My weight loss journey started years ago. In 2000 to be precise, with my first Weight Watchers meeting.  I was still in high school and to be honest, I was doing the program all wrong.  I never learned how to eat right really, I learned to game the points system.  I still drove through Burger King on the regular but being young I still lost a lot of weight so I never really thought about what I was eating.  I just worked out and ate as much as I could without breaking the rules of the program and kept it moving.  Of course you aren't surprised I gained it all back plus more, right?

I have done years of  Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, many many other diets I can't even remember, and ordered (but never completed) many workout programs over the past 13 years trying to find something that would stick and be my "magic program" that would make me lose weight.  And nothing ever worked, mainly because the lack of results that always happened would make me quit.  Then I would gain all the weight back plus more, every single time. I felt like I couldn't lose weight, something must be wrong with me, that I was destined to stay fat and I should accept that. And I did.  For a long time.  I kind of gave up on myself and the idea that I could be fit and one day actually help others.  I've always wanted to do something in health my whole life and I figured I couldn't...because who would hire a fat trainer?  I certainly wouldn't so I gave up on something that had been calling to me for years.  Sure I continued half-heartedly with eating and I still worked out because I'm an athlete and I do like working out.  But there was on consistency.  No plan.  No urgency.

Then in January 2012 tipping the scales at 300 lbs, feeling like absolute garbage, exhausted all the time, worried about my health, having heartburn nightly for the first time ever in my life and feeling like things were the worst they could be, I decided to really try again.  I hit my rock bottom emotionally and physically with my weight and needed to get back in the fight.  So I did.  I started off playing XBOX Kinect religiously (UFC Trainer and Dance Central).  Started doing BodyRock (which is now called the Daily HIIT and kind of different, but probably still kick butt).  And I started seeing...and feeling...a change.

I started to feel like my body didn't hate me any more.  I stopped being scared I wouldn't be able to buckle my seat belt on my flights because I was barely making the connection as it was, and that I would have a heart attack or end up diagnosed with type II diabetes because I was changing. I started to crave more structure so I tried to do INSANITY.  Not my first Beachbody program, I already owned TurboFire and Turbo Jam and Chalene Extreme along with almost everything Jillian Michaels has ever put out.  But it was the one I picked because the people looked fantastic in their after photos and it seemed a lot like Bodyrock.  And I flunked out miserably because I just could not hang.  It was similar to BodyRock but also about 4x as long.  I had no energy and I bonked routinely.  It was at this point that I started to realize that my diet was a bigger problem than I wanted to admit.  I was eating better, don't get me wrong.  But I had no structure.

So in search of routine I found a nutritionist and started with the plan.  And it was awful.  Not the plan, it worked ok.  I just (1) hate eating 5-6 times a day (2) didn't want to eat meat (lots of it) at almost every meal and (3) still had massive cravings that I could not shake and that sometimes literally made me think I was a crazy woman.  Also - I was so focused on the eating that the exercise seemed secondary.  I work full time, I just didn't like the plan, even if it was working when I could adhere to it. I still was in search of that elusive plan that I felt I could actually do for life.  So I decided that my big problem was cravings, especially sugar cravings, and started researching sugar craving elimination plans.  There are a lot of them out there.  In that research, I ran across the Ultimate Reset plan.

The Ultimate Reset is a Beachbody program that is 21 days long and claimed to help with cravings elimination, weight loss, and health.  After figuring why not, I mean at this point I've probably spent literally thousands of dollars over the past 10 or so years trying to kick this weight thing, so whats a few more bucks.  I bought it and did it with my husband. I learned a lot during the reset.  Mostly that in all my past attempts I couldn't get results because you can't out-exercise bad nutrition, that my cravings could be controlled.  For the first time that I can remember, I actually didn't crave junk food all day.  I could turn down cake without feeling like the whole world hated me.  I actually started to have control over myself and for the first time in 12 years, I felt that I could actually lose weight and keep it off.

After finishing the Ultimate Reset for the first time last September, I went on to finish a whole round of INSANITY and tried a ton of other Beachbody programs.  I have also completed another round of the Ultimate Reset (6 months later) and another round of INSANITY in the summer of 2013.  I currently eat a mostly vegetarian diet, am turning my focus to weight training programs (P90x and 21 Day Fix) and drink Shakeology at least once a day every single day and that has kept me on the right path.  

I have a goal of losing at least 100 lbs total and becoming tone and fit. I became a Beachbody Coach because I want to help other people find their soul mate workout, find their way to fitness, because I love the products and because this company gave me the tools I needed to finally accomplish goals I have had for over a decade so I truly believe in them.  It's always been my dream to work in fitness and health and now I am doing that by running virtual fitness challenges, talking to people about fitness on the web and in person, and sharing my story hoping to inspire others to not quit when it seems like they are at the end of their rope or lost with weight loss.

If you made it here, congrats ha!  I know this is really long, but I really wanted to share my story and my struggles with you so when you read my posts you know where I am coming from with my weight loss story.  I hope you didn't get too bored :)