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My story - a history of obesity.

I grew up in a close family of 9 in the south (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). My grandfather owned one of Savannah's most popular bakery's in the 1930s - 1960s, Pearson's Bakery. My father and all of his 6 siblings grew up in the bakery...and all became obese. My grandmother died of a diabetic coma when my dad was 12 years old. My

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My story - a history of obesity.

I grew up in a close family of 9 in the south (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). My grandfather owned one of Savannah's most popular bakery's in the 1930s - 1960s, Pearson's Bakery. My father and all of his 6 siblings grew up in the bakery...and all became obese. My grandmother died of a diabetic coma when my dad was 12 years old. My grandfather had both legs amputated up to the thigh and lived his last year in a wheelchair, dying of complications from type 2 diabetes when my dad was 23. I was born when my dad was 34, and only 4 of his siblings were still alive at that time...the oldest 2 had died of obesity-related diseases.

What happened to me?

In 2004, when living in St. Augustine, Florida, I met and married the love of my life, Andy Gillis!
It was a few months after our marriage when the pounds started to literally pile on without me changing the way I was eating...I was extremely scared of what I might become because of heredity-inspired obesity, so I franticly began my search for a cure!

I tried several diets (Adkins, Southbeach, Holleywood, Weight Watchers, Rice and dry cereal!), I joined a gym, and read every fitness book and magazine I could get my hands on. I even jogged every other day for 30 minutes jumped rope at the gym. But not one pound budged! Though I stopped gaining, I never lost any weight!

It was in Barnes and Noble one afternoon, sipping my fat-free, sugar-free caramel frappacino that I had an epiphany...maybe it was the quality of the foods I was eating that had me in my rut! So, I did some research and went home to clean my entire kitchen out. Almost everything that I thought was "good" for me, was actually hindering my weight loss!

What did I do?

I started researching ingredients and why we should avoide certain ones. I started cooking all of our meals. I bought only the purest foods (nothing with artificial ingredients) and started packing our fresh lunches in large coolers to lug to our day jobs. I purchased Turbo-Jam from an infomercial and quit the gym. In 3 months, the entire 38 pounds that had me by the neck disappeared! At that point, I realized I had achieved the fittest, healthiest, most efficient woman I could be, the woman I believed I was always meant to be. And it felt AMAZING!
This woman went from a size 8 to a 2, and have been there ever since...6 years and 2 children later :)

This is now my life! And I'll pay it forward to everyone I meet!

After I discoverd how insanely simple losing weight and keeping it off forever was, I decided to dedicate my life to helping other people acheive their best weight as well. EVERYONE should have the chance to become free from excess weight and HAPPY in their souls! I wanted to help! So I quit my job as a banker and started an in-home personal training company called Pure Women's Fitness. Purity in the food choices is the cornerstone of living life to it's fullest.

I became frusterated with being a personal trainer because I realized I could only help a limited number of people (people who were 1: able to afford a trainer, and 2: had time for a trainer) and also, I wasn't serving them well enough (they became dependent on me as their trainer...not empowered to do their own workouts without me. When they stopped working with me, they gained the weight back again!) so I started looking for another option.

My husband and I joined Beachbody as fitness coaches in summer of 2009, and it is the best decision we have ever made. Their tools and systems are in line with my heart, and teach people to own their own fitness along with the mentorship of people who have already done it.

In 2 years, we have been humbled and honored to have over 600 "raving fans", people who we have helped lose weight and keep it off! We have also brought in and mentored a national team of amazing coaches, people who have lost weight and then turned it into their passion as well to "pay it forward" as we have done by changing their own communities one person at a time. What a sheer JOY! And being a leader keeps everyone accountable to their followings so that weight MUST stay off! Added bonus - I get to work on a daily basis with people who have become my dear friends and who have changed their entire lives <3 I could go on and on, but I know you get the picture <3

It all starts with 1.

What I believe is that it all starts with 1. Being 100% committed and focussed on helping 1 person with their weight and lifestyle is how we are able to change the world. I take every single person I have the honor to work with as a dear friend, and I give myself 100% to their knowledge growth and motivation to become EMPOWERED as I have! This gives them the chance to live the life they deserve...the life they were created to live in the perfect body in their own skin!

This is not a contest of people trying to "win" by doing more than another person, it's a challenge of winning over each of ourselves...the inner voice that tells us we can't...let's WIN over that voice and be TRUE winners!

Running this race right along side of you <3 And HONORED to do it with YOU, who I consider a dear friend <3

XOXO - Katy

Katy Gillis
Diamond Beachbody Coach
Atlanta, GA
(404) 246-5088 (text and phone)
katygillis@beachbodycoach.com
www.beachbodycoach.com/katygillis
www.facebook.com/katy.gillis

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