I'm so excited to share another success story from my latest health and fitness coaching group! Laura and I connected via social media and this girl is a POWERHOUSE of inspiration and drive.
She's currently pursuing a degree in chemical engineering with plans to attend medical school in the near future. She's passionate about healthy living, travel, discovering her own "best self," and inspiring other early-20-something women by sharing her experiences on her blog!
Laura is one of the newest coaches on my team and is already establishing a strong foundation for her business. When I think of our values like authenticity, excellence, success, positivity, and courage, this girl comes to mind. I can't wait to introduce her to you!
You can read more Inspire Joy success stories HERE!
Meet Laura!
How did you feel before you decided to commit to the Inspire Joy August Challenge?
I felt like the days were going by too quickly, and I wasn’t moving forward. I wasn’t making any progress towards my goals, health related or otherwise. I had put on a bit of extra weight, just enough that it was starting to show & affect my self confidence. I felt really down about so many things that were out of my control, and I didn’t have the motivation to change the things that I could control. I finally decided that it was time to take charge & own my life, starting with my health & fitness.
Why did you feel that way?
I think I felt that way because I wasn’t taking care of myself. I know it sounds so cliche, and some people might think it’s selfish to take care of yourself first, but I disagree. I think that showing up for the people I love as the best version of myself is far from selfish. Don’t my family & friends deserve a version of me that loves herself?
How do you feel now?
Now, I feel amazing. I have so much more confidence and it’s completely made over how I carry myself. I make sure that I have enough time in the day to put myself first, to workout, to drink my shakeology, to eat healthy. I think that by respecting myself and the boundaries I set, it’s helped other people to respect my boundaries as well. For instance: when I went on vacation with my family, they had no issues taking me to buy groceries, because they respected that I didn’t want to eat unhealthily. Honestly, I never could have expected how much focusing on my health & fitness would allow me to improve other areas of my life (my relationships, my focus, etc). I feel like I’m on top of the world.
(Side note from Anna: Laura lost 10 pounds and 11.5 inches in her first round of the 21 Day Fix...you can read her full review on her blog!)
I finally have a sense of confidence that I can’t shake. I feel so good about my body, and I know it’s because I’m treating it better. I’m saying to myself: you are worth it, the time, the effort, the burpees, the meal prep.. you are worth every bit of it.
What struggles or challenges have you overcome?
As someone who works full time at restauraunt, I had to learn to overcome temptation REALLLLLL quick. It was quite a habit for all of us to crowd around a dessert that one of us had ordered at the end of the night, or get an order of fries to munch on while we cleaned up. It was hard to resist a lot of the time, but I decided that I needed to talk to the kitchen staff to figure out what I could eat that was healthy. I was very lucky that they were willing to accommodate my strange requests & mixed plates.
I also had quite a mental block in place, that I just couldn’t really ever lose weight. I just ran heavy.. as long as I didn’t look like I was overweight, did it matter that my BMI said I was? Correct answer: yes & no. I’m back to a healthy weight according to BMI (although I don’t think that BMI is the end all be all). What was wrong was allowing my mindset to dictate whether or not I could lose weight & tone up.
Why did you decide to become a coach?
I decided to become a coach because I was so amazed with the progress that I saw from the 21 Day Fix. I had always been one of those people who knew what eating healthy & working out looked like, but I held myself back from losing the weight. I knew that there were too many people like me out there who would want to know what I had done, and I couldn’t wait to share it with them! I wanted to help people who had been struggling FINALLY achieve their health & fitness goals!
How do you keep yourself motivated on your own health and fitness journey?
I think one thing that really motivates me is the confidence that I have when I’m taking care of myself. I never want to come down off of that kick! I also love being in accountability groups! The support that we all can give each other is awesome. Seeing the progress in the mirror never hurts either ;)
Favorite workout?
I love Lower Fix from the 21 Day Fix, and after just starting Cize, I can already tell that all of these are going to be so much fun!
Favorite healthy food?
I love a spinach, strawberry & goat cheese salad with balsamic glaze! I also just made a healthy beef & broccoli with brown rice & I’m loving it! :)
What advice would you give someone who’s just starting out on her health and fitness journey?
- Don’t give up just because you’ve had one setback. Bad days happen to all of us.
- Drink your water. You’ll have to pee all the time. That’s okay too.
- Take pictures. Sometimes you can’t see how far you’ve come until you put where you are side by side with where you’ve been.
- Stick to your guns. If someone is trying to make you feel bad about not ordering a glass of wine or dessert with them, it probably means that your choices are making them feel uncomfortable about the choices that they’re making.
What advice would you give someone who is thinking about coaching?
Go for it! What’s the worst thing that could happen? You get a discount on your Shakeology & extra accountability to workout and eat healthy? That sounds like a pretty great worst case scenario to me. Becoming a coach has been the extra boost I needed to get to this happiness level. Trust me, you won’t regret it! :)
Where to find Laura online:
