Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

My story’s less about amazing weight loss and more about gaining self confidence. I’ve never been athletic, graceful, or coordinated but I grew up with an active dad who stressed the importance of fitness. At the same time my mom struggled with her weight. With my lack of athletic ability, I’ve naturally feared the latter fate for myself. I did tee-ball, dancing, swimming…unfortunately; I just didn’t excel at anything movement-related. In place of physical ability I had hips that didn’t quit. (Super awkward if you’re twelve.) Then add a lot of beer and pizza in college and I was at my heaviest during my sophomore year. I managed to lose most of that weight through a more balanced diet and exercise but I was far from liking my too-hippy, non-athletic body.

At 26, I moved from sunny San Diego to the Big Apple, and I started gaining weight again, probably due to a touch of seasonal depression and homesickness. The fear of battling weight returned. Christmas 2004, I bought Power 90 at the encouragement of my boyfriend’s (now husband) sister-in-law, who’d recently lost about 30 pounds. Surprisingly enough, my un-coordinated self turned workout superstar in the privacy of my own room! I emerged glistening and happy after a workout and my roommates look on enviously. Half way into Power 90 I hooked up with an amazing group on the boards who cheered me on to day ninety. For the first time in my life, my hips shrunk and I discovered things that my body COULD do! I was addicted. I continued on with another round, Yoga Booty Ballet, Power Half Hour, P90X, and P90 Master Series.

Last year (2007) put a halt on my success. We got engaged the previous spring and I leaped into must-have-a-tiny-wedding-dress-mania; sometimes exercising, sometimes worrying so badly I lost weight anyway. We planned a wedding from across the country, got married, bought a house in the wooded suburbs—so NOT Sothern California!—and then winter came: I found myself most unexpectedly in the middle of a deep depression. A lot of changes at once (even if they’re good changes) can do that, they tell me. I can’t say it enough: depression feels awful. Healthy intentions disappear. As much as I knew intellectually that things weren’t right, I couldn’t make a change on my own. With the help of my husband, family, friends (I include my Beachbody friends in here too) and doctors, I am so much improved today.

I recently attended a Fitness Camp with Tony Horton to kick off my returned spirit. It’s my new goal to use fitness as my tool to heal completely from the depression—and find the balance between health, life, self acceptance and my skinny jeans. God willing, the next thing major life event for us will include a brood of children (I exaggerate of course!). I want nothing more than to exemplify my dad’s enthusiasm for fitness and my mom’s gentle perseverance with my future family.