Single Mom Lost 100 Pounds in 9 Months and Won $1000!

Heather O, age 31 from Auburn, MA, lost 100 lbs in nine months with 21 Day Fix, INSANITY MAX:30, and 21 Day Fix EXTREME. She entered her results into The Beachbody Challenge and won $1,000!
Heather is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Tell us about your life before you started the program. How did you feel about yourself and your body?
When I started this program I was so lost. I felt so miserable about they way I felt, and who I was as a person. I was having severe anxiety attacks that were life stopping. I was afraid to do anything for fear of everything in my life falling apart. I am a single mother to a beautiful little boy, but that in itself made life hard. While pregnant my ex would yell at me, and tell me how he couldn’t believe someone so disgusting was carrying his child. I finally left this abusive relationship, but those words made me feel like I was worthless. I was so over weight, I was a smoker, and I was completely unhealthy. I didn’t do anything, I went to work, and came home and ate. I did this in bed while I nursed my infant son. I was so miserable I would lie awake at night and just cry, because this is not how life was suppose to be. I was destined for bigger things than this, and I was just letting my life pass me by, and even worse the life of my child.

What inspired you to change your life and begin your transformation journey?
I would go on Facebook while I was pumping milk at work. I saw this woman I knew Dana and her journey. We both had been on the same synchronized swimming team growing up, and our stories were so much a like. We were both single mothers, and we had grown up together. I saw how happy she was, and I was so desperate for a change, that I reached out to her, and asked what she was doing. She told me all about Beachbody, and what it had done for her. Being that I was so broke, and I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be part of Beachbody, I put it off for 5 months. I saw her over and over again having the time of her life, and I thought that’ll never be me. Then one day it clicked, I could be a Coach, I could help other people. I signed up for the 21 Day Fix on November 11, 2014, and I haven’t looked back.

What is the greatest challenge you faced before beginning the program? How did the program and Beachbody® help you overcome that challenge?
The biggest challenge before I started Beachbody was my self esteem. I have always had such a low self esteem, and I have abused my body in every way. When I was growing up I was severely anorexic, and that lasted till college. I never thought I was good enough, or skinny enough. Then when I went off to college I became addicted to drugs trying to stay skinny and be perfect. My whole life fell apart, and the little esteem I had left was gone. Then I was in an abusive relationship that I thought I deserved, because I was such a bad person, and I allowed him to make me feel like I was less of a person. Since becoming part of team Beachbody, my esteem is the highest it has ever been in my life. I wake up everyday with a purpose, and the feeling of pride I have when I look at myself, is something I have never had in my entire life. I am now able to spread the good news of Beachbody, and help others who feel the same way I did. I no longer feel like I can’t do anything, I now feel empowered.

What in particular did you like about the program you chose?
I was so out of shape when I started 21 Day Fix, and I was intimidated by the workouts. Then I realized that there were modifiers and it made me feel empowered when I would finish one of the workouts. Then after awhile I could do it without using the modifiers, and that felt even better. I was drawn to being able to drink the shakes in the morning, while getting Declan ready for the day, and myself ready for work. I liked that I could eat normal food, that it was a “diet” it was a life style change. I could handle a life style change its diets that I could never do. I would say I was going to diet but then I would feel deprived and give up. I have done the 21 Day Fix, INSANITY MAX:30, and the 21 Day Fix EXTREME and they were all easy to follow meal plans.

Describe the results you achieved with your Beachbody program. Which achievements are you proud of?
My first round of the 21 Day Fix I lost 19 pounds in 21 days, then I did another round and lost an additional 6 pounds making a grand total of 25 pounds in a month in a half. Then I went on to do INSANITY MAX:30 and I started to see muscle definition, and that was something I hadn’t seen in ten years. I lost 65 pounds doing two rounds of INSANITY MAX:30, and the muscles that I have are amazing. Then I wanted to get shredded so I did 21 Day Fix EXTREME and lost the last ten pounds to hit 100 pounds lost. I loved all the programs for what they did for my body. The achievement I am the most proud of is that I am able to run again. I loved running growing up, but being a smoker and over weight, well, that was just not happening. I quit smoking, and lost a 100 pounds. In June I ran a 10 mile road race pushing my son, and I ran the whole thing without stopping. Now I am training for a half marathon. It’s all thanks to the programs and what they have done for my body.

How has your life changed since completing your Beachbody program?
I don’t even know where to begin with how my life has changed. I could just cry right now thinking about the person that I was. I was the girl that allowed her boyfriend to put out lit cigarettes on her while she was pregnant because she just didn’t have it in her to fight back. I had lost all of my drive and fight. I was solely surviving in life, and I would look at old people and be envious that they were on their way out because I didn’t know if I could hold on anymore it was so hard to get up every day. Then I started Beachbody, and my life had done a 180. I am in a beautiful relationship with someone who adores me, and my son. I am big into my church, and I am so happy with life I am able to spread that happiness to everyone I meet. I wake up every morning with passion and drive. I want to live every moment, and I want to be the person that people look at and say because of you I didn’t give up. My life has meaning now, and for that there is not enough thank yous in the world.

How did participating in a Challenge Group help you reach your goals? How did your group support you and keep you accountable?
When I first started the 21 Day Fix, I was hopeless. I had no idea what I was doing, or even how to beginning. I was placed into a Challenge Group that my Coach Dana ran, and the women in the Challenge Group were so motivating it helped me feel like I could do it. I always flourished when I was in a team setting, that’s why I always did team sports growing up. The Challenge Group was like being part of a team again. It filled a void in me that had been left open for so long. I was able to succeed because of this team atmosphere and the accountability a Challenge Group provides. After 3 months of being in Dana’s Challenge Groups, I started my own Challenge Groups, and have been ever since. It helps me stay accountable, by being the person others are accountable to.

How did your Team Beachbody® Coach support you on your journey?
My team Beachbody Coach is also my upline, and we have so much in common. When I was starting my journey, I was so nervous but Dana always had faith in me. She believed in me, and always was willing to help me grow. The day after I signed up for 21 Day Fix, I sat on the phone with Dana, and we discussed my hopes and dreams for hours. She opened something inside of me that was long dead, for so long I was almost afraid to hope and dream because I was holding on by a string in life. Growing up I was always setting these high goals, and dreams. Then life has a way of knocking you down, and you stop dreaming. Dana made me feel like it was okay to dream for a better life, for my son and I.

How did a Beachbody Supplement or Nutritional Product or Program (such as Shakeology® or Beachbody Ultimate Reset®) support your transformation? What are the greatest benefits you gained? Did you see benefits to your energy, sleep, mood/mental clarity, digestion/regularity?
Before my journey with Beachbody I had horrible insomnia, it was driving me insane. I would have panic attacks thinking about having to go to bed at night, because I would lay there and not be able to sleep. Then I would try to stay awake by drinking mass amounts of energy drinks. I had no energy, and I was almost going insane from the lack of sleep. It was so horrible, I can’t even express how horrible this all was. I was trapped in this hell of unhealthy eating, and sleeplessness. After starting 21 Day Fix, and Shakeology I stopped drinking energy drinks, and had natural energy. I now have enough natural energy to get up at 5am to workout, then go to work, and when I get home run 3 miles. I do this all on top of being a single mother to an almost two year old. I was able to regulate my sleeping patterns, and I starting being able to feel normal.

How did a Beachbody Supplement or Nutritional Product or Program affect any existing health conditions you have?
Before I stared the 21 Day Fix, I had horrible stomach ulcers, and irritable bowl syndrome. I have had this my whole life. I was first diagnosed with ulcers when I was 12 years old, and I have had 7 endoscopies, and 5 colonoscopies because of these problems. I am only 31 and I have had so many doctors appointment, surgeries, and pain that I should be 80. I have no gallblatter because of my stomach issues, and I was afraid to go anywhere if there wasn’t a bathroom close by. Since starting 21 Day Fix and Shakeology my stomach feels the best it has ever felt. I am off all ulcer medication, anti acids, and irritable bowl syndrome medications. I can go hiking, or go out boating without fear of having to use the restroom. I can eat like a normal person, and not have to carry medication with me all the time.

Did you achieve any other measurable improvements with a Beachbody Supplement or Nutritional Product or Program? (e.g. Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, triglycerides, etc…)
Before I started my journey with the 21 Day Fix my blood pressure was so high. They couldn’t do anything to keep my pressure down, or even regulate it. It got so bad , that they had to take my son a month early, because I was so unhealthy. My blood pressure had me at such a risk of seizures, that they had to do an emergency c-section to get him out. I had to have padding on my hospital bed because they were just waiting for me to seize out because my pressure was going over 200, and they couldn’t get it down. Even after he was born I was placed on high blood pressure medication, and it still did nothing for me. I had to go to the doctor’s every week to be monitored, and they just were trying to keep me stable. Since starting 21 Day Fix and drinking Shakeology I didn’t even realize it at first but the sweating and heaviness I use to feel was going away. Then they took my pressure and it was perfect. That’s right perfect. I am perfecting medication free now!

You can change your life, too. Take the Beachbody Challenge for the tools you need to Decide, Commit, and Succeed! Complete any Beachbody program, and enter your results for a free gift and a chance to win cash and prizes.

*Results vary depending on starting point, goals, and effort.