A Campbell River woman’s loss of 140 pounds has earned her $100,000 in the Beachbody Challenge.
A single mom of four, Kendrah Paul decided two years ago she needed to change her lifestyle and gain control of her fitness.
Her life-changing turnaround was brought about partially by losing her father to a second heart attack. Meanwhile, Paul felt embarrassed and ashamed of how she’d let her own health go. She knew she needed to do something drastic if she wanted to provide her children with the life she felt they deserved.
She found out about the Beachbody Challenge and decided to give it a try. With the combination of fitness, nutrition and support, Paul lost 140 pounds in 20 months by taking advantage of Beachbody’s offerings and the support of her fellow challenge group members and coach.
It all began about two years ago when she was scrolling through social media and saw a post by a woman who started taking care of her body and stopped using her kids as the excuse as to why she didn’t have time to invest in her health and started making them the reason why she needed to take care of herself.
“And something with that clicked with me,” Paul said.
As a single mom of four kids whose father died of a heart attack, Paul realized she needed to take better care of herself.
She reached out to that poster to find out what she was doing. It was then that she was told about these home workouts and nutrition and mindset.
“It just sounded exactly what I needed at that point in time,” Paul said.
So, she got set up with the Beachbody Challenge with its nutrition program and an accountability group and she started working on herself and her own personal health.
“Within the first week I lost 10 pounds,” Paul said.
By five months she had lost 70 pounds.
When she began getting amazing results, her coach suggested she submit her before and after pictures to the company, which runs an annual contest, awarding one male and one female with $100,000 for their transformation.
“She said ‘you’re getting amazing results, you have a responsibility to pay this forward and share it with other people,’” Paul said. “And I was, ‘you know what? You’re right. Everyone can benefit from this.’”
Even though she was reluctant to put herself out there, when she hit about 100 pounds lost, she submitted her results. A questionnaire was filled out to explore her motivating factors. She filled out the application and got a free T-shirt.
“I was like ‘great, I got a free T-shirt’” and didn’t think much more of it than that.
Then in the summer of 2019, she want to Indianapolis where they host their annual coach summit. On the last night, they host the Beachbody Challenge where people get up on stage in front of 20,000 people and play a video about their transformation and share their stories.
“And it’s very, very moving and you see how it’s about more than just the weight loss. It’s about them transforming their lives and their mindset.”
Seeing these people made Paul realize that she could do that. She envisioned herself up on the stage and so she came back to little old Campbell River inspired and even more motivated. She kept on her own journey. She applied to the Beachbody Challenge one more time.
They contacted her and told her her story was amazing and she was a finalist in her age group.
In February she was informed that out of 36,000 entries, hers had secured her a spot as a finalist in the women’s 30-39 age category, giving her a 1-in-4 chance at winning the grand prize of $100,000. As a finalist, she was going to win a minimum prize of $15,000.
“Which completely blew me away because, when I started, I was solely focusing on my own fitness and my own health and just being a better version of myself.”
RELATED: Campbell River woman loses more than 140 pounds in two years
To win the Beachbody Challenge contest, she needed votes and so she put the word out to the community to vote and spread the word.
Well, those votes came through because, in July, Paul was crowned the female Grand Prize Winner and earned a $100,000 prize.
“Which was a complete shock. I had no idea and I still am completely humbled and honoured by it.”
Being from a small town on Vancouver Island in Canada, she felt so far removed from the glamour of the Beachbody Challenge. She feels she is not a “super-connected person” nor a social media influencer, she’s just a mom “working out in my dining room.”
But she did it and now hopes to inspire others to do the same. She’s grateful for the support she has received from the community and she is now coaching others who want to make change. If this is you and you are unsure of where to start, contact Paul through Facebook or on Instagram (@fearless_mom_of-four)
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