This is not my first rodeo. Five years ago I was a member of Life Time in New Jersey. I lost a lot of weight until I hurt my back (story of my life).

That same year I lost my older sister, when she died suddenly at age of 49. Debby was the health fanatic of the family: a marathoner and ultra-healthy eater. It’s been 5 years since her passing, but I’m finally implementing the health and fitness lessons she always shared. This 60day taught me a lot of the same lessons.

This summer I re-committed. My family moved from the cold weather and snow of Jersey to the cold AC and snow cones of Cypress, TX. Since relocating, our new home is literally 5 minutes from the Life Time Cypress club. So I re-joined and took advantage of this 60day as a way to jumpstart my health.

Going into 60day, my mindset was to turn my health around. This was about long-term behaviors and habits. I didn’t want to exercise after my sister passed. I put so much time and effort into my 3 kids. I was working so much, sitting for hours at my computer. I became seriously overweight. To make it worse, my doctor said my cholesterol was high and put me on medication. I had completely neglected my health. This 60day was the perfect push.

Crucial for me was learning proper form, not just in exercise, but everyday things I had taken for granted: like getting in and out of bed, or sitting down in a chair without straining my lower back.

My progress during the 60day would not have been possible without all the help I received along the way. I am so grateful!

For starters, I was able to eat really clean, thanks to the support of my awesome husband, Earl. He knew that I came home from my workouts famished. So he’d have a tasty breakfast ready for me: often salmon (my favorite fish) and egg whites. Earl made sure our fridge was stocked with healthy choices for lunch, snacks and dinner too: everything from chicken breast, almonds and trout to salads and berries for my protein smoothies. He was able to bring to life the Nutrition Plan I got from Life Time. On super busy workdays, the Life Cafe came through. I had so many “approved” options. The frittata was my go-to meal, and of course the smoothies made 60day life much easier.

My trainer, Ro Q, kept me going with his words of encouragement. During tiresome workouts, before the 4th set he would say: “Last one, best one.” After a few weeks, that stuck in my head and I would say it before he could, out loud to amp myself up.

Ro pushed me to do things I thought I couldn’t do. Other times, he would ask me how the weights felt. When I said “HEAVY!!!” He would smile and say: “Good thing you’re strong.” Pretty soon, I was believing it and telling myself: “Good thing I’m strong. I can do this.” Two weeks into my 60day, I strained my back on the leg press (I thought ‘Oh no, out of commission again’). But Ro was able to show me how to strengthen my low back, and how to work around it to stay on track with my goals. “No setbacks. We’re moving forward.”

These 2 months have been so much hard work. When it got really tough, I would recite Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I am so proud of myself for following through with my plans. I’m thrilled about my results. My body fat percent went down by nearly 11% and I lost just over 20 pounds! Woohoo! I still have a lot of work to do. But I’ve learned so much that I’m now 100% confident I will succeed.

ZUMBA!!! I’ve taken so many fun classes at Lifetime, like Strike and Zumba. I absolutely love Zumba! It feels like being at a party with a bunch of friends who all like dancing, good music and burning some serious calories.

I even joined the Run Club. I was hesitant, because I thought it was all running. The instructor, Maria, stayed with me the whole time; we did intervals of jog/walk (my daughter did it too). That was so cool and kind of her. Thanks, Maria!

One of the biggest surprises for me was yoga. For years, my sister Debby told me how great yoga was for the body and mind. But honestly, I was kind of terrified of doing it. Yet now that I’ve tried Root, Surrender and Flow yoga classes, I can’t wait to do more!

The workouts, heavy lifting, cardio for homework, group fitness classes, yoga for recovery, the supplements, meal plan, mobility sessions, and strategic timing of metabolic testing, were all part of the plan. We planned for the best and worst scenarios. Low back went out; overcame that. Weight-loss plateaued; overcame that with Resting Metabolic Assessment and more food (yum). We had plans within the plan.

I know Debby is smiling down at me from heaven. And I’m smiling at myself too, knowing I’ve come so far on this 60day journey, and this is just the beginning.

I’ve learned the lessons. Next is mastery. Next is a life without medication. Next is running without walking. Who knows? Here in Texas, I just might be a runner y’all.