Ashley

I was in what felt like a never-ending rut. I had gained a lot of weight during my 1st pregnancy. My son was 7 getting ready to turn 8, and I was starting to wonder if this was just going to be my forever struggle.

I was starting to wonder if it would just be easier to accept that I was never going to achieve my physical goals vs seeing the years pass by and feeling like my goals were like this all illusive carrot that I could never reach. I was feeling defeated.

I don't remember a time in my life, even as a kid, that I wasn't "trying" some new fad diet. The more recent things I have done were Keto, 75 Hard, a combination of Keto and Paleo, and Whole30. I feel that the biggest thing that was missing was the mindset piece.

I heard about MyBodyTutor through Brandon Turner on BiggerPockets, but it still took me a long time to sign up. I kept telling myself that I just needed to get focused and committed and that I could do it on my own.

When I finally joined, my hopes were that I could close out the year having actually gotten closer to my physical goals instead of feeling like I had let another year go by without having made any progress.

Early on in my journey with Toni, my coach, she asked me a question. She said, "I know you have a lot of fears surrounding not accomplishing your goals, but do you ever imagine what it would feel like if you accomplished your goal?" Until that moment, it hadn't occurred to me that I was dwelling on my imminent failure as opposed to the possibility of success.

And as soon as I had that realization, I started visualizing what it would feel like to hit my goal. That one shift helped to get rid of a lot of fear and anxiety that was complicating a lot of things for me.

I didn't even realize that there were things that were holding me back and keeping me from accomplishing my goals that I wasn't even aware of. There were things that Toni brought to my attention that I would never have seen if it had not been brought to my attention.

I accomplished the goal I had set for myself on Thursday, December 16th, 2021. I lost 30 lbs by tuning into myself and my body.

Going into 2022 was the first time that I can remember not obsessively setting multiple weight-related goals for the upcoming year. And it wasn't because I don't have a vision for progress that I would like to continue making physically. I do. I am currently training for a marathon. I also want to do an obstacle race this year, along with fun hikes and other fun physical activities with my family. But I realized that in the past, the goals were rooted in a belief that where and who I currently am wasn't good enough. That belief wasn't serving me.

I feel more aware of my mindset and my self-talk, and the progress that I am aspiring towards in my life is centered on being present and having fun with my journey rather than using it as a standard of measurement as to whether or not I am good enough.

I am continually striving towards reinforcement of the core habits of eating for hunger and mindfully. I feel like I have a great foundation and support system because of my journey with Toni and MyBodyTutor.

What makes MyBodyTutor different than all the other companies out there is that their emphasis isn't placed on the "right" or "wrong" foods. The emphasis is on awareness. Awareness regarding the reasons we eat, awareness around our mindset, awareness around guilt and shame that create an unhealthy relationship with ourselves and food. Something I am still having to remind myself about is the fact that "food is just food." Eating one type of food over another isn't good or bad, it doesn't make ME good or bad either. It just is what it is.

My recommendation for others is to not let your vision of your future self be an illusive carrot that you never feel you get any closer to. The confidence and joy that this journey has given me has been worth everything it has taken to get here. You are capable. If I could do it, anyone can.