It's the LIFE you gain!

This is so damn true!!

I started this 2 and a half years ago because I was unhappy. Not just about myself and how I looked and felt about it. It was about my mind as well. 

2 years ago I was stuck. Stuck in the circle of getting up each morning, going to a career that I no longer loved, a career that I was already at the top of where I could get, there was nothing more to strive for. A circle that took me away from my children, I was NEVER there for pick ups, drop offs, school trips, if was called that my girls were sick guess what! I was NEVER able to get there fast enough. It took me a minimum of 2 hours to get to their school/daycare because of train schedules and delays. It broke my heart. Made me mad at life. Mad at the world and clinically depressed. Not anymore!! My commute is not even 2 minutes, I walk down the stairs to my beautiful home office and I am there to drop off, pick up, grab my girls from school if they aren't feeling well AND I get to attend their class trips and class parties!!

One decision to work on myself, my health changed not only my strength of my body but had a major change on the strength I have for life. Life is hard. Hard on your body and hard on your mind. Deciding to join in an opportunity that I thought was just to change my physical appearance has saved SO much more. My mentality, my outlook on life, where I'm going and my ability to have those moments with my kids. This year is going to be a crazy year! Amazing things are happening and I am so excited!! First stop on our list is coming up in April! You can watch us or join us! Let's change the world together starting with you!

💖

Loving Every Moment

My whole year has been a long weekend in my eyes. I have gone from one extreme to the next.

2 years ago I was working in a job that I thought I had to. Because growing up I was taught that I go to school I get a degree and I find a career. I worked that career for 10 years. I missed my girls, I only got to see about an hour of their lives each day. When they started school I had to take a vacation day just to see them off on their first day. I missed class trips. If I was ever called because one was sick it took minimum 2 hours to get home to them.

Fast forward 2 years I have now spent 2 summers with them!! We can now get up and go whenever we please. Yes I work a lot BUT the ability to do all of this from home on my time has truly changed our lives! So to me these late nights and early mornings are worth every minute I get to spend with these girls!!!

So if you have a dream that you're chasing I truly hope that you never give up on it because one day all of that hard work, dedication and patience will truly pay off!!

If you're anything like me and are curious about what it is that I do, our team of life changers will be hosting an inside look! Don't miss your chance to hear from some of our top team members and how this opportunity has changed their lives as well as mine :)

Shoot me an Email to learn more!

More Than 2 Children!

Over the weekend I realized while looking at photos from a family gathering that my 5 year old twin girls put together are 10 pounds LIGHTER than the total amount of weight I have lost! 10 POUNDS LESS! My goodness.  I have lost the equivalent of 2 children!!

I started this as a fluke. Really didn't think I would follow through with any of the program at all! I mean really I have quit ANY and ALL types of fitness programs out there... You name it, I've tried it and quit, BESIDES this!  The first week was killer, I was sore, tired and didn't feel like doing the workouts... They are only 30 minutes! So I pushed myself for that first week and then it got easier and I started to look forward to my late night workouts after I was home from work and got the kids into bed. It has become routine for me now AND my girls all join in for some fun exercise :)

To see how much what I do has affected my children inspires me to continue on this each day! I know this is such an amazing change from what they used to see from me, makes my heart smile to see them getting up and jumping to "fire" or dancing with their favourite dance instructor! lol

It's amazing what you can do with some consistency, healthy eating (I still have treats here and there) and a group of women who are all supporting each other through the programs!

Join in our next group for amazing support and accountability on your own health and fitness journey!

~ Love yourself ~
-Mandy

My Insecurities

Today I REALLY had to remind myself of what I have accomplished so far in my journey.

I was visiting family and I just couldn't get myself out of my swimsuit cover-up. I was embarrassed of my stretch marks... my belly button isn't as pretty as it was before pregnancy... my bottoms were a little tighter than I thought they should have been...

I did eventually take the cover up off and got into the pool to cool off but when I got back out I put it on again...  I haven't been this self conscious in a very very long time! I practice self love and work on myself EVERY DAY!  So this was a feeling I was scared to see rise again in myself. 

When we got home I took my shirt and skirt off, walked around the house in my bikini for a while to get myself ready to REALLY look at myself in the mirror.  And you know what I saw... Yes stretch marks, yes my belly button, but I also saw a MOM that carried 3 babies in her body (2 at one time even!) I saw a woman that has worked hard to achieve an 87 pound weight-loss! My husband and my girls looked at me and they did not say one thing about my flaws that I was so scared to show the world.

So next time I am out with my family, I am not going to cover up because of my insecurities!  I am going to be proud of how far I have come!

If you are anything like me and struggle with your self image, remember you are not alone!  Even after all of this time I can fall back into the trap of my self doubt sometimes BUT I AM NOT going to let it consume me I am going to keep working on myself and NEVER will fall back into the spiral I was in before!

We can do this together :) Send me a message on Facebook or Email me, I would love to learn more about you! 

~ Love yourself now ~
-Mandy

Take Those Photos!

This is a little of an emotional day for me.

I am looking through photos of my girls.... As I look through them and remember all of those amazing times watching them grow, giggle, smile, crawl, walk my heart breaks a little.

Now yes there are a couple of reasons I am sad looking back on these photos.  One is because I really really miss the baby stages and would love to live them all over again.... and the most important reason I am sad.... I am not in hardly any of the photos. There are a couple, some from the day they were born, and then again about a month later..... Then NOTHING.

I want to share this with as many of you as possible that are going through the emotions I had gone through after the birth of babies.

Looking back now, I want a do over. I want to re-live those baby days again, not only because they are the most treasured memories I have but because I would give anything to go back and TAKE THOSE PHOTOS with my babies!!

When my girls were born, I went into a state of depression. This is more common than most would think. My depression came to a point that I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. We even took the mirrors down in the house...

Some say that women who have twins are more susceptible to postpartum depression.  Now personally I may have had a little baby blues with our first daughter (singleton) but after the twins it was so strong.  I really didn't even realize I was depressed at all, didn't think anything was wrong with me.  The state of mind I was going through was like a haze, I was stuck in a cloud and just laid around doing nothing that I can remember.  The schedule with newborn twins was one woke up, changed their bum, breastfeed, bottle feed, lay her down, wake the next one up, change bum, breastfeed, bottle feed, lay her down, pump (because I didn't produce enough) and the cycle went around and around.

My depression got to the point of being put off of work, onto medication, going to therapy...

(First selfie together - May 31, 2014)

(African lion safari - August 2015)

My oldest is now 7 and our twins are 5.  I regret that I and they now do not have any photos of us together for the first few years of their lives, it looks like I wasn't even around.  2 years ago I started to get more comfortable with myself. My confidence started to rise. I no longer run from photos, in fact, I am now a huge selfie fan! We do family snapshots and selfies as much as possible and my girls and I now have a big supply of photos with each other of our day to day lives!

What changed for me?

There came a point when I finally realized I WAS WORTH IT!  There is a moment that I thought if I don't change something, my life is seriously going to change (not in a good way). So I spoke with my husband and jumped into a new adventure. I started to work on me, because we all hear that if mom isn't happy no one is happy and I truly believe my moods were rubbing off on my children in a negative way.  I noticed my oldest was becoming more self conscious each day.  Our children look up to us, they think we hung the stars and the moon.

(Nature walk - August 2015)

(Father's day nature walk - June 2016)

So it was time for me to try to live to my best self. I started an at home program because I knew with 3 children and a full time job that took me away from the house 12 hours a day, time wasn't really on my side. In doing this not only did I start eating better and exercising, I joined a team of women who uplifted me and inspired me to be and do more. We work on ourselves and each other by doing personal development. Yes it sounds really weird, I didn't want to do it at first BUT when I started it I learned so much about myself and became much more confident in who I was and now am! Every morning I get up before the girls and listen to something uplifting, it starts my day off on the right foot!

(My workout buddies)

My biggest regret was running away and hiding from photos when the cameras came out.  I want all moms to know that our babies don't stay babies forever. I know it is hard to overcome your body image you have of yourself but your kids love you!  Your family loves you!  You will one day again learn to love yourself, I promise!  It isn't an easy task but try your best to jump into those photos with your babies because years down the road you may feel the regret I feel for not sharing the lasting still moments of being in the photos with my babies.

(Was a tough workout)

(Even my husband is getting used to the selfies all the time lol)

If any of you learn anything from this PLEASE please be it to get into those photos!  Even when you don't want to because years down the road you will want those memories. Go out, have fun, smile, laugh and get into those photos!

If you are like me and would like to talk about anything at all or learn more about how I overcame, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!  Find me on Facebook or send me an email I would love to connect with you!

~ Love yourself right now wherever you may be ~
-Mandy

(Fun times at an event - May 2016)

The Master's Hammer and Chisel - Progress!!

Soooo here is my progress for the last 3 weeks!!! Yes I said 3 weeks!!!!!



Still skeptical if workouts from home work?! I am living proof that they do :)

Wonder if after babies you can get your body back?? YES you CAN!! This body has carried 3 babies (1 set of twins)!! My body is better now than it was pre-pregnancy!!!

Now I'm not losing much weight as that is not my goal right now. I've lost about 3 pounds but have gained definition! My bum is lifting and my abs are starting to pop!

Seeing this progress gives me even more motivation to push harder and keep going! Bring on the next few weeks!! I cannot wait to see the end result!!

Are you still skeptical? I would love to help you see that this can work for you! Send me a Friend request or an email if you're ready to get your own proof that these programs work :)

The Day Has Come!

Well the day has come :) As of today I am a Full Time Beachbody Coach AND Stay at Home Mom!!

Last year was a whirlwind of change and why would this year be any different!

Oh my gosh it is scarey but this is where my heart is and it IS where I belong.  When I left my job in Toronto to come home I took on 2 other jobs from home as well. It was hard to find the time to be with the girls as I was on the computer from morning til night trying to keep up with the workloads.

2 weeks ago we decided that I would leave my Mortgage business for now and just focus on my other job, the girls and Beachbody until October when we would re-evaluate the situation. Well the universe had other plans. I believe everything happens for a reason and this, I believe wholeheartedly is a blessing for us!

The past couple of weeks have been one of the best! I was able to let the stresses of my previous job slowly float away. I was able to spend sooo much time with my girls! We went to the trailer, spent time with family, went to Legoland, the zoo and we danced ❤❤

I really want to thank my family and friends for all of their support!

Mom, Dad and Glen you are my biggest fans and love you to pieces for telling me to always follow my dreams ❤

And a very special thank you to my husband for always pushing me further and believing in me that I CAN do this! You are my biggest supporter and I am so happy you came into my life xoxo

My Life Will NEVER Be The Same!

Alright I keep deleting this post BUT here it goes!! 

Last year I decided to make a change in myself. I would start spending time on ME! My days used to consist of getting up early to get ready for work before the kids were even up. I would leave for work at 7am to get to work for 8:30. Work the day away and get home at 6:30. Just enough time to have about an hour and a half with the girls then sit down and watch a show on the TV and do the exact same thing the next day and day after that... I felt drained, I was miserable, didn't feel like doing anything EVER! 

One day I was scrolling my news-feed and this little boy was pointing at me. I read the post by amazing friend who was asking if I wanted to know what she does as a Beachbody coach, how she gets paid to workout and how her husband retired from his corporate job! OF COURSE I WANTED TO KNOW! Really what could it hurt to find out how they are working from home and LIVING life with their children! 

If I didn't comment on that post to find out I would probably still be working in Toronto away from my children. I would still be on the couch each night watching TV and eating junk. I would still be grumpy and miserable with myself and the life that I thought I was living. 

That post of that little boy CHANGED my life! I started working on me! I worked out late at night after the kids were in bed, instead of sitting on the couch watching tv. Started eating healthier, becoming more positive everyday. It's true what they say "Surround yourself with those that lift you higher". With so many positive people around me I became HAPPY!!! Things started to change in and all around me. I decided to leave my Toronto career that I had been doing for 10 years, I improved my health, improved my eyesight, improved my relationship with my family and found out what I was made to do!

Are you ready to join in and change your life? Send me an email me at DestinedYou@outlook.com to learn more!

The Dress Doesn't Fit

I have honestly been scared to try my wedding dress on.  Thinking that I was never going to fit into it again and scared that maybe it would fit.

My husband and I got married 9 months after having our first baby girl. 9 months on 9 months off right? Nope, was not the case for me. When we first met I was around 130 pounds, during pregnancy I gained 80 pounds in not even 9 months. She was 3 weeks early and I topped the scales at 207 pounds when I had her.  That's right I said 207.

Needless to say I did Not lose all of my baby weight from our first pregnancy before we got married. (or even before our next pregnancy, which was a couple months shy of 2 years after the first pregnancy).

I haven't put this dress on since 2009...

I was going to wait until the summer to try it on again just to give myself those extra couple of months to make sure it fit.  Then we were at my moms house on the weekend and I just couldn't wait. I needed to see if THE DRESS was ever going to fit again.  So, I pulled it out of the closet and slid myself into it asking to have help to do it up, all while reminding myself that I had to wear Spanks with it on our wedding day.... and.....

Well I was BLOWN AWAY!!  Not only does it NOT FIT I can slip right out of it!!  I was more worried that it wouldn't fit because I hadn't reached those losses yet.  Totally thought it would go on but not actually do up.

So happy I ended up asking my husband "when are we getting married again?" and he jokes back "when you fit into your dress again" hahaha.

Are you ready to change your life?  Don't be shy, I want to help you!
Send me an Email. I would love to get to know you and learn your goals!

My Girls

As I sit here today, I am so thankful.

I am blessed with 3 beautiful little girls, who I am able to now watch as they change and grow everyday.  These girls fight, bicker, kick and scream at each other like all siblings but today was much different.  Today as I was listening to them play house in their room I hear one say "I love you" and the other little one without skipping a beat replies "I love you too".  Oh my heart!  Instantly tears came to my eyes as I thought to myself, they are finally getting it, they are understanding what sibling love is.

We always tell our girls we love them.  We have always prompted them to speak to their sister and tell each other you love them.  Now today without them knowing I was there listening at the door I realize they are going to have the best relationship.

If you don't already know my youngest 2 are twins.  Everyone says twins have a special bond but I never saw it with these two.  They are polar opposite, one is relaxed the other always on the go. I didn't know when they would build the relationship that other sets of twins I see have but now I know these girls will be friends forever.

It makes my heart happy to know that all of my girls will have each other to grow up with and have that special confidant.

Absolutely Blessed!