Before joining Encompass, I knew I needed to make a change. I was the heaviest I had ever been. I was just coming off my third mat leave and just healed from a fractured knee. My surgeon told me the best thing I could do to avoid another surgery in the future was to lose weight. I knew I needed to get healthier for both myself and my three young children. I wanted to feel good enough to move at their pace.

At the beginning, I felt like I had such a long way to go and I didn’t know where to start. That’s where Encompass came in! I decided to sign up with the 28 day Ignite program. I loved everything about it. In that 28 days, I gained so many healthy small habits. I knew I still wanted more support and guidance after the 28 days, so I signed up for the Blast program!

My biggest challenge was my “all or nothing” mentality. I felt like I had to be all in or all out. I would be so hard on myself if I wasn’t “perfect”.

With the help of Kim, I not only overcame that mindset. But I gained so much more! I now strongly believe that all or nothing mentality was setting me up to fail! The biggest change I made was when I let go of that and realized that progress happens when you continue to make small changes consistently. I no longer think of food as good or bad. I have a plan that I stick to most of the time and if I get off track a bit, then that’s okay. I know I am going to get right back on.

While working with Kim, I lost 23.5 inches combined (9.25 inches in my waist alone!) and over 20 pounds. And although I am super proud of those numbers, that is not what I personally think of as my biggest accomplishment.

In the past year I have gained so much self love and respect for myself. What started out as a weight loss journey for me has transformed into an overall health journey. And that’s what I am most proud of. I learned to be proud of myself at every stage. Life is all about balance and over the past year I have learned the correct tools to keep my balance in check. I am so grateful that I committed to Blast and would definitely tell anyone who is looking for a change to give it a try! It could be you a year down the road talking about how much your life has changed!

Click here to learn about the program that helped Alysha feel so great.