About Me

Hi!  My name is Julia McIntyre.  I'm a high school Language Arts teacher, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a stepmother, and a friend.  I have also been a yo-yo dieter for most of my life! In 2012, I began using Turbofire and meticulously counting calories.  I reached a happy weight for myself, but it was a constant struggle - I was still eating like crap; as long as the food fit within my daily calorie intake, I ate it! I was still tired and I had no energy, but I managed to maintain my weight, until...
In May of 2013, my husband and I began a major remodel on our house, mostly involving the kitchen.  It was a total mess!  Every surface of nearly ever room was covered in construction dust.  I remember that at one point, the only clean place to sit down to put on my shoes was the lid on the toilet seat!  I had always worked out at home (I've had gum memberships, but I need a little more guidance and motivation; also, it takes too much time to GO TO THE GYM, and I'm BUSY!), and my office/workout room was full to overflowing with the furniture from the parts of our house that were being remodeled!  There was a point where my husband, Chris, and I were living in our bedroom because it was the only part of the house (other than the bathroom) that wasn't a mess; we even ate our meals in there.  Speaking of meals, we ate pretty much nothing except for fast food for about 3 months; our kitchen was unusable, I didn't know how to plan for something like this, and there wasn't even a clean surface to cut vegetables on (and trust me, cleaning was fruitless; if you have ever remodeled, you know that dust just hangs out in the air, waiting for a clean surface to land upon).  And remodeling is STRESSFUL, and I am a true emotional eater, so on top of fast food and not working out, I was eating my feelings.  As you can imagine, the weight came back, and brought a few extra pounds with it.

 The majority of our remodeling was finished by Thanksgiving of 2013 (the kitchen was usable, at least), but then, you know, it was the holidays.  By late December, I was in full depression/mental funk mode.  I had gained 20 lbs; even my "fat" clothes were starting to be too small.  I knew I had to do something, and I made a good ol' new years resolution.  After January 1st, I started back to working out with T25, and I started counting calories again.  I HATED counting calories, but I knew this would work, and I had to do something.

One day, I was doing an Internet search for healthy recipes, and I came across a blog with a lot of great, healthy, family-friendly recipes.  I began reading posts, and I was really connecting with this woman.  She had an application on her blog for a challenge group.  I had no idea what a challenge group was, but I knew that I was in a rut and unhappy, so I filled out the application.
I found out this woman was a coach, and she had helped hundreds of people lose weight!  She was a normal person, just like me, but she had lost her weight in a challenge group, and she was paying it forward!
As soon as I joined the group, I knew my life would change forever.  My coach taught me strategies and gave me tools that worked for REAL LIFE.  She kept things simple.  She loved to work out (and so did I; I just needed some motivation sometimes!) and she connected me to other people who were just like me, with struggles very similar to mine.  And you know what else?  My coach taught me a way to lose (and later, maintain) my weight WITHOUT COUNTING CALORIES.  Hallelujah!

With the help of the challenge group, I lost 25 lbs, surpassing my goal.  I currently weight 120 lbs, and I feel healthier than I ever have in my life. There really is no secret; I eat clean, I exercise daily, I eat 6 times per day, I drink Shakeology, and I have support and motivation.  I don't ever remember having as much energy as I have now.  In fact, this whole process has been so incredible, that I have decided to pay it forward and become a coach myself.  Now, I help OTHER people find their health, confidence, and strength.  I am the one running challenge groups.  It helps to keep ME accountable while helping others at the same time.
I hope you will join me on my fitness journey!  If you would like more information about challenge groups or becoming a coach (like me!), click on the links and we'll chat!

Be FIERCE!