#IamTeamBeachbody

#IamTeamBeachbody

Life is so precious and far too short! I want to live it fully, freely, faithfully and boldly. I have spent a lot of time thinking that was what I was doing but a glance back a few years reminds me that I was actually doing just the opposite.

I was captive in my overweight and out of shape body. And as much as I wanted to do something about it, I could never muster up the courage, the strength, the determination or even the motivation to do anything.

And if I did manage to muster the motivation, I could never stick with it long enough to get a result because I got caught up in one excuse or another. I never had the time, I was always saying, it might work for you but it will never work for me, I was always too tired, too busy, too broke, too sick, too uncoordinated, too this, and too that, you name it and I could find an excuse to fit it.

No judgement here, far from it. This is MY truth and the excuses I used and if I allowed myself to sit too long in the muck today that I would still use.

Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. It is that simple. That is, until you do know. And nothing changes unless something changes right? And nothing did change until I changed it. How could it? Have you heard the definition of insanity? It’s doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result? Yup that was me. I lived it every day.

I am living a different reality today and I am beyond grateful for that grace.

#IamTeamBeachbody

🌺 A few short years ago I was taking medications for type two diabetes, being stubborn and not taking the medications I was prescribed for high cholesterol and on again off again against taking my meds for neuropathy because of all the side effects. I suffered with the pain and discomfort of the neuropathy that was increasing every day because I was not taking care of myself.

🌺 I was fearful of losing a limb to the diabetes. Wounds were not healing. I was dealing with vertigo, always out of breath, and exhausted and tired no matter how much sleep I got. Sleep apnea was at an all-time high, I was not addressing it. No wonder I was tired all the time, had no energy and was always sick.

🌺 There were times when I would lay in bed and have a hard time breathing because of the weight that I was carrying around my chest.

🌺 Add let’s not forget issues with my sciatica, back and neck and the pain that was a relative constant because my core was so weak and out of shape.

🌺 Is it any wonder that I was not happy in my skin, self-conscious and that my physical issues were taking an emotional toll on my confidence and poor self-image?

🌺 Thankfully I had accepted the reality of where I was headed if I did not make changes, hold myself accountable and did not stop making excuses for myself.

🌺 I dug deep into my faith, and found the strength I did not have on my own to develop a mindset that gave me the strength and the courage I needed to work on myself from the inside out to find my way to a healthy realistic lifestyle and not a diet. Because years of yo yo dieting had never helped in the past.

🌺 I opened myself up to others and overcame my fear, shame and self-doubt and I began sharing for my own accountability and I found support, acceptance and a community of supporters.

🌺 As I was encouraged, I encouraged others. Coaching and mentoring organically grew into an opportunity I had never imagined was possible.

🌺 And in the process, I lost over 50 pounds and learned how to keep it off. Best of all are the non-scale victories. I have been taken off all medications, reversed my type 2 diabetes and am now in non-diabetic range. I no longer have high cholesterol, have arrested the neuropathy, made my body stronger, more fit and flexible, strengthened my core reducing back and neck issues. I have regained my self-confidence, feel fabulous in my own skin and have learned not how to diet but to incorporate balance and moderation into a realistic, healthy and active lifestyle.

🌺 I have so much more energy to do all the things I need to get done in the day. And I can tell you without a doubt that feeling good impacts every aspect of my life and the life I want to live with my beloved and my family.

🌺 Even something as simple as traveling used to be a cause of great angst and anxiety for me every time I boarded a plane.

🌺 Not because of flying in an airplane or any fear of flying, but because I had difficulty fitting comfortably in the seat and either had to ask for a seat belt extender or would fumble with the seatbelt to force it to buckle and because of the girth of my stomach, sometimes fumbling around to the point of breaking a sweat. And once I got it buckled I refused to unbuckle it even when I had to go to the bathroom and would hold it for the duration of the flight for fear I would not be able the seat belt back on and would have to ask for that extender.

🌺 And on every flight, even short ones, while everyone else could pull down the seat back tray table and most likely never thought twice about it. I either held my drink the whole time or when traveling with my beloved placed it on my husband’s tray table because I could not put mine down without it leaning up against my stomach.

🌺 To my joy and delight this past two years and the twelve flights that we have taken I have been able to buckle my seatbelt easily with room to spare, I am comfortable in my seat and I can use my own seat back tray table for whatever and whenever I want with room to spare. It still moves me to tears of gratitude every time we get on a plane now because it was something that I took for granted until I realized the limitations that the excess weight I was carrying created and how it impacted every area of my life, even something as simple as a flight on a plan.

🌺 And you know, living a healhty lifestyle and staying on track is not always so easy. This is life, our journey is not cookie cutter or perfect, it’s real and it can be a struggle. And reality is that there have been times where it has not been easy for both me and my beloved to get right back into our routine following the holidays, celebrations and a few too many indulgences here and there.

🌺 The good news is that where in the past getting off track would have meant gaining back all the weight I lost and then a little more. And waiting far far far too long before getting back on track that is not an option topday because I am living a lifestyle and not a diet, have partnered with proven programs that work and get results and I have cultivated a healthy mindset and attitude that helps me get right back on track. It has helped me maintain better than in the past and when I veer off track, as we all do from time to time, I get right back on without delay or beating myself up. Maintaining has been its own lesson; it’s certainly something new, motivating and exciting for me.

🌺 I also know from my own experience that committing 100% to a program is the only way to achieve success. It does wonders for my mindset and confidence, proves that I am stronger than I think and that I can do anything I set my mind to.

🌺 It is how I and my husband John have been successful in losing weight and it is how the people I have mentored in my accountability groups have achieved their own success.

🌺 I have come so far already, I still have a long way to go and with every step along the way just like my first step, I continue to seek, find and share joy in the journey.

#IamTeamBeachbody
#WeareTeamBeachbody

Check out the hashtag #IamTeamBeachbody to be inspired and blown away but story after story of lives that have been forever changed