Navigating Comebacks with Idalis Velasquez

Through being a young athlete, moving countries, becoming a wife and mother, Idalis Velasquez has experienced every level of trauma and continues to come back stronger than ever. She has come back through injuries, accidents, postpartum stress, and a loss of who she is at her core to help other women navigate those same waters.

Listen as she shares her inspirational story and why she keeps thinking of others as she shares her knowledge to make a different. Her story of perseverance and a never-ending belief that she can make it through will inspire you!  If you’ve ever had moments that you’ve felt completely down and out, come back to this episode and remember that you are strong and capable and amazing.

After you listen, will you message me on social and let me know your thoughts? Use the hashtag #workingitoutwithJV so I know you’re part of my podcast community!

[01:25] Welcome Idalis Velasquez to share her story.

Idalis Velasquez is now a SuperTrainer for The Beachbody Company and the real success is her story of overcoming her own mental health challenges. Listen as she introduces herself and shares her story about navigating challenges and finding her own path. 

[03:34] Idalis shares her athletic background and upbringing.

She loved her upbringing in Puerto Rico where she went to a school that was specifically for athletes. All she ever wanted to do was workout, be active, and run. 

[07:07] …but she wasn’t well nourished

Vegetables were not her friend. Idalis was a very picky eater and because she was working out very hard, and not nourishing her body, she began to break down. She began experiencing digestive issues and couldn’t keep her energy up.

[10:28] Within a year she was married, moved countries, and had a baby.

There came a point where she’d had too many injuries, she stopped competing and as the Universe would have it, that’s when she met her now husband. She got married, moved to Florida, had to reestablish her scholarship, and had a baby. She was also learning to speak English which made school even more difficult.

[15:37] What happened when she was forced into retirement.

At 24 years old she was told she’d have to retire from competitive running which was a devastating blow. She had always dreamed of being a runner and this identity was being taken from her.   Between having scoliosis, a bad car accident just before her marriage, and her lack of good nutrition, her body could no longer function well. Idalis shares what happened next.

[19:07] Being a stay at home mom was not for her.

Idalis loves being with her kids, and she’s not meant to be a stay at home Mom – she has goals and dreams outside of raising amazing humans and knows these goals and dreams are also part of her purpose. The cleaning, organizing, and keeping up with the house drove her mad rather than giving her joy so she knew she needed something else. 

[21:09] Looking back she wishes that she had a close friend to talk with.

So much of what Idalis has gone through is a universal experience of all women, and she didn’t have someone there to talk to about her mental health struggles. She took everything on herself, which is such a common mindset for females.

[23:43] Why a sharp pain in her head actually saved her life. 

She’d been on muscle relaxants for all of her spine issues,  yet because she was pregnant she couldn’t take them. One day, she and her husband were looking for houses and about to go to church when she had a sharp pain in her head. They did a CT scan and found a subdural hemorrhage. That one health scare spurred a lifetime of change. 

[30:40] Then she had her baby and she suffered from postpartum depression.

All the signs were there that she was struggling with mental health and  she didn’t know how to talk about it. She didn’t want to tell her husband and she didn’t know how to express herself. After months, a doctor finally asked her, why don’t you just work out? So she started running again. Then she started training others. As she worked her way back to health, physically and mentally, she found The BeachBody Company and her whole life changed.

[40:47] Her career started to take off.

She kept working, kept pushing, and kept growing her audience. She learned how to be more natural on camera and how to keep impacting on social media and one day she was asked to be involved in one of the new programs. It wasn’t her own program but she was one step closer.

[45:03] Right as BeachBody became interested, she found out she was pregnant.

After her prior pregnancy she was really scared to step into her new life while building a new baby. She let the BeachBody team know and they got everything filmed then she started doing summits. The empowerment she felt kept her from sinking into postpartum depression and she felt so much more prepared to take care of herself and her baby. 

[52:09] What we all do as women.

Too often women see where someone is now and compare where we are to where they are, with no thought to the years of hard work in between. Now especially during  mental health awareness month, let’s take a moment and remind ourselves that our journey is our journey. 

[55:52] Don’t let the media tell you how to look.

Women are surrounded by the message that their bodies aren’t good enough. Especially when we become moms and our bodies completely change. Idalis has pushed to show her true body even when she was told not to. You can do the same. You don’t need to look perfect to find health and happiness.

[01:02:06] Idalis shares what’s on her plate for 2021.

Idalis is working on a variety of courses to help people who don’t like to simply follow along. She’s incorporating fitness and diet and all the things that go along with overall health and wellbeing. She’s also planning to start a Spanish language podcast about fitness and health.

Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach’s income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings located at https://tbbcoa.ch/SOICE for the most recent information on our Coaches’ actual incomes.