Fitness Friday Update

It is Friday! It is almost Halloween!! How many of you have great plans for your holiday weekend? Dressing up? What as? 

To be honest, I am not a huge halloween fan...dressing up is just not my thing! However, I do plan on going out this weekend and attending some halloween parties with friends! I just need some costume ideas :) 

Since it is Fitness Friday I want to give you an update of my Beachbody workout: BODY BEAST! 

This is a weight lifting workout! I am currently in week 3! After week two I made the following progress:

I lost .5 inch in my waist

2 inches in my hips

1 inch in my legs

Wahoo! Small gains, but gains none the less! Fitness is a slow process! It does not happen overnight. Sometimes, it can get discouraging! Sure, I would love to see more inches off my waist and some off my chest (I stayed the same) but I need to see that YES, its WORKING! 

Make sure to write down the starting numbers so you can SEE progress! It can be discouraging to go by the scale or just looking in the mirror! If you write it down you can SEE the progress you are making, even if it is small! 

Link up and I want to hear about your progress! 

Myth Two: Chips and snacks!

Last week I posted about the myths of clean eating! There are many misconceptions out there and many different opinions! I am not a nutrionist and what I tell you are my personal findings and opinions! Last week we talked about what clean eatings is NOT:

Clean Eating is not
Myth One: Veggies and Fruit
- Never eating any chips, pretzels, etc
- No sweets
- Everything should be served raw
- No carbs

This week is MYTH TWO:

There are a lot of clean snack foods out there! Yes, fresh is best! That doesn't mean that you can't snack! There are some great clean foods out there to snack on! The best thing to do is read the ingredient label! Some people live by the "5 ingredient" rule. As long as it is around 5 ingredients they consider it good to go! 

I like to read the ingredient label and as long as it is something I would normally cook with its okay. For example: I wouldn't put high fructose corn syrup in a dish I make at my house. That means I DO NOT buy the product! Even if it is more than 5 ingredients it is still okay! There are pretzels that I buy that are made with whole wheat and honey! There are pita chips made with whole wheat, salt, and other things I can find in my pantry. 

My two favorite snacks are:

Aussie Bites! It is a little round delicious ball of goodness full of different grains, seeds, and dried fruit! You can find them at Costco for $9.95. These bites are CLEAN and SNACK FOOD! 

I also like to make Kale chips! I purchase fresh kale, put some olive oil and salt on them, and throw them in the oven till they get a little crispy :) 

There are also granola bars, chips, and other snack foods that clean! 

Moral of the story: snacking is okay, in fact it is recommended in order to keep your metabolism up! 

Broken Phone?

I really needed this quote! I tend to "fall off the wagon" so to speak quite easily! Once I fall off, I am OFF! I think to myself, meh, I already ate poorly might as well keep it up! 

This is so true! If you drop your phone on the floor do you just keep smashing it till its broken!? NOOOO! So why do we fall of the wagon and let all the hard work go!? 

We will make mistakes, we will give in to that temptation! Its normal! We are human! Just because you give into the temptation at lunch doesn't mean dinner has to be McDonalds Big Mac too! 

Think about how hard you have worked! Think about all the time you put in at the gym! Think about all the donuts, ice cream, and fast food you passed up! Don't let one little mistake ruin everything you have worked for! 

Fitness Friday

Fitness Friday!! WOHOOO! Welcome to the Fitness Friday link up! This is where we can have some ACCOUNTABILITY! 

Link up with your workout for the Day, Days, Week? Give us some ideas of what your doing! Why you are doing it!? 

I have been doing Beast Body by Beachbody all week! It is intense! The dudes are ripped haha honestly a little to ripped if you ask me but hey, who am I to judge? 

Why they are lifting lots of weight I'm starting off at 5-10lbs :) But, hey, you have to start somewhere! 

Regardless I LOVE this workout! My arms are hurting, legs, everything! I cannot wait to be TONED! 

Also, make sure to take your starting weight and measurements! This will show you the process you are making! Although you may not be able to see it in weight right away you will be able to see it in your measurements! 

What workout are you doing? How you are keeping FIT? Link up below and share! 

Clean Eating

What is clean eating? There are SO many different opinions out there! Now, I am not nutritionist, but from what I have learned and read and experienced clean eating is cutting out process foods and eating "natural" things. 

Clean Eating is not:
- Only eating fruits and veggies
- Never eating any chips, pretzels, etc
- No sweets
- Everything should be served raw
- No carbs

Those are the major misconceptions I had about clean eating, buts its NOT TRUE! 

The next couple of blogposts I will dedicate to breaking the Myth! 

You DO NOT need to eat only fruits and veggies! Although they are definitely good for you, they are not the only thing your body needs! Especially if you are working out, your body NEEDS protein and carbs! Eating clean means that you are putting in GOOD fats, proteins, and carbs into your body! For example: I have a whole wheat piece of toast (complex carb) with one egg white and one whole egg (protein) and avocado (good fat) for breakfast every morning! I threw on some tomatoes for some extra flavor! 

As far as fruits and veggies go, try to buy them fresh! If frozen, they can lose some nutrients, but for the most part they are okay! I buy frozen vegetables sometimes because of the convince :) Canned veggies and canned fruit is not your best option! They can be full of salt and sugar to prevent the vegetable and fruit from going bad! 

Just remember: Fresh is better! 

What is your favorite breakfast? Favorite food? Is it clean? How could you make it clean!?

Coach Erica

Health.
Wellness.
Fitness.
Nutrition. 

These things I have struggled with FOR YEARS! I have battled an eating disorder, binge eating, yo-yo dieting. For the past ten years I have always felt self-conscious about my stomach and my arms. Anytime I take a picture I always pop my hand on my hip to make my arm look skinny! (girls, you know what pose I am talking about!) 

The only thing I have every found that worked and didn't require a HUGE change to my life has been Beachbody workouts. The workouts make sense, fit into my schedule, and can be done in my home in as little as 25 minutes. 

This was me at my heaviest, 180lbs. I am only 5'1" so that is a lot of weight on my body! I battles high blood pressure, which runs in my family. I had little energy, eating awful college food (okay it was actually good, but not good for me). 

After feeling awful, fatigued, taking blood pressure medicine daily, I decided to make a LIFESTYLE change. Not a diet, but a lifestyle change. I decided to eat "clean" and try the Beachbody Insanity workout. 

This was my result! 

I lost 19lbs and dropped two pant sizes in one month. I also was able to go off my blood pressure medicine! Now I can't promise these results for everyone, but I can tell you that Beachbody changed my life. 

I recently decided to be a Beachbody coach because it is something I can stand behind. I have seen the results! They work! Even after doing insanity I still wasn't sold with Beachbody. I went back to the gym to try new workouts. I tried working out with a friend, on my own, and even workout classes but I did not see the result that Beachboy had given me. 

 I would love to hear your stories? What programs work for you? What nutrition plans work for you? And if you need any help, advice, or anything I am here to offer you some free accountability and direct you to some great articles about changing your lifestyle! 

Join me in my FREE clean eating groups, challenge groups, and accountability groups or email with questions, comments, advice! We are all on this journey together! I recently started the Body Beast workout and am lifting weights and toning up! What are you currently doing to stay fit?

You only get one body in life! What are you going to do and put in yours?