Hey Friends!

Many of you have heard that my mantra for this year is 20 in 20. This means I want to lose 20 pounds before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st!

If you are new to our show or this blog, this may be news to you, but for any of you who have listened for more than 5 minutes, you’ve heard me talk about my lifelong struggle with weight.

It’s true. I have always battled with the scale. Even as a middle schooler, I was the tallest and chunkiest. I’ve always been super self-conscious about my weight. ALWAYS. And then I had two babies. After the first, I just wanted to get back into my bathing suit. After the second, I just wanted to get back into my jeans. If I’d had a third, it would’ve been, “I just want to get back into my moo-moo!” I kid. I kid. Sorta! But here’s the thing, y’all… I have the muffin-top, the bra fat, the thighs that rub together. All that lovely stuff.

Now, I know many of you are screaming at me through this screen right now – I get it! BUT, before you {lovingly} send me notes that tell me God loves me just the way I am, and that body image positivity is healthier, etc etc…. please hear me say, “I know. I know!” I really do. I promise. And also hear me say that I have been in such a better place mentally since 2016. This was the year, I absolutely turned a corner, and no longer saw food as the enemy. This was the year that I accepted my body, and said, “I am more than this number on a scale.”

BUT, ALL THIS SAID. I still struggle, and I’m still not where I want to be. And I want 2020 to be my breakthrough year.

A little background. I have done pretty much every diet known to man. I’ll list a few.

1. Jenny Craig
2. Weight Watchers
3. Keto
4. Atkins
5. Grapefruit
6. Cabbage Soup
7. South Beach
8. HCG shots
9. Fen-phen. {This is the one I am least proud of, but will also note it’s the one I lost the most weight on after my 2nd baby}
10. Whole30 {though they will tell you this is not a diet}.

And a hundred others! ‘Member the “1/2 cup cottage cheese with pears” diet back in the 80’s? Yep, did that one too.

The point is I’ve done them all. And with each shiny new program came the excitement of “OK, this may really be the one that will work for me this time.” And the reality is, a few did. For a hot minute. But none have been life-long, lifestyle sustaining.

In 2016, I jumped on the Whole30 train. And I can honestly say it was doing a Whole60 {yes, I did 60 days} that started the change in my relationship towards food. Something in my brain shifted. I finally realized it wasn’t about “calories in/calories out” or about restricting calories, or eating like a bird. It was about whole food nutrition and eating to fuel my body and to FEEL good. I can honestly say I never felt better, slept better, or had more energy. And energy is a big thing for me because I’m severely anemic {as in have to get iron infusions every several years}.

In 2018, I was still eating semi-Whole30ish; I’ve never gone back to how I ate pre-Whole30, but the scale never budged. I had a listener send me a book about Intermittent Fasting, and I slowly started incorporating that into my eating style. Since Fall of 2018, I have eaten 80% whole food nutrition coupled with Intermittent Fasting. And while I have maintained like a rock star, I have not lost one single solitary pound.

At this point, many would say, “welp, Carmen, this must be your body’s preferred weight.” And this may be true, but I’m not ready to accept that just yet. I believe I am 20 pounds heavier than I need to be given my frame and height.

This is where Amanda Tress comes in. I was introduced to her program, FASTer Way to Fat Loss last July by my girlfriend Jodi in Nashville. Fast-forward to August, and I was sitting on the beach, frustrated with another year coming and going and I was still stuck at 168 pounds. OH GIRL YES, I JUST DID. I just told y’all how much I weigh! Yep, I’ve lost my ever-loving mind. But, I’m ready to cross the victory line once and for all, and this is something I’ve been thinking about doing and sharing for a while. So there it is. In hopes that it will hold me accountable. And one more note about the weight… it is true that women do come in all different shapes and sizes. And what one woman’s actual weight is, is the goal weight for another.  I get how this may hit some of my sisters too. We each have to decide the number that is right for us. After talking with my doctor, the 140’s is my ideal weight based on my frame.

But back to Amanda. I’ve been following her since late last Summer. I signed up for an “August round” and learned the building blocks of what she has created. I talked about what I was doing on the air, and it turns out she was a listener!! We ended up meeting in December, and after meeting her,  I 1000% believe she has the key to unlocking all my failed attempts. I believe she can coach me to the BREAKTHROUGH that I’ve desperately wanted my whole life! She’ll do this by combining lots of what I’ve learned over the last 4 years, coupled with her strategies of whole food nutrition, carb cycling, proper exercise, and many, many other things. She has created a program focusing on holistic health but personalized to each person. For the first time in a long, long time, Amanda has made me believe I can really do this. So, I am 100% committing to the FASTer Way for 2020. I’m all in.

And one last thing, if any of what I have said resonates with you, maybe this could be your answer too! If so, go take a look at the “JOY FM” 6-week round that we’re beginning on Monday, February 10th. We’ll be doing this with our JOY family! We’ll have a private FB group where we can encourage each other, ask questions, and be personally coached by Amanda’s team at FASTer Way. All the info is right here!

And here’s even better news: Amanda has given us a special promo code!! You’ll get $50 off when you use the promo code: JOYFM.

Amanda was my guest on my OFF-AIR podcast last week. Find 30 minutes, and listen when you can!

To listen, click on one of the icons below, Apple, Google Play, Spotify or Stitcher, or listen online at thejoyfm.com