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My earliest memory of being overweight was during the 50-yard dash test in elementary school. All the other children seemed to run it effortlessly, however, when it was my turn, I could barely complete the distance. I had been chubby all of my life, but so was everyone else in my family, so to me, I was normal. Throughout elementary and Jr. High school, I remained overweight. I remember trying to hide, or play sick every year during those school physical fitness tests and weigh-ins.

Fast forward to the summer before my senior year of high school. I'd had enough of being the fat friend...the girl who was told, "...but you have such a pretty face..." I decided to do something about it. That summer, I lost 50 lbs, by nearly starving myself and running. I thought I was finally happy, but as soon as school started, I gained it ALL back, and then some.

I continued this back and forth, lose-gain cycle for years. Then in 1999, something clicked and I 'discovered' working out. I lost 60 lbs and this time kept it off for five years until I had a second lumbar laminectomy (L5/S1) in 2005 (the first was in 2000). During my recovery, I couldn't workout and I began to sink into a depression - paying less attention to my diet as well. At this time, I had been a TurboKick instructor for a couple years, so I knew that the TurboKick workout was being made into a consumer product called TurboJam. I stumbled onto Beachbody to buy TurboJam, but discovered an entire new world of workout products. Even though I had not been given the go-ahead to resume working out from my surgeon, I ordered P90, determined that I would begin my 90 day journey as soon as I was medically cleared.

Those first 90 days changed my life. I started out slow because my back was still sore, but as I began to see my body change, I also noticed my old confidence returning. As my cardio capacity increased, my waistline decreased. During that first round of P90, I really stayed plugged into the message boards and I know without a doubt that it was the support and motivation that I received from the Beachbody community that was the driving force behind my success. Through my interactions on the messagte boards, I learned how to become more aware of my eating habits. I learned that in order to be truly successful in reaching my fitness goals, that my eating would be just as important as my workouts. After completing two rounds of P90, I felt it was time to attempt P90X.

Because of my recent surgery, I was initially a bit intimidated, however I learned that I could succeed and complete the program because I could modify any of the exercises so I wouldn’t injure myself. To say P90X changed my life would be an understatement. Through Tony Horton's on-air guidance, I learned how to modify the workouts so that I could do them (even after my surgery). I learned that I didn't have to settle for second rate workouts just because I'd had surgery. I learned to take control of my workouts and (most importantly) to take control of my body. After completing P90X, I noticed that I no longer monitored my progress solely by the physical changes. Oh yeah, the physical changes were still there, but there were even greater rewards, I’d gained a renewed sense of confidence, higher self awareness, strength, and power…and the weight loss, it was now an added bonus.

I continued to maintain the level of fitness I'd acheived with P90X until I was once again faced with surgery in 2008. The dreaded hysterectomy. So here I was, in my 40's facing traumatic abdominal surgery. During recovery, my rollercoaster ride resumed an upswing and in December 2008, I found myself once again, close to 200 pounds and unhappy with my physical state. I started P90X in December and transitioned to ChaLean Extreme in January of 2009. ChaLean Extreme proved to be just what my body needed at that point in my life and recovery. Once again, the message boards played a LARGE role in keeping me motivated and engaged. By Summer 2009, I had lost over 50lbs and 5 dress sizes with ChaLean Extreme.

No matter what state of health, fitness, or recovery I was in, Beachbody ALWAYS had a workout solution that would meet my need at that time. I'm excited to say that I have been maintaining my results for a year and am now an Independent Team BeachBody coach.

I am more determined then ever to help other people reach their healthy lifestyle goals as I have reached mine.