Without a doubt in my mind, you would! And if the movie or restaurant was terrible, you'd make sure I knew that too! Well, did you know that I reversed THREE medical conditions I had?!? Why am I passionate about Beachbody? Why do I recommend programs/supplements without reservation? I hope you'll take the time to find out. Let me warn you, this is LONG, but I'm pouring my heart and soul into it to show you WHERE I cam from and hope to inspire you to make changes yourself...this company saved my life...it might save YOUR life too!!
Okay, so you may be thinking, "Of course I know WHY you love Beachbody...you lost over 50 lbs doing workouts in your house...I've heard you say that before...I get it!"
But there's MORE to that story. First of all, the weight you've seen disappear (and stay gone) on the outside doesn't even COMPARE with the confidence and self-esteem I've GAINED on the inside. But did you know about the THREE different medical conditions I had that are either gone or have reversed themselves?
Probably the MOST troublesome one for me was the IBS I was dealing with. For those of you who have not heard about it, IBS is irritable bowel syndrome. I'm pretty sure that's the diagnosis they give when they KNOW something is wrong, but they just don't know what it is. For me, it started in my 20s. There were foods I couldn't eat or places I couldn't go without fear of not being able to make it to a restroom in time (and embarrassing as it is to admit, there were a handful of times when I COULDN'T). Outback Steakhouse STILL has me worried...that's right, I literally CAN NOT make it out of their restaurant without NEEDING the bathroom 2-3 times. I've even gone so far as to ask for a salad with grilled chicken...bland...no spices and I STILL get sick to my stomach. I've carried Immodium AD on me for as long as I can remember. I've had a barium enema, an endoscopy, and even colonoscopy done (they knocked me out to do the latter two, and I woke up in the middle of it...not a good feeling). The doctor thought I had Crohn's Disease and treated my symptoms the same way (even though the diagnosis was IBS). Basically, I was to take loperamide (Immodium), some funny looking blue pill to relax the muscles, and was told to monitor my diet. Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that our healthcare system doesn't cover many "extra" things (even with the high premiums we pay for insurance), so paying for these funny blue pills became difficult because of the cost. Instead, I opted to just use the Immodium when I needed it.
Aside from the IBS (which was the biggest pain in the butt to me...literally and figuratively), I have a congenital heart murmur. When I was heavier, I began having chest pain more and more frequently. At one point, it bothered me so much that I ended up seeing a cardiologist. He told me that my heart murmur was pronounced (easily heard). After running tests (chest x-ray, EKG, and echocardiogram), it was determined that I had MVP. Yeah, in my mind I was the most valuable player...in the cardiology world, I had mitral valve prolapse. This meant that the valve that separates the upper and lower chambers on the left side didn't close properly. The doctor's suggestion was to start exercising and watching what I ate. I listened...for about a month.
Because I wasn't exercising, and I wasn't watching what I ate (other than to watch it enter my mouth), I continued to gain weight. Then, when I tried to lose weight...I was attempting to exercising, I was having a HARD time...nothing seemed to help...eating right wasn't working...exercising wasn't working...something was wrong!!! I was getting depressed and seemed tired all of the time. My primary care physician was concerned enough that he sent me to an endocrinologist. HUH?!? That's a DIABETES doctor...I don't have diabetes!!! Well, blood tests were done and the results weren't favorable...he told me I was borderline for having hypothyroidism (which could have been affecting the above two mentioned conditions which is why when people tell me they have trouble losing weight, one of my first suggestions is to go to the doctor and have their thyroid levels tested) and I'd be required to go on medication for the rest of my life if it didn't improve. Add to that nodules and a goiter he discovered. "Don't worry, thyroid cancer is the BEST one to get," he assured me. WHAT?!? Did he just say CANCER?!? I'm at a diabetes doctor talking about hypo something or other and cancer...really?!? I was beyond baffled. This doctor also told me that I needed to watch my diet, lose weight, blah blah blah.
You'd think that with THREE doctors making suggestions about nutrition and exercise that something would knock some sense into me, and I'd take care of it. NOPE...the thing is, I didn't know where to turn. I was too embarrassed to go into a gym (I had little to no self-esteem/confidence), I had been eating improperly for so long that I didn't know WHAT healthy meant anymore, and making changes is just plain scary.
It wasn't until I moved away from family and friends, and finally left my ex-husband, that I decided *I* NEEDED to do this FOR MY SON. I knew that there were some things in life you have no control over (like a car accident that claims a life), but I knew there WERE some things that I most certainly DID have control over. It was time for me to step up, make changes, and get healthy so that I COULD see my son graduate from high school and college, get married, have children of his own, and so on.
So, while unpacking the FEW things I owned (I started my life over...basically with nothing to my name), I came across a Power90 DVD I purchased back in 2005. What the heck?!? I popped it into the DVD player and just did what Tony Horton told me to do. It WASN'T easy at first, but I made the modifications he suggested: don't jump, take steps instead...don't touch the floor, only touch your knee or shin, etc. Little by little, I improved and before long, I had dropped weight. I still wasn't monitoring my eating at that point. Sad that I only had one disk (it came with more, but I only had one and couldn't get the stuff back), I started using the gym at my clubhouse. Again, this was helping, but I hit a plateau...it didn't matter how much I worked out, nothing else was changing.
Knowing that I enjoyed the Power90 DVDs (they were simple enough to follow and I was seeing results), I decided that I would go online and reorder the full set. While there, I noticed another program that I had heard about previously...Slim in 6. There was P90X and Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs...WOW, I thought...I had SEEN these programs on infomercials. I didn't realize they were all part of the same company.
I thought long and hard about 90 days and 6 weeks, and decided to go with the Slim in 6 because I figured it was only 6 weeks...something I could COMMIT to and SUCCEED at!! I also bought the Hip Hop Abs because it looked like fun! LOL While doing Slim in 6, I began seeing results and started to monitor my food choices on the free site My Fitness Pal () which is a free site that gives you little red and green numbers to show you if you're in your range for the day on nutrition. I didn't know much, so I tried to stay within the calories and eat low fat food. I saw results, but if I knew THEN what I know NOW, I bet my results would have been even MORE drastic!!
After losing weight and inches (these made MORE of a difference than the pounds), I needed new clothes, and I was a believer. THIS was a company that was showing people a way...they just had to SEE it!!! I became a coach at that point to save myself some money (coaches save 25%) and figured if I wanted to reach my GOAL weight, it will FORCE me to hold myself accountable (you know how sometimes a TITLE will do that to you, right?). From there it was all history...as a coach, we get a special offer to get a Showcase pack (P90X, Slim in 6, Hip Hop Abs, Turbo Jam, Power90, & Yoga Booty Ballet) for only $199...it was worth it for the P90X alone in my mind, and yeah, I had doubles of programs, but then I could share them with others!!
I've used P90X, Insanity, Turbo Jam, ChaLEAN Extreme, Power90, Hip Hop Abs, and Slim in 6. I *KNOW* first hand the products work, but the saving the life part may seem EXTREME for me to claim. Well, by adding in Shakeology, I NO LONGER have IBS issues...that's right NONE (okay, I have them on occasion, but ONLY when I'm OUT of Shakeology, so being on HOME DIRECT where it's shipped monthly helps with that). I also STOPPED taking vitamins. Yeah, the money I was paying for vitamins is going towards my Shakeology supply. This stuff single handedly is a miracle drink to me. It corrected my stomach issues, gives me energy, and helped me lose weight. I've got customers who have shared that's it's lowered their cholesterol too (stumping their doctors even). I don't worry about what to eat for breakfast...it's my meal of choice and only $3 per meal at that (as a coach, saving 25% and no shipping cost if on home direct). I also can't remember the last time I took Immodium AD...now, I seem to carry it in case someone else needs it.
My cardiologist compliments me on my excellent condition and he too is using Beachbody programs/supplements (One-on-One, P90X, Insanity, & Shakeology)...makes you wonder when DOCTORS are using it. The best part about my annual visits to him are that my heart doesn't seem to have any issues. In fact, he tells me that my heart murmur can't be heard and the mitral valve prolapse can't be seen!
Finally, and this also blew me away, the hypothyroidism issue is a thing of the past. By learning how to eat properly and exercising, not only did my numbers improve, it helped to reverse the problem. That's right, in the process, I must have fixed my metabolism and retaught it how to process foods. Now, it's gone to the other extreme...it's sped up, and I LOVE to eat...I eat ALL of the time...I just know HOW to eat!!!
As you can see, when something makes an impression on you, you don't think twice about sharing the information with family/friends. Beachbody has changed my life on so many levels. If you're looking for help, and you don't know where to start, PLEASE consider this my hand reaching out to you and GRAB ON!!! Let me know what I can do to help. If you're READY to make a change and know the program you're looking for, go to and order through my website and I'll be assigned as your free coach to help you with questions related to workouts or nutrition (if you've already ordered through Beachbody, then a coach as been assigned to you, so he/she should be able to assist you or if you haven't had contact with him/her, you can switch to my team).
My goal is to simply pay it forward...Beachbody has created the means...now it's up to you to make it happen...it CAN be done...and I HIGHLY recommend jumping aboard!!!
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