What amazes me is that this journey started for me 13 years ago, just a personal journey for a mom of 2 under 2 to lose her baby weight. What I gained was so much more!

Confidence and Health, Guidance and Community, Love and Acceptance… and another baby and a whole new journey! 

Never underestimate the ability to start back up and change you! Relocate your energy, IN YOU!

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“Hi! I am Amy! I’m not superhuman, have super powers or am different than the mom next door, the friend dropping their kid off at one practice then run to pick up the other kid across town at their practice or the wife trying to have a nice family dinner around crazy schedules and kids bickering.

I am no different than you. I still struggle as a person, as a survivor from attempted suicide, as a child who was raped for a year and a half, a person that battles thoughts of self sabotage with food when it is late and the day have not gone as planned and “falling off the wagon” seems like a better choice bc I’m tired and I sometimes get so angry that I have to battle the fact that I had let myself tip the scale at and very unhealthy 232 pounds and I was miserable. I felt unhealthy, gross, bloated and didn’t know the person in the mirror who was looking back at me. I was suicidal and on the verge of another attempt to end my life and walk away from an amazing husband and 3 children.

I literally had tried everything! I suffered from eating disorders, restricting calories, eating only once a day, hypnosis, shots, trying every diet to only make it a few days and go off the deep end to surgery that left me malnourished and getting it reversed because I was only able to eat cake, icecream, pies and other sweets.

Losing weight and getting healthy used to look like pills, weird mixes, pre-packages of high sodium filled processed foods with numbers on them instead of looking at the labels, eating foods that fill you up and will sustain you and help you to not have those crazy cravings. Having a certain amount of water at different times to help your body do it’s best to tell your stomach and brain when you are full so you don’t overeat. I had to get serious. When I started I just didn’t know because I wasn’t raised to know. No one really talked about this kind of health.

I took a leap and had it set in my head that none of this would work. I started with p90x3, then continued with 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme. I drank my Shakeology every day and followed the meal plan with the containers. I have completed the programs Core de Force, 80 Day Obsession, Cize, Country Heat, Insanity Max 30, Turbo Fire, 2B Mindset, Ultimate Portion Fix, Hammer & Chisel, LIIFT4, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Transform :20 and Shift Shop.

I’m the 37 year old that is teaching her children and family the right ways when it comes to health, nutrition and fitness. I’m a 2 degree- college educated woman with 4 dogs and a bad childhood. I go to therapy and help others from what I have learned through my struggle so they don’t have to go through what I did.

This is my journey. Some days are harder than the next, but I have the support of my teammates and coach. That has been a game changer for me. This lifestyle change is a marathon and I run a part of it every day. One path leads to another and each makes me stronger, more wise, gives me more mental clarity, a passion for life and the gratitude that I had lost. It is nice to finally get to know the person I was always meant to be… 100 pounds lighter and whole lot healthier.

Find me on Instagram @coachamyfab”

Amy has been an inspiration to so many, but being a mom of 3 has been the biggest inspiration for Amy! She is a role model for her kids and so many out there.

The post Meet Amy Fabriziani first appeared on Nikki Kuban Minton.

But the truth is I never felt lucky I felt guilty:( Guilty at the fact that I watched so many of my friends struggle with their weight and in high school would go to the gym with them while they sweat it out And I sat nearby cheering them on:( I felt out of place there… why because I felt like I was being judged for even stepping foot in the gym As I never needed to lose weight:(

I covered my body up most of my life and hid behind belts and hoodies… because I felt guilty That I never had to put hard work in to remain skinny

Many would look at me and think I was healthy And from the outside I probably looked that way but the truth was our inside health is just as important as what is seen on the surface!!!

Confidence and self worth was a struggle for me:( I wasn’t proud of the body that I was living in because I never had to work to achieve it and my heart hurt for all my family and friends who I watched struggle with their body image:(

Words are powerful and even when you think they don’t hurt the truth is they can be more damaging than one can understand unless experiencing it themselves:( meaning being told ur skinny can be just as detrimental as being told your fat…

So although I looked healthy on the outside it was my inner health that needed work and through lots of personal development, Encouragement overcoming obstacles and struggles and learning to rise above those things I never thought I could conquer I can now honestly say I am the healthiest version of myself mind soul and body in connection

No I’m not perfect and I’m a work in progress every day but I am proud of the hard work I have put in to earn the results both internally as well as externally and I’m learning to share them without regrets because a lot of sacrifice hard work and dedication has been put in each and everyday to finally feel confident and proud of the strong body I live in!!!”

Michelle may not have needed to lose weight, but confidence is in the smile!

The post Meet Michelle Benson first appeared on Nikki Kuban Minton.

“I moved back to Pennsylvania in 2008 and I weighed 135. I was a fitness Nazi in the Air Force. I then started to gain weight while working in the ER and eating cafeteria food or ordering out with the docs. I got to 163 then I started to work out again and eat better, I managed to lose 13 lbs and then I was at a plateau well that was because I was pregnant. I gained 40 lbs during pregnancy putting me at 190. I was working out with a personal trainer and hitting the gym hard after I had my daughter who has been my biggest supporter on this journey! My workout partner at times, my cheerleader!  I got down to 147 lbs. Then I let life’s relationships get in the way. I was happy because I found the love of my life and working out and eating healthy gradually slipped away. However when I got on the scale and saw I weighed 187 lbs that was enough. I had been working out here and there and trying to eat healthy but wasn’t committed. When I saw I weighed 187 lbs as much as I weighed at 8 months pregnant that was my breaking point. That’s when I bought insanity and started my journey. Though I struggled the first month of Insanity due to an ankle injury and it led me to take a week off to heal. I therefore decided to start it over then I lost my grandma during this journey and wanted to give up but I had such and amazing community and support system that kept going strong on this journey. Before starting insanity I was tired all the time, depressed with my weight , frustrated with the size of clothes I was in and frankly I felt like a fat cow. After starting insanity I felt the more I worked out the better I felt. I have more energy, self confidence has improved and I’m happier than ever in all aspects of my life. Best thing I have ever done! finished insanity losing 23 lbs and 14 inches with the program!!! Since insanity I lost 50 lbs in little over a year on this journey  Went from a size 12 to a size 4!!! I have put on a ton of muscle! 

Then life got rough again a break up that was worse than a divorce and for the first year after I stayed strong then I just fell into a slump, became a huge excuse maker on top of injuries and surgeries I ended up in such a funk I didn’t work out for almost a year let me make that clearer I didn’t complete a program for a year, I pushed play sporadically here and there. I then was starting to have health issues about 4 years ago now (2015). It took multiple visits to the VA and finally seeing my PCP to find that I had a nodule on my thyroid. Then had a biopsy that was benign thankfully!  But I still was fatigue, tired just felt run down “like I always had the dang flu”  Then the symptoms started piling on weight gain, menstrual cycle issues, infertility, cough, throat pain, neck pain, hair loss, trouble swallowing, hoarseness, intolerance to cold, memory loss, depression, coarse hair, weakness, difficulty losing weight, weakness. So many of them common symptoms for a million things! The ENT chalked it up to be acid reflex! I still battle all these symptoms and I am fighting to get back to my 140s and out of the 170s if I could just break out! Another doctors said stress is causing it which is highly possible as I am under a lot of stress. But there is that fact I still have the nodule on my thyroid. So though I still have no definite answer other than all my Thyroid labs so all is good, I battle through everyday trying to make my journey keep going.  It is a constant struggle and frustrating to say the least to work and sweat so hard and the number go no where however I see many changes in the mirror, how my clothes fit and I still keep pushing through. Because I know I got the insane results once it is possible again!!!  I soon hope to find out what the true issue is to all my symptoms and get some answers and finally maybe start to feel like myself again.

It is not a huge difference as I have gained some weight back with my health issues and these pictures though 6 years apart are only 12 lbs apart. There was in the middle of my journey though were I was that 50 lbs lighter and toned and I will get there again, I have the right tools-the workouts, nutrition, community and people!”

Abby has used Beachbody programs and supplements for years, she know what and how to work the programs to get the results she wants! She is a real person when she knows she is here and shows up!

The post Meet Abby Gelotte first appeared on Nikki Kuban Minton.

85 lbs LOST

Karli has come a long way and has gained so much for herself and her 4 children.

***Karli has used several Beachbody fitness programs and Shakeology since 2015, along with other Beachbody supplements.

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