You are beautiful at any size.

Because your value has nothing to do with the way you look, or what your body can or can’t do.

Beginning: Letting Fear Creep In

I was always a “small girl” growing up, until like most young women adulthood came and my body changed.

I gained 15lbs my senior year of high school and another 15lbs my freshman year of college.

By my mid-twenties, I’d gained 30 more lbs.

And eventually another 15 on top of that.

My entire adulthood I’d gained weight, slowly, steadily, year after year. I moved more and more slowly and uncomfortably over time and I wondered if it would ever stop.

I learned more about nutrition and fitness over the years. I went on and fell off diets and exercise programs. I wouldn’t call them failures, the learning I gained from all of those experiences later helped me develop a formula that would finally work.

But until then, I accepted that I had no control. I let the fear creep in that I would always feel like I was struggling. I didn’t see any finish line in sight.

Honestly, at times I felt scared that I was just going to feel worse and worse until I eventually died.

The Shift: Overcoming Fear

The single greatest change I can attribute to my transformation is this: accountability.

My partner changed jobs right before the pandemic began, and the combination of both events meant we were both home together all the time. It was time for BOTH of us to start focusing on our health.

For the first time ever, I decided to create my own workout program based off what I like to do and what I know works.

Together, we made a commitment to eat healthy and exercise regularly.

With a few adjustments, the changes started happening.

I’m not really sure at what point I realized that the pattern had been broken, but I was finally starting to feel better and like my old self again.

It didn’t feel like I was overcoming fear, it just felt like I was finally figuring it out. Relief didn’t wash over me like a wave, with self-confidence it crept in, just as slowly as the fear had before.

The Formula

For me, personally, this is my magic formula. Every person will have one that’s slightly different.

Again, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, I can only share what works for me.

This combination of habits finally changed the direction of my health, and radically transformed my body.

Here are the changes I made to lose 40 pounds after a decade of gaining weight:

I stopped listening to what everyone told me about exercise and just started doing what I know to be true.

HIIT combined with complex, full body strength training. My training includes lots of plyo and plank/floor moves. I use as many muscles as possible in every exercise.

I work out 2 – 3 times a week, for thirty minutes. Although I would be lying if I said there weren’t times in the beginning of my training where the workouts took a little longer, 30 – 50 minutes.

I stretch at least a minimum amount every day. And I walk my dog every day (at least as much as possible in the heat of the Californian summer).

I sleep at least 6 hours every night.

And I intermittent fast.

But don’t think I starve myself, I started fasting by accident. I just kept forgetting to bring or eat food at work. It took some time getting used to once I made it a conscious decision, but now I love fasting. I won’t bore you with all the details here, you can do the google yourself to see the possible benefits.

I also don’t eat meat, but the real kicker is that when I just tried cutting out dairy to see what would happen, I instantly lost 5lbs. Like that. *snap*

SOOOOOOO I still eat dairy but I eat as little as possible.

Diets are complicated, but I try to include lots of vegetables and whole grains in mine.

I definitely don’t feel deprived, I eat corn dogs, pizza, mac and cheese (like, literally right now as I type this), even chicken pot pie. I drink alcohol and indulge at parties.

But as you can see, I make my health a whole-life kind of think. It’s not any one thing that has led to these results. And I’m not gonna guarantee these results for anyone else.

I believe everyone has to find what works for them, their needs and their schedule. This is just one example of how taking a whole-life approach can help you find a formula that works for you.

Conclusion: WHAT WAS THERE TO FEAR?

I feel so strong and have more energy than I ever have before. I’m in the best shape of my adult life, and I am so proud of the work I’ve put in.

It feels amazing, when I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror I finally recognize myself.

It’s not just the weight loss. Definitely it isn’t.

It’s the glowing skin, it’s the twinkle in my eye.

It’s the confidence in my step because now I know that I am in control.

Whatever happens, whatever the future has to hold, I know that I know what I need to do to take care of myself.

And that’s a pretty incredible feeling.

And then I realized something else…

I always had it in me to get to this point. From the very beginning, this was always destined to be my fate.

But for so many years I let fear zap my energy, cause me to question myself and think negatively, just because I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel yet.

I was always on the right track, doing the things I needed to do and learning the things I needed to learn.

And well, why can’t it be that way in all areas of life?

In fact, wouldn’t that kind of make sense?

It FEELS like we’re going around in circles, getting nowhere. Our failures don’t feel like learning experiences yet.

Not until we’re on the other side of it, and only then do we realize we actually had it in us all along.

We actually knew exactly what we were doing the whole time. We were figuring it out, we were on our journey, on our path.

The one individual path that’s right for each individual person, we all have to walk it.

But we do not need to walk in fear.

THAT is the message I want to send you away with today.

I know how it feels to be searching for answers. But as long as you never stop searching, you never stop working to find your way, there’s no possible chance that you won’t get there.

There is nothing to fear when you make a final decision to take the journey no matter what.

No matter how long it takes.

Decide today that you will no longer let the fear of failure hold you back.

And if you want to overcome fear and find this level of confidence in a lot less than 10 years, keep an eye out for my new upcoming program, ELEVATE, where we break down everything that’s holding you back and together find the confidence you need to make anything happen.