Just. Be. You.

If you've had a chance to look back on any of my previous posts, you will have noticed that a couple years ago I was starting a business as a Fitness Coach with Beachbody. If you're not sure what that is, think 21 Day Fix and Shakeology. Or maybe you are more familiar with P90X and Insanity. 

Anyway...

That career path didn't last long (story of my life... more about that in another post). I really did like the company and the products and I absolutely loved the idea of helping people change their lives. I loved the fact that Beachbody didn't require you to already be fit in order to start coaching people, either. 
But, what they did require was being a product of the products.

AND MY BODY JUST COULDN'T HACK IT!!!

Unfortunately, I just was unable to do the fitness programs that I was trying to be a "walking advertisement" for. I drank the Shakeology (still do! I LOVE the stuff!!). But my body couldn't handle the high intensity workouts. I ended up with tendinitis in my shoulder and various pulled muscles. I tried to take things more slowly and even tried acupuncture for my shoulder. But eventually, I just had to face the fact that it just wasn't going to work for me.

I finally found something called Cold Laser Therapy for my shoulder and after being laid up with broken ribs for about half a year (watch for more details in upcoming posts) and packing on an extra 50 lbs., I finally went back to Weight Watchers. It's never failed me. I have always been able to lose weight doing their program. It just works for me. I have lost 25 lbs. so far and it's continuing to go well. I like how easy it is and that there is no calorie counting. It's all done with points and you can eat anything you want as long as you count the points. No guilt! It's really just learning to budget your calories and watch your portions. Fruits and vegetables are completely free, so not only does it encourage me to eat more of them, I absolutely LOVE not having to track any points for them! 

Nutrition is the key to weight loss. You just have to be mindful of what you eat if you want to lose the weight. For me, personally, to be successful at losing weight, I really need the flexibility of Weight Watchers. I don't do well with anything super restrictive where you have to give up any particular food. I can't stick with it for long and I end up sabotaging myself.

As important as the food part is, exercise is necessary for building muscle and toning up the flab. My exercise of choice is my elliptical. When my shoulder is bothering me (which it still does occasionally), I just do the lower body and skip the arms. As I continue to improve my fitness, I'm hoping to get back to some other types of exercise that I've done in the past. I used to run 5k's, do yoga and kickboxing, as well as hiking. 

Back before my lengthy broken rib fiasco, my husband and I were consistently hiking every weekend. Portland, Oregon has a vast array of hiking trails, complete with beautiful views of rivers and waterfalls.We had a goal to hike to the top of Mt. St. Helens a couple years back, which we still have yet to complete. But, the important thing is we're working on it. We just recently got back to our (semi) weekly forays into the wilderness. It feels good to be back out on the trails. And it's great couple bonding time.


By the way... I DO have a point I'm trying to make with all of this!

And the point is... JUST DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!! As the title of this post so aptly puts it: 

Not everything is going to work for every body. Aside from the fact that all of our bodies are different and won't respond to the same type of diet or exercise, we all have very different interests, abilities, and opinions. Good thing there are so many different weight loss programs, books, dvds, exercises, and equipment, as well as a plethora of information on the internet.

Don't worry about what worked for your sister. For your friend. For your neighbor. Don't believe everything you read or see on TV. Don't even worry about what I said in this blog post about what works for me. Do your own thing. 

DO YOU!!!!

Only you can do you. So do it the best you can. Try some things out and then stick to what works for you. Whether you want to lose weight, improve your fitness, climb a mountain, or just learn a new skill. You can apply it to anything in life. You are a unique individual, so find out what it is that makes you tick and go for it! 

And don't be afraid to try new things. How will you know whether it's your thing or not unless you try?



Happy exploring!

Laura

The Neverending Story

Remember this movie?

Unfortunately I can't hear the title without the theme song from the movie getting stuck in my head. But it is an appropriate title for my blog post today. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll start to understand that my life has been a neverending roller coaster ride. Ups and downs with my weight. Ups and downs with my fitness. Ups and downs with my health (both mental and physical). Ups and downs with my life in general.

You'll also notice, if you look between this post and the previous one, that I haven't blogged for almost exactly two years. And that is almost exclusively due to said roller coaster ride. I will be elaborating on the details in future posts, but for now I will just give you a brief synopsis of what my life has entailed over the last two years:

• Returning to college as an adult to pursue a writing career
• Tendinitis in my shoulder
• My teenager having surgery to remove a tumor from her chest
• Supporting two children serving missions for our church
• Lower back injury
• Broken ribs
• Gaining weight from being laid up with broken ribs
• High blood pressure from weight gain from being laid up with broken ribs
• Working on losing the weight after finally recovering from broken ribs
• A drug addicted teenager in and out of rehab and arrested for shoplifting
• Missionary #1 returning home and promptly moving out of state
• Both teens being pulled out of public school
• Discovering and embracing Kundalini Yoga & Meditation (which has saved my sanity!) 

I probably left something out, but you get the gist. I decided I really NEED to blog again. Partly for the cathartic benefit of venting (and my husband needs a break from listening to me!). Partly because I have actually learned and grown from my trials and have found the silver lining and want to impart my wisdom to anyone who is willing to listen. 

But mostly because writing is like breathing for me. 

And I haven't been doing it nearly enough. 

And for a writer, that is like death. 

Slow. Painful. Death.

So, here I go. Again. I hope you'll join me for the ride. Wait. You're not afraid of a few little ups and downs. 

Are you??

Who Is This "Laura Moss, Fitness Coach" Anyway?

I thought it was time to share a little bit more about myself and my life. So here goes...

I was born in Fremont, California, but only lived there for a few months. Most of my childhood was spent moving around to various parts of Orange County, right in the vicinity of Disneyland. Yes, I got to go there several times as a child. In fact, we went at least once every summer when I was growing up. I have always been a Disneyoholic and would have LOVED to go much more often than that, but money was more of a hindrance than location. At least we could enjoy the nightly fireworks. One apartment we lived in was so close to the Happiest Place on Earth, that we could watch the fireworks every night from our patio.

My parents divorced when I was around 8, leaving my mom to raise me and my two younger brothers. She remarried a few years later and she and my step-dad went on to have 4 more boys! Yes, you are counting correctly... I have 6 (count 'em, SIX!) brothers. They are all crazy, but I wouldn't trade any of them. Not long after brother number 3 was born, my dad's employment took us north where we relocated to the Great Northwest. We lived for 5 years in the Seattle area and then eventually settled in Portland, Oregon.

Now I consider myself a transplanted Oregonian, webbed feet and all. I don't love the rain, but I love all of the green and I'm willing to put up with the wetness in order to have all of the beauty. If you've never visited the beautiful Pacific Northwest, I welcome you to come here and visit sometime. We have mountains, trees, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, and more. It's where I hope to live out the remainder of my life. I love to travel and visit other places but there's no place like home.

One of my favorite places is the Oregon Coast. Rain or shine, it's always beautiful. Especially during a sunset. It's my happy place. I also love all of the rivers and hiking trails we have in our area. Some of my other favorite things to do are: yoga, kickboxing, hiking, running, reading, writing, watching movies, baking, crocheting, singing, and traveling. I just recently returned to school, now that my youngest is a teen. I'm studying Creative Writing and have a dream of becoming an author.

I met my husband here in Portland. The ironic thing is that he was also born in California. His parents moved up to Portland when he was a baby. It took me a little longer to get here, but God made sure we both got here eventually and found each other. We've been married almost 25 years now (crazy!). God sent us two biological children and then two adopted children. Girl, boy, girl, boy. It wasn't easy getting any of them into our family and we love all of them very much.

Going through everything we had to go through to build our family has made my husband and I extremely close. We are best friends and love to spend time together. We are both sci-fi nerds and Trekkies. We share a love for Marvel movies, traveling, hiking, and good food.

When I was growing up, my mom sold Tupperware. I helped her with her business, so it was a natural fit for me to be a Tupperware Lady when I got older. I've also had other home based businesses over the years including: candles, scrapbooking supplies, handbags, and most recently I was a Pampered Chef Lady. I've always loved working with people, but I kept moving from business to business because I just couldn't find one that I was truly passionate about. Then I found Beachbody.

I LOVE being a Beachbody Coach because I can combine my love of helping people with my passion for fitness and health. I am currently working on getting myself back in shape and Coaching gives me the accountability to stick with it. I have spent many years yo-yo dieting and struggling to find a weight loss program that I could stick with. I'm loving 21 Day Fix because it is finally teaching me portion control. And with my daily Shakeology, I no longer fight the cravings that used to make it impossible for me to be consistent with healthy eating for life. 

I finally feel like I've found the road to health and wellness that's going to take me through the rest of my life. No more yo-yo-ing! This is it, baby! Finally getting my life back and taking control of the wheel. No more letting life control me, weight control me, food control me.

This is why I Coach. I want you to know what I know and find the passion in life that I have found.

I deserve it.

And So Do You!