1   I have always been fat.  I began dieting at age 10 and at the time I started the Body For Life program I was a vegetarian, living on salads and eating like a bird.  Being hypoglycemic I didn’t eat sweets.  I fainted a lot.  I went roller-blading 5 days a week and swam once or twice a week.  I belonged to the gym and had been doing all of the above for years, but every year I just got fatter and fatter.  At age 40 I decided that I just had bad genes and the best I could hope for was to just try and keep my weight from going over 200 pounds, but that hope died too.

 

2   My daughter, Jamie Veronica, had just lost 65 pounds in the past year and, when I asked her how, she introduced me to the Body For Life program.  Surely her genes were as bad as mine and it worked for her.  I was now 210 pounds and still gaining, so I figured the worst thing that could happen would be that I would continue to gain.  Eating six meals a day and less exercise than I was already doing seemed like a huge mistake, but Jamie looked great and I decided to give it a 12 week try.  The hardest part of this past 12 weeks was to eat all the food that was required.  My last meal of the day was often skipped because I fell asleep before I could make myself eat again.

 

3   The shakes and bars were great and accommodated my busy life style.  I travel a lot and am a work-a-holic so I did not think I could make time for all this eating and structured exercise.  I work 12 hour days, 7 days a week, running a multi million dollar real estate company and attending to the needs of the 172 large, exotic cats that we have rescued from fur farms, circuses and ill prepared pet owners.  The big cat sanctuary is called WildLife on Easy Street and it costs $1,100.00 a day to keep it going.  I have been a single mom, keeping this pace for the past 9 years.  Five months before starting the program I ruptured a disc and was flat on my back for weeks.  Being so obese made healing that much harder.  I couldn’t give up.  There are too many people and animals counting on me.  Due to the uncertain economy I wasn’t sure how we would make it through the slow summer months.  The tragedy of the terrorist attacks on America caused the public support for the animals to drop to almost zero.   The $100,000.00 challenge gave me the strength to do everything in my power to win.

 

4   I went from a size 22 to a 16 and have never felt so good.  The diet is simple, healthy and attainable, even to a vegetarian.

 

5   The Beta Lean and Betagen supplements and EAS products are well balanced and effective.

 

6   My blood sugar levels have stabilized so that even on my free day, I can eat anything I want.  I  don’t pass out anymore and in my line of work that is really important.  The exercise program allows me to continue to improve while giving me a sense of accomplishment in each set.

 

7  The book and Muscle Media magazine have given me the education about diet and exercise that I needed to succeed.  Body For Life has become my new lifestyle and I can’t even imagine going back to the way I was before.  I still have 40 pounds to lose but on this program I expect to be in a size 10 in no time.

 

If there is one phrase that guides me in everything that I do, it is to lead by example.  My daughter’s example led me to Body For Life.  Our Volunteer’s examples had led her to the Body For Life program.

 

8  I hope that my example will reach those women over 40 who think that they have tried everything to lose weight.  You don’t have to be fat.  You don’t have to go hungry.  You don’t have to suffer.  You can have the body you want and you can start shaping it right now.