My Story

Welcome to my website. I am so excited that you are here because I want to give you HOPE for the future. For your own HEALTH and HAPPINESS. It was not that long ago that I was in a bad place in my life. I knew that if I did not start making some positive changes, my life would spiral in a negative direction and I would never fulfill my dreams. I had to change my mindset for the sake of myself, my family, and my loved ones. I am here to tell you, to SHOW you, that what you may think is impossible CAN be DONE. Nothing is out of reach, and it is never too late until the day we die. I am in this to GROW and BECOME the BEST version of myself and I want to show you how to do the same. Here is my story:

I am a wife, mother of three teenagers, and a special education teacher. I have struggled with my weight ever since having children. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I gained 50 pounds. I had lost about half of that when I found out I was pregnant with my son. With him, I also gained 50 pounds. I worked super hard to lose 40 pounds. Then, I found out I was expecting my third child. It was at this time that my son was diagnosed with complex seizure disorder which meant he was basically having seizures non-stop. He was hospitalized several times during my pregnancy and he was spending days, sometimes weeks, at a time in the hospital. It was a nightmare.

I gave birth to my son, and three weeks later faced yet another hospitalization with my older son. This time he had septic shock. He had a 30% chance of survival. With lots of prayer and worry, he pulled through! However, he spent over a month in the hospital. I will be forever thankful for family who took care of my baby while I spent time with my older son in the hospital. I continued to nurse, and would pump my milk at the hospital. It was so horrible because my son was fighting for his life, and I was missing time with my newborn. It was the hardest time in all of our lives.

When my older son was finally released from the hospital, we found that my sweet two year old boy could no longer walk or speak. He had to relearn all of his skills. It was heartbreaking. In the meantime, I was no longer producing the amount of milk that I should due to the severe stress I was under. I had to increase my calories and try to keep up my milk supply. I guess when it rains it pours, because shortly after that, my husband lost his job! I was not working at the time, so this was a huge setback. I eventually ended up returning to work when my children were 1, 3, and 5. This was not what we had planned for our lives and all I could do was try to do what is best for our family at that time.

It was around this time that my older son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Not only that, my now one-year old was not talking. He ended up being diagnosed with autism too and continues to struggle with speech apraxia. I spent my time working and then taking my boys to countless therapists, doctors, neuropsychologists, chiropractors, naturopaths, genetic counselors, etc. You name the specialist, I guarantee we saw them! I could not focus on myself. Every day, every moment was about finding answers, HELPING MY SONS, taking time for my daughter, keeping my marriage together, paying the bills.

This has been my life. My sons still go to WEEKLY appointments 4 times a week, even at their age. In the midst of all of this, I lost myself. I lost my dreams, my goals, my future. I was eating what was convenient, often skipping breakfast, eating a quick lunch, and then enjoying a large dinner at night after the kids were asleep because that was when I could finally relax. I told myself I was within the calorie allotments for the day, but I was pretty much eating it all at once. Plus I was not counting the cream in my daily extra-large coffee that got me through the morning or other treats like that. My weight climbed and climbed and I felt totally out of control.

I am at a time in my life where my kids are teenagers, and I know if I do not take control of my health now, when will I? If I do not do this now, then when? So here I am taking control of my life once and for all. I have lost 50 pounds by following Beachbody programs and will lose 50 more. I am looking for people to JOIN me in this journey. To drop the negative mindset and make daily POSITIVE steps. I am improving myself, I am building a team, and I am willing to TEACH you everything I have learned. Let’s make the rest of our lives the best of our lives!