Welcome back to Carol's Corner. Before we get started I would like to thank all who visited today and helped make this another banner day in Carol's Corner. There were a total of 172 visitors who viewed 230 different posts and represented 7 different countries including a new one for Carol's Corner, Peru. Whoever you are welcome. Today's blog is going to be another feature story , so let's get my fashion portion out of the way.

My picture today was taken at this cool wall section at a hospital that we were visiting someone in today. I thought it made a cool backdrop for this dress. Calling this,”Bejeweled Tie Dye, Summer Time Fun.”

One of the jewelry sets I made went perfectly with the dress.

As did my FitBit Combo.

So now we come to the meat of this post. I will be doing a feature story on Chanel Beeman Laney. I first knew her from a post in the Leslie Sansone Group. I messaged her and asked if she would want to share her story here and also asked her if she wanted to join my group, “Carol's Inspiration Station” which she did. We finally got everything together and now you will be privileged to hear her story. I am going to do it in two different parts, because she sent me more later, so instead of trying to figure out how to merge the two, we'll make them into two different versions of her story, all told in her own words.

So let's start with a picture of Chanel at her highest weight of 260 pounds.

Then we'll show you side by side pictures, one taken in February of this year and the other in July.

What a difference in a few short months. Chanel you rock that picture on the right. You glow and your hair is totally awesome. I love the entire look. So we'll begin with the first section of her story all in her own words, then we'll have some more pictures and then get into the nuts and bolts of her journey, again told in her own words. Here she is.

I'm going to be very open for the first time to everyone! This is to encourage those who doubt they can make a healthy lifestyle change! When I started this new healthy lifestyle change I weighed 238 pounds!!! YES! YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY!238 POUNDS! My body ached A LOT! My knees hurt all the time ( not going to lie, they still hurt but not as much). When I decided fully to make the change I would get winded from one simple exercise. I've become stronger and have more energy! You just have to decide that YOU WILL BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE! NEVER GIVE UP! KEEP PUSHING! RESULTS WILL COME! I AM NOW 202 POUNDS! SO CLOSE TO SAYING I WEIGH 100 AND SOMETHING!!! It has been 19 years since I could say that!! That is huge for me! Mentally, I have to catch up with my weight loss because I still go straight to bigger sizes in the store because I still see me big big in the mirror. It is an emotional journey but it is so worth it! Know your worth! Know that you are worth feeling better! Know and believe you can do it! I thank God for the strength to carry on!! I have spent a lot of time in prayer, even while exercising and almost in tears! HE IS MY STRENGTH!! I MUST ADD, I have also had some awesome people to encourage and push me! My love, Derik Davis is a great encouragement and is supportive to me! He also helps to keep me going when I don't feel like going anymore!! There are some great health coaches who helped to jump start this journey for me, like Viviana Madrigal and her husband Chris Madrigal. Sarah Burkas was such an inspiration to me and helped me realize, this IS POSSIBLE! My friend and co-worker, Karen Brian Bailey for asking me if I wanted to join a weight loss challenge, thank you!! And to ALL OF YOU, THANKS for your encouraging words, on my “cry baby” days!

Chanel and her brother in February of this year.

Chanel and her fiancé in March of this year.

Now we will continue with the nuts and bolts of Chanel's journey as told in her own words.

When my friend asked me to join a weight loss challenge at a local health club, I don't really know why but I didn't even hesitate to answer! There was no thinking about it, I just simply said, sure! That was one of the smartest decisions I have ever made for myself!! My thought after I decided to join was,” I can do anything for 6 weeks”. So I jumped right in, seriously wanting to see if 6 weeks could really make a difference in my health! Let me tell you, IT SURE DID! I lost 24 pounds and over 14 inches!!! I'm not going to lie and tell you it's alway's going to be easy because it isn't! BUT AS LONG AS YOU KEEP PUSHING ON, YOU WILL MAKE PROGRESS!! I remembe at one weigh-in of the weight loss challenge, I was so pumped, thinking I was going to have great numbers that night because I had worked really hard those two weeks. Well after weighing in, I was in tears,couldn't stop crying when I realized I had only lost 3 lbs in 2 weeks!! Before you say, that's good,let me tell you, I was walking with Leslie 5 days a week, at least 5 miles a day and going to “fit camp” a strenuous hour long workout led by Herbalife health coaches, twice a week! 3 pounds gone in 2 weeks was NOT acceptable to me, especially after having a week where I lost 7 lbs!!! What I didn't realize is how much muscle I was gaining. I found out I had gained 3.5 lbs of muscle in 2 weeks!! That's awesome! As of today, July 26th, 2015 I know that there will be times in this journey where the scale may not move for a week or two ( this just happened to me) and just a few days ago, I finally broke through the plateau!! How did I do it, you may ask? Simple! I kept pushing on!! Continued to exercise,continued to have my morning Herbalife shake and continued to eat healthy!! I knew progress was happening even if I couldn't see it in the mirror or by the numbers on the scale!! My chocolate Herbalife shake is VERY important to me! It helps me get to my goal of 125 grams of protein a day, and a MAJOR accomplishment it's helped me with, is that I HAVE NOT eaten chocolate since I started my healthy eating journey May 3rd, 2015!!! That's soooo HUGE for me!! I love, love LOVE CHOCOLATE! My old eating habits consisted of having chocolate, AT LEAST every other day!! Other foods I'd have often (at least once a week) were such things as chips and dip ( Kroger's chip dip is awesome, as I was picky about my junk food lol), soda, sugar filled sweet tea, cheese and tons of it (cheese is truly my addiction, WAS MY ADDICTION),did I mention chocolate?, fried chicken, mashed potatoes( with tons of butter), pizza and baked potatoes smothered up in butter, a heap of bacon bits, 3 slices of cheese and probably a good half a cup of some nice fattening sour cream! WOW, HOW DID I EVER GET TO 260 POUNDS!?!? Lol Now I try to eat a lot more clean foods! Raw fruits and vegetables are great, but you must learn which ones are best for you, so that you don't over indulge on the foods that have a lot of natural carbs and natural sugars. If you're eating salads, use spinach. Iceberg lettuce really has no nutritional values worth anything. Spinach is so much better for you. Also watch your dressing, it may be full of sugars, carbs, calories and fat!! I LOVE Ken's Steakhouse, northern lite Italian!! I eat chicken, chicken and more chicken! I've always loved chicken so that has not been a problem for me. Just make healthy decisions in how you cook it! There are many turkey options too! Turkey hot dogs, turkey sausage, turkey burgers and even turkey pepperoni!! All of these have a great amount of protein! I'm actually eating yogurt these days( I have SERIOUSLY ALWAYS despised yogurt) but gave the dannon light and fit a try and they are actually pretty good, not to mention they only have 80 calories and 12 grams of protein!!! Such a great snack to help get that protein in, along with my string cheese!! YES, I still eat some cheese!! But I haven't had sharp cheddar block cheese since I started my healthy eating, that's a huge success! So remember, protein, protein and more protein, low fat, moderate carbs, low sugars and water, water, water! I drink at least half my body weight in ounces of water every day!!

KEEP GOING!! DON'T EVER GIVE UP!! REMEMBER,YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS YOU!! HE IS MY STRENGTH!! HE IS HOW I CARRY ON!!!

Amen there sister!!! We'll end her story with a picture just from today of her and her fiancé.

Now isn't that a nice picture and cute couple. Chanel, I wish you continued sucess on your journey and thank you for allowing me to share it here with my readers.

That concludes this edition of Carol's Corner. Stay focused, stay motivated, and stay moving! Till next time, God Bless.

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