Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

In high school, I remember being pretty self-conscious about my body. I wasn’t as small as the other girls. My natural body was filled with curves. I struggled to embrace my appearance and as I entered 12th grade, I had become the smallest I ever remember being (which really wasn’t small enough and the means for getting there was healthy either).
As I entered college, my weight fluctuated. The scale went up and down constantly. I got sick and tired of watching the numbers and eventually became disinterested. Soon after I met my now husband and shortly following, I was pregnant with our first child. The pregnancy was great and I loved the fact that I only gained “baby” weight. Even after delivery, I was somewhat successful at getting back to my pre-pregnancy size.
However, with the new stress of having a baby and continuing school, I started eating poorly. I gained a few pounds but didn’t really pay it much attention. Later I found out I was pregnant AGAIN and in such short time. The boys ended up being only 13 months apart. This second pregnancy was horrid. While I lost a lot of weight in the beginning because of morning sickness, I made up for it in the end. I was well over 200lbs! With this pregnancy, I became the heaviest I’ve ever been: 218-220lbs. I was devastated to say the least.
I found a spark of motivation after my son was finally here and no long breastfeeding. I signed up for Weight Watchers and did great (or so I thought)! I ended up losing 30lbs and was doing really well until I hit a plateau. My food tracking fell by the way side and I was back to the same ol’ routine again.
Thereafter, I became pregnant a few years after my second child but I hadn’t lost enough weight… so I ended up gaining the 30lbs I’d just lost! At the end of pregnancy number three, I weighed 216lbs.
Recently, I’ve realized that a lot of my current struggles with weight loss has come from child-bearing. While I had to gain the weight for the “baby” in utero, I know I could have done a better job at getting my pre-pregnancy body back. To change all of that, I need be consistent. I need to be patient (I didn’t gain all this weight over night). I need to be positive. I need to be strong. I need to be willing to try, to fail, to try again. Even if I fall, I have to get back up again. I don’t have a choice.
So this time, I want to do things right. I picked up my dusty, shelf-ridden TurboJam DVDs, and I started TurboJamming (again) regularly and counting calories. Since May I’ve lost 26lbs.
So overall, this whole experience has taught me to make more realistic goals. Before it was all about the numbers, now it’s all about being realistic and setting myself up for success. I want to be healthy and more importantly, in control.
To date, my current goal towards success is to get my BMI from “obese” to “overweight” by loosing 2lbs a week. By the end of this Chalean Extreme program, I want to have lost 26lbs putting me at 164. My ultimate goal is 125lbs, but I’m going to continue to take baby steps to get there.
Also, my hope in becoming a coach is to hold myself accountable so that then help someone else. To be honest, coaching was something I needed to do for me. And it’s no longer about losing the weight fast and unhealthily, it’s all about small, steady, successful steps.