From Defeated to Completed – BeachBody Success Story: Kristen Alexander

I am so excited to bring you another BeachBody success story, but I want you to make sure you are sitting down to read this one because it’s a real tear jerker of an inspirational story! From DEFEATED to COMPLETED, allow me to introduce you to my friend, Kristen Alexander.

Kristen lives in Massachusetts and has been a committed and determined member of my BeachBody team since 2013. Like me, she’s a hard-working momma, devoted wife, and a business owner with a super-crazy schedule. But she’s learned and overcome so much in her journey – as I said before, everyone’s journey is different – that she’s determined to PAY IT FORWARD and help you realize that you have the strength to reach your goals so long as you start with that key ingredient … BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Kristen’s story is one of love, family, unimaginable loss, and redemption. Here she is, in her own words.

KRISTEN’S STORY:

I come from a family that has had a lot of health issues. Both my parents battled obesity and I lost three of my four grandparents – all before they reached their 70th birthday – due to heart disease. But I never really had any weight or health issues until after I had children.

I was 19 when we had our first child, and I had three children within a two and a half year period. So I obviously got into the habit of not putting any priority on myself and I began dealing with my own weight battle. I’m only five-feet tall, and at that time, I got up to around 255 pounds.

Around that same time, my dad’s health was deteriorating. He suffered from heart disease, being overweight … you name it. He couldn’t even play with his grandkids, instead he’d just sit there because he couldn’t participate. He had triple bypass surgery at 47.

I tried just about everything to lose weight. If there was a commercial for it, I tried it. But none of those things worked because I had very little confidence in myself. That’s like the No. 1 thing you need.

I felt like nothing was working, so after about a year, I opted to do gastric bypass surgery in February 2006.

A month later, my dad died.

That was hard. He was obviously a big part of my life and I found myself getting scared and desperate for my own health. After the surgery, I lost 50 pounds pretty effortlessly. And after that, I became obsessed with nutrition and working out. That was the direction I knew I was heading, and I lost another 70 pounds.

Even after all that, it’s been a constant uphill battle. My family doesn’t have great genetics, so I knew even with the gastric bypass, I had to make serious changes. I had developed arthritis in both my knees because I had been overweight for so long, which meant I couldn’t workout or had to alter my workouts. And that can play mind games with you. I got depressed, but I just kept pushing myself to stay on track and eat healthy.

And that’s what I want for the people I help. I developed a rally cry called Defeated to Completed because that was me. I was there, and those are the type of people I want to help. Trust me, I’ve been in their shoes and I know what it’s like. It’s a constant struggle, but people should know that anything is possible if you love yourself first.

I was prepared to write a $1,500 check to get certified as a personal trainer when I came across an advertisement from Karma. We ended up talking on the phone and I signed up to be a health and fitness coach that same night.

Thank God I have coaching! It’s great to be a part of a team of people who want to see you succeed.

My life has been great … I have a wonderful husband and great kids. But I feel like I’m happier on a much deeper level now because of what I was able to accomplish through BeachBody, and how I can help others.