IT WAS A DARK AND STROMY NIGHT...

At least that's how it always felt. I'm sure my story begins like many of yours and that's probably why you’re here, right?! Ok, ok, back to my story, almost 4 years ago I had my daughter Isabella—my pride and joy, the light of my life, my sweetness, the little angel who sucked the hotness right out of me :)—Let's just say I used pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted—donut at 2AM? You got it—it’s no surprise I gained 70 lbs while pregnant—never did I think I could let myself go like that. I just didn’t care, I also didn't make it my business to learn about healthy eating habits, let alone staying in shape while pregnant.

It is normal in the Dominican culture to eat, eat and eat some more especially while pregnant. Being healthy wasn’t even an afterthought, it was simply a word people used to describe eating lettuce with their rice and beans. As soon as Bella was born, I lost 8 lbs of baby weight, oh yea! Within a week I was down 25 lbs of baby, liquids, extra blood and all the other yummy liquids pregnancy makes you hold onto, wooohooo or so I Thought!

SO HERE I AM 165lbs...

Of nothing but fat—I didn’t have a muscle in my body, nothing. I was so caught up with life, being a new mom, postpartum depression, moving out of the U.S., that I had not thought once about myself, I just knew I didn't feel right, I didn't feel good, I wasn’t happy.

A couple of months after I had Bella, I took a hard look at myself and said woah I can’t stay like this, I needed help. I didn’t know about healthy foods, how to cook them, or even where to find them (I lived in the Dominican Republic at this time) so I referred back to what I knew, eat less and you’ll lose weight. What a surprise when that didn’t work. I went weeks—which felt like eternity—“eating less”, but I still ate crap, just less of it. I lost a few pounds but I was starving, literally starving myself, I was also dehydrated and didn’t even think once of working out. Ha Ha, working out? Who does that? I wanted the easiest way possible to look good and had no idea what getting in shape entailed.

Again, I found myself in the same place, I was a few pounds lighter, jiggly as hell, starving and still fat. “what am I doing wrong?!”.

GOOGLED AND FELL UPON...

I did some Googling and fell upon Weight Watchers, “I’ve heard of them before” I thought to myself, maybe this works. I read a few testimonials and SOLD! Every day I wrote down what I had eaten, kept track of everything, every crumb, I looked up recipes, bought out the supermarket’s fruits and veggies, everyone at home hated me, my meals had to be prepared differently—no butter for this girl uhn uhn. I was on a mission! Although I lost 10 lbs with Weight Watchers I didn’t stick with it, I knew everything now and I didn’t need this anymore...or so I thought. Weight watchers didn’t last long but it made me realize there was so much more to “getting in shape” than I would have ever thought, it was a great starting point. It’s where I first learned how much water I should be drinking, that I didn’t have to starve to lose weight and that exercise and healthy eating work in tandem. Fast forward, I am back in the states, it is 1 year later. I am 165 lbs (I gained the 10lbs back I had lost from Weight Watchers), which felt more like 265. I learned a lot from WW but it was hard to keep up with a “diet”. I also still didn’t know very much about healthy eating. For instance, I would eat yogurt because it was “healthy” or low in calories, but what I didn’t realize then was that it had about 40g of sugar. I went running once every “whenever I remembered” and still wondered why I was not losing weight.

I Googled again, “weight loss pills that are natural”: Garcinia Cambogia, helps you lose weight fast without having to change your diet. SOLD again. One month of Garcinia Cambogia and a bet with a friend to lose 10lbs later, I was 10lbs lighter—talk about yo yo dieter over here. Up and down, which many people think is normal. You want to shed 10 lbs for that wedding? Just go on a diet. Wedding is over? hello 10lbs just like that. I was sick and tired of it, I needed something sustainable damnit! I was always tired, hungry and just overall unhappy with myself. I tried everything, ate less, took diet pills, "exercised"...nothing worked, so I just gave up.Then, the stars aligned and that day had come, the day I had been waiting for, the day that would change my life—I know, I sound super dramatic right now but it’s true. I was sitting on my couch (as I always did) when I saw an Insanity infomercial, 30 min later my journey had begun. I told myself I'm going to do this, I just felt it, I saw my life changing right before my eyes. So I ordered Insanity, I told myself that I'd start that following Monday and of course I didn't. Three Monday's went by, because you have to start on a Monday right? The following weekend I said to myself “you're going to do this, for you, for your husband, for your daughter”. So I took my before pictures and dug deep, so deep I could have been at the earth's core! I worked out 6 days a week, never missed a day, I ate according to the nutrition guide, I followed that program to the T, the Shaun T to be exact. The first few weeks I worked out after work because waking up at 5am (Oh hail no) wasn’t even an option, but working out at 7pm every night wasn’t working either. I didn’t spend any time with my family, I had to prep food and clean up.

"the only thing standing between you and your goals are the excuses"

After struggling with working out after work I decided to try out this whole waking up at 5am thing, you know, see how it goes. Oh man, how many times did I just want to snooze and stay in my warm bed but NO, I was getting there, “there" was a good place, a happy place and it was close, I could see it, I could taste it. Waking up at 5am worked! After a few weeks I was used to it, I woke up at 5am, jumped up and down for an hour and felt amazing the rest of the day! I’m not going to lie, it was hard—EXTREMELY HARD—but the results outweighed the difficulties. I felt my body changing after the first 3 weeks, I couldn't see it but I felt it; the energy, the power, it is a high, a high I still feel till this day. After the 5th week the pounds were pouring off me and everyone at work noticed the change, it happened almost overnight. HOLY SHIT I had abs! Shaun T always spoke about the core and hip flexors and things I knew nothing about so I read—I read about fitness, about food, about anatomy. I finished the program 3 weeks later, I lost a total of 35 lbs and gained my life back, and more importantly I gained knowledge. It was the best decision I've ever made.

I am now in the best shape of my life, I no longer do insanity, my goals are different now but it set off a chain of events that make me who I am today. Crazy to think that just 1 year after I completed Insanity Shaun T put up a post about auditions for a new fitness video he was working on and guess who auditioned for that video? That’s right, I did. And guess who’s in Shaun T’s Insanity Max 30 videos? That’s right, I am!

Remember this: the only thing standing between you and your goals are the excuses you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve them.