Inspire Joy Success Story: Meet Laura!

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:

BLOG
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER

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• Curious about coaching? Learn more about our team HERE.
• Interested in joining my next health and fitness challenge group? Click HERE to apply, and I'll be in touch to chat about your goals!

Transformation Tuesday: Meet Grace!

I'm super excited to get back in the habit of sharing the stories of the incredible women in my online fitness challenge groups and on my coaching team! You can read all my previous success story features HERE.

Today I want to share my friend Grace's story. Grace signed up as a coach a few months ago after participating in one of my 21 Day Fix Challenges, and her transformation so far has been extra inspiring to me because she's just as committed to inner and personal growth as she is to her physical transformation and weight loss. She's only getting started and I can't wait to see where she is in another year :)

Grace, I am SO proud to watch you grow out of your comfort zone a little more each day. This is just the beginning!

Sidenote: If you've ever thought about coaching but are holding back because you haven't reached your personal health and fitness "goals" yet, I hope Grace can show you that your story is most inspiring when you're in the middle of the journey.

xo Anna

Meet Grace!

When Anna asked me to share my transformation story I thought “me? transformed?”

It’s often hard to see changes yourself, that’s the trickiest part of making healthy lifestyle changes. You put in a TON of work and look in the mirror and feel discouraged. After all, you look at yourself every day. It’s hard to see the big picture. 

In February 2014 I was exhausted. I was ignoring my Master’s program thesis like it was going to finish itself, I started a new job and I was two years into a relationship where we’d both forgotten to take care of ourselves first. 

I should first say that my new job was for a health and wellness company. Everyone, for the most part, was healthy, and not in a no-carb, skipping meals kind of way. My co-worker introduced me to the world of fitness Instagrams and Tone It Up. At first I thought she was cuckoo. She talked about Karena and Katrina (and Taylor Swift) like they were her bff’s. But then, with a little fear of missing out, I created an account myself. 

Soon, I was talking to my boyfriend about my friends Karena and Katrina and he asked when he was going to meet them : ) Having a fitness Instagram was so much more than Tone It Up, it was the accountability and the camaraderie of thousands of other women going through similar journeys. Instagram also gave me the platform to record my daily actions and modify what worked and what didn’t.

But, this is far from a love letter to Instagram. During my transformation I’ve used all different tools: MyFitnessPal, a heart rate monitor, a Fitbit and a good old notebook and pen. Keeping track of your efforts is almost like conducting your own science experiment, on YOU. 

It’s great to look to others for inspiration and motivation, but ultimately I had to look at myself and figure out what worked for me. For me, it’s daily exercise or movement. If I can’t bring myself to do anything serious, I just walk my dogs! It’s also planning meals and eliminating temptations for when stress comes knocking. It’s taking care of myself and setting an example to others. When I’m in a healthy and happy place, it makes me a better friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend, a better me. 

Now that I’ve figured out my formula, I realized becoming a coach and helping others was the last piece. When I started the 21 Day Fix as a challenger, I noticed people around me making changes too. I stopped drinking Diet Coke, so did my boyfriend. I brought almonds to work in my blue container and my coworker followed suit. Not only was I sharing healthy behaviors, but I was accountable in keeping my own. And, knowing that I’ve barely tapped the potential of this coaching opportunity is the most exciting part.This time next year, I hope to be writing another transformation story.

Follow Grace's journey!
Instagram
Blog

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Transformation Tuesday: Meet Andrea!

Happy Tuesday!

It's a cool and rainy day here in Chicago, which feels nice after the warmer sunny days we've been having. Today I'm really excited to share another success story from my April Inspire Joy Bootcamp! Every month I host a private accountability challenge group on Facebook for busy women who want to establish healthy eating habits, find "balance," workout consistently, lose weight, gain confidence, get their body back after having a baby, or shape up to rock a wedding dress. We surround each other with positivity, love and support as we work on overcoming all the obstacles and resistance that hold us back from loving and accepting ourselves for who we are right now, at whatever stage we're at in our individual journeys.

Andrea completely blew me away this month with her commitment, determination, and overall transformation! The changes that happen when you start focusing on working out consistently and eating right go SO far beyond weight loss. The physical changes are just a side effect...what's even more amazing is how your entire mindset starts to shift when you put your own health and wellbeing first! Being able to help women experience these breakthroughs is SO inspiring and fulfilling and makes me feel humbled and grateful to be able to do what I love for a job!

But enough about me...let's turn it over to Andrea! I'll let her do the talking :)

I am so proud of you, girl!

Meet Andrea!

Tell us about your story!

Food, health, and fitness have always been part of my life. From playing soccer, frisbee, and tennis through high school to 10 years as a vegetarian, I've always loved exercise and learning about how to fuel my body. When I started law school three years ago, however, the ease with which I approached wellness disappeared. Everything about food and exercise that felt intuitive for so long became difficult as I over-thought my choices and stopped treating food as fuel for my body.

I was drowning in work and neglecting to make time for workouts, and eventually turned to food for emotional comfort and began experiencing serious digestive problems. It created a toxic cycle: I'd use food to comfort myself through rough and busy time only to end up in a place where I'd be body shaming myself, which naturally only contributed to the stress that exacerbated my stomach issues. My doctors have still not been able to pinpoint exactly why my stomach decided to turn on me, and despite countless elimination diets, its been an uphill battle. As I was wrapping up law school this past semester, however, I started educating myself on the role of stress in digestion, how much of it is mental as well as physical, and have spent the last few months trying to heal not by cutting out food, but by relaxing my mind, getting plenty of sleep, and learning how to practice patience and compassion with myself.

Why did you decide to join the Inspire Joy Bootcamp?

The primary reason I joined the Inspire Joy Bootcamp was to break the cycle described above. I essentially wanted to hit the re-set button--while food is certainly a way to feed your soul as you gather and share in experiences with others, it had gone too far beyond that place for me and I needed to refocus. After learning more about the community and support provided by the bootcamp and all of the amazing women involved, I decided it would be the perfect fit. It didn't feel like a pressure-cooker fueled by "fitspo" or unrealistic expectations. Instead, the group focused on lifting each other up with positivity, respect, encouragement, and was driven by the understanding that perfection is ultimately not necessary for living a healthy and whole life. After chatting with Anna about various programs, I signed up for the 21 Day Fix Extreme and dove in.

What have you gained from the experience?

I have gained so much from this experience! While the physical and tangible gains--stronger arms, a flatter tummy--are nice, I've been way more impressed and happy with the emotional and mental gains I've made. As sad as it is, I think this is the first three weeks I've had in a long time where I have not once shamed by body or made myself feel like it wasn't enough. Instead, I've celebrated how much stronger the workouts have made me and I've finally been able to tune in to what my body needs, respect my hunger, and feed myself well-intentioned and balanced meals.

Favorite workout?

Before I started the Fix Extreme, I had burned myself out on intense workouts and was dreading going to the gym every day! It feels great to actually look forward to completing my workouts and my favorites are the Upper Fix and Pilates Fix Extreme. Those resistance band moves are killer!

Favorite go-to healthy foods?

I love all the food, but my staples are hummus, berries, greek yogurt, and nut butter. The program has really helped me work more protein into my diet too which has been amazing, and I love the 21DFX turkey meatballs for dinner!

How do you keep yourself motivated?

The accountability of nightly check-ins through Anna's group was really great, and I try and remind myself of how great I feel when I complete a workout or when I have fueled my body well all day. It also helps to remember why I started--what prompted me to reach out to Anna and start the program in the first place. When I think back to how I felt during that time and why I knew it was time for a re-set, I'm instantly motivated to keep going!

How do you feel about yourself now?

So much more confident and at peace. I'm not walking away from these last few weeks with the abs of Autumn Calabrese, but thats ok! I've developed some incredible habits and so much perspective, and I know that those two things will carry me well beyond the formal program as I continue to heal and nourish my body and work towards my fitness goals.

What advice would you give someone who’s just starting out on her health and fitness journey?

Remember that you are worth it! Taking time to meal plan, exercise, meditate, and rest is not time away from things you "should" be doing--its time that you deserve to devote to yourself and that will help carry you through everything else on your plate. Also, a crucial learning point for me has been that health is not all or nothing. You're not on track or off track--you're living your life and your life should involve both kale salads and ice cream. There is space for both, so remember your wellness journey is just that--a journey, a collection of habits you build up over time, and it won't be "derailed" by giving yourself the freedom to enjoy your life, treats included!

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Read all my client Success Stories HERE!
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