I have faced many obstacles this past year and have lost focus on maintaining myself. My reason for accepting this challenge was to prove that with the ability to maintain a positive mindset along with a healthy lifestyle, that I could reach my goals. It has been a rough year for me mentally, financially and physically. With all of this stress I have gained about twenty pounds, as well as watched my body fat increase. I needed to regain control of my life, lose weight and focus on my future. I needed to fix me. This Challenge was going to be the kickoff to a better lifestyle, mindset and fitter me for 2017.

About ten years ago, my mother was diagnosed with Cancer. The type of Cancer did not have a promising survival rate. My mother beat the odds. We live together and I am her support. She went down a rough road with this disease, never able to reclaim the same person that she was. Her treatment permanently affected her hair, her eating ability, her mental state of mind and the list goes on. She was let go from her job and never regained the self-esteem to find another one. She has a negative outlook on life and has become very reclusive. I am her only friend, her support and her care-giver. My mother attempts to drag me into this negative way of thinking on a daily basis. I needed this Challenge to strengthen my positive way of thinking and give me the strength to move forward with my life.

My personal challenge began. I needed to clean up my act. I began by telling everyone that I was making a commitment to myself by signing up for this 60-Day Challenge. I believe I was in actuality reaching out for accountability. This helped to make it real to me by sharing my goals with those around me.

My first focus was on my nutrition. I ate 5 to 6 meals daily. I went food shopping on a Saturday and prepared my weekly food on a Sunday. I would prepare a variety of proteins such as lean chicken, turkey cutlets, fish and boiled egg whites. I would also prepare some jasmine rice, roasted butternut squash and steamed tri-color potatoes. Along with this I would add a variety of fresh vegetables. For my breakfast I would prepare my own protein pancake recipe with fresh berries. I drank lots of water and iced black coffee with espresso every day.

Sunday nights I planned my workout schedule for the week and placed it in my personal planner as a scheduled appointment. My cardio workouts consisted of AMP and EDG cycle, TCX and Warrior Sculpt. I always looked forward to these Life Time Signature classes as they were challenging, but also fun and entertaining. In conjunction with my cardio, I also enrolled for a year in the small group Alpha training program with my Alpha instructors Michele and Walter. Michele was awesome for all of the metabolic training workouts as well as her heart pounding circuits. Walter always came up with crazy classes that had us laughing, sweating and gasping for breath. One day he was a drill sergeant and we were chanting to our workouts. We just never knew what he had up his sleeve. These two trainers have created a large support group and Alpha community.

The weekly weigh -ins were a great motivation for me to stay focused. It was always fun to see where you ranked among other participants. I finally completed my final weigh-out. I am 51 years old; my weight is 124 pounds with 9.4% of body fat. I had a 51% change in body fat while still maintaining my muscle mass. I feel fit and fantastic! The ability to focus my mindset and maintain my discipline allowed me to reach my goals.

Today, January 1, 2017, I am where I need to be to have a fresh start on 2017 thanks to this 60-Day Challenge. They say that everything happens for a reason and because of this commitment to myself, I crossed paths with another member today at Life Time. I wished her a happy New Year and in return she informed me that she found her husband deceased on Friday. We spoke for some time and at the end of our conversation she looked at me and said, “I will be okay. I have people like you and many other members that have become like family to me that will bring happiness to my life.” I hugged her and cried for her as I was so inspired by her positive mind-set as well as her spirit. These experiences with other members are life changing. I am always there for them as they are for me. It is nice to know you can always find that special someone to share your struggles with and to gain some strength at the club.

Life Time has become my happy place. Life Time provides me with more than just a healthy environment to work out and stay fit. In fact, the highlight of my day is when I arrive at the club. It is where I go to not only train my body, but also my mind. As soon as I walk through the front door, I take a deep breath and I am able to relax. I would like to thank Life Time for providing me with this challenge as well as both the physical and mental strength I need to balance out everything else that life sends my way.