A lot of people ask me how I got started with Beachbody. Not the coaching, just as a customer. So here’s my story. And maybe you’ll understand a little bit about me and why I’m so passionate about helping others find their TRIBE too.
I was one of those rare people who purchased a Beachbody program and completed the whole 90-day program from start to finish and had AMAZING results. Alone. No Coach. No Shakeology. No support. No accountability group.
People who buy a workout program online or through an infomercial have every intention of doing it….and getting the results “as seen on TV”. But reality sets in. Many don’t even take it out of the box. Most don’t finish. And those that do, really have found that it’s more than JUST a workout program. It’s the combination of exercise + nutrition + support. And the final step…recognition. Something I was missing.
You see after being a competitive athlete all throughout school, I was used to being “On A Team”. But after school ended, so did my active lifestyle. And as I moved out, grew up, lived alone, and had to start “adulting”, nutrition and exercise were not on my priority list. So I gained weight. Slowly, over the years until I was sitting at 210# at my heaviest. Body aches all over, feeling like crap, exhausted every night. I also smoked. For almost 20 years, but one day woke up, decided enough was enough and I quit smoking. OMG that was hard. But it was so worth it.
I didn’t want to gain any more weight (like a lot of people do when they quit smoking) so I joined Weight Watchers and successfully lost almost 50#. To this day I tell people Weight Watchers works. But it doesn’t teach you how to eat healthy…just less. I also started exercising. And since I was too embarrassed to step foot in a gym, I started walking, just around the block with my dog at first, and then a little further each day until we were covering over 3 miles. I was starting to feel good, so turned my walks into runs, and eventually could run the 3 miles no problem. And then I started adding miles.
After I was tired of paying Weight Watchers, I took to counting calories on MyFitnessPal. I met some fit friends, learned some tricks along the way, and kept the weight off. The tracking became an obsession. One I detested, but one I couldn’t stop because it worked. But I found myself in a vicious cycle of eating great during the week and then falling apart on the weekends. And whenever I wanted pizza and beer, or other “cheat meals”, I’d run extra miles to burn them off. I was what you’d call skinny fat. The scale told me what I wanted to hear, but I still wasn’t comfortable in my skin.
The next few years after that were a blur. In addition to counting calories, I tried it all: crossfit, gym, personal trainer, yoga, hot yoga, more running, belly dancing, ZUMBA…the list goes on and on. And then my very first Beachbody program which finally took my “skinny body” into a toned, tight, sexy body I could be proud of.
Shortly after I completed the 90 day program, I was approached by a friend to do an “Online Challenge Group”. She said we would workout, eat healthy, and check in together for accountability.
I WAS IN!
I was craving more healthy people to surround myself and this sounded perfect. But you gotta do a Beachbody workout and drink Shakeology she said. Oh, I’m already doing Beachbody I said. Well no wonder you look so amazing, she replied.
We talked about my goals, and she recommended a new program that would allow me to lift weights in my basement (which I loved to do), and still run on alternating days. I was SOLD.
Except this Shakeology.
I really didn’t want to do it. But she said it’s part of the complete package and any time you cut calories, you cut nutrition, and when you cut nutrition, your body starts to go into starvation mode. It started to make sense that I was literally starving my body during the week and why I was constantly binging on the weekends. Only to wake up every Monday morning and start the vicious cycle again.
So I went for it. What did I have to lose? And I feel in love. With ALL of it. The workouts were awesome. I didn’t LOVE Shakeology the first few times I had it, but we tried some different recipes, and now I can’t imagine a day without it. What I found out was if I could put at least one healthy thing in my body every day, I was better at making healthy choices ALL throughout the day. And on days I wasn’t my best, at least it was something that filled the gaps. I noticed a difference in my overall energy, digestion, stopped getting sick, and generally just felt amazing pretty much every day. ESPECIALLY when I drank it every day, and the longer I drank it.
The groups were what really sealed the deal for me, and like I mentioned what attracted me to it in the first place. And I always love a little competitive challenge so any opportunity to push myself to do better and win some PRIZES, I’m in!
Attached are some before an after’s from a 3-week Beachbody program I completed that was focused exclusively on Nutrition. Not a lick of exercise. Which proves to me once again, nutrition is really 80% of our success. I notice most the belly bloat is greatly reduced, the cellulite is almost non-existent, and my skin is flawless.
I have completed over a dozen Beachbody challenges since that first Challenge my coach had invited me to. And I will keep doing Challenges as long as there are workouts + nutrition including Shakeology + a group to support me. I am so grateful my coach reached out to me, and that I said YES because I don’t know where I’d be with my health and fitness without these Challenge Groups and Beachbody.
I think a 90 day program is REALLY hard to complete, even WITH a coach, Shakeology, and a Challenge Group. Not everyone has it in them to do so.
Even a 60 day or a 30 day challenge is daunting to some. So we’re excited to announce we’ve developed a 7-day SMART START Group. Where you’ll have
- a supportive 7 day group
- 7 days of Shakeology
- 7 day meal planner
- Access to NEW workouts on Beachbody On Demand
- Our absolute BEST option for dipping a toe into the pond before diving in.
Excel With Mel 