nutrition expert but I've done a ton of research and if I don't have an answer for someone I will find it. 

My social media antics, blogging & coaching have resulted in a tremendous amount of accountability, motivation & support for me....from not only my team of coaches but from my clients. I'm inspired every day by a client saying they lost 10 lbs or are down a size after only 30 days. I'm motivated by those reaching out to me to say they enjoy reading my blog. And, I feel beyond supported by my team of coaches who will out of the blue send me a message if only to ask how I'm doing. I've met some pretty amazing people, and I've gotten to know or reconnect with people I grew up with. I could talk about Beachbody and coaching 24/7, so being able to blog and throw stuff out there have really allowed my friends & family take a break from listening to me.

This opportunity has already grown into so much more than I expected in the beginning. I'm a work in progress. I will never be perfect. I have workout ADD. I still struggle with food every day. And, as one of my coaches has said, "not everything is rainbows & butterflies" with this. But, what I'm gaining far outweighs the negatives or any reasons or excuses I had when I was holding myself back.