All I can say is
"WOW"! Team Beachbody Summit was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I absolutely had the time of my life. From getting onto an airplane for the very first time to attending the
Super Workout with over
2,000 coaches. It was amazing.
If I had to use one word to describe the summit, it would be
"ENERGY". Absolute unequivocal pure
ENERGY! Never have I seen so many people united for one purpose and so passionate about what they are doing to
"End the Trend of Obesity!" I could not help but be inspired by the stories of real people overcoming impossible odds to come out victorious in their own battles of the bulge. I'm not talking about dropping 5 or 10 pounds here, but actually losing a whole person in body weight. People that have literally stepped away from years of living unfulfilling lives to enjoying every single moment of every single day. People that are leading the way and paying it forward, because they have a message to share - that you are worth the effort! Definitely made me come away feeling proud to be a
Team Beachbody Coach.
The truth is many of us have a story to share. Some of us are living those stories today. That's the real beauty of being a
Team Beachbody Coach. We are real people with a real desire to get fit, stay fit and help others reach their fitness goals. Chances are we have been down many of the same detours and met the same road blocks many of you are struggling with today. We also know how critical it is to have a support system you can depend on, like our
"Cinderella Pact." Unless you've been there - it's hard to even imagine what it is like. Some of us have struggled our whole lives and then some of us just woke up one morning and didn't even recognize the person starring back at us in the mirror. It's funny how we go along not realizing the extra weight we are carrying is actually threatening and depriving us of our very existence.
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| January 2005 |
I've been an active member of
Team Beachbody since November 2007. I have struggled with the yo-yo weight loss game most of my adult life. However, it never really reached a critical point until after the birth of my last child. I will never forget actually leaving the hospital
6 pounds heavier than when I had been admitted - and that was after giving birth to a 7 pound healthy bouncing baby boy. How is that even possible? From that point on my roller coaster ride began. I sought professional help from a nutritionist, that pretty much handed me several pieces of plastic to demonstrate
"portion" size and a carbon copied
diet plan. That was it...and it cost me $40 for the 15 minutes of her time I was given, with no outlet for support. In other words I was basically given what a couple of seconds on
Google would have found me. So my weight continued to climb and my self-esteem hit an all-time low. There is a period of my life you will find very few photos of me...those were my
"hide and seek" years -
"hide" from the camera or
"seek" something or someone to position in front of me.
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October 2005
No Carbs! Size 6 |
After about four years of convincing myself it was
"ok" to be overweight a new reality hit me. I went in for my annual checkup and was put on high blood pressure medication and told I was
"morbidly" obese and unless I did something fast, heading down a path to major health complications. Desperate for answers and the
"quick-fix" solution I did the all popular
"no carbs" diet. It was great - I lost 45 pounds in less than 3 months. WOW! Did that feel good. I went out, bought a whole new wardrobe, celebrated my success and then introduced carbs back into my diet.
BAM! I don't even have to tell you what happened next.
I blew up!!! I hit my all-time heaviest of
188 pounds. For a person that is 5'4" tall, it definitely wasn't pretty. And let me tell you, the weight that came back wasn't part of the muscle that I had lost - oh no - it was
ALL fat! I was actually much worse off than I had been before.
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January 2008
188 lbs |
Sometimes I am really thankful for what happened next. It was right before Thanksgiving 2007. I saw an informercial for
"Turbo Jam ® ". There was this cute blond dancing on my television telling me
"I could do that." And the
before and afters...
WOW could that really be for real? So I bought it and made a promise to myself I was going to get healthy.
Chalene Johnson is one of the most motivating trainers I've ever known and that was my introduction into the world of
Team Beachbody. On the DVD it talked about
WOWY and the community of people that were there for you. So I logged on and the
message boards have been my support system ever since. And I am still going strong with those first encounters - they are no longer just my support system - they are my friends.
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Summit 2011
Size 8 |
My journey has been a
"slow and steady race," I'm not the
90-Day Success Story. But I am still nonetheless a success story. I've managed to average a weight loss of about 18 lbs a year. It's been a journey of stumbles here and there, but all the while a learning experience, which has taken me off of high blood pressure medication and back into a world worth living for. In February of 2010, I became a
Team Beachbody Coach. My heart is in
"paying it forward." I am giving back to a community that has literally given me back my life. I am doing something that has a real purpose and meaning that is close to my heart - I'm in the position now to
"be there" for someone else just like me. That is something I am most proud of and being at summit this year was truly telling myself
"I DID IT!"
Next year's summit will even be more spectacular than this year! We are going to Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel. You better believe I am registered and will be there!!! So if you are ready to take that step to getting healthier and enjoying your life, I would love to hear from you! Let's get you heading down the path of a happier more fulfilling life! Just remember:
DECIDE * COMMIT * SUCCEED! It can happen!
The truth is many of us have a story to share. Some of us are living those stories today. That's the real beauty of being a Team Beachbody Coach. We are real people with a real desire to get fit, stay fit and help others reach their fitness goals. Chances are we have been down many of the same detours and met the same road blocks many of you are struggling with today. We also know how critical it is to have a support system you can depend on, like our "Cinderella Pact." Unless you've been there - it's hard to even imagine what it is like. Some of us have struggled our whole lives and then some of us just woke up one morning and didn't even recognize the person starring back at us in the mirror. It's funny how we go along not realizing the extra weight we are carrying is actually threatening and depriving us of our very existence.
