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A typical pre-teen and teenager, I was active in school: P.E., extra-curricular activities and summer softball, yet I always felt “behind”. I was always a little slower when it came to running and cardio type activities and it seemed to get worse each year. Starting in 7th or 8th grade, my weight seemed to be increasing as well. My freshman year in high school, we found I had an under-active thyroid that apparently was causing the weight gain and sluggishness. Once regulated, I did lose some weight and gained back some energy, but it was still a battle to stay in shape.

In September of 2004, at the age of 26, I got pregnant at the lovely weight of 167 (The most I've EVER weighed). On the day of her birth, I weighed a little over 200 lbs!! With the help of nursing and softball, I got down to 155, but my weight would fluctuate and I was still larger then I wanted to be.

I had heard about and ordered Power 90 in early 2002, but never stuck with it. I'm not even sure I completed 3 weeks. Then, unfortunately, as with a lot of unused things, they got shoved into a box and packed away. Out of sight, out of mind...Right?! Well, fast forward to December 2006...I come across my Power 90 DVD's while searching for Xmas decorations and the timing couldn't have been better. After seeing a picture of myself in a swimsuit, I knew just what to do. I started Power 90 on January 15th, 2007 weighing 162 lbs. It…was…amazing!! And it was just what I needed. It whipped me in shape quickly, while creating the ever so needed habit of exercise! It was the beginning of a new lifestyle and I'll never forget that. After completing the 90 days, (which I am proud to say I didn't miss one day of) I weighed 141!! I now wear a size 4! (down from 8's and 10's). I weighed less and was smaller then I’d been when I got married in 1998. My ultimate goal is to weigh between 120-125 and I was well on my way to achieving it.

On April 23rd, I began Power 90 Master Series, and followed it with Slim in 6. I lost a ton of inches and a few more lbs but still hadn’t reached my goal weight of 125 as I'd hoped to by the end of July. At the beginning of September, I wanted to try something else. I’d started feeling a little burned out, so instead of giving up, I decided to make a change. And that change was Turbo Jam. I LOVED it!! Chalene is great and had me hooked instantly. I started looking forward to my workouts again, everyday! She brought my heart back into it!

By mid-October 2007, I was ready to start P90X! I also started taking the Slimming Formula and drinking P90X Recovery Drinks after my workouts... by the way, they make ALL the pain worth it!! After 30 days, I'd lost .75 inches in my chest and .75 inches in my hips! I'd grown much stronger and my heart rate started dropping a lot faster…7 weeks into P90X, I found out that I was 4 weeks pregnant and had to stop. I purchased Baby2Body and used it on the days I felt good enough to exercise, but unfortunately at 10 weeks, I miscarried. During that time, I put on approximately 5-7 lbs. that did not coming off very easily. Mid January 08, I started taking Total Health Women’s Formula and tweaked my diet a little more. To build my strength and stamina back up, I did two weeks of a mixture of P90 and P90 MS workouts and was then ready to jump back into P90X. I restarted P90X on February 4 and completed my first round on May 5th. I was able to lose 4 lbs, and tone up a lot!! I continued to workout after completing my round of P90X Classic with workouts from Turbo Jam, P90X and P90X+, helping lose the last 2-3 lbs. that got me back to the weight I was before getting pregnant.

Unfortunately, I had another setback in October of 2008. An unexpected tubal pregnancy lead me to a three month “leave” from exercise. It wasn’t only physically, but mentally also. I ended up gaining back about 10 lbs and lost a lot of strength and muscle tone. It was very difficult, but I can honestly say, exercise was what brought me back out of it. ChaLEAN Extreme was released late in December 2008 and I made a decision to start it on January 4, whether I wanted to or not. Within 3 weeks, I was starting to feel myself again. Exercise truly is a mood regulator and it pulled me out of my funk.

After the round of P90X Lean and adding Shakeology to my diet, (which I believe has helped me get past my plateau), I finally started to lose the extra pounds I had gained late in 2008. I reached my goal of not only getting back into my size 4's, but also getting them loose again. I also lowered my body fat down to around 17% with the help of Insanity, which I do believe is a new favorite!

Two months after completing Insanity, I was blessed with another pregnancy, due mid September of 2010. I was able to maintain a decent weight, gaining just the right amount. I exercised when I felt up to it and ate very clean. I had a fast, easy delivery and owe that to my fit lifestyle. After her birth I started out slow, and have added a few workouts in here and there and am below my prepregnancy weight. I'm getting cardio in regularly and plan to start Insanity: The Asylum as soon as it's released this Spring 2011.

Overall, Beachbody products have changed my outlook on life and how I live it. I now have an even stronger desire for a healthy lifestyle; not only because of how much better I feel myself, but also because of the impact it has on my family and friends. I want to help my daughter acquire a taste for healthy foods and a desire to stay active so she can avoid any of the preventable struggles I went through growing up. I try to set an example, not only for my immediate family, but also for extended family and the friends that bounce in and out of our lives.

Because of my new habits, my little girl even sometimes works out with me, friends that had no clue about diet and exercise ask what I’m doing to lose weight and look so good and nothing could make me happier then to share my Beachbody secrets with them. Being healthy, fit and in shape is such an important part of my life now, I can't see a reason to ever stop! I even went on to get my NASM CPT. Thanks SO much BeachBody! :)