by Me
I gained a lot of weight with my second child. A LOT of weight. I mean, a seriously ridiculous, embarrassing amount of weight. I lost a lot of it, but plenty of it stayed behind. I then developed an autoimmune disorder, which then caused me to gain more weight. The medication I went on caused me to gain even more. I found myself at 5'2", frumpy, and unhappy.
Unfortunately, what I would be signing up for was not at all what I wanted to share. You see, organizations like this don't make money off of people like me. Their goal is to get people to lose just enough to weight that they will continue paying the monthly membership fee. Likewise, specialty diets are built to sell books and products for a brief amount of time, mostly until the users gain back all of the weight they lost and then some. At that point, the diet can be repackaged and resold to the same people.
I can understand all of this. It is a business built on weight loss after all. Once all of the weight is lost, the business no longer serves a need. They have to have a model that allows people to continue buying indefinitely. Unfortunately, this is at their emotional and physical toll.
I knew that my path was not to work for a diet or weight loss organization, but to work with people to help them achieve long term health and wellness. This is why I studied for a personal trainer certification and joined with Team Beachbody. I now have the tools to help others like me who struggle with their own health. Eating healthy food is not a short-term diet. Exercise is not a fad. These are things we all need to do. Unfortunately, because of everyday struggles and life getting in the way, making these choices is difficult.