Chuck Kirman / Star staff Shana Daniels, founder of a 5-year-old Moorpark program called The Body and Life Makeover Challenge, leads a workout for a group of women recently near the Moorpark College football field.

For as long as she can remember, Aggie Walters has been overweight.

"As a child I wore Husky jeans while my friends were wearing Dittos and Feeling the Fit," recalled the 44-year-old Moorpark mom. "As a teenager I wore a one-piece bathing suit while my friends slipped into teensy-weenie yellow polka-dot bikinis. This continued throughout my life."

A few years ago she started exercising but also started eating more than ever. As her workouts decreased, her size grew; eventually "my size 12s were straining at the seams," she said. "I refused to buy a pair of size 14 jeans. Something just had to happen."

That's when she heard about The Body and Life Makeover Challenge, a 12-week program founded by Shana Daniels of Moorpark designed to "inspire women to be their own personal best in mind, body and spirit."

"The Body and Life Makeover Challenge has been wonderful for me," said Walters, who has lost almost 30 pounds, wears a size 10, and competes in triathlons. "It has helped me with my food intake, my exercising and keeping me focused."

Walters is among a growing number of women reaping results from the challenge created and led by Daniels, a fitness expert with more than 20 years of experience as a personal trainer, instructor and fitness champion with a degree in sports science.

"The success of this program lies in the practical, real-world tools that I give the participants to make exercising and eating well simple and easy," said the mother of two, who was named Ms. Fitness America in 1994, Ms. Fitness USA in 1998 and Ms. Fitness California in 2002.

While many programs focus solely on weight loss, this one "addresses many important, yet often overlooked, areas of self-improvement. My program provides a wealth of information on many other valuable facets of a woman's life," Daniels said.

The foundation of The Body and Life Makeover Challenge is making changes and improvements in the participant's body, mind and spirit, Daniels said. The class is based on two important tools that she created: the Eat Clean to Get Lean nutrition program and the DIVA Workout that breaks down weightlifting to its most basic level so participants at any level of fitness can work to gain muscle.

Each week, the program features a different exercise format, such as yoga, Pilates, spinning, salsa dancing, kickboxing and weight circuit training. "It also provides a safe haven where participants feel comfortable opening their hearts and souls, thus providing a very healing and nurturing environment," Daniels said. "My goal is to help participants live their best life ever."

Moorpark mom Bonnie Boe, 49, said that, before starting the program, "I pretty much hated myself. I was disgusted with the way I looked, disgusted with the way I felt, and was pretty sure I was nearing a nervous breakdown. When my body composition tested a nearly 40 percent fat level, I thought I was beyond all hope."

That all changed when Daniels came to speak at one of Boe's moms groups.

"Shana's Body and Life Makeover Challenge was literally an answer to my prayers," said Boe, who lost 33 pounds during the 12-week course, and 15 more pounds on her own afterward.

Carol Venus of Thousand Oaks was reluctant to join the program at first. "I got real comfortable being between 150 and 160 pounds and wearing baggy clothes," said the 56-year-old.

Then, one night after dinner, she noticed a tightness around her chest — like a rubber band. "I prayed, God, I know I have to do something about this, but I don't know what to do,'" recalled Venus.

After joining Daniel's program, she lost 20 pounds, went from a size 14 to a 10, and dropped 26 cholesterol points, to 243.

"The tightness in my chest is gone, I don't huff and puff when I walk, I wear tighter, more feminine clothing and I am more confident and self-assured," Venus said. "I expect great things to keep happening for me physically, mentally and spiritually."

The current Body and Life Makeover Challenge began Tuesday and runs through July 22. Classes are Tuesdays evenings at Mavericks Gym in Moorpark.

For more information, call 990-7427.