BODY FAT: 30.1% – 20.3% LOST 14LBS FAT LOST 14.5 INCHES
It’s all about your mindset.
Decide that you can do it, then commit and succeed. People who know me will confirm – I am a super busy person! I work full-time running my own business. I work the “other full-time” taking care of my family: two sons, Jonathon (16) and Andrew (12) and my husband, Marc, each with their own very active schedules and resulting demands on my time. In my “spare time,” I work out each day, run the household and, when I can, volunteer some time with our school and synagogue. Marc and I have an active social calendar with friends and family, and like to travel when we can. Finding time to focus and take care of myself is usually pretty low on the priority list. So, when my trainer, Michelle Diaz, asked me to take the Lean and Mean Challenge, my initial response was NO.
I took the challenge 2 years ago, so I knew what it would take to be successful. Last year I wouldn’t commit. My head wasn’t in it. Truthfully, up to the week before the start of this year’s challenge, I still wasn’t sure I had it in me.
Michelle is great at a lot of things – but taking “no” for an answer is just not one of them. She was persistent in her message: it was time to focus more of my attention on me. The excuses were over, too much time was going by. It was time to find that commitment again. It is still not clear to me if I actually consented or if Michelle just wore me down, but, 9 weeks later, here we are!
BB3 set out a plan for the 9 weeks, starting with a detox-cleanse and continuing with a varied program of nutrition, exercise and supplements. I had to commit to making this work – finding time to shop for and prepare the right foods, planning ahead for what foods I would need over the course of the week, figuring out how to make good choices when travel or social plans were in the mix, not skipping workouts, and continuing to keep up with the rest of the demands on my life while this was all going on. NOT EASY! (And, by the way, I’m not getting any younger – I’ll be 45 this year!)
Most of my days start at 6am: I get the kids off to school, go the the gym, go home to prepare and pack up meals for the day (for myself and Marc), go to the office, go out for sales calls and meetings, pick up the kids from school, take the kids to after-school sports, make dinner, bring the kids back home, monitor homework, take care of the dog, clean up from dinner, get everyone to bed, and then, finally, sit down around 9:30 or 10pm and try to get to bed by 11pm. Whew, exhausting! Yet somehow (much to my surprise and Michelle’s delight) I have figured out how to survive that kind of day and still eat each meal and snack according to the plan. I don’t get it just right every day, but I think I have it under control. It is all about the mindset – if I can do it, anyone can.
Billy has his secrets for success – and I followed them all – but now I have some of my own:
SECRET #1: Get in the right frame of mind. Commit to being successful.
SECRET #2: Find a trainer that knows their stuff, but also understands you and cares about you. Michelle’s motivation was with me every step of the way – she is the little voice in my head every time I make a choice relating to my fitness and health. Even when I thought I couldn’t stick to it, she believed that I could.
SECRET #3: Find a place to train that brings it all together and makes you feel good. BB3 is so much more than a gym, or a place to work out. It is a place to get motivated, feel supported and be challenged every day. There is a feeling among the clients, trainers and staff at BB3 that really cannot be described – you need to become part of the experience.
Completing the Challenge this time has meant a lot to me. I understand AND BELIEVE that I can be in control of my health and fitness while still balancing the rest of the demands in my life. I feel empowered, healthy, strong and proud of the example that I am setting for my family – I am really proud of the physical changes that I have achieved, but the emotional results are equally satisfying. And the bonus result? Walking into my closet and worrying more about which pants are too BIG instead of which ones are too SMALL! THAT’S FUN!
