Why I became a Team Beachbody Coach

If you asked me 25 days ago if I would become a fitness coach, I would have laughed out you of the room! I’m still thinking to myself “Am I really doing this?!” I must be crazy!

As many of you know...I have struggled for years trying to be healthy and lose weight and all I’ve had is let down after let down of failed attempts – which unfortunately led to an even worse lifestyle than before. Even when I made changes, I steadily continued to gain weight.  

I had ZERO energy, I had ZERO motivation to do anything physical, I hated my body, I had no self –esteem, and no confidence, and I'm still a work in progress. I hid all of these negative struggles as much as I could and put on a happy face for the people around me and really just tried to be OK with the fact that this, being overweight, was my life.

25 days ago, I jumped at the chance to start a challenge opportunity and I was going to give it ALL I possibly could! I was amazed with the workouts, with the motivation received from my coach, with the fact that I could easily manage the ‘diet restrictions’ – which really isn’t hard! I still have my dessert sometimes, or go out for dinner, but I am extremely aware of what I put into my mouth and how much of it I eat! It’s amazing how your mindset changes when you’ve put in a sweaty workout and you have a chance to ruin all your hard work! All of a sudden those, French fries don’t look so good!

 The biggest reason I want to be a coach is the fact that this program truly WORKS! I had noticeable results within 3 weeks! My FB and emails went INSANE when my friends and family saw a before and after pic after only 3 weeks of my challenge.  I jokingly said to my coach “I should become a coach getting so many newbies asking about Beachbody LOL! ” and he said “ ummm that’s not ‘LOL’ You really should!!”  After thinking it over a little I decided why the heck not! So what if I’m a plus sized fitness coach. I won’t be fat forever! and it makes me relatable...right?? Sure Jill, Sure...

I feel like I need to say that I’m not in this for money, nor would I give it all up if I don’t get anyone to actually ‘coach’...of course that would be AAAAMAZING if I did get that opportunity, but it isn’t my end goal.  My goal in being a coach, in doing Beachbody workouts at all – is to learn and put into practice tools to help me get healthy & be active and to support and encourage the people around me to do the same.  I would  love to coach and motivate others as they make changes in their lives, I really can relate!

I still have a LONG way to go before I reach my ultimate goals and I NEEDED this program to get me started on it and I will continue to use it because it has proved it really works for me.  The support from my coach, friends and family has inspired me to do my best and their support has been imperative in my weight loss and now being a coach, I’m excited to hopefully be that person for others if they want it!

“Look how far you’ve come, not how far you have to go”

Fugget about it...

It's 9 am and this has been my day, so far:

5:09 - Wake up, realize it's 5 am and say "Oh, heck no!" and go back to sleep.

6:40 - Wake up, realize I've overslept and say "Oh, heck no!" and jump up.

7:00 - Put phone on the counter while I make lunches

7:30 - Driving to work, realize I forgot my phone, Andree says "it was on the counter" and I say..."but I think it's in the laundry room...or on our bed...hmm I usually put it on the counter..." I CAN live without my phone, it was just that usually Andree calls me at lunchtime everyday. Now, we have to wait ALL DAY! ;)

7:40 - Drop Andree off and he is *fake sad* because he can't call me at lunch time - we laugh.

7:58 - Get to work, realize I forgot my pass and am locked out.

8:03 - Notice my pass is on my desk that I can't get to. Glare at it like this:  -_-

8:05 - My coworker saves the day and lets me in (for the 3rd time in 2 weeks...)

8:55 - Decide to message my friend to tell her the "I forgot my phone" story, and as I'm typing it I realize I am messaging her ON MY PHONE!!!

8:55-8:57 - Try desperately to remember where it came from...I must have put it in my coat, but I still can't remember...

8:58 - Stand up and absently adjust my shirt around my waist, realize my zipper was ALL the way down.


Oh well, on the bright side, soon I'll forget this even happened!

The little things

Patience. 

I'm not a patient person.  I have always been like that. When I was young I wanted to be a teenager, now. Then I wanted to be a grown up, now. Then to be done of college, now. Be married, now. Have my husband in Canada, now.  Of course, my most recent one - be skinny - NOW!

All (except skinny) of these things eventually happened, but while I was waiting for them to happen I didn't really appreciate that time like I should have. I did/do TRY to "enjoy the moment" and "live for right now", but that's something that doesn't come naturally for me.

Andree has that quality. He gives thanks for every little thing, if things don't go the way they "should" he takes it in stride and adjusts himself with what seems to be very little effort. This is one of the many reasons why he is my perfect match. ;)

I'm still doing my Jillian Michaels work outs even though Easter kinda messed with me - a) so much food, b) holidays! I do these workouts at work and have had some extended days so last week I only got two days in but hey, that's more than what I was doing a month ago - baby steps!

I'm back at it this week and I'm getting to the point that I know I'm going to do it today, but I look forward to having it over with - not quite to the point where I can't wait to do it today coz I miss 'feeling the burn' - I think that only happens to skinny people...and weirdos. Man,  I want to be a skinny weirdo - now.

I'm actually starting to notice a difference in little things since I've started this new journey, and it's exciting for me. I have had back problems for years, and being overweight has made that worse, there were/are many things that a normal 29 year old woman should be able to do, with ease, that I have a hard time doing. Like sitting on the floor for example. Well, I guess the hard part is the getting up off the floor part...Ha ha Jill on the floor, hardy har! But seriously, I normally avoid it like the plague. 

HOWEVER, I was at my moms and my nieces and nephew were there and my little nephew was on the floor, being adorable, and before I knew it I was sitting on the floor with him. I didn't even think about it until I realized I was sitting on the floor in the middle of a room FULL of people and that I'd need to get up at some point.  Then my dad starting saying he caught a skunk in a trap outside and Andree never saw one before and I was like " let's go see it!!" and before I realized it I was up off the floor, and I don't remember struggling! This could just be because I have a rotten memory, but normally I'd be really self-aware in that situation, trying to look as non-fat as possible. SO, YAY ME!! 

It's the little things...

Elated and Getting Shot

Guess what! I reached my loss goal for March +1!!! I had said I was aiming to lose 5lbs and I lost 6! I'm totally elated. I'm sure it's water weight mostly coz I didn't do anything drastic - However - I'm taking it and I'm pumped.

I did say that if I reached my goal in April I would bump up the intensity and I'm doing it. There are some ladies at work that started doing a 'Jillian Michaels 30 day shred' DVD at lunchtime in one of the training rooms here and I'm like...I have to do this. It's 30 minutes, it's intense, but it will bring results and it's FREE!

Yesterday, I completed Day 1 of Jillian Michaels. It is a hard workout. But after my legs stopped wobbling and my heart rate was back to normal, I felt great! After cooling down a bit and having some lunch I went and got changed back into work clothes and felt really proud of myself. 

There were even  a couple people in the office giving me the 'up, down' and in my head I was all like "that's right...I'm losing weight...check me out..." it was great..Until about 2 hours later I went to the bathroom and realized my frikin zipper was ALL the way down...like WIDE OPEN....Like, when your pants are too tight and you have to lay down to zip them in the first place kind of Wide open...sigh...

Anyway...I finished out the rest of the day feeling pretty good and Dre picked me up after work and high fived me for doing my workout and told me he was proud of me - it was great! Then we get home and I went to go up the steps to the door and nearly wiped out...I blamed the ice...but I knew deep down I could barely lift my legs coz of the workout. I didn't say anything, just popped a couple of tylenol and took it easy for an evening snuggled on the couch with Dre binge watching Alias.  Man, I love that show!

I was really "feeling the burn" when I went to bed and even woke up a number of times throughout the night from a recurring dream that I was getting shot in the thighs...turns out I was just moving.
I'm sure watching Jennifer Garner kick every bad guys butt in Alias probably didn't help...

I know the burn is a good thing! So...even though my legs were on FIAH I still did Day 2 with Jillian...and I'm going to continue it. It's HARD but I'm getting so encouraged by the ladies doing it with me (especially Jenny, my Spin Class/Yoga buddy...that one time...) and also by the people that read this. I never know who does and then someone will put a comment or come up to me and sometimes my reaction is "oh crap, I hope they didn't read the Body Polish one.." but still, your comments and encouragement is totally motivating me!  Thanks you guys!

Now, my lunch break is over and I gotta get back to work...can someone please carry me?

It's Spring, they said...

I am SO ready for this insane Winter to be done and I know I'm not alone! On the bright side, I am totally loving how the evenings are staying bright for so much longer now...the sun didn't go down until 8pm! It was lovely!

Last night, we got home from work I knew I had to take advantage of the sunshine and go for a walk. I got supper going and popped it in the oven and set the timer and told Andree I'll be back by the time it's done.

I went for a walk and the fresh air was just so awesome!  Sun was out...All the snow was starting to melt into enormous puddles...It almost didn't bother me when a truck drove by and splashed me...

When I got back home, I finished fixing supper and Andree had started watching an "Indiana Jones" movie and he was totally hooked to it! He was holding a spoonful of food for a good 10 minutes straight just glued to the show haha! It totally cracked me up because that man doesn't 'play with food'. He's normally half done by the time I have my first bite! 

It was so nice to see him enjoying that movie so much and laughing his head off.  I keep forgetting he's never seen these shows that I grew up with.  It makes watching them (again!) so much more enjoyable!  Does anyone have any show recommendations for us to watch? He loves 'action' shows more than any other...however, I did catch him laughing pretty hard at Dumb and Dumber too, so...

Life these days

It has been a long while since I posted anything...BUT lots has been going on!  People have asked me to blog again, but I didn't really have much to talk about. However, I find it fun to write so I'm starting up again. 

If you are expecting deep, wise words, this is not the blog for you. This is just me rambling about things, or events in my everyday life. 

As most of you know my darling husband is finally in Canada!! Only took 15 months...but he's here and has been here (in Canada) since December 1st, 2014 and  Here on PEI since Dec 2!

He is adjusting really well...I'm so impressed with him. He gave up so much to be here with me and he's really doing so well!  He's never seen snow before, he's never left Jamaica! So this winter has been a test...and he freakin' loves it! I'm so thankful, he could have totally been like "what. have. I. agreed. to." but instead he's like "man, I'm tough, I can handle this snow, you just need to dress for it!" (this coming from a man who wore a t-shirt and vest to church yesterday...it was nice, but it was still -10!)

He's calling me out all the time for complaining about how cold it is been...he's like "Jill, you're Canadian!!!" and I'm like " Buddy, I'm still human..."

Everything has been so new! We are newlyweds for REAL now haha! It was so nice to be able to spend Christmas and New Year's, his birthday and Valentines day TOGETHER. I often day dream of years to come -- it so much easier to go there now that he's here with me, and there is SO much for us to look forward to!

Something else that has happened recently is my little brother got ENGAGED!!! I'm super excited about this wedding coming up! They are going to be getting married in October. 

Having said that I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this...I need to look good!  I have always been bad at taking care of myself health-wise, however, I have PLENTY of reason to get in shape, now more than ever.  Not only do I want to look amazing at this wedding so I can dance till I drop (preferably not after the first 5 minutes, which is what would happen now), but I want to have a healthy lifestyle at home for myself, for my husband and for our future children - no, I'm not pregnant. 

I really need to get a grip on this part of my life. Like yesterday. I am the heaviest I have ever been, and I have really been changing the food I usually eat mostly because Andree is a vegetarian (but eats fish) so he likes super healthy foods. However, we all know it's not just about food.  I have a job that I sit on my arse for most of the day and then I go home, eat, relax and sleep. I need to make time for exercise!

So, March is the month (I know it's the 9th, but don't worry about it) that I'm going to try out a beginners workout of 5 days a week for 4 weeks strength and aerobic alternating exercise days. It's low key, but I need to start somewhere and I tend to over do it...refer back to my Yoga 1 - Jill 0 post...I refuse to do that again, so I'm starting small.

I have a VERY small goal to lose this month (5lbs) and if I make it, I will be elated, and I will increase things for April.  Ideally, I'd like to lose 30 before the wedding - that's like 5 lbs a month - it should be doable.

I will try to do some updates on here mostly for my future skinny self to look back on and see how far I've come. Also, because I know a few of you will read this and help keep me accountable! 

Let the 2015 blogging experience begin!

So, I got married...Part 2

.....

We went to go do pictures before the reception and it started to POUR rain...like a torrential down pour.  We didn't even care - at that point the most important part was done. Now, we could just relax and enjoy the rest of the day! The place we went to for pics was a flower farm basically, and it was STUNNING! So beautiful...We all got drenched but we had a BLAST!  (BIG huge Kudos to our lovely photographer Melissa!! xoxo) There was even some karaoke and entertainment given by our niece and nephews in the bus. At one point our nephew Najee said "This one is for the whitey's" and it was so funny! My family still talks about it!

Our reception was fantastic.  Our MC Wilfred Beckford 'Becky' was hilarious! He did an amazing job. The food was amazing, the decorations were amazing...everything was perfect! The only thing I would change if I could was that it was raining so hard we had to cancel our dance, but honestly, it was still so perfect! And hey, on the bright side, it meant we got to go back to the hotel early! We drove in to park our car and they asked us who for our names and Andree said "Mr and Mrs Parkin!" and we both giggled like losers - it was so fun!

I had been staying in a different room for the first two nights before the wedding and then we got upgraded to a MUCH better room in a different wing (the same wing that most of my family was in) so I had to put all my stuff into Moms room when I had checked out of the old room and waited for the new one, so at our reception Mom gave me her spare key and told me I could just come in and get my stuff later because they also took our gifts. We didn't really think that through...Anyway, that was the plan.

Andree and I headed on up to our room to first drop off Andree's luggage and realized...we are two doors away from Mom and across the hall from Ashley and Nanny. Awkward. Anyway, we drop off Andree's things and then head down two doors to Mom's to get all my other stuff and our presents! They aren't there, so we fill our arms with stuff and head back and I said "hunny get the door" and he said "I don't have the key, I thought you had it!" CRAP! We are locked out of our hotel room on our wedding night still dressed in our wedding clothes.  So, just as we are trying to figure out what we are going to do, Ashley comes around the corner.  The look on her face was so priceless - she did a double take and was like " I feel like I shouldn't be seeing you guys right now..." but she got over her shock and let us use her phone to call the front desk and they said they were going to send someone up ( we were quite a piece away from the lobby). We knew we have some time to kill, so we cuddled by our door. People were congratulating us as they walked past us...it was so romantic lol. Then Mom and Dad came around the corner...they were shocked too and were like "...what are you guys doing..." We told them we were waiting on someone and Mom was like "Wanna come in our room....and wait....?" and we were like "um, no thanks". LOL. It wasn't much longer before he showed up, we were still in our la la land so even then nothing could ruin that day!