Tips to stick with

Changing up the 10 on Tuesday with 32 on Tuesday!

I am fully aware that the picture below says ways to avoid HOLIDAY weight gain but I think these tips can be used all the time!

Often times when we want to transform our bodies we want to do it NOW so we over commit ourselves. 

For instance I would look at this list am say "hey! I'll do all 32 of these things!" The only problem is that I would become overwhelmed and discouraged when things didn't workout. 

I was setting myself up to fail! I can't do 32 things at once! Once I failed at a few of the things I would tell myself "Well, this doesn't work!"

So I want you to pick ONE or TWO things to commit to! What do you pick!? 
 

Easter weekend

Off to Chicago to spend a weekend with C and his family! 

Have I ever told you how awesome C is!? Well he is basically the greatest! He flew me with him to see his family so I didn't have to spend Easter alone! Seriously ladies, you missed out! 

I don't know how you travel but I'm the girl that likes to get to the airport with time to spare! My biggest fear is I'll be stuck in security while my plane takes off! 

C likes to cut it close! I was in a shear panick mode when it was 7:30 and the line for security was a mile long and we had 20min to departure! Luckily we made it through, but I had no coffee, no breakfast, and was feeling HANGRY! 

Thank goodness for my spare shakeology packet in my purse! A $1 water bottle and my $4 packet and bam! Energy and breakfast! 

Anyway we had such a great trip to Chi-town! Spent the weekend just outside the city with his family. Neither one of us brough jackets, haha we were use to the 90 degree weather! 

Plus check out these cute bunny napkins we made for Easter breakfast! 

Despite the fact we almost froze I had a great weekend away from the H town and spending time with family! 

Time to buckle down and get back to my routine! My next challenge group starts in 2 weeks! 

How many of you are looking for a jump start to your summer body or really just are in need of a lifestyle change!? 

Well it's time to Stop Wishing and Start Doing! Who is with me!? 

The Food

I HATE counting calories. I literally hate it! For 2 reasons:

1) I just forget to do it

2) After I log it I get super pissed that I ate what I ate. 

It literally makes me angry! Haha it does nothing to me except make me feel outraged, overweight, and unhappy. 

So when I first did the 21 day fix I was hesitant about the nutrition plan until I did more research. 

What I found out was that I am not counting actually calories but containers. 

Each color container represents a different food group. I have an app called 21 Day Fix tracker that tells me exactly how much of each food counts a container! NO MORE COUNTING CALORIES! 

I just count the colors and it is SUPER easy! It doesn't make me feel like I am stuck in a crash diet! 

What has worked well for you!? 

10 on Tuesday 22 Minute Style

I started my new program, the 22 Minute Hard Corps! Its pretty awesome because you sweat like a beast and 22 minutes later your done! I LOVE that it fits into my busy schedule quite nicely! However, that doesn't make me super excited to wake up at 4:30am to complete it! 

So 10 things that run through my head with a morning workout: 

Alarm goes off at 4:30 

1) AHHH what is that noise?? Where am I? Whats going on? (complete panic)

2) Oh, its just my alarm....and its 4:30?????? I must be NUTS! Hits snooze

3) Trying to fall back asleep for the 10 minutes snooze gives me "Alright 10 more minutes"

4) ....2 minutes later, still awake. "Okay so Im not going back to sleep but what insane person works out at this time of the morning, Ill get on facebook."

5) Scrolling through facebook "Looks like nothing has happened since i checked it before I went to sleep last night. Maybe someone emailed me?? (at 4:30 am? Uhhh no.) 

6) "Okay no emails. Soon now what? I mean I'm up? Should I get ready and just workout? 

7) "Ehhh I could just do it after work! I mean then I won't have to be up so early."

8) "Except I am already up and now its 4:40....sooooooooo....This sucks."

9) Rolls out of bed "Well I'm up, but Im not happy about it. AT ALL!"

10) Throws on workout clothes, pops in the DVD, 22 minutes later "I feel GREAT! Can't wait to take on the day!!" 

Even though I KNOW I will feel better I still struggle EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. to get out of bed and workout! Just because I am a fitness coach doesn't make it easy for me! It's just become a habit...and a mental game...that I play with myself EVERY MORNING! 

Weekend Recap

Well I'm officially dead this morning! 

Nothing worse then heading back to work after vacation! I'm also headed back to work super bloated! 

The best part of my fitness journey is following the 80/20 rule! I did that over spring break but I'm still feeling a little sluggish! Maybe it's from this baked potato at the rodeo! Or maybe the fried smore that I wish I had a picture of but I scarfed that bad boy down!! 

The 80/20 rule gives me the chance to ENJOY life and splurge! The journey is not a diet! It doesn't deprive me of anything! I can eat fried goods as long as its in moderation. 80% of the time I follow the 21 day fix food plan! 

The other part of my weekend consisted of the Houston rodeo, which is one of my most absolute favorite things to do! I LOVE to rodeo! On Thursday we spent the day checking out the live stock and then celebrating St. Patricks day with Florida Georgia Line 

Saturday we rodeo again but with Brad Paisley! He is AMAZING in concert! If you ever get the chance to see him DO IT! 

I may have shed a few tears when I dropped my parents back off at the airport after a week together and when C left to go back home, but I get to see him in 4 days with a quick weekend trip to Chicago! Put I did get this bright pink lipstick!! What do you guys think!? 

Now meals are prepped, back to my workout routine, and I'm taking on this week!! How was your weekend!! 

Fun in the Sun

I LOVE the sunshine! I mean I guess I've never met anyone that hates it haha but I love days at the beach, by the pool, and just relaxing!

So many of my friends have the ability to work from home through beachbody! It's one of my goals someday :) to be able to raise my kids and still help people reach their goals! I just love running my challenge groups! I love seeing people transform mentally and also physically! 

Do I eat healthy 100% of the time!? Nope! It's not a diet! I want to help people figure out how to eat their favorite things, like donuts, and still reach their goals! 

I look at this process of fitness and health like teaching. It's all about educating yourself and accountability. That's what I LOVE about these accountability groups! 

This week is giving me a little taste of building my business! I can't wait! 

What are your dreams!? 

Linking up with Living In Yellow for the 3 things Thursday! My favorite three things above 1) Sunshine 2) Donuts 3)Working out

10 on Tuesday

I love this link up! How fun! Here are 10 ways to compliment/send some positive vibes to yourself! 

1) "I am awesome!!" Yes, yes I am! And so are you! Tell yourself that daily! You are awesome! Think about everything you do daily! Stop comparing it to what others do and think about your accomplishments! You are pretty awesome! 

2) "I look HOTT" You sure do! Although its nice to hear from others why not tell it yourself! You are your worst critic, so think of a compliment coming from yourself! You do LOOK amazing! Make up or no make up! 

3) "Today I will have a good day!" Some days I just wake up on the wrong side of the bed! As a teacher I even make my kids repeat this to me some days! Then when things get a little crazy I remind them, "Hey! You said we were going to have a good day!" There was one day where I really was feeling the chaos of 8th grade hormonal rage and craziness! I dont know if they all decided they wanted to go crazy that day but basically nothing was going right. So during my conference period I decided, okay I am starting my day over!! I went and grabbed a starbucks like I would in the morning, walked back in, even my co-worker told me good morning at 2pm hahaha! But it worked! I started over! I DECIDED to have a good day! 

4) "I can do this!" Whatever it may be! A workout, a meeting, a kids bedtime routine! You can do it!! Whats the worst that will happen!? 

5) "I am blessed!" Its easy to get caught up in the wrongs, the negativity, the obstacles. Take a look around! Look at the blessings! Look at everything that has gone right! Sure, I am a teacher and a fitness coach, I dont make the big bucks but I have a job, a home, a car, and a great guy that loves me! I am BLESSED! 

6) "I will start TODAY!" Stop waiting till tomorrow! Start now!! Whether its a fitness routine, a house project, job applications! STOP WISHING AND START DOING! 

7) "I am smart" Sure I may not have the best grades, all the degrees, the largest book smart! However I am SMART!! Intelligence is not measured by degrees! 

8) "I am hilarious" Laugh!! Laugh at yourself, laugh at life! The good, the bad! Life is pretty hilarious! 

9) "I am the best version of myself" If your not, how will you fix it! Why not fix it!? Why settle!? 

10) "I am no better than you" TRUTH! You are no better than anyone else and they are not better than you! Don't let someone try to tell you, you are less than them but dont make someone feel less than you! 

Vacation!!

I love weekends, I really truly LOVE them! There is nothing better than sleeping in on a Saturday morning! 

What is better than the weekend? VA-CA-TION!! 

It's spring break week and I am loving my time off! My parents flew into town and we are headed to Austin as we speak for some delicious food, weather, and entertainment!! 

I'm also excited because my March fitness group starts tomorrow! I'm going to be documenting my routines, struggles and success! If you want to join me I'd love to have some accountability along the way! 

I'm doing the 22 min Hard Corps! I love it because I swear my booty off and in only 22 min! It's PERFECT for my vacation! 

Later to come my trip to Austin and the Rodeo later this week :) Happy Monday! 

Mental Transformation

   

As many of you know, or you might not know, I am a beachbody coach! I absolutely LOVE their programs and swear by their shakeology! You can read about it in my about me tab :) 

I have seen some amazing results from these programs physically, but I have also seen some growth mentally. 

I share my physical transformation but rarely do I talk about how I have grown mentally. 

I struggled with weight and eating my entire life. I have always been curvy and larger than the other girls. This really took a toll on me in high school. I still remember by senior year stepping on the scale and being about 15lbs heavier than all my friends. I was SOOO embarrassed! 

I decided right then that I would COMMIT to being skinny! The commitment started off with working out daily and eating healthy but soon turned into an obsessive calorie counting lifestyle. 

I was so obsessed with counting canaries I quickly turned to unhealthy ways to get skinny. I figured well if only eat 500 clasped a day I'll lose weight. So I ate half a piece of toast for breakfast, 8 pretzels and some turkey lunch meat for lunch, and if I went over my limit at dinner I would make sure I would "get rid of it" you get the idea. 

What I didn't realize is that I was killing myself. I was destroying my body. To this day my metabolism is all sorts of weird! My body lived in starvation mode for so long and loves to store food for the "just in case" situations. 

It finally got to the point where I was cramping so bad that I was falling over. I went to the ER and was told I had lost 45 pounds in 6 to 7 months. IT WAS DISGUSTING! I looked sick, I felt sick!

I was weak. I was frail. I was finally skinny but at the price of complete misery and health factors. 

I realized that I was killing my body. I was destroying myself. I needed a change! 

Which is what I will talk about in Part Two :) 

Fish Taco Salad

Like I said on Monday I LOVE meal prep! I love cooking, baking, and being in the Kitchen! I try to make as much of my food from scratch as I can! 

Luckily I had some time this weekend and made some delicious quinoa blueberry bars, fish taco salad, and black bean burgers! 

This is my fridge stocked and ready for the week! 

Meal prep is so important because nutrition is 80% of living a healthy lifestyle! During the week I am so busy that it becomes easy for me to just go get takeout! With meal prep, my meals are ready and easy to cook! The prep is done! 

Here is my fish taco salad! Super easy and really tastey! 

No carbs, no cheese, and pineapple salsa as a dressing :) 

Spring mix

Arugula 

Black beans 

Black olives 

Onion 

Tomato 

Avocado 

Cilantro 

Trader joes pineapple salsa 

Rub: 

3 tbs chili powder 

Dash red pepper flakes 

Dash salt

Dash ginger powder 

-Rub the tilapia and coat on both sides. Grill or bake! 

-Mix the veggies and salad together

-Top with sliced fish and pineapple salsa 

Enjoy! 

Who says clean eating can't be tasty eating!?

Weekend Recap

I LOVEEE weekends! I love that I can get up when I want, sleep when I went, NO schedules! 

I try to stay somewhat consistent so I keep my workouts to the AM, but luckily that means 8:30am not 4am :) 

I would love to get into race shape again so I've added in a few runs during my cardio days :) 

After a nice workout I got to enjoy the sunny weather.....while doing grad school :( but at least there was some nice weather!! 

My favorite part of the weekend is meal plans! I LoVE meal prep and made a delicious dinner this week: recipe posted on Wedneasay! 

How was your weekend!? Did you get to enjoy as much as I did!? 

Starting is the Hardest Part

Where do I start!? 

Thats often the BIGGEST question! Starting is the HARDEST part! Seriously, once you get going it becomes a lifestyle. I have been eating clean and working out regularly for 6 months now. Its just part of my lifestyle, its what I do. 

But if you are trying to figure out where to begin, then here are some helpful tips! 

Getting Started Right!

1.       Set realistic goals for yourself-weekly, monthly and yearly.

Sorry, you are not going to lose 25 pounds in 25 days. We live in an instant gratification society, and that is just NOT realistic! Keep it real! It is healthy to lose up to 2lbs a week, and 2 lbs being the MAX!! So losing up to 8lbs a month is okay, but anything more---chances are it will come back on! 

2.      Train all of your major muscle groups, arms shoulders, chest, back, legs and abs.

Don't just focus on your abs, or just your arms. When you work multiple muscle groups together you burn more calories and become more defined! 

3.      Challenge yourself-vary your routine every few weeks.

YES! Do not stick to th same thing every day! Thats why I LOVE beachbody! The workouts are constantly changing! 

4.      Keep cardio fun-try new activities

Dance, run, swim, bike, walk, clean...whatever it is, make sure you enjoy it...or at least can LEARN to enjoy it! I hate swimming, I'm not good at it and I just don't like it! Haha I feel like I am ALWAYS drowning! So for me, thats not a fun cardio and something I avoid if I can :) 

5.      Stay focused-put your mind into your muscle.

Like I said, starting is the hardest part! YOU GOT THIS!!  I have 3 spots left in my challenge groups starting soon!! JOIN US! We are going to ROCK IT!