Let’s start this a few months back, when my friend Beverly posted in a Coach Facebook Group about ShaunT HIMSELF coming to St Louis to do an Insanity LIVE training.  I was like….Well…..I haven’t actually even done Insanity, and not real sure it is something I could sell OR EVEN TEACH FOR THAT MATTER, in my small rural gym.  But I believe in going to live training events for my business, and anything that you just want to be better at, so I decided to sign up.  Not really sure if I would like it, or EVER teach it.

But come this past Saturday morning, I got in my car and drove to St Louis.  Excited, scared, nervous, having anxiety about my jacked up knee and how much I would have to modify, and very unsure of where my life was actually heading after this day.  But I chose to do my best to keep an open mind and a positive attitude.

WELL….Let me tell you……Saturday changed my out look on MANY things!

THE FIRST being, this man is AMAZING! 

Even MORE AMAZING than I thought before.  I have always adored him and loved his dance programs, and to hear him speak, has always been one of my favorite things about going to Coach Summit.  He just has a way of speaking that touches me to my core.  And Saturday was NO EXCEPTION!

By the end of the day, between him and the AWESOME Chip Hoffa, Master Trainer, I was EXHAUSTED!  But I was also a Certified Insanity LIVE Instructor!

AND even more importantly, I had a revived feeling of excitement about not only the future of my studio and fitness classes, but of my own health and fitness journey.  I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

I felt ALIVE!

And I even felt more ready to start the new program I started Monday, LIIFT4 with Joel Freeman on Beachbody On Demand.  And so far, I am SORE AF, but I am LOVING it!  Remember I am a Fitness Professional, and we are all a bit twisted! LOL!

So if you are local to me, watch my schedule for Insanity LIVE classes as early as the first week of August, which you can find on My Google Calendar!  And even if you are not, keep tabs on my fitness journey and what I am up to next on IG – @bodybybrendat or on Facebook, you can find me at Body By BrendaT or Phoenix Fitness With Body By BrendaT.

MAKE TODAY GREAT!

ON EDIT….I wanted to add this post from my Facebook Page to help share with you WHY this Saturday meant so much to me.

ody By BrendaT is with Shaun T.

YES, that includes ME!  That is why I am excited to bring to you a fellow NASM CPT’s new program!  Yes, LIIFT4 from Beachbody Super Trainer, and my virtual buddy 😉 , Joel Freeman!

OK, I know that I seem to be excited about ALL new Beachbody programs, but with my busy life, LIIFT4 is seriously my kind of workout!  30-40 minute workouts 4 days a week??? UHHHH…..YES PLEASE!!!

As a Beachbody Coach, I often feel guilty that I don’t have time to actually do many of our programs.  I teach about 10 hours of fitness classes each week, have PT clients, run Phoenix Fitness With Body By BrendaT fitness studio on my own, am a Beachbody Coach, have a family(yes, the kids all have fur!), and work full time.  That doesn’t leave too much time to do a 60 minute workout every day without sacrificing sleep.  Which you NEED to repair and recover from doing hard workouts!  In fact, I have learned over the past 18 months, that my being a sleep martyr does absolutely NO GOOD for anyone.  It causes illness, hormonal imbalance, and can actually BACKFIRE as far as fitness goal are concerned.  In the last 3 weeks, since I have been getting more sleep, I haven’t lost much fat yet, but my muscle tone is finally starting to take better shape again!

My point of this post…

I want EVERYONE who says they don’t have time for exercise to hit me up, because we ALL(even me with my schedule) have 2-2.5 hours a week that we can dedicate to our health and fitness without sacrificing sleep or even family time.  I know this, because I bet this blog isn’t the ONLY thing you have read on the internet today!  Am I right???

Here is a quick video from Mr Joel Freeman himself showing you a bit about the program.

So after watching that, if you are ready to build lean muscle and burn fat in just 4 days a week with Super Trainer, Joel Freeman, and his newest no-nonsense workout program. You will lift.  You will HIIT.  You will build lean muscle. AND You will burn fat!  THEN, you will rest on 3 scheduled recovery days.

LIIFT4 fully launches exclusively on Beachbody On Demand on October 1st.

BUT…..but LIIFT4 will be available for sale for VIP Early Access on June 11th, 2018 with a completion pack including the digital unlock, for Beachbody On Demand All Access Members, with the workouts for the VIP Early Access actually going live on July 16th. 

Message me TODAY to get on my VIP wait list & get first access on June 11 AND The special SURPRISE Sneak Peek on Monday, June 4th!!!

Email – bodybybrendat@outlook.com

Facebook Messenger  – Body By BrendaT or Phoenix Fitness with Body By BrendaT

Text your email and any questions to 217-316-0683

Yes, I did mean to SCREAM food!  I know I am not the only one who gets totally frustrated daily with food.

Do you struggle with nutrition?

Do you think that because you workout you can just eat whatever you want?

Was the above statement true 8-10 years ago, and all of a sudden, you are going through some hormonal changes and NOTHING seems the same?

Do you think that fitness professionals have it ALL FIGURED out for ourselves ALL THE TIME and are all a consistent size 0?

If you answered YES to any of the above, I would LOVE to get you in my June Nutrition Success and Accountability Group.  Because your mindset is NOT in the right place!  And you, like me, need some help fixing your relationship with food and fitness.

In this group, we will be using the 2B Mindset program, and you WILL be required to order the program through me!  No ifs, ands, or buts! It is the only way I can be your Team Beachbody Coach and that we can work together.  And  If you want a $20 discount, we need to get this done by 6/1/18.  And I would be happy to sign you up as a Coach on my team and you can either work the business, or simply enjoy the future discounts as well as joining an Exclusive Facebook Group for Team Beachbody Coaches ONLY, with the Creator of 2B Mindset, but also only if you purchase and become a coach BEFORE 6/1/18.

Now, before you even ask, I will tell you honestly, that NO, I have not had a huge weight loss on it myself yet.  BUT, I have only been using the program myself for 2 weeks and lost 3# while having two really tough weekends in a row 😛  And since this is not a program with a set amount of days, but a nutrition course to learn how to fix your relationship with food and therefore, your mindset about it forever.  I have done my best to follow most of the principles and track my food – the good, the bad, and the down right ugly- but the last 2 weekends, I let old habits take over my brain.  Am I proud of that?  NOPE!  It is just a fact of life!  I, like you, am also a struggling human trying to figure out how to get my own mindset in a healthier place.  But I will also tell you that I LOVE her principles, and they are very close to how I lost my initial weight.  I HATED measuring, and I eyeballed most things, so portion control has always been tough and my “calorie counting” was always a bit off.  Maybe too high some days and too low others.  But with 2B Mindset, you measure by your plate.  No, not a special plate, just knowing what to give the biggest priority to during each meal and snack.  So it is NOT difficult, and you don’t have a doctorate in mathematics to do it!

10 years ago when I started this journey, I was freaked out because I was 37, disabled, smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, weighed- at the very heaviest I ever saw on a scale- 296#, and was scared to death that I was going to die before I hit 40!  So I logged all of my food.  I started exercising VERY SLOWLY!  And I reached out and found a support group with some awesome leaders!  And I lost 147#!  Then I started lifting and gaining muscle- and some weight which freaked me out- but at 165# I was fit, healthy, and wearing the same size I probably wore in 1st grade!  A size I never knew was even possible for me!  A size 4!

Today, I am 47, still technically disabled, but whatever, haven’t smoked in 9+ years, cut way back on drinking, but I do still enjoy my beer and an occasional Fireball and Root Beer or moscato, and although I am once again overweight, only by about 35#, NOT 146#, and I wear a size 8-10.  As most of you know, I have been fighting the inevitable battle of becoming a middle aged woman and ALL the glorious hormonal changes that come with that.  AND all the fantastic things that those hormones can do to our bodies.  And yes, that was meant to be dripping with sarcasm! 😉 LOL!

So, even though I am not now where I want to be, I am FAR from where I started! 

This is a journey.  This is life.  The point is not the END destination, but how you live while you are here!  And I want to live healthy and happy!  Spending my hours in the gym or doing healthy meal prep, or hours in dialysis and recovering from major cardiac events?  I have seen both HARDS!  The latter scares me so bad, that I am having anxiety right now thinking about the possibility of it being my fate.  And I plan to do everything I can to keep that from happening to me.  And the more I learn, the more I want to help others do the same.  So if you are looking for support and guidance through your journey, I would love to have you join me.

Find me on Facebook or email me at bodybybrendat@outlook.com

I know what you are thinking!

Brenda, have you lost your mind?

What in the heck could 2 Bunnies possibly have to do with your relationship with food?

WELL…Not only are they going to help me restore a HEALTHY relationship with food, but they have already helped me shed more than 4# in the first week!

OK, so it’s not THESE Bunnies!

2 Bunnies has to do with the 4 Main Principles of the new program I am doing from Beachbody.  And get this…..NO EXERCISE IS REQUIRED!  Of course, exercise is ALWAYS recommended for overall health, but it is not required for this nutrition program.  It is EXTRA CREDIT!

So, now I am guessing your questions are…

What IS this wonderful Program?

and

How can I get it?

Meet Ilana Muhlstein, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and her new program 2B Mindset~

So, have I peaked your interest?

I hope so!

There are a few different ways to get 2B Mindset, and with one, you get to be added to an Exclusive Facebook Group with Ilana herself, so hit me up ASAP, and I would love to have you join me on this journey, or even become a team member and help me help others AND get access to an Exclusive Facebook Group WITH Ilana, while we fight to win this war we have with our mindset when it comes to food!

Feel free to comment below, email me at bodybybrendat@outlook.com, message me on Facebook, or you can even text my business line at 217-316-0683.

April 10th.  The day I dread all year long.  It is the day that a quite literal piece of me went to heaven.   You see, my daughter, Marian, was born and died April 10, 1989.  The day after my 18th birthday.  Little did I know at the time, that the 5 1/2 months I spent with her would be the closest I would ever get to being a mother.  She will always be with me, but there will also always be a part of me that will grieve the loss of my child.

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I thought WOW!  Marian would be 29 today.  I always think of her as a baby, but if she were alive today, she could quite possibly have babies of her own.  I would be a Grandma!  What a beautiful thought ❤ 

But that was not in the hand I was dealt.  I was never blessed with children.  I often wonder how different my life may have been, but I am happy now, so why dwell, right?  But I still can’t help but wonder sometimes.

Today as I am trying to get into my work, I just had to dump some thoughts and feelings so I could go on about my day.  I do still get down sometimes about not being a Mom.  I do still love babies.  I am blessed with more nieces, nephews, and great- nieces and nephews than I can count anymore that I love to pieces!  I do still have days that I don’t want to be around babies, although they are much fewer and far between these days.  Today, however, being one of them, but only because I have a TERRIBLE COLD! 😛

So, I write this blog mainly to say Happy Birthday Marian!  Mommy LOVES You!  And I will speak for the rest of the family and say, that we all wish we could have met you.  Here, once again, is Daddy’s Poem for you.

In Memory Of Marian

I hear the cry of a child

From far, far away

And I wonder if the crying

Is my Marian trying to say:

It’s OK, so please don’t frown,

It was not your fault at all.

Now I am sitting here in Heaven

And GOD said that I could call.

So I called to say I love you,

And I hope that you’re alright.

I hope my call won’t sadden you,

And keep you up all night.

Well, I have to go now.

Please be happy and don’t fret.

‘Cause I am sitting here on GOD’s lap

Getting the best care I can get.

‘Till we meet again ❤