All Worth The Effort

This is my second Best Body Challenge Journey.  I thought it would be the same as the last challenge but to my surprise it was entirely different.  The reason being is because I had a different mindset this time.  I was determined to think about this challenge as a lifestyle change and not just a 12 week journey.  12 weeks ago I was on my way to achieve the Best Body for me.  I set a few goals for myself this time which I hadn’t even thought of  in the last challenge. I wanted to live a healthier life and challenge myself once again with the workouts provided to me by Nicole and her team.   I knew not to get discouraged if I did not see immediate results.  Sometimes, I thought to myself how can I ever get through this workout?  Although, once the workout was over I then felt good and realized that it was all worth the effort!  I pushed myself and each week achieved a different level of working out.  I also changed my nutritional habits dramatically. Nicole impressed upon me that nutrition plays a major part in weight loss and being healthier.   I started to feel very energetic and motivated. Nicole and her team provide constant support and encouragement in order to keep me in line with my fitness goals. They made the Best Body challenge fun even though sometimes I didn’t want to do the exercise that was next.    I looked forward to the workouts each week since I found myself able to do more and more.  By this time I started to see weight loss and my clothes were not as tight.  My family comments on how well I am doing and are excited to see that I have more energy. Another bonus that I never even thought of was that when everyone at home and at work came down with the flu, I did not. I was so glad to find out that good nutrition and exercise also help to boost your immune system.  I was so happy to see that I did not get sick like everyone else (I felt bad for everyone else though).  I really feel that being healthier by working out and eating well helped me in staying flu free. I was sure to keep going now…. By week 12 I realized that physical activity is my number one priority now and my lifestyle change is in full force. With Nicole’s support and nutritional information, I have cut sugar out of my life. I would have eaten at least 6 dozen cookies by now and have been cookie free!  I am so proud of myself and of my accomplishments so far.  I have lost 7.5 lbs and many inches.  The only thing I have gained is lots of muscle. I am happy about that! I feel wonderful and so much better than I did when I started the challenge 12 weeks ago.  I have lost almost one dress size and I am excited to lose more.  I see myself sticking to a healthier lifestyle even more now that I found that physical activity is a huge contributor to good health and well being. I want and need to lose more weight so I know I will stay focused on my new and better me.   Now that I am on the road to good health and well being I want to challenge myself in May for the breast cancer walk.   I do the walk every year in memory of my best friend Dawn. When she passed away from breast cancer, I decided to do the Mother’s Day walk every year.  This year I was thinking on trying to run instead of walking.  This will be a goal that I will hope to achieve and will be extremely excited if I can do that! -Gina M.