There is something you need to know about me. I am very tall. I am 5’11 inches tall. I have been this tall for as long as I can remember. I think I was this tall in middle school. My height, along with my huge, frizzy, curly hair, and my buck teeth complete with silver metal braces made me feel...bad. The opposite of confident. People ALWAYS made comments about my height when all I wanted was to be the same as everyone else. Any tall girls out there know what I’m talking about? Virtual fist bump to you that we made it through.
When you are a tall, skinny, girl in middle school, unless you are extremely naturally talented at a sport, everyone makes you feel as though you should play basketball. EVERYONE always told me that I should play basketball. This included family members, friends, non-friends, friends’ mothers, friends’ fathers, neighbors, random check out people at stores, my doctor...should I go on? But GUESS WHAT? I was not talented at basketball! My body was growing ahead of my coordination and I couldn’t dribble a ball, let alone shoot it into a hoop. Every physical activity was embarrassing to me. I felt like an idiot during every gym class. Big shout out to my seventh grade gym teacher for shouting in front of every cute boy: “Speed it up, swan legs!” Did I mention that when you are tall you are also supposed to be fast?
I’m going to stop talking about because it is upsetting me, nearly thirty years later. The point is this: I attribute feeling like I had no control over my body plus feeling like everyone had an opinion about my body to the fact that I never got into sports. I was a reader and sports weren’t really my jam anyway. But because of this I never exercised when I was a kid. I was also extremely skinny so weight was never an issue.
Until later.
Eventually, later in my twenties my bad habits and my metabolism finally caught up with me and I gained about forty pounds. I still had that forty pounds on me when I became pregnant with my first son. With that pregnancy, I gained another forty pounds. Six months after he was born I began to diet for the first time ever. I did Weight Watchers, which worked! It got rid of the baby weight, plus a little bit more. But, I could never tone up because I hated exercise. I hated the gym, I hated running. I wanted to like the gym. I wanted to like running. But I didn’t.
Then, one year after my first son was born, I found out I was pregnant with my second son. Hello, another fifty pounds! Again, I dieted after he was born and lost the weight.
Fast forward a few years to last summer. My husband’s best friend, his wife who I love, and their two super cutie kids came over one afternoon for a visit and to swim. His wife had just begun to talk about a new role for her as a coach for a company called Beachbody. I didn’t know what that was, but I knew that her arms were out of this world. I was in awe of her beautiful, toned arms. I couldn’t stop talking about them. Thinking back, it probably got a little weird.
So, I asked her about it and told her I would like to give it a shot. Remember, I am a teacher, so I am home in the summer. I figured I had plenty of time to give it a try, whatever it was. So, she told me what to do to get started and I did it. “It” was this:
I ordered Shakeology, a healthy, powder full of protein and vitamins and nutrients. You make a shake once a day. It tastes sinful, it is so good.
I ordered the 21 Day Fix workout. This is a workout that you do for 21 straight days, a different thirty minute video every day of the week. Within Beachbody there are tons of exercise programs to choose from: P90X is one you have probably heard of.
And I just did it. I gave it a shot. And at the end of those twenty one days I had lost two pounds and six inches on my body. But I had gained exercise confidence. I could do this! And what’s more, I loved it! And I felt great! And I no longer felt tired. I had felt tired every day for almost a decade. That was gone. That was amazing.
So, eight months later, I am still doing it. I am currently doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme, but for months I did only yoga. I have lost a total of six pounds and EIGHTEEN inches off my body. I am down two sizes and have muscle places where I definitely did not before.
I feel GOOD. I feel happy and awake and alive. So, my answer is: YES! Beachbody! Do it! TRY IT! It is not a scam, it is the real deal, and the only thing that has ever worked for me in my life!
When you are a tall, skinny, girl in middle school, unless you are extremely naturally talented at a sport, everyone makes you feel as though you should play basketball. EVERYONE always told me that I should play basketball. This included family members, friends, non-friends, friends’ mothers, friends’ fathers, neighbors, random check out people at stores, my doctor...should I go on? But GUESS WHAT? I was not talented at basketball! My body was growing ahead of my coordination and I couldn’t dribble a ball, let alone shoot it into a hoop. Every physical activity was embarrassing to me. I felt like an idiot during every gym class. Big shout out to my seventh grade gym teacher for shouting in front of every cute boy: “Speed it up, swan legs!” Did I mention that when you are tall you are also supposed to be fast?
I’m going to stop talking about because it is upsetting me, nearly thirty years later. The point is this: I attribute feeling like I had no control over my body plus feeling like everyone had an opinion about my body to the fact that I never got into sports. I was a reader and sports weren’t really my jam anyway. But because of this I never exercised when I was a kid. I was also extremely skinny so weight was never an issue.
Until later.
Eventually, later in my twenties my bad habits and my metabolism finally caught up with me and I gained about forty pounds. I still had that forty pounds on me when I became pregnant with my first son. With that pregnancy, I gained another forty pounds. Six months after he was born I began to diet for the first time ever. I did Weight Watchers, which worked! It got rid of the baby weight, plus a little bit more. But, I could never tone up because I hated exercise. I hated the gym, I hated running. I wanted to like the gym. I wanted to like running. But I didn’t.
Then, one year after my first son was born, I found out I was pregnant with my second son. Hello, another fifty pounds! Again, I dieted after he was born and lost the weight.
Fast forward a few years to last summer. My husband’s best friend, his wife who I love, and their two super cutie kids came over one afternoon for a visit and to swim. His wife had just begun to talk about a new role for her as a coach for a company called Beachbody. I didn’t know what that was, but I knew that her arms were out of this world. I was in awe of her beautiful, toned arms. I couldn’t stop talking about them. Thinking back, it probably got a little weird.
So, I asked her about it and told her I would like to give it a shot. Remember, I am a teacher, so I am home in the summer. I figured I had plenty of time to give it a try, whatever it was. So, she told me what to do to get started and I did it. “It” was this:
I ordered Shakeology, a healthy, powder full of protein and vitamins and nutrients. You make a shake once a day. It tastes sinful, it is so good.
I ordered the 21 Day Fix workout. This is a workout that you do for 21 straight days, a different thirty minute video every day of the week. Within Beachbody there are tons of exercise programs to choose from: P90X is one you have probably heard of.
And I just did it. I gave it a shot. And at the end of those twenty one days I had lost two pounds and six inches on my body. But I had gained exercise confidence. I could do this! And what’s more, I loved it! And I felt great! And I no longer felt tired. I had felt tired every day for almost a decade. That was gone. That was amazing.
So, eight months later, I am still doing it. I am currently doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme, but for months I did only yoga. I have lost a total of six pounds and EIGHTEEN inches off my body. I am down two sizes and have muscle places where I definitely did not before.
I feel GOOD. I feel happy and awake and alive. So, my answer is: YES! Beachbody! Do it! TRY IT! It is not a scam, it is the real deal, and the only thing that has ever worked for me in my life!
I love it so much I have signed up to be a coach. And although I don't think I am going to quit my day job and sing Beachbody from the rafters, I am here to quietly help anyone who feels like maybe they want to take a little jump into a healthier lifestyle. I can promise you that I went into this with full skepticism, and I am in it now for real. I am in it for ME and my health and my kids and my life. Not bad for an overly tall, self conscious, swan legged girl!
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