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BECOME YOUR OWN
SUCCESS STORY
 As a member, you will have a chance to submit your progress, as well as your personal story, for review by Bob and the Best Life Team. Members with the most compelling life changes will be selected to share their tale with members, expose before and after photos and inspire others to start living The Best Life.
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LIVING HER BEST LIFE AND HER DREAM
Natalie Roussel was a typical yo-yo dieter. Over the last 20 years, she had lost and gained a total of 200 pounds. She'd go on a diet and drop 20 to 30 pounds, only to gain back 40. Then, she'd try another diet and she'd lose 35 pounds, but eventually pack on 40 more. Although she had avoided fad diets and overly restrictive weight-loss plans, she never dug deep enough to discover the cause of her weight issues, and at age 37 and 5 feet 5 inches, she found it a struggle to enjoy her life at a cumbersome 218 pounds. Choosing clothes or playing the sports she loved became too much of a chore for her. Getting to the Root of Problem After picking up a copy of The Best Life Diet in the book store and signing up for the online program, Natalie realized that she was not an emotional eater, but rather that she always made herself available to everyone else, including her friends and parents, and never really took the time to take care of herself. "I would always have something more important to do than cook or exercise," she says. "It just seemed like I never had time for myself. But I soon realized that I had to take care of myself first. I really had to make it a priority and stick to it. And I didn't necessarily have to say yes to everyone all the time," she says. One of the keys to taking care of herself was cooking and planning ahead. "Now I prepare meals for the week. I tend to eat a good breakfast and I bring my lunch to work as often as possible. The problem for me was coming home at night and eating whatever was easy–and of course, it usually ended up being fast food. Preparing my meals now allows me come home to a fridge full of good food. I freeze lots of meals, so I just have to choose!" She soon discovered that living her Best Life was not as difficult or daunting as she'd thought. "I realized that having a healthy lifestyle was relatively easy. It mostly meant revising certain aspects of my behavior and reconsidering the place of food in my life. Now, I really question my hunger level using the hunger scale, and it's amazing what a difference it has made." Also, instead of jumping into a diet plan and changing all her food choices and habits at once, she used the Best Life's gradual three-phase approach to make permanent lifestyle changes. "I found that the three phases help you prepare for long-term success because you get the time to get to know yourself, you get to asses your health, and once you're comfortable with that, you make a change. Instead of starting and changing everything at one time, it goes more slowly. It terms of progress, you don't simply do it overnight and expect things to become a habit." Achieving a Dream Not only has Natalie lost 35 pounds since January 2008, but she also recently realized one of her dreams–participating in a triathlon! "What I once thought was impossible came true on May 24, 2008. I swam seven olympic laps, biked 10K and ran 2½ miles in 57 minutes and 19 seconds. I wasn't the slimmest person there (I still have 28 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight) but I was just as fit as everyone else!" To train for the triathlon, Natalie worked out five days a week at Activity Level 3. This wasn't always a simple task given her busy schedule, but she made sure she got it done. "I've actually become very creative at juggling my exercise sessions. For example, before going to visit my Mom in the hospital recently, I stopped at a gas station restroom, changed out of my work clothes into some workout gear, went to a park next to the hospital and ran for 25 minutes. Then I got back in the car and went to the hospital." And Natalie has already set her sites on her next triathlon (this one, twice the distance of the triathlon she completed this year) in May 2009. She says training is "a great way to stay in line with the program!" Living Her Best Life "I truly believe that I have found the way to healthy eating and exercising: Setting a goal, focusing on it and believing you can change," she says. "The Best Life plan is flexible, simple and helps you make real lifestyle changes instead of quick fixes that don't last."  |
  EXCERPT FROM THE BEST LIFE
by Oprah Winfrey You cannot ever live the life of your dreams without coming face to face with the truth. Every unwanted pound creates another layer of lies. It's only when you peel back those layers that you will be set free: Free to work out, free to eat responsibly, free to live the life you want and deserve to live. |
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