Umm, gluteous no maximus? (with pics)

I lost weight in my butt!  OK, let me start at the beginning…about 3 months ago, I received a picture of myself from one of my friends taken at an event we attended.  I felt bad for her – clearly, her camera was not functioning properly because the image in that picture looked nothing like the image in my mirror everyday!  Because we are such good friends and I know she paid a lot for her camera, I decided to send her a picture of me from my phone and place them side by side so she could see the difference.  You won’t believe this, but apparently my camera had the same problem! To make a long story short, I soon accepted the fact that it was not the camera but it was me! Somehow, since the birth of my last child, I managed to put on quite a few pounds. Something had to change! I decided it was time to do something about my health.  Naturally, I went to the world’s most trusted source of fitness help:  Instagram, lol!  I virtually met Giovanna (@giofitness) a Beachbody coach and decided to give it a try.  For the last 8 weeks, I have been doing the 22 Minute Hard Corps Workout and as a result, I lost 13 pounds and 4.5 inches.

Of course in the process, I learned a few things (you knew that was coming right?)  Here is what I learned:

The biggest part of making a change in your life is making a decision. Once I decided that I wanted to lose weight and make changes in my life, I actually did it – nothing monumental, I just DECIDED and DID IT.

Time is what you make it.  Part of my challenge is that with a husband, 3 kids, a job, and other commitments, my time was very limited.  This particular workout was 22 – 30 minutes a day.  It went by really quickly and I gave my all for just that short amount of time and it worked. What could you do with 30 minutes a day?  Write a book?  Learn a new skill? Start your new business?  Pray more? I am just saying…

Sometimes success comes in ways you won’t expect.  My goal was to lose a few pounds – and I did.  But wouldn’t you know it?  The first place I lost inches was in my butt!  No gluteous maximus? No Boom Boom Belinda?  (OK, no one actually called me that.  But that’s not the point!) Also, my family started exercising too.  Basically, my actions affected my entire family!  Now that’s success.

Success doesn’t happen without accountability and support.  Part of what Giovanna required of me was participation in a Facebook group.  I had to post something everyday that showed I was doing what I said would do (eating right, exercising, drinking water, etc).  I hated it!  But I found that the support (and accountability) of the group really helped me get through the tough days.

That’s it for now!  I will leave you with my before and after pics…

Before you look at these, remember, we are friends, and though I appreciate your honesty, you should really sandwich any criticism between positive comments.   I will respond appropriately with Feel, Felt, Found so that we can continue our relationship!

Also, remember there are lots of ways to make healthy changes.  So if you have another method, that’s great – Beachbody is what worked for me – you have to find what works for you. Finally, if you want to know more about my experience, I will be more than happy to share.

Thanks for reading!