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Thursday, February 20, 2014

On The Inside Looking Out


As I sit down to write this post, I hesitate. But, I think it will be helpful for people to understand exactly where I am coming from in working my Independent Beachbody Coaching Business. When I decided to sign up as a coach six months ago, I was skeptical and pretty sure I'd cancel it within the first 30 days. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. All I knew going in was that I wanted to help people. I had a clear vision of helping individuals from all different walks of life, to improve their health. I am not out to make people feel bad about their weight or their body image. I want to make that very clear. I think sometimes people are misreading my passion and enthusiasm of fitness and healthy eating, with judgement of others for not being ready to invest time and money into their health. This could not be farther from the truth. To use programs like P90X, Insanity, ChaLEAN Extreme or any of the at-home fitness programs, doesn't mean you are necessarily looking to lose weight. A lot of times, people do start these programs for that purpose because of how well they work. However, I use them for maintenance purposes, and because I love that they are short and scheduled out day-by-day for me.

I am a normal human being, just like the rest of you. I love sweets, skip workouts, and sometimes even enjoy overindulging in goodies around the holidays or at family parties. I am far from perfect, but I made a commitment to better myself each day. That is something I am continuously working to improve upon. Getting healthy seems like an impossible task to a lot of people. They worry they can't do it, that they won't be good enough, won't last the whole workout, won't be full from eating healthy foods more than the processed stuff. I get it. I was that girl who ate fast food at every meal in college, went out 3 nights in a row, on the weekends... and never worked out to compensate for even a tad bit of that!

When I made the decision to better my health in January 2013, I committed to 90 days. That was it. If I could make it through that, I'd be all set. Well, I made it through... and to my surprise, wanted to keep going. There was a couple months of time off in between there for personal reasons, but I jumped back in full swing to get my body to a healthy state after a lot of poor decisions when it came to my diet. I didn't have a lot of weight to lose. Maybe 10 pounds, but it was very noticeable to me in the way my clothes fit. So I committed to another 10 weeks of an at-home program. Once that was done, I realized that this is a LIFESTYLE. Fitness and a healthy diet are not just 30/60/90-days long. It takes commitment to yourself, from YOU!

Fast forward to today. I have been coaching for 6 months now. I am helping people achieve their weight loss goals, or to maintain their current weight and tone up, and to eat healthier foods in place of processed or fast foods. Whatever their journey, wherever they are on their path of healthy living. I am doing exactly what I set out to do. I am not selling an impossible dream, a magic pill, or false hope. I am educating people on what it means to invest in themselves. I am offering support, accountability, and motivation to those who might need that extra push or just want to know that someone is behind them in their decision. It isn't about a number or a size. Being healthy and confident in your own skin is what matters. I want everyone, whether I help you with your health and fitness goals or not, to realize that you are beautiful no matter what size, shape, or weight you are. Just remember that being active is vital to maintain your health. Even something as simple as taking your dog for a walk every night, or taking a bike ride through your neighborhood.

At home programs work, but I realize that is not the only way to be active and lose or maintain weight, tone up, or build up self confidence. So, when I stand behind a product I believe in, it isn't to make money or shove it in people's faces that they need to be a certain weight, a certain size, etc. I do it because I know there are people out there that will benefit from it. Some people do not like to go to the gym. I am one of those people. Some people need or want something that takes the guesswork out of it... a program that is already scheduled out what to do each day, with a meal plan to follow if they so choose. Losing weight is only one of the many reasons people begin a new fitness plan.


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