Sarah

Before I started working with MyBodyTutor, I had come to a bit of a crossroads. I was super frustrated because my weight had been creeping steadily up even though I felt like I was doing everything right to be losing weight…restrictive eating and making an effort to exercise (albeit somewhat sporadically).

A huge motivator for me was losing my younger brother and my mom within 15 months of each other, both of them for reasons related to not taking care of their health. I didn’t want what happened to them to happen to me.

What actually put me at the crossroads, though, was having to buy size 16 jeans. For years, I’d pretty consistently bounced between a 12 and 14 but had never purchased a 16 before. That was the wake-up call that sent me online looking for a solution.

I had tried several other things before joining MyBodyTutor, but nothing really resonated and stuck. I’d had a subscription to an online fitness program (Beachbody) that I used for a while and liked but eventually lost interest in, and I was always pretty good about walking some outside or on my treadmill.

I’m NOT a gym person, but I was so desperate I even went to my local gym and inquired about the pricing and classes offered. I walked out of the gym knowing I’d never join but also recognizing how bad of a place I was in that I’d even walked in there to explore it as an option.

I’d joined Weight Watchers a number of years before and lost about 20 pounds on that program pretty easily before eventually gaining it back. The thing that I liked most about Weight Watchers was that I went there every week and some nice lady weighed me. I recognized that exact moment of accountability on the scale was something that actually really worked for me and motivated me to make good choices so the scale would go down.

When I bought the size 16 jeans, my frustration bubbled over. The next day, I Googled something like “online weight loss with accountability,” and MyBodyTutor was one of the few things that popped up.

I went to the MyBodyTutor website, and I felt like it was written for me. I did feel like I already knew all the right things to be doing to lose weight, but none of it was working. I knew how to eat healthy, I knew how to get the exercise in, and I was mostly doing those things, but the scale was still going up every day.

I needed help, and I knew from my experience with Weight Watchers that I also needed some sort of an accountability coach, so MyBodyTutor felt like it might fit the bill. Absolutely skeptical, I called the number the next day, and Adam actually answered the phone and talked through all my questions. I felt so good about our talk on the phone that I signed up on the spot.

My goal was for sure weight loss. Specifically, I wanted to lose 35 pounds (to go from 185 to 150), but I also wanted my body to feel physically stronger and healthier. To achieve all of that, I needed to commit to a workout plan that I would do consistently and also learn to make healthier food and meal choices.

I didn’t want to throw more money at yet another potential solution that just didn’t work. I was tired of doing that. After the time spent on the phone with Adam and the 30-day money-back guarantee, I felt really good about signing up and giving it a try. I knew I would go into it giving it 100%, and if it didn’t work, I could always get my money back and walk away.

I have been thrilled with my progress on MyBodyTutor. My 35-pound goal felt HUGE when I set it, but it was consistently chipped away at week by week and was met faster and more easily than I expected it to be.

When I filled out the initial questionnaire, there was a question that asked, “What do you typically eat for a healthy breakfast or lunch?” That question alone triggered a total AhHa moment when I realized that I really wasn’t eating breakfast, and I was basically having a lunch of snacks rather than a meal.

About 18 months before that, I had learned that I was highly sensitive to wheat/gluten, eggs, and dairy. In avoiding those things, I had pretty much wiped out what I would typically eat for breakfast or lunch. As a result of that, without realizing it, I had traded those first two meals of the day for a bunch of more snacky-type foods.

I FELT like I was eating lighter since it was a couple bites here and there rather than a plate of food, but boy did those bites add up fast and were sabotaging the good I was trying to do.

My wonderful coach caught that red flag immediately and got right to correcting it. The day after being assigned to her, she emailed me three non-dairy, non-wheat/gluten, non-egg breakfast options, and to this day I eat them on repeat, and it’s changed everything. I actually feel like I eat MORE now than I did back in those days of snacking rather than sitting down with a plate.

I had also gotten the fitness app Ladder a few months before starting with MyBodyTutor and had been using it sporadically but hadn’t really gotten into it yet. My coach, Chrystal, also uses that app, and she was super helpful in giving me pointers on how to get the most out of Ladder workouts.

As a result, I went from a sporadic exerciser to working out 6 days a week consistently and often throwing in a 25-minute walk as well. It’s always been hard for me to find a workout plan that I want to stick with, but I’m locked in now and loving it.

I hit my goal weight about a year ago and went down to monthly check-ins with my coach. The year with less accountability has gone really well. I still log my meals and exercise every day, and I’m still at my goal weight.

The things I’ve learned from my coach have permanently altered how I eat and how I approach food. I turned 48 this summer, and I feel stronger, more in control, and healthier than I have ever felt in my whole adult life.

The weekly accountability and customized feedback were the pieces missing from other programs that I needed. My coach felt like my team mate and cheerleader.

Couple that with the fact that I also got an actual tutor to teach me things that changed how I live…I learned about healthy foods and nutritional choices, how to plan for a successful and “worth it” splurge meal, and tactics to tackle an unexpected splurge event without derailing your whole day or week.

I LEARNED on this program, and I feel like I have now cracked the code on how to keep my weight under control and my body healthier.

I joined this program very motivated but also very skeptical and feeling vulnerable, unhappy, and frustrated. I was afraid the interaction with my coach would be uncomfortable or unpleasant, but it was the exact opposite.

She was positive and uplifting from our very first interactions, and she was exceedingly kind as she taught me how to make the choices that helped me lose 35 pounds and hit my goal.

It is scary to start something new, but this program can absolutely change a person’s life if they give it a chance.