The Mind and Body Challenge

A NEW LIFE…A NEW ME

Taking part in the Mind and Body Challenge was a life changing opportunity for me that I knew in September that I needed to get involved with. I have been on a journey for the past few years growing spiritually and understanding that life is full of possibilities. Part of the journey has been recognizing that if life is to be lived at its best, I needed to start taking care of myself and not just those around me. With that as a new focus I began acknowledging that my weight and over all fitness was not where I wanted them to be and the recent lab results screamed that I needed a life style change or I was heading towards being vulnerable to a stroke or heart attack.

I decided in late August to make some changes - the biggest being to stop drinking in an effort to bring my triglycerides down into a normal range. I had done this last spring for one month with little impact on the numbers but a reassurance that I could make the change. And so now supported with a daily dose of zocor and 4 months to work on it, I was ready both emotionally and psychologically to enter into the challenge.

The structure of the challenge provided me with a framework to know how to eat and when to exercise. I have had a weight machine in my home for years and never seriously used it before. After Erik came and gave me some ideas on how to incorporate strengthening as part of the challenge, I new that I had the motivation, the equipment and the desire to see this through.

AND I DID…………

7 pounds lighter and physically stronger than I have ever been… the new me.

I have met ALL of my goals – cardio and strengthening are now a part of my life; I am hitting the golf ball farther and straighter; I have ‘stuck’ with it; and as of today (11/9) I weigh below 170 – I can’t remember the last time I was in the 160’s !!!

Some of the changes that were my challenges in the past are – not using social drinking as the basis of social engagement – a club soda is just fine; choosing a healthier eating style has replaced most of the binge eating associated with stress. – though there is still an occasional peanut fest.

This has been a turning point in my life and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to get this jump start on the new me though the Mind and Body Challenge.  Thank you Erik!

Today I am continuing on - having just read the Celestine Prophecy – a new way of understanding our personal energy and the power in the universe. I am eating a new way - using MUFA’s as a basis for each meal – monounsaturated fatty acids – and have seen big changes in ‘belly fat’ a tough area for me. And I am spending money on new clothes because the weight is still coming off and the new definition in my body is screaming at me to get rid of the baggy clothes of the past !!! J

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