I hate that I care what other people think about me. I wish I didn’t care if my neighbors, coworkers and patients thought that I was pregnant when I wasn’t. I would kindly tell them no, I wasn’t pregnant. They would feel bad about just calling me fat and went on with the day. For me, over time the repeated comments were psychologically devastating. My friends would try to explain the comments away by saying it was just my scrubs, the person didn’t know what they were talking about, or that it was my poor posture from my scoliosis that they were noticing. This went on for a few years. I didn’t have the time, motivation, or energy to work on fixing my bloated belly, poor posture, fatigue and chronic back pain. My husband and I are busy raising my three amazing kids (who are now 14, 11 and 8), working full-time in the medical field, keeping up with daily life, coaching soccer and leading Girl Scouts.  Plain and simple, there just wasn’t time for me!

My healthy way of life journey began over two years ago when my youngest entered kindergarten. Finally, I felt I had the opportunity to work on myself. I started meeting with my Life Time Trainer and Nutrition Coach Dan Kenney. My husband and I did the 90day together in February 2016. We learned to eat clean, did food sensitivity testing and earned our D. TOX kit “Eat Fit” shirts from Coach Anika. We attended Try It Tuesdays and used Life Time Fitness supplements.

Life got busy again after the 90day. Workouts started to be skipped, sleep missed, there were too many cheat meals, sweets and happy hours that went unanswered. I was sidelined from lifting with a shoulder injury and then again months later with a knee injury. Once again, I found myself forcing a smile answering, “Nope, I’m not pregnant.” All of my work had been undone by bad habits! So here I am at age 38 back in another 60day to change for good!

My goals for the 60day were to get rid of my bloating and belly fat, decrease my body fat to 13 percent, lose seven pounds of fat, and finish stronger than I did after the 90 Day. Meaning that my numbers were better, I looked and felt like I lost my belly fat, had less back pain and more energy.

I set and tracked my macros for carbs, sugars, fats, proteins and calories on a nutrition app on my smartphone. Dan and I decided on absolutes this time, as in absolutely no alcohol, no gluten, no dairy, no processed carbs and no added sugars greater than 4 grams. Water intake was increased to 75–100 ounces a day. I was eating really clean before the 60day but my portion sizes were way more than they should had been! I started measuring my portions so that I knew exactly what I was eating. I took a Women’s Multivitamin, Omega-3, Probiotic, Magnesium, Vegan Protein, All in One shake, Strength Stack PreWorkout and BCAA Recovery and UCAN Hydrate.

I worked out six days a week with three cardio workouts, three total body strength training days and one rest day.  My cardio workouts were based off my Active Metabolic Assessment on the treadmill. I used the Life Time app and Dan programed my cardio workouts every week. I strength trained with Dan once every week where first he would do a reflexive performance reset on areas that I needed him to work on, usually my back, hips and hamstrings. I rotated between two types of workouts, a full body hypertrophic workout and a metabolic workout. Personal trainers Dan, Melanie Painter and Kyler Eid always made a special effort to check in with me during my workouts.  Thanks guys your words motivated me to a higher level!

After the 60day I plan to keep making time for myself! Remain mostly alcohol, gluten and dairy-free but add back in a weekly cheat meal, sweets occasionally and happy hour once in a while.  I plan to continue to train with Dan, run some summer races with my Life Time friends, continue reading Coach Anika’s latest emails and who knows maybe I’ll even try ALPHA.

I lost 10.5 percent body fat that brought me down from 21.3 percent to 10.8 percent, lost 8 pounds and gained 4 pounds of muscle. All of my jeans are way too big and nobody asks me if I am pregnant anymore! It’s official, I finished stronger!

Thank you to my husband, Tom, and kids for going along on this journey with me. For working out with me, handling things around the house and encouraging me. To my trainer, Dan Kenney, your confidence in my ability to succeed made me want to work harder, thanks for being the constant driving force. To my brother Ryan, my accountability buddy, I loved that you started your transformation journey with me and I am very proud of the success you had in the 60day, keep it up! I am grateful and forever changed by my transformation, thanks Life Time!