I joined this challenge initially to challenge myself during the holidays and try to stay on track. As I went through those 60 days, this challenge became so much more. I wanted to show myself and my children that we are capable of anything we put our mind to.

As a teenager, I had become a mother very young. After having my third child and consistently gaining weight, I decided it was time to start working towards losing the weight I had gained from my pregnancies. I knew I had to start somewhere and wanted to lose the weight in a gradual, safe, and healthy way, so I joined Life Time. Soon after becoming a member, I definitely felt different than at other gyms I was previously a member at. The members at Life Time feel more like a community. Everyone is smiling and friendly, but also they’re there to really put in the work and make a difference in their health and lives. As time went along, I realized I needed to learn more about weight lifting and nutrition, so I looked into personal training and met Jessica. We made a connection right away and she gave me a program that fit into my lifestyle, was personalized to get me towards the body I had always wanted, and was really teaching me more about fitness than I had learned before. We had started to already get great results when the 60day challenge had come along. I had initially joined it for the extra motivation during the holiday months. As I got more into the challenge, I realized that I had joined and wanted to change my lifestyle for many reasons. I am a 33-year-old mother of 4 children. Two teens, my son is a very fit teenager and even though he doesn’t like admitting, I feel he follows my footsteps in many ways. Often we found each other challenging each other, which motivated me more.  Eating healthier also meant for me more at-home meals, which meant more cooking at home, which led to more family time with my children. Everyone kept telling me this was the worst time to enter a challenge, but I kept telling myself this was the best time, to keep me away from bad foods and would only give me a head start on the new year.

I definitely had a few curve balls thrown my way. During the challenge, on top of already being a working mom of four, and it being the holiday season, my mom was in the hospital for a few weeks. It really hit me hard but I was still determined to keep my health not only for myself but to make sure I could be strong for her and help her in any way I could. I would train with Jess 2-3 days a week in the morning, get my work done, go be with her and help her at the hospital, go home and make sure my kids were taken care of (fed, loved on, homework done) and then would pull some late night workouts in for myself to make sure I got all my workouts done to stay on my program. I was determined to make this a part of my lifestyle and not let anything get me down.

I think everyone joins the gym and starts working out for different reasons or all leading to the same reasons. I felt that every time I felt something bothered me instead of putting my negative energy on someone or something, I used it at the gym only to better myself. In all honesty, I wasn’t looking to change my image or look sexier, but to get stronger, and to show my children that you can do anything you set your mind to. I always tell them to never give up and I hope they always take that in mind. The more I went through this challenge, the more I realized that not only was this challenge for me but it was for my kids.

At the end of the challenge I got Covid, and I just couldn’t wait to go back to the gym and feel better. But I think that if I had not changed my lifestyle these months before I would have felt way worse than I feel now and wouldn’t have recovered as quickly as I did. I have put so much dedication into working on a better lifestyle and working out and I couldn’t thank Jess more for being right by my side and always motivating me and pushing me to be better. I hope to motivate every mom out there that there is always time to turn your life around and eat healthy and be stronger for you and your children.