Transformation Tuesday! Meet my awesome friend Stacey! I know you will find her story inspiring! Taking care of yourself is the best thing you can ever do! You were Made for More!
I am writing this with hopes that it can help someone else. My name is Stacey. I am a 47-year-old mom of two teenage girls from Houston, Texas. At the end of 2017 I found myself 35 lbs overweight, tired, and disgusted with how I looked and felt. I occasionally walked my dogs, but other than that did not exercise, and my diet was terrible. I had held a gym membership for years and had hardly used it. I didn’t feel like myself at all but didn’t know how to change things.
Then a God thing happened. Around Christmas time I saw a viral tweet by a sweet adult son about his parents. I saw his mom Libby making snow angels in her living room and I started following her on Instagram. I thought, wow this woman is 10 years older than me and she’s so strong and fit. Her message spoke to me when she said that God has a purpose for all of us and getting healthy is about being the best person you can be so that you can carry out His plan for you. You can’t help others if you don’t take care of yourself first.
I had never been athletic, and at this point, had never heard of Beachbody. I had never reached out to anyone for help like this, let alone a total stranger, but I DM’d Libby and the next thing I knew I was on the phone with her making a plan. She was so easy to talk to; so positive and inspiring! My oldest daughter was about to graduate from high school, so in January I set a goal of losing 35 lbs by her graduation in May. Libby was confident I could do it!
I joined Beachbody on Demand with Libby as my coach, added Shakeology as a great dose of dense nutrition and started with one of Libby's online coaching groups. I like the variety of workouts available and that I can do them in my home. They were challenging, but I told myself, “I can do anything for 30 minutes a day. Just be consistent and stick with it.” I followed the container system, which made me aware of how much I had been eating and I lost 14 lbs in the first month. My 15-year old daughter started joining me in the workouts. We did 21 Day Fix twice more and as Autumn says, “It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger.” We started 21-Day Extreme for more of a challenge and loved it! I was amazed at the changes in my body and the things it could do! I even started running 2-3 miles at a time. Before I started I couldn’t have run to the corner!
By May I had reached my goal and I’ve been continuing alternating workouts and running to maintain my weight. I’m thinking of starting 80 Day Obsession next month when my daughter leaves for college to really challenge myself (and work through the tough emotions).
I picked up a 35 lb bag of dog food at the pet store the other day and realized that is how much extra weight I used to carry around every day! No wonder I didn’t feel good!
I’m so grateful to God for putting Libby in my life and setting me on a path to be the best I can be to live out His purpose for me. I’m loving the smaller clothes, but more than that I love feeling stronger, having a clear mind and more energy! Stick with it. If you have a bad day, don’t get down and don’t give up. Just go right back to the plan. It works!
