I am going to be honest with you, I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight, confidence, and self esteem. Always. There has never been a time looking back that I can recall ever being truly happy in my own skin.
Fast forward to May 2015, I was celebrating my daughter's first birthday and felt the weight of the world crashing down on me. Some may call it post partum depression but I had a lot more going on, and I know that was affecting me in many ways. I decided one day I was finally going to take the chance to focus on myself a little bit. I finally bit the bullet and ordered an in home fitness program, Focus T25 and decided I was going to give it a try. Now I was doing ok getting the workouts in, I mean afterall they were only 25 mins, but I was not seeing any results.
So I began to do some fierce internet research on these "beachbody coaches" to see if they could actually offer me anything. I found one, and her name is Deidra Penrose. So as scared and nervous as I was I messaged her on Facebook. I mean after all this woman had managed to retire from her nursing job, while raising her two sons, figure competitions and has built a highly sucessful business for herself as a Beachbody coach. Whoa!! That is pretty impressive, and I was fairly intimidated (well a lot intimidated) but I contacted her and asked if she would be willing to be my coach and help me.
And you know what? She said yes.
And this is where everything has changed for me. She got me involved in a challenge group she was starting, and so I started my very first challenge group doing the 21 Day Fix. Every single day I had someone cheering me on. Every single day I had someone showing me that I am capable of so much more than I though I was capable of. Every single day I had someone keeping me accountable. Every single day I was surrounded in my group with women all working hard, working through their own life challenges and stuggles, and if they could do it, I certainly could to.
I felt such a drastic change in my way of thinking, my motivation to dream big, and determination. I felt as if my whole life had changed in a matter of weeks. And then at the end of my first challenge group, I also completed my first Spartan Race. Now, let me tell you, I was not and I am still not in the "best shape of my life" but with the encouragement and motivation of my good friend, Mary, I FINISHED THAT RACE!!!!! Whoop whoop!!!!
And seriously after that moment.... I realized for the first time in my life, the sky is the limit.
I am still on my own weight loss and fitness journey and far from my ultimate goal but I wanted to share this journey. I wanted to share the struggles, triumphs, failures, and dreams with others so that maybe just maybe someone else can feel the way that I feel. I also decided to pay it forward by joining the Beachbody Family, and I am now a coach working to help other hardworking men and women feel the same way I do.
And I have never been more proud of myself.
So please check back in to see the progress! The rest of my story is still unwritten....
