What are these challenge groups all about?

You all probably hear me talk a lot about these online health groups that I run and I probably sound like a broken record to some of you. Others of you, I'm sure, probably think that all I'm after is weight loss and that I'm selling some crazy fad diet or protein powder and I'll tell you, that couldn't be further from the truth.

I started this whole journey NOT because I was looking for a home business. I'm a happily employed high school history teacher with no ambitions to leave my teaching job.

I didn't get into this business to coach. When I started, I didn't feel like an expert or a coach - I was just as flawed as the next guy (yesterday's face plant into a plate of whoopie pies certainly still attests to that fact!) I mean, I have no formal health and fitness background (history and secondary ed. degree right here!) All I have in the way of fitness experience is that I'm a former high school and collegiate rower who lost that lovin' feeling for exercise once my team was gone. The prospect of 45 minutes on a stationary bike or elliptical alone at the gym sounded like my version of hell yet I knew I needed to do something to lose the baby weight and to try to hold onto some shred of sanity.

What started me on this whole quest was that I found it nearly impossible to get a the gym with 3 kids at home and a full time job (not to mention the cost of a gym membership being out of our budget at the time.) Working out at home was really my only option. Even than, it took me a while to get into a rhythm that worked for me. My first Beachbody program was Insanity, which I was introduced to via an infomercial. After obsessively watching transformation videos and testimonials on YouTube, I decided to try it. I bought it off of Ebay because, well, I was cheap and I wasn't willing to pay full price when I suspected that I might not actually follow through and finish the whole program...the Jillian Michaels dvds that were gathering dust on my shelf were all the proof I needed of that likelihood.

Well, I did finish Insanity and I saw great changes in my body during that 8 weeks. But then school started, life happened and I slowly stopped doing the workouts, stopped focusing on eating healthier and the results I was loving, started to fade. It wasn't until I stumbled across my now coach's blog and in a leap of faith joined one of her online challenges, that I finally made a more permanent lifestyle change.

I was initially just interested in the idea of a group to keep me accountable to working out daily. What I also got from that group was an introduction to the principles of clean eating. My coach taught me how to make a more gradual lifestyle change than a diet which appealed to me since I love my food so I’ve never been able to stick to a diet for long. The challenge group was perfect for me. I loved the daily check ins, tips, and the support of women who were also on the same journey to get health in a sustainable way. Some had 75 lbs. to lose, some had 5, and others were just there for the daily support and lifestyle tips. Either way, it was the missing piece for me in keeping me working out and eating more mindfully, which I need. After that first challenge group, I did 2 more before I finally felt like I had a good handle on clean eating, recipes that worked for me and which my kids and husband would eat, and a rhythm which worked for me even with the crazy busy work and family life.

THIS is what led me to become a coach. I wanted to keep on this journey for myself but I also wanted to help other women do the same. It's hard to go it alone! I myself struggled to do it on my own and I'll tell you, I still struggle if I'm not plugged into a group for support. Why? It's easy to give yourself a pass when you have plenty of distractions and possible excuses around you. I finally just got to the place where I didn't want to let those excuses derail me anymore and I my goal as a coach is to help other people do the same.

So THAT is why I do what I do. I don't do it for the money, the glamour or the fame (ha!) Just like teaching, it's not the most celebrated job out there but it enables me to connect with genuine, hard-working, real women, to be a part of a support system, and at the end of the day, it makes my heart full which is I'd say, one of the best things you could ask for out of a job and a life.

So that's why I'm here, doing what I do.

Do you think you might be interested in trying out a challenge group? Let me know if you’d like more info.