My Personal Bio:

My name is Gretchen Shaw and I am proud and excited to be a Team Beachbody Coach. I am 39 years old and on a mission to be in the absolute best shape of my entire life, by the time I get to my 40th birthday, in March of 2009. But, I don't want it to end there. A well rounded healthy life that takes me comfortably through mid-life and beyond, traveling, hiking, camping, running, skiing and just feeling great is my lifelong goal and promise to myself.

I live in southern California with my husband, Mike and our dog, Java. My life in short, has taken me from Coast to Coast, residing in 5 different states along the way. In my 39 years I have had several different careers as well. A true Pisces, I thrive on change and have trouble making up my mind at times. My friends and family love to tease me about all my moves and careers, sometimes even calling me the "Family Gypsy", but I wouldn't change the way my life has gone.

One thing that has remained pretty consistent throughout my life has been healthy eating and regular exercise. At times I was more committed and dedicated than others, but it has always played some part in my life.
Finding Team Beachbody is just what I needed and have been looking for to help me take it to a new level. The message boards, WOWY and other tools and trackers fill in many gaps in the typical home workout program and the ever evolving choice of video series keeps things fresh and insures there is something for most anyone.
I would love for you to join me on this journey to be in the best all around shape of your life, whatever your age and whatever your health and fitness goals may be. It is your journey, you can tailor it to fit you and your life and I would love to help you and encourage you as your Team Beachbody Coach. If I have been assigned as your coach, PLEASE feel free to contact me.

I was fortunate and grew up with a mother that was ahead of her time and instilled in me the importance of healthy eating and exercise from a very early age. What an amazing gift, one that you can't put a price on!
So, I would like to leave you with this thought: A healthier lifestyle is #1, a huge gift to yourself, but it is also an enormous gift to your loved ones, including your children, and has the potential to change the course of their lives. Leading by example is a powerful thing and you have no idea how it might impact others lives for the better, down the road and for the rest of their lives. I know it did for me. And that is an awesome thing!

Decide, Commit, Succeed

My Transformation Story:

My transformation story started years ago with my very first home workout video by Jane Fonda. Perhaps some of you are smiling, because you did it too. I was 15 years old and after school my friend Kim and I would meet at one of our houses dressed in our tights, leg warmers, bodysuits and headbands and stick the tape in the Betamax ready to "Do Jane", as we called it. This was the beginning of a long history of home workout videos for me and boy how things have transformed.

I was a pretty active child growing up, spending every possible daylight hour outside playing. My boundless energy never seemed to run out. I was in gymnastics and dance for 10 years or so and was simply always on the go.

As I mentioned in my Bio, healthy eating and fitness have been pretty consistent in my life, but there were a few years in my early twenties that I was focused on other things and kind of got away from what I knew was best for me. I was eating more junk food, not really getting much exercise and partaking in a few too many parties.

At 21, I was introduced to a new series of home workout videos and I got back on the right track with my eating and learned what to look for on Nutrition Information labels. I was hooked and began to make major changes in my lifestyle.

Throughout the next 8 years or so, I continued with this series and a pretty healthy diet, "yo-yoing" a little bit from time to time when I would get bored with the same thing all the time.
When I moved away from my hometown in 1998, I was introduced to yet another home workout series. My library of videos was growing and had now morphed into VHS tapes rather than Betamax. I still found myself bored at times and I wanted a workout buddy. It was hard to find someone in my circle that was willing to be as committed as I was or that was interested in working out with weights.
I joined a gym. This wasn't the first time I was convinced that joining a gym was the answer to my boredom, and it wouldn't be the last. But the truth was that I got better results at home with the videos and I didn't like the "posing" aspects that seemed to be a factor at most gyms. I was serious and didn't want to have to look "pretty" to workout. Plus...it's cheaper at home and didn't include commute time. You can just roll out of bed and push play.

I quit the gym and finally found a groove with my tapes and a new friend, that became my running partner. For the better part of five years, I ate a vegetarian diet, ran 3 miles a day and pushed play 5-6 days a week. I was really happy and felt great.

In late 2002, after 3 years of a long distance relationship, I moved again to be with my then boyfriend, now husband, Mike. My life now included someone else on a daily basis and my workout schedule wasn't as easy to manage. It was hit or miss for the next several years with my workouts and my diet was not nearly as good either. I felt out of balance. We moved two more times with his job, finally settling in California in the spring of 2005.
I was frustrated with yet another gym and its empty promises and the lack of someone who shares my passion for health and fitness, when my cousin told me to check out the message boards on the Beachbody website. He assured me that I could find what I was looking for there. Knowing that I liked working out with videos at home, he gave me P90X and told me to give it a try. His name is Mason Bendewald and he was the Director for the P90X videos.

The rest is history! Since then, I have acquired nearly all of the BB series. My BB collection of videos is now larger than all of my other series put together and it is all in DVD format. :)
Last spring Mason was hired by BB to Produce and Direct the recently released P90X+ and the Ten Minute Trainer series. I was given the incredible opportunity of helping him on the set and in the process got to meet and work with Tony Horton and his P90X+ "kids", Traci Morrow and Mark Briggs. What an amazing experience. It got even better when I was asked to join Tony in 3 of the 8 Ten Minute Trainer videos, as the girl he is training. Who knew, all those years ago when I was, "Doing Jane", that my life would lead me to this incredible opportunity.
I am now gym membership free, but have all the buddies and help I need on the message boards and in the other tools on the BB website.

The next part of my transformation story is two fold; using all of the BB series and support to get in the absolute best shape of my life before I hit the big 4-0 in March of 2009 and being able to help other people reach their health and fitness goals along the way. I can't imagine anything more rewarding than helping other people feel better about themselves and in turn getting more out of their lives.
So, in the end I think that this company will not only help me transform my body and health level, but will give me the opportunity to transform my career into one that let's me give back and help other's in some way and you can do it too. It's a win - win!