The next chapter...

Ok, so I lost a lot of weight and got really healthy with Beachbody products. It was amazing. I got it off and kept it off for over a year actually. I was focused. I just couldn't seem to loose that last 10lbs. I got frustrated. I started trying fad diets, things like, no carbs in the morning, meal replacements that weren't healthy. Diets based on your blood type. Diets based on your body shape. So many diets. My body must have freaked out! but I digress.

Ok, going back. It was December of 2004. I had a major surgery to reduce the size of my breasts. It turned out that losing weight did not make my boobs smaller. UGH. So here I was a size 10 and 145lbs with a DD chest. I had them take me down to a C. Much better. :)

I maintained my weight loss through the surgery and recovery. I was focused on not being one of those people who gain their weight back. Even though I was not able to workout during my recovery I didn't gain. I am sure I really did gain but didn't know it. I know I lost muscle because I wasn't able to work the muscles. So that set me up for some weight gain. :) I just wasn't realizing it at the time.

After I got the go ahead to workout I couldn't seem to find my groove. I worked on it. I tried. I was frustrated I guess. I was feeling out of shape again even though I was still a size 10. I felt huge. Then I started getting pains in my left hand. I thought it was just arthritis bugging me since it was in the knuckle. I tried to ignore it. It would come and go. It would throb and then be sharp stabbing pains and then throb again.

Finally, one night my hubby and I were out and my hand was really hurting. I actually got some ice to put on it. It was swelling on me too. I went into the immediate care facility the next morning and they took X Rays. The doctor showed me a small piece of my bone that had chipped off and was floating, that was causing the pain and swelling. But he wasn't concerned about that. What he was really concerned about was the growth that was inside the knuckle causing it to be a hollow bone and allowing for the break. WHAT? I had never heard of such a thing.

I was sent to an orthopedic specialist who after looking at the X Rays said he wouldn't touch it. I had to go to a hand specialist due to the location. I guess there are just too many things that can go wrong in that area. I made an appointment and had to wait about three weeks. With a piece of bone floating in my hand. I couldn't workout, I was stressed and frustrated. I think I did start to eat comfort food about that time. It was in June of 2005. I went to the specialist and he set up the surgery. It started out he was going to take bone marrow from my hip to put into my hand to fill the hole. Then he decided to take donor bone marrow. I am so glad he did because I found out later how painful it is to have it removed. OUCH. They scraped the inside of the knuckle and took out all of the growth and sent it in for testing. It was benign so that was a relief. I still had six months of physical therapy and healing before I could start my workouts again. Instead of thinking of what I could do, things like walking, squats, lunges. I was thinking about all the things I couldn't do! I couldn't let my heart rate go to high. I'm not sure why, but I think it might have had something to do with the donor bone marrow taking in my hand. I don't' know, he just told me I couldn't elevate my heart rate. I couldn't grip anything like weights so no lifting, of course no push ups, nothing that I had been doing anyways.

I let myself get into a funk. I gained about 10lbs. I didn't think it was too bad considering I had had two surgeries in about six months time. Summer turned into fall and I was getting closer to that magical date when I would be released to do my workouts again! YEAH! It was early December 2005. I was driving into Portland for a diversity conference for work. It was POURING! The water was heavy on the road and it took me over an hour to go 15 miles! Crazy! I am almost to my destination. At the last stop light before I will turn into the parking garage! Thank goodness. My light turns green, I go, so does the delivery truck next to me. I was to the fourth lane of traffic when a car came out of no where and hit me. Pushed me into the delivery truck. I don't know if I will ever get that sound or the scene out of my head. Metal being pushed in on be from both sides. Trying to hold the steering wheel steady. Getting to the side of the road and taking stock. I hit my head on my driver side window. Air bags did not deploy since it was a side hit. I was thankful I was in my big SUV instead of my little pick up truck. My husband had insisted I drive it that day. It was raining too hard and he was afraid my little truck would hydroplane. I didn't have any broken bones. The young man who hit me wasn't so lucky. He did walk away. Amazingly enough. The car he hit me with was a little two door thing. Totaled. I had him get into my car with me while we waited for police and ambulances to come. He was beat up and bleeding, had a broken hand. I still think it was amazing he survived.

I was in physical therapy for that accident for the next three months. My ribs were dislocated. Can you really do that? I gave up. Before six months went by I had gained 30lbs.

So fast forward to now. Four years later. It took me four years to figure out why I stopped and what my issues were. I'm really focusing on balance in my life. Being healthy and active is part of that balance. Sharing my story and Beachbody with people and helping them become healthy and active is another part of being balanced.

I have realized once again the wonderful gift I have been given and I am excited to be able to share a little of myself with others. Thanks for listening! And as always, if you want more info go to www.beachbodycoach.com/leannwoo.

This is a picture of me taken in December 2005, a year after my breast reduction and right before my weight gain!

To be continued...

Of course this is not the end of my story. I have a few more chapters. Life could never be that easy right? So tomorrow I will give you another chapter. If any are interested.

A little background

I discovered Beachbody in December of 2002. I went online and joined the online community prior to purchasing any program. After talking with people online and seeing the wonderful support that was offered I purchased my first program. Power 90. I started on February 3, 2003.

Now Tony Horton is a total goofball. He made the workouts fun. And the fact that the workouts were only about 35 minutes long. You can do anything for 35 minutes right? OYE. lol. When I first started it was hard. I was fat and out of shape. But I was determined to do something for myself for a change. You see, I got married young, had three children before I was 25. So my body had taken a beating. I hadn't lost weight prior to getting pregnant again. I was focusing so much on raising my three small children that I was totally neglecting myself. So for 35 minutes every night I shut out my family, went into my garage and pressed play on my VCR. Yes, I had it was that long ago. lol.

After a couple weeks I noticed it was getting easier to do some of the moves. Don't get me wrong, I was still modifying plenty. I still wasn't doing a regular jumping jack or a regular push up. Everything was modified. I loved that though. I could modify the moves and keep moving. It felt good to be given the ok to modify. I knew I was doing something good for my body.

After 30 days I posted pictures of myself to this wonderful online community. I was a little down because I had expected HUGE changes. I was feeling like I had accomplished something amazing! Why didn't the pictures show that? It turns out that we are our own worst critic. I had great encouragement from everyone who posted. They pointed out the small things I didn't see. Like the shape of my arm or the fact that one of my chins had gone away! :) I felt rejuvenated. I continued on my journey.

I got to day 45 in my 90 day Power 90 journey. I hit a wall. Why wasn't I losing weight like everyone else? (Why do we compare ourselves to others?) Now that should have been the question I was asking. But no, I was comparing. Then in the next 10 days I lost almost three inches off my waist. Imagine my surprise! I was pumped. :)

I again, shared my 60 day photos and was amazed at the response. By now I should not have been amazed but it was so new to me. To be supported by strangers. To be encouraged to stay on my journey by complete strangers. Actually, there were a few that become really close friends. They were no longer strangers. True, I had never met them in "real life", but we shared a lot together. You can't underestimate that kind of friendship.

Back to my story. I can remember people asking me what I was doing. I proudly told them Power 90! They looked at me strange because that was an infomercial. What? Does that really work? You bet it does! All you have to do is "press play"! Do the work. I kept going. I remember thinking that I didn't want to miss a single day. I was going to do the whole 90 days, 6 days a week and not miss a single day! Yeah. right. Life happens. You get sick, your kids get sick, even your dog gets sick. You lose your inspiration. What ever the reason, most people I find will get off track. Luckily for me I was determined. I missed a day here or there. Some workouts were done at 70% because I wasn't feeling well. But I stayed with it. Just because you miss a day or two or you get sick does not mean you need to start over. That is a very important lesson I learned from my new online community of friends. Don't start over "tomorrow" or "next week". We all do that don't we? We miss a workout or have a HUGE dinner and say, there goes my diet, or there goes my workout. And then we start making excuses. I can't start again until Monday because my day off is Sunday. Why can't you start now? You can still take Sunday as your day off...you don't have to do six straight days before your day off...it just doesn't make sense. Yet we do it. We make excuses.

Ok, I'm rambling. Back to my adventure. It was an adventure. One that changed my life.

I can remember doing my day 90 workout with Tony. I was in tears by the end. Half with relief because I had accomplished something that I thought was pretty amazing. Half with sadness because I didn't know what came next. This is only a 90 day program after all. Or is it?

I began to realize that this was 90 days for a reason. 90 days to help us wrap our heads around the idea of eating healthy and working out. 90 days to get us hooked on the feeling of being fit. 90 days is nothing. You can do anything for 90 days right? But after that 90 days you don't want to stop. You may be really of tired of listening to Tony's jokes...but there are many more workouts, heck there are many more things you can do just outside your door! You become an active person! You engage with those around you. You realize that those 90 days have completely changed your life, and you've never been happier!

I thank Beachbody every day for giving me the courage to step away from my old self and embrace the new me.

If you are interested in making this change contact me! Or go to my website Coach LeAnn to find out more about Beachbody! They have grown since 2003! It is amazing to see what is offered now! There is something for everyone!




Day 1 Weight, 172
Day 30 Weight, 165
Day 60 Weight, 162
Day 90 Weight, 160
Day 130 Weight, 155
I lost 17 lbs
Chest (upper)
-6”
Chest
-4.5”
Chest (lower)
-2.5”
Waist line
-6”
Waist (under belly button) Largest part!
-8”
Hips
-3.5
Right Arm
-1”
Left Arm
-1”
Right Thigh
-3”
Left Thigh
-2”
Total Loss
17 lbs & 37.5 inches!

I'm a Fitness Coach!

I am doing something really great for myself and for other people. I'm focused on getting my body fit and healthy and I'm helping people around me do the same!
I've started my own business as a Beachbody Coach. You can check out my web site Team Beachbody Coach LeAnn. Let me know if you'd be interested in fitness programs that will change your life, or if you know someone who wants to get in the best shape of their life and make money doing it!

Just a little something to think about...

I received this in an e-mail from a co-worker. It really made me stop and think about how blessed I am. I hope you are equally blessed.

Reflection:


If the world were a village of 100 people

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:
There would be: 57 Asians; 21 Europeans; 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south; 8 Africans
52 would be female; 48 would be male.
70 would be non-white; 30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian; 30 would be Christian.
87 would be heterosexual; 11 would be homosexua
l6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing;
70 would be unable to read.
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth.
1 (yes, only 1) would have a collage education;
1 would own a computer
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for justice becomes glaringly apparent.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death . . .you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep . . . you are richer than 75 % of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace. . . you are among the top 8 % of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still alive and still married . . you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

A Box of AWESOMENESS!!!

I have been MIA for well over a year now! Hard to believe! I am a lurker and lurk on several sites. I found this great site Decoursey Project where a box of awesomeness will be given away to one lucky person. All you have to do is post a comment on her blog and then let others know about it on your blog. :) Easy enough right?

Limit of five comments per person though, and cut off is this Sunday. Who wouldn't want a box of awesomeness delivered to their door? Cool huh?