Ever since I started my own business a few years back, I’ve felt like I’m in a world that’s strange to me.  There’s a lot of talk about gaining wealth and financial freedom.  Heck!  I’m all for that, and this is not a post that is meant to criticize anyone for trying to make a living.

However, I think that the absolute luckiest people in this world are those who make a good living doing what they love.  They’ve hit the jackpot.  They really never have to work another day in their life because it’s not work to them.  They are having fun…every day!

I worked as a computer programmer / systems analyst for over 20 years.  It was a good job…good pay, flexible, nice people, and I was pretty good at it.  But something was always missing.  I had this deep desire to do something to impact people’s lives.  Little did I know that it would just fall into my lap…just a few months before I got laid off from that cushy job as a computer programmer.

I’m an Independent Team Beachbody coach.  I have no certifications.  I’ve taken classes in personal training, but I never took the test to be certified.  I’m not a nutritionist either.  So what am I?

I’m an encourager.  That’s it.  Sure, I know the products I market through Beachbody, and I can point people to the answer they are looking for.  But for the most part what I do is simply ENCOURAGE.  I love that, and I feel it’s what I was born to do.  It’s fun, so it’s not work!

I truly believe that the obesity problem in the world is not going to be solved by government regulations or even changes in the food industry.  What it’s going to take is an army of people who simply CARE for others and want to see them succeed.

Here’s an email I received from one of the customers Beachbody referred to me:

“Judy you are so right, my children’s doctor was just talking to us about child obesity and the way my children run around they are like a duracell battery, they never get tired of running.  They are in day care from 6:30am to 5:30at night and when they get home they still have energy I can’t seem to keep them still.  I am kind of happy they have that much energy because it beats sitting in front of the television doing  NOTHING LIKE I USE TO DO and I am so glad they didn’t pick up those old habits of mine.

Once they turn 5 years old I was thinking about getting them into swimming clubs and karate since they are so active and let them wear the instructors out instead of me.

Judy I have a wedding to go to on July 10th and I can’t wait to buy a new outfit because I have earned it.  The big reward is in August when I reach my next 20 pound mark, I told you for each 20 pounds I lose I will treat myself to something big and that will be my spa day.

Judy I can really feel the difference with my weight loss, I can walk for a long period of time without being out of breath and guess what?  Last Friday I took my son and daughter to the park and we stayed for 2 hours and I did not sit down not one time, I played the entire time with them and guess what else?  I started to cry when we left the park and my son said mommy what’s wrong and since he is too young to understand I just told him that mommy enjoyed spending time with you today at the park.

Judy both me and my husband took them to the park and he was the one sitting down, I couldn’t beleive that I didn’t sit down the entire time I was so proud of myself I just grabbed my children and gave them a big hug and told them mommy will start bringing you to the park more often and we will be starting to stay longer if you like.

Judy, I am just too proud of myself.  I went from lazy, a couch potato, a person eating while stressed or depressed, high blood pressure, pre diabetic to a healthy mom who will never in life be that way again.”

Getting emails like that truly warms my heart!  It’s worth more that any commission I can earn from my company!  Don’t get me wrong!  I’m glad that I am earning commissions and bonuses, but I am OVERJOYED that it’s doing something I love!

It’s happened!  So many years ago I was working in a job that didn’t fulfill me.  I was praying for an opportunity to do something I loved and that would impact the lives of others.  I had no idea how to make that happen!

I’m thankful that God knew, and He showed me the way! 

Judy

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I received an email the other day that just THRILLED me.  One of the things I enjoy most in life is encouraging others to lead a healthy lifestyle.  Honestly, sometimes it can be frustrating.  People have more excuses when it comes to eating right and exercise than children have excuses for not doing their homework!

But then there are people like Andrea.  We met through Beachbody’s customer lead program.  Beachbody entrusts me with their customers, and my job is to support and encourage them (which we’ve already established that I LOVE).  I sent a welcome email to Andrea and also a voice mail welcoming her to Beachbody, and introducing myself as her personal coach.  We quickly started developing a relationship.

Andrea has had a lot of questions for me, but 90% of her emails are all about her “WHY”…playing in the park this summer with her two little children!  Since she has continually focused on WHY she wants to lose weight and get into shape, she’s sticking with her program, looking for answers, and changing her habits.

She’s had her share of challenges…including her little son deciding to get up VERY early in the morning and interrupting her workout time.  She worked through that, and kept losing weight.

Here’s the email Andrea sent me the other day:

Hi Judy:

Today I am wearing a pair of pants that I could not fit into around this time of year last year.  Last August when I tried these pants on I could not get them past my thighs.  I tried everything in my power to pull these pants up to fit and they would not go past my thighs without riping off a button.

Today I am wearing the same pants and Judy, beleive it or not, these pants are fitting me, they are extremely loose and I started to cry when I put these pants on because I thought about just last year when I put these same pants on and they wouldn’t go past my thighs I knew in my heart I would never get this weight off.

Judy, I am still crying as I am typing you this email because I can’t believe these pants are fitting me, not only fitting me but they are very loose.  When I see things like this happen when I never thought could it just makes me want to keep going.  Judy when I look back to my past DIET, I see myself eatting until I was full, eatting because I was stress or angry about something, eatting to take my mind off of things or eating just because a certain food was there.

Now when I look at myself today I don’t see me trying to lose weight because of a DIET.  I see my trying to lose weight to gain my strength back, good health, live longer for my children and a BETTER LIFE STYLE.  DIET is no longer in my vocabulary.  Judy now when I eat I spread my meals out to 5-6 small meals a day and the best part is that I don’t eat many snacks.  Instead of having 3 meals and 2  snacks I actually eat 5 meals and 1 snack (the snack is only if I am craving something).  I found out that replacing snacks with small meals will keep you fuller longer.  For instance for my mid morning snack I may have 1/2 peanut butter sandwich with an apple vs. cake or a candy bar etc..  I realize I don’t need bad junk fund to stop my cravings there are always alternatives out there and I use the internet and weight watchers to look for them.

Judy, I am so proud of myself that I can fit into these pants I don’t know how to act.  Now I have at least 25 pair of jeans in my closet, some of them I have not even worn yet because I gained so much weight.  My husband since last year told me to give all those jeans to the United Way and let them donate them to shelters etc.  Judy, by this summer I am going to fit in those jeans and tell him I will donate other clothing but I will get my sixe 8 back.  No rush but I will be in an 8 again.  Right now I went from a size 16 in pants and now I am wearing a 12 and the 8 is not  to far behind.

Sorry for the long email but I needed someone to share my good news with.

Now, is Andrea JUST excited about fitting into a pair of pants she hasn’t fit into in years?  Absolutely not!  She knows that it is just one step in her journey toward the REAL prize…effortlessly playing in the park with her children this summer.

Once she achieves that goal, I’m sure that she will be choosing another goal.  Andrea is just THAT type of woman…one that is determined to develop a healthy lifestyle…for herself AND her children!

To your health!

Judy

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It’s a beautiful day in Pennsylvania today, so instead of doing my scheduled P90X Plyometrics workout in my house, I just HAD to take it outside.  I live in a beautiful and very rural section of Pennsylvania…ponds, creeks, and meadows are some of the scenery I see on my normal course around my house.

For some reason, I do my best thinking when I run…maybe it’s all that extra oxygen my brain is getting!    When I was on the last mile and headed back home, my mind turned to a story I’d seen on the internet a few years ago about a father and son who do iron man triathlons together.  That may seem like an inspiring story in itself, but it’s even more incredible when you learn that Rick’s brain was deprived of oxygen during his birth.  He was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.

Despite suggestions to institutionalize Rick, his father and mother were determined to raise him just like any of their other children.  Rick couldn’t walk or talk, but they began to discover that he was quite intelligent.  Once engineers at Tufts University developed a computer that allowed Rick to communicate, there was no holding him back!  He attended and graduated from high school and Boston University with a degree in Special Education.

In 1977, Rick told his Dad that he wanted to participate in a 5 mile benefit run for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident.  Dick was far from being a runner, but he agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair all 5 miles.  They came in next to last.

I’m sure that at that point, Dick was thinking to himself “Okay…well that’s over and done with”.   But Rick changed his Dad’s mind.  He told him “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

This is the thought that I had pop into my head when I was running this morning.  I pictured Dick and Rick crossing a finish line with Rick waving his arms high in the air and a BIG smile across his face.  I imagined the joy that Dick must have felt when he saw his son at the pinnacle of joy.

Dick Hoyt has been called a hero many times, and I’ve heard him deny it in interviews.  I thought about what Dick and Rick have accomplished while I was running this morning, and I wondered “Would I do the same if Rick was my child”?

Absolutely!

There’s nothing like the feeling of seeing ultimate joy on someone’s face and knowing that you had a part in creating that.  It’s even better when it’s your own child!

By the way, the 2009 Boston Marathon was Dick and Rick’s 1,000th race!  Dick says that he’s hoping to push Rick in the Boston Marathon when he’s 70 years old…in 2011!  I think they are going to make THAT goal!

Enjoy this video about “Team Hoyt”!

Together…we’re better!

Judy

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So here are the final results!  I did the 3 day Shakeology Cleanse last week, and I weighed and measured myself on Saturday morning.  I lost a total of 4 pounds and 3 1/2 inches…2 of them from my waist. The inches lost really surprised me!  I had to keep remeasuring to make sure it was correct!

So all in all, I think that this was a success!  It was pretty easy to follow.  I was a little hungry, but not too bad.  Usually, when I was hungry, it was because it was time for another shakeology or my salad.  I think that there were two things that helped with my hunger…the green tea and drinking enough water.

Drink your water people!  It’s SO important to weight loss…cleanse or no cleanse!

So I think I’ll be repeating the cleanse again in the future, so stay tuned for that.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to comment here or contact me through my Shakeology website.

Together we’re better!

Judy

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Listen up folks!  This is CRITICAL to your life, no matter what your goal is!  It could be losing weight, gaining muscle, succeeding at business…ANYTHING!

“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes”.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I listened to a conference call yesterday morning.  A woman named Debbie was talking about how she lost a considerable amount of weight.  I missed the total number of pounds lost since I joined the call a little late, but I know it was a significant amount.

She mainly talked about how she got herself into the mindset for weight loss.

Her first big change happened one night while watching “The Biggest Loser”.  She said that she can relate to a lot of the stories of those people.  All of a sudden it hit her…if those people lost weight, then she could too.

All of a sudden she believed it was possible!

She’s a smart woman, she knew that she would not be able to lose it as fast as the people on “The Biggest Loser” because there was no way she was going to work out 8 hours per day like they do.

That was her epiphany moment…that moment when she made a decision to make a change no matter what!

She sought out help. She had tried those weight loss centers with the “packaged” foods before, but she knew they weren’t for her.  She wanted REAL food.  She found a place that emphasized unprocessed, real food.  Sorry, but I forget the name of it…Slim something…but that doesn’t matter.  What DOES matter is that she searched for a place that didn’t just promise quick results.  She wanted LASTING results.  She wanted a lifestyle change!

Anyway, she paid these people hard earned money to help her, and she decided she was going to do what they told her.  She knew the basics of the diet made sense to her, so she put her trust in her coaches there.  She met with them 3 times a week.

At first, some of the things they told her to do, she would say “REALLY”?  Some things sounded so silly to her.  BUT…she had paid them, and they knew better than her at this point, so she would eventually come around.

One thing they told her to do was to write AFFIRMATIONS on index cards (one on each).  Then she was to carry them with her everywhere, and read them several times per day.  These became her weight loss affirmations.

Debbie’s initial response was…“REALLY”?    But she reminded herself “I paid these people and right now, they know more than I do”.  So she did it.

They told her that these weight loss affirmations were not things that she CURRENTLY believed, but that she WANTED to believe.

At first, she had no idea what to write down, so she went to the internet and googled “affirmations”.  That gave her a starting point.

Here are a few of her weight loss affirmations:
1) I will do whatever it takes.
2) I am grateful and proud of how great I look today.
3) I deserve to be healthy and super fit.
4) I am developing clean eating and consistent exercise habits that are so ingrained into my lifestyle that they stay with me for the rest of my life.
5) It is exhilarating to work out first thing every morning.
6) I don’t perform strength training to maintain, but to improve. And if I want to improve today, I must beat my previous workout and do something I’ve never done before.

Remember, Debbie didn’t believe this would work at first.  She went on BLIND FAITH that it would.  And guess what?  It DID!

She was asked “How does your mindset differ NOW from when you first started”?

She said “I used to look for external motivation…watching the biggest loser…looking to others to motivate me.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but now I think my motivation mostly comes from within.  I didn’t like myself when I first started.  Now I truly love myself, and I WANT to take care of myself.”

WOW!!!  Now THAT’S a change in mindset!!!

Everyone should be using affirmations!  Figure out what you WANT and then figure out what you would need to believe for that to come into your life.  Write them one by one on index cards, and read them with BELIEF several times per day!

Do YOU have any weight loss affirmations (even if you don’t CALL them that)?  Please share them so that we all can benefit!  How about affirmations for business success?  Thanks in advance for sharing!

Together, we’re better!

Judy

P.S.  I almost forgot one of the main ideas she touched on!  SHE took personal responsibility for herself and all of her problems!  She started off the call with this quote…

“Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.” ~ Don Wilder

She had a lot excuses that most people would say are good ones, including her husband dying during this process.  But she was determined to make a change NO MATTER WHAT, and she did…no matter WHAT obstacle was in her path.

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Melissa needed to make a change!  This Mom of 5 had no energy to keep up with her children, and she became depressed.  All she did every day was watch TV and eat.  She knew that if she didn’t change, she wouldn’t be around to care for her children.

She asked her doctors for medication, but they told her that she needed to take better care of herself  and “get her mind right”.  She hired a personal trainer, and got no results.

Then she heard that a workout group was being formed at her church.  The class was doing Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Jam home workout routines, and Melissa was immediately hooked!  She found that it was easy to pick up.

“Chalene was so full of energy, and her cast was so fun! I remember doing other workouts at home, and it’d be the same thing—day after day after day—so when I knew there was not only one Turbo Jam, but there’s a whole line of ‘em, and every day I could do something different. I knew that it was really something for me.”

When Chalene Johnson came out with a new program called ChaLEAN Extreme, Melissa decided to give that a try too.  For accountability, she used the Beachbody message boards and kept in close contact with her coach.

“Not only am I fitter, I’m healthier, but I don’t have that depression any more. I’m happier than I’ve ever been . . . I’m full of energy, my marriage is happy and fulfilled because I’m happy and fulfilled. A year ago I never would have thought that fitness would be the key to me being so happy.”

After dropping 60 pounds with Beachbody home workout routines, Melissa transformed not only physically, but mentally as well.  Because of the inspiration of her Beachbody coach, Melissa decided to become a Beachbody coach too!  Now she’s “passing it on” and helping others just as her coach helped her!

THAT is why I’m a Beachbody coach!  I was helped by my coach (Traci), and now I’m passing it on!  If you need help, feel free to contact me!  This is the way we are going to fight the obesity crisis in America, by one person helping another and then passing it on!

Together we’re better!  SO TRUE!

Judy

P.S.  All of the success stories I’m posting have won $1,000 in a Beachbody transformation contest.  Some of them are in the running for a quarterly $10,000 prize.  If you would like access to all of the success stories to look through, you can create a free Team Beachbody Account by clicking here.

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Well, today is the day that the voting will end in the Beachbody quarterly transformation contest! One man and one woman will each win $10,000. They’ve already won $1,000 in the monthly contest. All of these people changed their lives with Beachbody home workout routines!

Look through my blog posts to see just a few of the stories, but if you want to be inspired by all 24 of these people, create your own account and have a chance to vote too! It’s very easy, and it’s free! Ask me how!

Judy

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WOW!  This success story just blew me away!  At only 33 years old, Jeremy tipped the scales at 370 pounds, was on medication for his dangerously high blood pressure, and walked with a limp due to severe arthritis.

Jeremy had no energy and that was a problem because he had two young active sons.  All Jeremy ever wanted to do was sit on the couch.  Life was passing him by, but he was complacent about his weight.

I’m always fascinated by that “moment”…that thing that flips the switch in a person’s mind and all of a sudden, they HAVE to make changes.  When you get to that point, the solution will show up!

Well, Jeremy had a good friend who was willing to tell him the hard truth.

“He asked me how I would feel if another man had to replace me and raise my sons, um, I was speechless . . . It made the situation really real for me. It forced me to think of the real events that would occur if I didn’t change my ways.”

Ouch!  I could see how that would motivate Jeremy!  We’ll do things for our children we would NEVER do for ourselves!

A high school athlete, Jeremy started asking buddies what they were doing to get in shape and found that many were doing the P90X^® home workout routine.  When he saw the way their eyes lit up when describing P90X, Jeremy knew the program was for him.

The most appealing characteristic of P90X that Jeremy’s friends described was the variety. The home workout routines in P90X included strength training days, cardio days, and days when they did stretching.

Jeremy loved the workouts, but there were major obstacles in his quest to get fit. He continually faced the temptation to eat poorly, and the arthritis in his ankle caused him intense pain.

“When I first started P90X, I swear I used every modification that Tony could throw at me. Whether it was from being so out of shape or physically being too big for my ankle, I had to modify everything. I really struggled. But around every corner there was Tony saying, ‘Do your best, and forget the rest.’ So many times I felt like he was personally talking to me.”

Jeremy probably felt like quitting many times, but I’m sure that when those times occurred, he heard his friend’s voice inside his head saying “Do you want another man to replace you to raise your sons”?  He pushed through the difficulties, and completely changed his life!  He’s no longer the Dad who just sits on the couch while his sons are playing.  He’s right in there playing with them!

P90X is a great program, but it IS intense!  Sure there are ways to modify it, but what few people actually know is that Tony Horton (the trainer who developed the P90X home workout routines) also developed some programs which are meant to ease you into P90X.

The Power90 home workout routine is a great place to start!  The workouts are shorter and much less intense.  Tony also developed the Power90 Master Series of home workout routines.  Those are somewhere between Power90 and P90X.

The important point to remember from Jeremy’s story is that he first made the decision to no longer be complacent about his weight.  He discovered his “WHY”, and it was a very powerful one…so that HE could be the one to raise his boys…not some other man.

What is YOUR why?  If you ever want to change your life, finding your why and keeping it at the forefront of your mind is essential to your success!

Together we’re better!

Judy

P.S.  Jeremy won $1,000 for his transformation story using Beachbody products, and now he is in the running to win $10,000.  If you’d like a free Team Beachbody account so that you can vote for the man and woman who will each win $10,000, just click here!

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This next success story is great because she is like so many other busy Moms I know.  As a mother, it’s tempting to put the needs of everyone else above your own.  But Amy Tupper realized one VERY important fact…she was a role model for her children.  Like it or not, they were going to model her behavior.

But Amy had been overweight most of her life, and she wasn’t sure what to do. Amy said…

“I was not happy with the way that I looked, and yet I wasn’t sure what to do about it. I wanted to be able to do things without feeling self-conscious about the way I looked doing it.”

I know so many people who can relate to that.  Why let something that you can change (like your weight) hold you back from living life the way you want to live it?

Amy then found Beachbody home workout routines.  She was first introduced to Kathy Smith’s Project You home workouts.

“It looked like a great program. It was varied. It had cardio, weights, yoga, pilates—also came with a nutrition portion, which clearly I needed as well. I decided to order it. It came in the mail. I sat down, looked through it, and decided, ‘I’m going to do it.’”

It wasn’t a walk through the park for Amy.  With two little children at home, she had to get creative about incorporating a home workout routine into her life.  She would workout when the kids were sleeping, or with a baby in the playpen next to her.  If they needed her when she was in the middle of her workout, she would pause the DVD and then continue with it a few minutes later.

I always recommend to anyone who has problems finding the time to do their workout…GET CREATIVE!  Especially if you have little children.  Maybe have a special toy that they ONLY get to play with when you are working out.

If you have any tips, PLEASE leave them in the comments!

Amy was rewarded for her patience, persistence, and creativity!  She became a Beachbody raving fan (I can relate) after completing the Project You Type 2 home workout routine.  She went on to do several other programs, including: Power90, Slim in 6, and ChaLEAN Extreme and ended up losing an amazing 102 pounds!!!  She’s now working her way up to Shaun T’s Insanity home workout routine.  Go Amy! 

If you ever wondered if home workout routines worked, it’s stories like Amy’s that prove that YES…they do work…IF you do the work involved!

Together we’re better!
Judy

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Beachbody is a company that markets home workout routines that actually work!  How do I know that?  I’ve experienced it for myself.  But don’t take my word for it, over the next several days, I’ll be profiling some of the success stories who have used Beachbody products to lose fat and build muscle in a way that will blow your mind!

First, meet Carson Sanders!  Carson is a 39 year old firefigher and paramedic from Sarasota Florida who used to be a gym rat.  But he was finding that his typical weight lifting workout at the gym just wasn’t giving him the results that he wanted anymore.  He saw the infomercial for the P90X home workout routine and was skeptical at first.  How could a home workout routine give him better results than the gym?  Pushing aside his doubts, he decided to give it a shot.  He purchased P90X and committed to 90 days of workouts at home.

Carson never looked back!  He ended up losing 59 pounds and went from 21% body fat to 6% body fat.  He ended up canceling his gym membership.  Now that he is able to workout at home, Carson is able to spend more time with his family, get the results he wants, and be a role model for his children.

That’s one of the things I love most about committing to a home workout routine!  Your family members see you working out, and I hear many people saying that their kids actually take part in the workouts with them!  What could be better than that?  In fact, if you watch Carson’s video, you’ll see his two young sons doing the workout right along with him! 

I’ll have another inspiring success story to share with you tomorrow!

Together we’re better!

Judy

P.S.  All of the people in the success stories I’ll be featuring over the next several days won $1,000 for submitting their transformation story after using a Beachbody home workout routine, and now they are in the running for $10,000 in the quarterly prize.  If you want to see all of the success stories, you can get a Free Team Beachbody account by clicking here.

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