Tag: health

Survey Says!

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Have you ever heard of Shakeology? If not, check out the results from a survey that was done with people who have tried it. The vast majority of these listings are all super high numbers!

Now I am aware that they are a HUGE amount of drinks and shakes out there that claim they will help with weight loss. This deters many people from trying Shakeology because they think it is just another one of those fads. Coming from a person who actually HAD this line of thinking, I can honestly tell you that Shakeology is not like the other drinks or shakes you may have tried.

I refused to try it myself for a while because I was skeptical of anything that claimed to help you lose weight after having wasted hundreds of dollars on products that failed to work. After a while though, my coach sent me some sample packets in the mail. Upon trying the regular chocolate Shakeology, I finally decided to give it a try. I have been drinking shakeology daily ever since!

I love the way that Shakeology makes me feel, and I love what it does for my body. Even better than that though, I love the taste! I mix my Shakeology with a scoop of whey protein, some frozen strawberries, almond milk, and ice. To me this honestly tastes like a chocolate covered strawberry milkshake. Come to think of it, when I went to a Wedding Trade Show with my Beachbody business I gave out samples using this recipe. I had multiple people tell me that it tasted just like ice cream!

Shakeology has so many health benefits, and it is great for anyone who has a sweet tooth. Simply mix up a blend that mimics some tasty treat, and drink it to curb your craving!

Click Here if you would like to learn more. You can find videos, information, as well as recipes on my website.

Is your food medicine or poison?

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So many people are getting sick these day, and you hear all the time of people having heart attacks at a pretty young age. Sometimes these health issues has a lot to do with what the people were eating. If you’re one of those people that can eat just about anything all day and night and never gain any weight, that does NOT give you a free pass to eat nothing but junk! You can be unhealthy and still be small, and then some day all of that junk food will catch up to you.

Just because you are not getting “fat” on the outside, does not mean that your body isn’t changing and getting fat on the inside. If your arteries get clogged up from all the junk that you eat, and blood stops flowing to your heart, you can potentially be the next person to have a heart attack in your 20’s or 30’s.

People need to realize how important it is that you take care of yourself. You need to choose to put good and nutritious food into your body! More important than that, you need to choose to provide good and nutritious food to your children. It is your responsibility to teach your children how to be healthy, and they will learn from you. If you are constantly eating junk food and allowing them to eat junk food, they will grow up eating junk food.

When my little sister was a toddler, we didn’t allow her to have pop until she was older. By the time she actually tried pop, she didn’t even like it. She hadn’t been introduced to it because she was always told that it was yucky and not for her, so she didn’t get it in her head that it was okay to have at that super young age when they are developing their habits. Kids need to develop healthy eating habits so that they don’t end up being unhealthy as they grow up.

Parents tend to forget that their habits can impact their children in a big way. If a child loses their parent because they had a heart attack younger than they should have from their poor eating habits, it will most-likely devastate them. We all need to be more health conscious not just for ourselves, but for those around us that care about us and don’t want to lose us to something trivial that could have been prevented!

Click Here if you are ready to finally change your eating habits and create a healthier life for yourself and your family.

Do fit people discourage you?

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I have actually had people message me on my page tell me that I shouldn’t be posting pictures of all of these people with super fit bodies on my business page because it is “fat-shaming” and makes people feel bad about themselves. My response is always this. I do NOT, nor will I ever, post something on business page for the purpose of shaming someone or making them feel bad. I post those photos to inspire, and to show people that those kinds of results ARE possible.

Sometimes I have people say things like “well those aren’t real/normal people”, or “yeah but they never struggled with weight in the first place”. My answer is always this. How do YOU know what that person has been through, and what makes YOU the judge of who is real and/or normal in this world? You cannot look at a fit person and say definitively that they have never struggled with weight issues. A lot of people look at me and say that they wouldn’t believe I had ever been classified by a doctor as obese, but I was.

When you see success stories, I don’t want you to think of it as shaming. I want you to let that be motivation for you to achieve your own success story! Try not to let those pictures of progress discourage you by thinking that they are so far ahead of you, because chances are, they started way before you and worked hard for months or even years to get the results that they have achieved.

I want you to focus on what you want to look like. I want you to imagine yourself fitting back into your old favorite pair of jeans. For me, the proverbial pair of jeans was my high school grad ring. I got it early and by the middle of my graduating year, it would no longer fit on my finger. When I started this fitness journey, I promised myself that one day I WOULD get back into that ring. I tried the ring on pretty much every week during my journey until I finally slipped it on, and it felt SO GOOD when I finally hit that goal.

I want you to feel as good as I felt getting my high school grad ring back on my finger. Click Here if you are ready to embark on your own journey.

Don’t strive to be SKINNY

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Sometimes I get responses to my invitations saying “No thanks, I’m already skinny”.

Well, let me tell you, it’s not always about getting skinny! I don’t want to be “skinny”, I want to be FIT and HEALTHY. You should never strive to JUST be skinny. There are even “skinny” people who have fat on their bodies and cellulite, and all of that unwanted stuff.

In addition, I have talked with countless “skinny” people who also have body image issues. People that are naturally super thin have these issues with their bodies just like those who are overweight, they just have issues with different things. For example, I can think of a couple of people right off the bat who have admitted that they can’t stand the fact that their butt is so flat that it doesn’t fill out their jeans. There is also that “thigh gap” goal circulating, but I know multiple people who HAVE that gap naturally and they can’t stand it.

My point is this: Strive to get fit, strive to be healthy, and strive to be toned. You can do it, and I can help you!

Click Here if you’re ready to step out of your comfort zone to change your life for the better.

Stop thinking – Start doing!

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It’s one thing to KNOW the steps that need to be taken to reach your fitness goals, to think about it, to want it, and to set a date.. It’s another thing to actually DO what you set out to do. Get out of your head about it, and JUST DO IT!

You can learn all you want about nutrition, exercising, what to do and what not to do, etc. If you don’t put what you learn to use and actually practice that which you have learned, you will never see results.

Let me ask you this: Less than 90 days from now when I post my new results photos, are you going to wish you had started sooner? Message me, and let’s talk!

Click Here if you are ready to take action now!

What are Doctors saying about Shakeology?

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Have you heard of Shakeology?

I was super skeptical to try it for the first time because I had tried so many different shakes in the past that never actually had any lasting effects. My coach at the time sent me some samples, and I actually really liked it so I decided to give it a shot. I have been drinking shakeology ever since, and I truly believe that it is without a doubt the healthiest meal of the day!

Check out what doctors have to say about it Here!

Click Here to visit my website and purchase Shakeology today.

My Fitness Pal

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Hey Everyone! I have had a couple of people in the group approach me about meal plans, so I wanted to write a blog post for everyone in case anyone else had the same issues with nutrition. I am going to do you one better than simply give you a meal plan. I am going to do for you what my coach did for me when I started getting into fitness – show you how to use myfitnesspal. This is an AMAZING tool because it takes all of guesswork out of counting calories and macronutrients (carb/protein/fat). I strongly advise each of you to create an account at www.myfitnesspal.com because it will be super helpful for you to keep track of your nutrition and make sure you’re on track. After I explain a bit about myfitnesspal and how to use the features, I will then discuss macronutrients and the levels you should be focused on depending on your goals, and then I will get into some healthy meals and snacks that you can use on your plans. Honestly, this method works SO much better than anyone simply providing you with a basic meal plan to follow day after day. Anyone can give you a meal plan, but you are GOING to get sick of the foods on the plan and you are most likely going to give up. With MFP, YOU are in charge of what you are eating and are able to change it up from day to day as long as you stay within the calorie and macro limits. You’ll fluctuate a bit in macros from day to day as you change things up, and that’s okay, as long as you are around the numbers you are supposed to be using.

Okay so how do you get started? Like I said above just go to the link, and create an account by either signing up through facebook or email. I believe it will ask you some information about your current weight and stuff like that just to help determine a calorie level. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see the “My Home” page automatically. This is where you can track your progress and see how many calories have yet to be consumed each day. Honestly though, I recommend filling out your meal plan for the day the night before. This way you can shift things around a bit to make the macros match up, that way you get them closer to the goal than if you were doing it as you ate your meals. Under the Home tab you can also visit Goals, which is where you update your calorie limit if you want it changed as well as how many workouts you do and your macro targets. If you want to change anything you just hit change goals, and then go to the Custom option to set your own fitness goals. If you have lost some weight or seen a decrease in measurements, you can track that under the Check In tab. The rest of the subtabs for home are all self-explanatory, so I’ll move on to the Food tab. This is where you do all the work! You just click the day you want to prepare, and it automatically has 3 meals and 3 snacks set out for you to update with foods. You just click “add food” and it brings up a database where you enter the food you want, click the right food and the proper amount, and click “add checked” to add it to that meal option. Once you’ve been using it for a bit there will be a bunch of foods listed under the tabs “recent and frequent” to make it easier for you to use. You can also save meals if you plan to be eating the same kinds of meals more frequently to make it easier, instead of having to repeatedly search for those ingredients or items every time you make it. If you’re making something completely original, you can visit the Recipes tab to log in all of the ingredients. This works AWESOME if you are making soups or chili or anything like that with multiple servings because all you do is put in the ingredients used and the amount of servings it makes, and MFP calculates how many calories and macros are in each serving!! Lastly, the only other thing you really need to know about MFP is the Exercise tab. This is completely optional, and I honestly don’t care if you use it or not! It is totally up to you, but if you are running or walking or doing some kind of physical activity and you want recognition for it – by all means, log it in!

Now that you know how to use MFP, let’s focus on calories and macros. This is going to differ depending on weight and size, and if you are doing workouts on a regular basis. However, as a ballpark number for those of you not doing fitness programs, I would say somewhere between 1300-1500 calories. You DO NOT want to go below 1200 calories a day. If you do, your body can enter what is called “starvation mode” and it will be completely counter-productive. A lot of people seem to believe that if you just don’t eat that much you will lose weight, but in reality your body will start storing the foods you do eat as fat because it will think it isn’t being fed enough to function properly. If you’re working out on a regular basis you will want to add 400-500 calories to that calorie range to create a deficit for the calories burned off in your workouts. Again, this will depend on your size and weight. As for macro nutrients, if you want to be on a fat burner diet I would aim for 25% carbs 25% fat and 50% protein. Everybody is different though, so if you are finding that you are sluggish and totally grouchy on that plan, you may need to modify. If that happens to you it is just because your body needs more carbs, so just bump it up in increments. So start the next day at 30% carbs and 20% fat with protein staying at 50%. If that still isn’t working for you, and it may not be when you’re just starting out, modify it again to 40% carb 40% protein and 20% fat. Once you’ve been doing your plan for a few weeks I would suggest bumping it back down and seeing how you fare. It could be that the first method was too drastic of a change starting out, but once you’re used to eating better it may be easier for you to manage the other level.

Okay so now that you know how to use myfitnesspal and you know what kind of a range you should be focused on macro- and calorie-wise, I am going to give you a list of meals and snacks that I like to have on my own plan to help you figure out some healthy foods you can be eating yourself. Keep in mind that you will want to measure everything out with measuring cups or count the chips or whatever you have to do to make sure you’re getting the amount you’re putting in to MFP – otherwise, the calculations will be off.

Meals:

-Homemade soups: You can throw in just about any vegetable you want with spices and bouillon cubes for flavor. Just try to pick something with a lower sodium content. Add some chicken if you want for a better protein source.

-Homemade chili: Throw in tomato paste and diced tomatoes with lean ground hamburger, kidney beans, chili powder and any spice you want for flavor, and whatever else you like in your chili.

-Omelet: cook a couple eggs with some egg whites (you can buy little cartons with egg white so you don’t have to waste your eggs getting the whites) and throw on chopped veggies when it is cooked.

-For meats I prefer lean ground beef and boneless skinless chicken breast. Lean ground turkey is also an option, as well as haddock and some other fish. You can add your choice of vegetable to this with white rice, sweet potato, or regular potato. Good veggie options include carrots, celery (really good for a snack if you have the munchies – people into fitness comps eat a lot of this when trying to lean down), asparagus, cucumber, peppers (any color really), and broccoli.

-Greek yogurt with fruit mixed in. I prefer to chop up strawberries, but you’re welcome to add whatever you like. Plain yogurt is better, but I can’t stand the taste so I use vanilla and just measure it to make sure the calories are the same. If you want to use plain yogurt and don’t like the taste, you can skip the fruit and add a serving of peanut butter or Nutella for flavor.

-Cheerios with almond milk.

-Shakeology with almond milk. I personally like the chocolate shakeology with vanilla flavored almond milk. I also mix in some frozen strawberries for flavor, and if I am using vanilla shakeology I mix in a teaspoon of Nutella.

-Ezekiel bread with a serving of peanut butter or Nutella.

-Stir fry: Dice up some boneless skinless chicken breasts and throw the pieces in the frying pan. You can add whatever veggies you want, some rice, and seasoning or soya sauce for flavor.

Some meals I like to have ONCE a week as a cheat meal:

-Nachos: Organic nachos (Kirkland brand, comes in a big brown paper bag at Costco), salsa, and tex mex cheese.

-Homemade pizza: You can find healthier pizza crusts at the grocery stores so you just have to go searching for one. I add pizza sauce to mine (measured out), pepperoni, pineapple, and tex mex cheese.

Snacks:

-Fruit: apple, banana, strawberries, blueberries, grapes. Try to limit yourself to 1-2 servings of fruit because they are high in natural sugars. I personally just have an apple a day and then have the strawberries in my shakeology.

-Greek yogurt as a bedtime snack.

-Plain rice cake with a serving of peanut butter or Nutella.

-Protein shake: I prefer Gold Standard chocolate whey protein from GNC. You can get cheaper stuff at Costco and other places though I am sure.

-GoGo Quinoa chocolate chip cookies: These are vegan and gluten-free, and you can purchase them at Costco.

-Skinny pop popcorn: You can find this at Costco and it is a great alternative to chips. I would recommend just having this on weekends if you are craving junk food. Measure out the proper amount. It is only 39 calories a cup, but you still want to measure so you know how much you’re eating. Trust me lol I know from experience that it is easy to eat way more than you’re supposed to with this stuff if you don’t measure :P

-Almond and unsalted roasted cashews are good in moderation, but you don’t want to have too many.

There you go! Now with the snacks I would recommend having 2-3 snacks a day that are between 100-200 calories and then your meals in between. To make it easier on yourself for on the go snacks, you can get little Ziploc baggies and measure out those amounts in whatever snack item you want and put them in a basket on the counter so that you can easily grab and go on the fly! There are tons of other healthy foods out there as well, but this is just a template to get you started from my own personal diet. I hope you find this useful. Please feel free to comment on this thread with any questions that you may have or if you need clarification on anything. I stopped using MFP for a while because when you’re eating the same foods all the time you kind of get used to the macros lol, but I will be starting up again soon. You’re welcome to add me as a friend on there if you want (handle is jsajm) to review my food journals in the days to come once I start using it again. If you’re not sure you’re on track, you can also just tell me to visit your page and check out your food diary.

Click Here if you would like to take me on as your coach!

Motivation Myth

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A lot of people that I have talked to have said that their main problem with weight loss and fitness is that they lack the motivation. The truth of the matter is, motivation is just a myth – you have to CREATE the motivation. First what you need to do is sit down and really think about your current body and weight, and how it affects your life and the lives of those around you. If you have children in your life, think about how your weight and current fitness level effects them and think about the kind of example that you want to set for them. Think about any bad experiences you may have had in the past related to your weight, any negative feelings it has caused, stuff like that. Think about WHY you want to lose weight, get in shape, tone, add muscle, etc. In order to keep you going your reason has to be more powerful than just “Because I want to look good”. Take some time to really think about this, and then write ALL of your reasons down. As you progress through your fitness program you will need to use these reasons as fuel to keep you going. Any time that you feel your motivation slipping, return to those notes that you took in the very beginning and think about why you started in the first place.

Sometimes thinking about your why isn’t enough, for example, it is also important to have goals. If you have long term goals, that is great, but the short term goals are the most important. If you just say I want to lose 30 pounds and then a month later you still aren’t close to hitting that goal, you will probably get frustrated and slip up. Instead, focus on setting smaller goals and reward yourself as you reach them. Keep a record of your goals, both long term and short term, and cross them off as you reach them. Writing them down helps to solidify it in your mind as something that you CAN and WILL achieve. In addition, it helps to voice your goals to others because it gives you a sense of accountability. If other people know about your goals, you won’t want to give up and admit defeat as easily. Keep sticky notes somewhere you can see them daily, like a mirror in your room or something, and write some of your favorite motivational quotes on them alongside your most recent short term goal. This is kind of the “eye on the prize” philosophy, it keeps your goal on your mind at all times and helps to keep you focused.

Here is my example: When I started P90X last May (2013), I honestly didn’t think I would make it all the way through the program. I’ve since completed two rounds of P90X and a round each of Turbo Fire and Les Mills PUMP, and lost a total of 55 pounds. Before that I had tried P90X and the gym MANY times before, and I always failed to make it to the second month. I would start and stop, binge on junk food for a bit, then start and stop again. It got to a point where I realized that I was over 200 pounds and I didn’t think that I could work out, so I started trying all of those crazy weight loss money grabs out there like Visalus shakes, Body wraps, weight loss pills, fad diets, juice cleanses, etc. I wasted hundreds of dollars on all of these crazy products that would either not work at all, or work in the first week as I lost the water weight and then the weight would come right back on. I decided last April that I did not want to spend my University grad year the same way I spent my high school grad year; stuck on the sidelines hiding because of my weight. I decided that I needed to take CHARGE of my life, and that in order to get the body that I wanted that I would have to WORK for it. So that is exactly what I started doing. Last May I found myself a coach, and a great group of like-minded individuals going through Beachbody programs as well. Having a support group is definitely important, and was instrumental to my success. In addition to that were all of my reasons for REALLY wanting it. I thought back to any kid who ever called me fat in school, to all of those parties and school events that I skipped because I was ashamed of how I looked, to all of the summers I spent hiding in my house avoiding the heat and the beaches or pools because I was too embarassed about my weight to show up in those places in summer clothes or bathing suits, and most of all, I thought about my grad year of high school and first three years of university where I completely isolated myself and lived with depression and self loathing for how far I had let myself go. THOSE were my reasons for continuing, and I used all of the negative feelings and experiences to act as fuel and motivation to keep going whenever I wanted to give up. I won’t lie to you, it isn’t easy at first, but once you start noticing the benefits of regular exercise and your mood starts to improve you won’t WANT to stop.

I hope these tips help! If you are ready to start your own fitness journey, shoot me a message and we can talk about your goals and figure out the best program for you. You’ll have my support along the way, as well as a whole team of like-minded individuals in a private Facebook group with over a thousand members.

Click Here if you’re ready to join my team and take a challenge!

How/Why I became a Beachbody Coac

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I am often asked about my story, and I finally took the time to write it all out to share it with all of you!

My name is Jessica, and I am now a Beachbody Coach. I was never a really thin girl, but I was happy and confident in size 5 jeans until about grade 10. I then got the birth control needle (DEPO) and had major complications, including weight gain. That was just the tip of the iceberg, because as I continued to gain weight I dropped further and further in confidence and self-esteem. I then began comforting myself with foods. The bad foods caused me to continue to gain weight through to grade 12, which made me isolate myself from others in school. Grade 12 was a very lonely year, so I just focused on doing the best that I could in my classes.

I went to university thinking that would be my big break and I would make new friends and have a fresh start, but I soon realized that I isolated myself there as well. I didn’t know anyone, so I skipped all of the frosh week activities because I lacked the confidence to go alone. I skipped out on events and parties because I didn’t feel pretty or skinny enough. I avoided dating because I couldn’t stand to see myself without clothes, let alone let anyone else see me. And worst of all, I avoided the beach and going swimming in pools all of those years because I hated the way I looked in a bikini. It wasn’t until the end of my third year in university, at over 200lbs, that I decided that I needed to make a change.

For about six years I had been through a never ending cycle of feeling down about myself, comforting myself with food, and then gaining more weight and feeling even worse. I had gone through pretty much every diet out there, a few juice cleanses, a bunch of different diet pills or drinks, even body wraps; nothing worked. I was finally fed up with wasting money on the next magic diet or weight loss item that was supposed to make you skinny with zero effort. I decided to take charge of my own life, and to work for what I wanted: Enter Beachbody.

I dug out P90X, which my mom had bought me back in high school, and decided to give that a go. It was hard at first, but I got better day by day. I kept a food journal on MyFitnessPal to track my food intake and make sure my macros lined up, and I started getting shakeology and drinking that daily. I also found a great coach, and he and his wife/teammate helped me along the three months and put me in an amazing challenge group full of likeminded people struggling to achieve their own goals. I realized that it isn’t about having the motivation to work out, it is about WANTING the results and forcing yourself to do what is required to get them. At least in the beginning anyway! Once I started seeing a difference in my body it was very exciting, and it made me WANT to go down to the basement gym and do my workouts.

Three months passed and I had come a long way, but I had a long way to go. I decided to become a coach for two primary reasons. First, I knew at this point that there were so many more people out there who were feeling the exact same way about themselves that I had been feeling about myself all of those years, and I wanted to be able to provide them with the gift that I had received and help them achieve their goals. Second, I knew if I was a coach and I had other people relying on me, it would help me stay accountable and keep up with my own workouts!

I started coaching, but I continued doing my workouts. I did two rounds of P90X, a round of Turbo Fire, a round of LES Mills Pump, and a round of ChaLEAN Extreme with some LES Mills Combat thrown in. I gained muscle definition, and went from plus sizes down to a size 10 jeans and size medium in dresses. For me, that was HUGE! I started to gain my confidence back throughout this process, and I took more and more pictures (which was something I had avoided for years). I started going out with friends and having fun at parties. I was in a relationship for a while, and a few months after that ended I started dating a bit. I even went backpacking through Europe this past summer, and yes, I went to the beach in a BIKINI! I am very happy to say that I did not end my university career the same way that I ended my high school years. I lost 55lbs, I made some friends in that last year, and I actually had fun.

Beachbody truly changed my life, because I could never have done it on my own. There are so many programs to pick from, so I honestly believe that there is something for everyone! I am still working toward MY ideal body, and I may not know exactly what that is until I achieve it, but I do know that I will be achieving it with Beachbody.

I am so excited to be a part of a community of individuals working toward a healthier and stronger life, while having the opportunity to share that lifestyle with those who desperately need some positive changes in their own lives. It is such a great feeling to watch someone reach their goals as you coach them through this wonderful journey. We are all blessed as coaches to be able to call this our job!

Click Here if you are ready to embark on your own health and fitness journey! I would love to coach you through this amazing process :)

My Transformation

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#Throwback to the time when I weighed over 200 pounds and I avoided crowds at all costs, had zero confidence in myself, refrained from swimming for years because I couldn’t stand to see myself in a bathing suit, refused to have my picture taken because I didn’t want more proof that I was fat, and so many more side-effects to being overweight.

Enter Beachbody and the coaching system – My life changed. I found a great coach with an awesome team and a large support system on Facebook with people all over the world going through the exact same thing as me. Engaging with these people every day helped me keep my focus and stay motivated to continue when I had never been able to do that on my own before – not for lack of trying. Before Beachbody I had started and stopped with the gym and various workouts, never making it more than a few weeks. I had tried just about every weight loss pill, drink, wrap, diet, cleanse, etc. None of which gave me lasting results. I finally decided in May 2013 that I could not, and WOULD NOT let myself go through graduation year of university the way I went through my high school grad year – alone and miserable.

So I got to work with P90X, one of Beachbody’s awesome programs. This started me on a path that I will never forget. I’ve lost 55 pounds and counting. I now enjoy and look forward to the workouts that I used to have to force myself to do. I have a lot of fun, and I’ve gotten my life back. I have confidence in myself again. I have gone swimming in a bikini again. I finally had the courage to cross one of my dreams off of my bucket list this summer when I went backpacking through Europe.

Fitness isn’t just about losing weight. Fitness is about overall health and happiness, and when you are exercising and eating right you will start seeing progress that will make you feel great. That is what keeps you going, and the little milestones along the way that make you happy is what gradually starts to change your whole outlook on life. Before, I was grumpy and depressed all the time. Now, I am pretty content most of the time. Fitness and nutrition is a total mind and body transformation, and I owe this all to Beachbody for providing me with the tools that I needed to make this transformation happen.

Thank you #Beachbody