My story

UPDATE: As of April 2016, I am no longer a Team Beachbody Coach. I love Beachbody and their programs, and want to continue to be a resource for those following their programs in addition to programs outside of the Beachbody company. My mission is still the same – to help you achieve optimal health! As a disclaimer, I am now an affiliate blogger, so your shopping through my links will enable me to continue providing you valuable material for your fitness journey! Thank you for your support!

Hi, I’m Tina. I live in beautiful upstate NY with an awesome hubby of five years, 15 year old stepdaughter, and two toddlers (ages 3 and 5). I’m a “stay at home but not really” mom rocking a minivan.

The beginnings of my story might sound familiar to you. I have struggled with being overweight for my entire life. Even when I was in elementary school, I can remember being in the nurse’s office with my classmates so they could weigh us and check us. Mentally I would compare my number with my classmates. I wasn’t bothered by it at that point, but it was something that was noticed. I was never extremely overweight – on average I weighed 10 lbs more than my classmates.

When I was 12, my parents decide to put me on a diet. Their intentions were good, but up until that point, I had no problems about my body image. The very first night, my parents served fish for dinner. Now, I hate fish. If it ever swam in the ocean, it never appealed to me. My parents knew of my dislike for fish, but they forced me to eat it anyway, because it was “healthy”. I didn’t have much choice but to give in, so I took a bite. It was the most repulsive bite of food I ever put in my mouth. I started gagging, and literally could not stomach the fish. That evening turned out to be one a very traumatic experience that followed me into adulthood. My parents learned not to force fish upon me anymore (I’m so thankful they never got around to forcing grapefruit or cottage cheese – their other two “diet” staples).

That event started a cycle that lasted well through most of my adult years. I’d not be happy with my body, so I’d go on a diet. I’d stick with it for a couple of weeks, and either quit or begin a slow backslide to my former habits. On a few occasions I’d either join a gym and hop on the elliptical, or pull out a Richard Simmons video and that would be it. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, Atkins, Biggest Loser Diet, Dash Diet (that one stopped before I got anywhere), Rosie O’Donnell’s “Eat Less, Move More”, diet pills and supplements, and probably a few more that fail my memory. Usually, my biggest factors for quitting were

1. Hunger
2. Boredom
3. Lack of confidence
4. Uncooperative scales
5. Too busy
6. Crazy life event

With all of my dieting experience, you’d think I’d be one skinny Minnie by now, right? Unfortunately, my failures greatly outweighed my successes. I had the knowledge. I knew what to do. I had every excuse available and utilized them to the best of my abilities. And no one was ever the wiser because I always did it alone.

Fast forward to January, 2010. Newly married, and one night I cried to my husband, saying “I’m ready to make that change. Tomorrow morning I’m going to change my health.” I told him with the expectation of doing it alone with his support, but he responded that not only would he support me, but he would join me in the journey. So we embarked on making our families healthier. We researched. We had some trial and errors as we worked to find something that would work for us. We worked out together. I did more research. We collectively lost almost 100 pounds before I got pregnant with our son.

With both of my pregnancies, I completely fell off the board and gained a lot more weight than I should have gained. After both of my children were born, I made the (re-)commitment to go back living healthy. Losing weight after my daughter was harder after the birth of my daughter. Despite my constant exercising, running 5Ks, counting calories (inconsistently, I must confess), I got to my pre-pregnancy weight and stalled. And yo-yo’d the same 5-10lbs over and over again. The cycle lasted for a year.

I was tired of counting calories. Trying to limit myself to 1,200 calories either led to extreme hunger or major slip-ups. I was so desperate to get the scale in the right direction, and it only left me frustrated. I never lost the desire to be healthy, but I definitely was missing something.

Then I read about the 21 Day Fix. YESSSSS! I wasn’t looking for a diet. I didn’t want a gimmick. I wanted guidance for solid nutrition, without shortcuts, artificial sweeteners, or pills. As a mom of two toddlers, it had to be EASY. I did further research and was so excited about it, that I texted my husband at work asking if I could buy the program. (I couldn’t wait until he got home). I found a coach, and discovered there were challenge groups available for support. Support? I was ready to support OTHER people! For many years, I have dreamed of becoming a personal trainer or nutritionist. I wanted to help other people with their weight loss journey the way I would have wanted help. I believed in the product enough to enlist MYSELF as a coach.