My Story. Before and After Pics

I'm hoping my story will inspire others that anything is possible. )

Hi.

My name is Michelle and until 2006 I was a bored eater, emotional eater, no working out, low self esteem, sugar junkie. When I hit puberty is when I started gaining. Actually, let me rephrase even in elementary school I was bigger than the other girls. I was constantly picked on by almost every other kid. I was fat, I wore glasses, my parents were poor and I didn't have the "in style" clothes everyone else had. So of course I ate my emotions. On top of that my parents and grandparents didn't eat healthy themselves so I didn't have an example to learn from. When I was in middle school I actually had the balls to try out for the dance team and actually make it. But of course I was the fattest on the entire team. And they made us wear these SUPER tight sequin one piece skirt type deals. So of course I got made fun of even more. Then on top of that being so overweight compared to the other girls meant I couldn't do nearly as many moves as the other girls could. So needless to say the one move I thought would help me (joining the team) did nothing but the opposite and make me wanna crawl in a hole and die.



Onto High School, still had lots of weight hanging around. Taking my first job at McDonalds of course didn't help me in any way shape or form. I did however meet my husband there and when I did and we started dating I think I gained a confidence boost. And it helped me a lot. Fast forward and we were married and onto our first kid. Before getting pregnant I had actually lost a little bit of weight. How much I really don't know b/c I wasn't trying to lose it just sort of happened with me working all the time I guess. I never even really jumped on a scale back then. After giving birth of course is when I gained and the weight stayed around. We were living in SC after our son was born and I was in a size 15 pants. I so desperately wanted to lose the weight cause when I was a teen I was in a size 13 and I had noticed I was gaining weight. I ordered "The Firm" workout on tv one day and began doing that. Again, I never weighed or took measurements. I was still clueless to weight loss at this point. I felt like I lost a little b/c my jeans got looser. But I didn't stick with the workout b/c my knees started hurting a lot. I figure my knees were hurting b/c of dancing back in the day. I would later learn that the only reason my knees hurt was b/c I was so big and putting a lot of pressure on them. After the weight was gone all back and knee problems vanished. SO anyway, gave up on the workout, it bored me. Gained weight again.



Child number 2 came along. Gained even more weight considering I never lost any from the first child. Before birth I remember weighing in at around 230 something in the hospital. Went home and was around 218. I remember having to buy a size 18 pants. Biggest I had ever had to buy. Immediately got depressed. Noticed my husband didn't even want to be around me much. I think such a weight gain scared him and he thought I'd always be that way. (I really don't know what went on in his head. But it wasn't good.) We began fighting a lot. And I really think it was cause I wasn't happy with myself and I had pretty much given up hope.



He went on his first deployment (Marines) when my daughter was 2. I was still big when he left. That's when I seen the infomercial for Turbo Jam. It looked really fun. I would later realize that not only am I a bored eater, but I'm also a bored worker outer. (Worker outer? I know that's not a word. lol) I realized why I didn't stick with The Firm workout. Cause it bored me with it's only 3 workouts. So anyway, I ordered it and immediately jumped right into it. I loved the bodies of the Chalene and the other girls and that's what I wanted. Also around this time my dad was diagnosed with diabetes. He didn't even tell me cause I think he was ashamed. I didn't want that to happen to me either and I think that motivated me. But deep down inside, I knew I was doing it cause I wanted self confidence. I would later learn that even if you're doing it for that reason, it was ok. I wanted to feel "pretty", I wanted to wear halter tops, and strapless tops, and a pretty ball gown instead of one that covered my entire body. I wanted to talk more instead of being in a corner shut off from everyone else. I wasn't happy with myself in any way shape or form. And when I wasn't happy with myself, nobody else was happy with me.



After starting the TJ program and eating right. (No fast food, no sweet teas, no eating after 7, small portions.) I began to lose around a pound a day. I'll admit I began to get obsessed with it. I was doing more than one TJ workout a day and I also began running. (which I never thought I'd do.) I then started to order the 3 other Turbo Jam sets. I had the entire collection. Which was good b/c it meant I could change it up every day and I wasn't gonna get bored. Btw, you should have seen how happy I was when Turbo Fire came out. lol So many dvd's to do that were even more fun. I was ecstatic. lol But doing all the dvd's helped me lose weight even fast I think. I lost around 50 pounds in just 3 months. My husband didn't even recognize me. It also didn't help that I had dyed my hair black too. But he walked right past me when he got off the bus from deployment. It was also cold out so I had on a black jacket that went to my knees. So when we went inside and I took the jacket off he was really floored to see how much thinner I was.



I continued to work on my workouts and eating right even after he got home. I thought it would be hard, but I realized I had put my mind to doing it while he was gone and if I put my mind to doing it while he was home I could still do it. Even if it was harder. But I noticed I was definitely happier. Happier with myself. I finally had more self esteem. I had confidence. I was down to 137. At 5' 7". I fluctuate now from time to time. BUT...I don't really beat myself up about it anymore cause I know now that I have the tools and the mindset to take it off again. I know that my weight will probably yo-yo back and forth a bit throughout my life. And I'm ok with that too. As long as I make the right decisions to still eat healthy and get it off again.

I still haven't reached my ultimate goals. But I know I will someday if I stick to what I'm doing. (I'd LOVE to one day do a fitness competition!) I know that it's a never ending journey that I will battle my entire life. There is no quick fix and I'm just gonna have to live with struggling every day to not eat that slice of cake, or make brownies. Each day I feel I get stronger and stronger though and it becomes easier and easier to say no to such foods. I really do feel like I can do anything now and I realized I made A LOT of excuses back in the day. I mean a lot. Now I realize there is no excuses and that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it and I do what it takes to stay motivated. Part of the reason why I became a Coach. It motivates me. My workouts, business, friends, and everything else has now given me the confidence to know that I'll be ok. And I'm very thankful. Cause I know that if I hadn't discovered Beachbody and Turbo Jam and the support system, workouts, friends, meal plans and so much more I'd still be that overweight gal, sitting in the corner, head in a book never wanting to do anything.

So there's my story I guess pretty much. I'm sure I might have left somethings out that I'll remember later. lol I hope I didn't bore you all too much. But that's a glimpse into the life of me. lol


One thing I can also say is TJ and Beachbody have given me the confidence to even get trained in formats to one day teach as a group fitness instructor. I'm now a certified TurboKick Instructor granted I'm not teaching just yet b/c I still have a lot to learn. But if it wasn't for all I've been through I'd never to have been able to do it.





Another Before:

Another After:

I also have other pics posted to my profile.

Please feel free to add me. )