Brushes with Celebrities

 

I’m a big fan of Beachbody.  I can’t really hide that.  And of course I wouldn’t want to!  I’m super lucky that I’ve had the chance to meet some Beachbody leaders, Super Trainers, and supplement creators in the last year.

I went to a Super Saturday event in Orange County the beginning of 2016 and got to hear the CEO Carl Daikler speak. He’s amazing. He’s so good at getting everyone excited about life.  I’ve seen him speak in person before, but this time I got to have a photo op with him. Super cool.

Flash forward to Summit 2016. My friend and teammate Angel and I got to get a quick photo with Tony Horton, OG Beachbody Super Trainer, in the hotel room before Summit really kicked off.  Look at that SMIZE!  We were super lucky and he was very nice to accommodate us and use his long arm to take the photo.

I chatted up Dr. Nima Alamdari, the Director of Scientific Affairs at Beachbody when I saw him in the halls.  I had also met him the previous year when the Beachbody Performance line was launched.  I got to talk science stuff with him.  And he let me take a photo.

Randomly, on the street, I got to meet Superfood Hunter Darin Olien, one of the co-creators of Shakeology. I’m a big fan of his philosophy of food, and I love his book Superlife.  I got a photo with him as well and told him that I was having trouble getting my husband to drink his Shakeology daily.  Darin suggested I tie him up and force feed him.  He’s really great!

I won an Instagram contest in October and in December, I got an in-home visit from Autumn Calabrese, the Super Trainer who has brought my favorite programs to life, and her brother Bobby Calabrese.  Together their cooking show Fixate and the Fixate cookbook has helped change how we eat and approach food.  They were honestly just as lovely and wonderful as I could have hoped.  We cooked with them, shopped with them and had some great talks about fitness, food, living in California, and everything else.

My last brush with a Beachbody celebrity was Mr. Tony Horton again.  He spoke at our local Super Saturday and I got a photo op!  Sadly, I couldn’t do his workout because I had an injured shoulder.  But he gave a great Q&A and really brought a lot of things into perspective that I was missing.  Our photo time was brief, but he called me Sweetheart, and can you really ask for anything else?

One of my wildest dreams is to be Beachbody famous myself.  I want to be a top coach, have an incredible result to share, and keep inspiring  other people to go for it.  I want to talk on the National Wake Up Call, and in front of the crowd at a Super Saturday. Until I’m legit famous, I’ll have out with the elite when I can.

My Average is Awesome

Once in awhile I get stuck in “The Wallows.” I usually come out of it just fine, but whether it is hormones, the phase of the moon, the length of the days, I can count on it making a brief cameo or an extended contract appearance in the normal sunshine and rainbows I try to cultivate.

(And instead of banishing The Wallows, I’ve decided to let it happen, confront it and learn from it.)

The latest installment on The Wallows has been a pretty typical one for me. My friends. My relationships. And usually the song is “No One Likes You Anymore.”

I’ve seen through this one a little bit.

Three years ago I started learning more about how to be a effective Beachbody Coach. The training includes a ton of personal development exercises and honestly, really just kicks off a lot of development that never actually ends. But, trust me, it’s a good thing. One of the exercises was to identify the Top 5 people you spend time with in your life. Why? Because you are the average of the Top 5 people you spend your time with. The Top 5 people you give energy and attention to. We were challenged to consider if those Top 5 people were good, positive influences that would support you in your life, and if they would help you become a success. I easily identified my Top 5. My Top 5 people were people that I freaking loved, and they loved me. And I knew that it would never change.

It did change. Of course it changed. That’s what happens. My Top 5 in 2014 are not my Top 5 in 2017. Three years of stuff and change and experiences have happened for me and for each of them. The problem was part of my brain was holding on to the dearly departed members of my Top 5 squad. I have a massive fear of loss. And I attributed the perceived loss to being my fault.

Members of my former Top 5 were people who are great friends, but did not share my enthusiasm for my Beachbody business. In fact, I think my ridiculous enthusiasm was very off putting to them. Which made me feel like crap because, why weren’t they supporting me as blindly as I expected them to? They just weren’t. And what I see now is, that’s totally okay. No one is required to buy into your dreams. And if you can’t convince them, it doesn’t mean you didn’t do a good job and it doesn’t mean your dreams don’t matter.

I made a few really lame attempts to talk to a few of my friends about my big dreams and my love for what I was doing, but honestly, I was scared to hear anything negative and my idea of a big heart to heart basically was a couple of mumbled sentences and change of subject.

Honestly, I don’t know what I expected from them. Maybe I wanted them to listen to me, enraptured and join my team of coaches and go full on Beachbody blue. My dreams aren’t everyone else’s. My interests aren’t universal. And I’m starting to be OK with that. Really I am.

These friends were easy targets for The Wallows. I’ll give you a taste of the kind of things my unfriendly voices would say. “They don’t believe in you.” “No one believes in you.” “You are a joke.” “You’ll never be a success.” “This is a scam.” “Your business cost you your friends.” “They think you are dumb.”

I’m a fierce friend. I’m the kind of person who is almost a Stage 4 clinger. I love you hard. I love you without reserve. But not everyone is like me. And sadly, people I loved stopped showing up for me.

I stopped being sad about it because I realized that even if people don’t show up for you, it’s not because they don’t love you. It just means that you aren’t their priority right now. That’s not a judgment, that’s life. Things and people are more important at different times because no one has the bandwidth for it all.

Without realizing it, I created a new Top 5. I created a new Top 10. Last year I wanted some help with my goals and accountability. I wanted people to talk to honestly, and I wanted to get new opinions. I created a group of women for that mutual support. It has been fantastic for all of us. That’s the kind of support I had been craving. I think they were, too.

I’m sure The Wallows will still prick me from time to time when I see people on social media hanging out together doing fun things without me, but I am reminding myself with this post and going forward that I have everything I need to be successful and happy. And I wish everyone else the best, too.

Welcome to Your Life

Okay, so it’s the first day of the year, so it’s obviously time to take a big old stab at doing things the way you want them done, right?

I’m looking at the next year and I’m really wanting to take action steps. I’ll start with this blog.

• Blog more.
• Have a more concrete voice on my blog.
• Move the blog over to a new site.
• Integrate it better with the rest of my social media life.
• Have better ways to connect with new people.

Now let’s talk about my health and stuff.

• Bust the plateau.
• Get some serious weight loss results.
• Get certified to be a personal trainer.
• Get paid to teach PiYo.
• Go to Summit like a #GirlBoss.

Personal life?

• Spent more time with people.
• Travel.
• Have meaningful relationships.
• Enjoy life.

Happy 2017.

Progress Photos are Scary!

**This post actually came from my Facebook page.  I can’t freaking believe I put this photo on there, on here, heck, I even sent it to an ex-boyfriend.  Why?  Because I’m not hiding.  I’m DOING this.  I’m a normal person and I’ve got normal person feelings.  So someone else who is a normal person with normal person feelings needs to know he is not alone.**

The first time I joined a challenge group here on Facebook, my coach Jamie wanted me to send her before photos. I immediately got a lump in my throat. I didn’t want to take photos and I certainly didn’t want to share them with someone I’ve never met.

I mean, let’s get real, we only post the best of the best photos of ourselves when it means other people can see it. We know the angles, we know the lighting, we know the filters. And when you’re struggling with your weight and you finally decide to take a risk and try something new, there’s just so much “new” you can take.

But I took my before photos and I sent them to her. And I’ve sent her photos since then. And I’ve taken some for myself and kept them on folders in my computer I never visit.

I revisited them today at her suggestion. She provided me with a 2014 photo – not even the start of my Beachbody story. The other photo is last week. I still have a long way to go but I’m so grateful for the road it has taken to get here so far.

January 2014 – September 2015

So take your before photos. Get your significant other or best friend to take photos of you in workout clothes. You don’t have to obsess over them, tuck them away in a folder, send them to your coach. (I’d love to be your coach!) And when you’re ready to see how far you’ve come, bring them back out into the light.

Oh yeah – and if you turn in your before and after photos, along with a Beachbody program completion, you get a t-shirt and can win $1000.

Haters Gonna Hate

Isn’t it a little ridiculous to be a healthy and fitness coach when you obviously don’t have it all figured out?

You know what, that’s true. I am mid transformation. I do have bad days. In fact I did sample lots of donuts this weekend with my friends.

I can’t tell you that I have it all figured out – I certainly don’t.  But I’m getting there.  Every day I’m closer to my goal that I was the day before.

The thing is, I have the audacity to not hide.

I’m not going to say nothing and emerge like a butterfly.  You get to see the good, the bad, and the annoying along the way.  Some people probably won’t enjoy all my posts.  I know I’ve lost “friends” on Facebook.  I don’t care.  Someone else needed to see that I was out there trying my best on that day.  It made a difference for that person.

I’ve been trying to lose weight since I was 11 years old.  Nothing has “stuck” with me like Beachbody coaching.  I’m constantly uplifted by other coaches, my customers, trainers, and even the executives of the company.  (My CEO tweets at me, what?!?!)  And I know that by having people watching me, you ALL are making me accountable.

A kid can be 5 years old and be a baseball player when she hits the t-ball set up.  She doesn’t have to wait to be in the MLB to be a baseball player.  So why can’t I be a health and fitness coach right now?

Enough said.

Born to Wander.

I’m a born traveler. I used to annoy my parents to no end when I was a kid because I never wanted to stay home. I’m very fortunate to have had more opportunities than most young people. And as an adult I’ve tried to take advantage of any chances I’ve had to go anywhere new.

I don’t mind flying. Buses are fine. Trains are kinda cool. I’m down for a cross county road trip *whenever.* Boats? You *know* I love life on the high sea!

This was a busy summer for travel and me. I went to Nashville for Beachbody Summit, which is a new state and city for me! I went back to SF to see dear friends get married. And I spent 3 whole weeks back in Maine, with family, friends, new friends and lots of cats.

I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to do this travel, I don’t take it for granted for a second. My manager at Starbucks let me fly the coop for an extended period of time, and my job as a Team Beachbody Coach let’s me do the good work that I’m passionate about anywhere. I imagine a time when I can do even more travel, even more connecting in person, even more sweating with the people I care most about.

Wifi is my best friend. The world is a small place because we can keep in touch about the fun things we do and stay on track with our health and fitness goals. The world is also a BIG place. Flying over looking down below makes me want to see it all.

If I get the window seat, I’m happy!