Salads or Sugar??

Week one of Core De Force is officially over! You guys, I am LOVING this workout!! This workout is perfect if you are looking to tone up your abs and butt!!

My core has felt the pain ALL week, GOOD pain that is! Its definitely working! If you follow me on facebook, you know my GOAL, is flat tummy for my honeymoon! So folks, we are 97 days away! Its time to GO! 

Most people don't realize how important nutrition is! People think, "Hey, I workout everyday! Yet, I am not seeing results!"

I was there! I didn't get it! I would run 2-3 miles, lift weights, spend over 1 hour in the gym, and tone up nothing! Lose maybe an ounce! It was the WORST feeling! 

Why the trouble???  I wasn't focusing was what I was eating! I thought I was eating healthy or "clean" as they called it! I thought by getting a salad at a fastfood place was SO much better for me then getting my normal burger! SPOILER some salads have more SUGAR and FAT then burgers! They can even be more calories!!

Southwest Chicken salad at Mcdonalds

LOOK AT THE SODIUM!!! 1070 MG! Chicken nuggets are actually one the healthiest options in terms of calories, fat, protein/carb ratio, and sodium! 

Power salad at Wendys! Seems legit! Sounds healthy! Too bad its 450 calories with once again, 1070 mg of sodium!!! 

The point is, every day I thought I was eating healthy. Every day I though I was making such a good choice and NOTHING was working! I was spending $5-9 a day on a salad I thought was helping my body when really it was being packed with sodium and sugar! 

The problem was I wasn't doing research. I didn't know what truly was healthy or not! This why Shakeology changed EVERYTHING for me! 

This isn't a protein shake, its not a vitamin shake, its not a weight loss shakes, its ALL of it!! It combines everything your body needs and its only $4.77 a day! 

People complain about the price ALL the time! I get it! Its a lot of money to pay up front. But when I lay this shake info down to the "healthy" meals I was eating and I see the difference. The shake wins. When I compare the price, the shake wins! Its cheaper than the salad that provides me with LESS nutritional value! 

Regardless if you are a shake person or not, do your research before you think something is healthy! Figure out what your putting in your body! If you need help, you can email me with ANY questions! I am happy to do the research! Also, if you are interested in trying the shakes let me know! 30 day money back guarantee, even on an EMPTY bag! You can drink the ENTIRE thing and decide it didn't work for you, send your empty bag back, and get a full refund :) Thats how much I believe in this stuff! 

Linking up with Bianna, weekly wrap up , Carylee, Lauren, Tuesday Talks 

Treat yo Self!!!

Ever have those weeks where you just KICK A**??? The whole check list is completed, laundry done, kids where they need to be, dinner made, work done and BAM! You rocked your day! Or week even!

Those days are the best! 

You get in the car to go pick the kids up from practice/schools/friends wherever they may be and you drive past your favorite ice cream place? (insert any place that serves favorite food). You start thinking, "Man, a caramel truffle ice cream cone sounds delicious!" 

Then you tell yourself, "You know what, I DESERVE this!" And you pull in! 

Now, I think ice cream cones are A-Okay! In fact, I love them!! But how many times do we reward ourselves with food??

"I ran a mile today" = Pizza

"I completed my checklist" = Soda

"I went through the entire day without spewing a bad word to anyone" = entire bottle of wine

These things are okay in moderation! The thing is, sometimes we find ANY justification to eat what we want! Literally, I told myself last week "I did my job today, I am getting an ice cream!" Hahaha what?? Of course I did my job! I HAVE to! 

My suggestion is this, we are not dogs! We shouldn't ALWAYS reward ourselves with food! Food is meant to be enjoyed yes! But, its not meant to be a reward for every. little. thing. we. do. 

Here are some suggestions! 

If you reached your goal, treat yourself to a new top, pants, shoes, purse, whatever it may be! This is a long lasting reward, something you can enjoy over and over again! Set a goal and treat yo self! 

I LOVE a good massage! Recently, I went down a pant size from a 10 to an 8! Instead of running to get 5 pints of Ben and Jerry's I booked myself a massage and it felt amazing! I can't wait to hit my next goal and go again! 

Go on a walk, get out of the house, maybe even a girls night or weekend! Reward yourself with some time spent just on you

Maybe you never take naps? Or you never sleep in? Well scratch that! You deserve it! Take some extra zzzz's as a reward!

Go get your nails done, or maybe buy yourself that color you have been eyeing at the drug store! Maybe you are have been wanting to change your hair style!? 

The point is, there are SO many ways to tell yourself, JOB WELL DONE! In fact, a lot of these ways will make you FEEL better afterward! So sure, get an ice cream every once and awhile and go ahead and have that slice of pizza! But treat yo self with ways that make you feel yo self!

Linking up with: Simply, weeklywrap, Tuesday talks

The GOOD stuff...I mean sleep!

I hope you all had a much better weekend then me!! I was feeling pooped and under the weather! There was a nastyvirus going around school that I caught! Last for over 5 days of fever,  aughing, sneezing, and even a little vomiting! THE WORST!

Anyway, last Mondaywe talked about the importance of sleep! I love hearing from you readers! One thing I didn't cover is sleep while being a mom, because I am not one yet! So all you mommy can chime in from personal experience of HOW to get more sleep! 

So we know the importance of sleep but what are some tips to actually get more sleep!? 

Routine

Try to get to sleep at the same tim every night and wake up around the same time in the morning! This will get your body in a routine to know THIS IS SLEEP TIME! For mommies, this could be impossible! I have heard of sleep schedules for your baby and that would help mommy get some rest as well! Moms, do sleep schedules help!? 

Exercise

If you body is active during the day it will sleep better at night! 30 minutes of exercise will allow for deeper and longer rest! 

Caffeine, sugar, alcohol

Limit your intake of these things during the day! Especially right before bed time! These chemicals affect the way in which your body is able to sleep! 

Electronics

I am SO awful at this! Try to turn off your cell phone, computer, tv before bed! A book is a great way to get to sleep! The electronics stimulate your brain and it actually harder to fall asleep with those devices! 

Restful Environment

Studies have shown a clean room helps your sleep better! Even though you are resting and you can't see anything, your mind knows what the room looks like it! It knows if it has laundry to put away, clothes to fold, shoes to put back! Do yourself a favor and create a restful environment! Your body will thank you! 

Any other good tips!? 

Linking up with Bianna, Carylee, Lauren, Sarah

Pass me the zzzz's

I hope you all had such a great weekend! I definitely did! My fiancé and I were able to spend the weekend together :) I took him to Dave and Busters Saturday as his Valentines gift! I felt bad for winning at all the games, but someone has to do it ;) 

Just kidding! He did beat me a few times! We spent the evening downtown Indy at an Italian restaurant where I had my cheat meal of the week consisting of the most delicious crab cheese dip I had ever had! I had steak and he had the most AMAZING almond crusted sea scallops :) I kinda wanted to trade haha 

One thing I noticed though was how TIRED I was! We had such a great time celebrating, but by Sunday my body was like GIVE ME REST!! I have a love/hate relationship with sleep! 

I LOVE sleeping! I just love being all cozy under the covers and the fact I am not aware of what my mind is doing! However, I hate that I get nothing done when I am sleeping! Maybe its just me since I tend to have a crazy weird relationships with work and the need to be busy, so sometimes I feel like I just don't have the time to dedicate 6-8 hours to one spot in my bed!  

Sleep is actually a KEY part of our daily health! It is SO important to get enough of it and most of us do not! Sorry sleep, we have other fish to fry rather than being knocked out, drooling, and dreaming! 

But here are a FEW reminders (that I pretty much have to always tell myself) of why sleep is important: 

 Health

It lessens your chance of falling ill or suffering from long term health disease such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. 

Reduces Stress 

You are asleep! Nothing to worry about and allows for your body to re-engergize itself to take on the worries of the next day! 

Improves your Memory 

When you are sleeping, your body has the ability to organize and retain the information you took in that day. It is literally good to "sleep on it!"

Reduces Weight

When your body does not get enough rest there is a hormone imbalance that occurs creating a larger appetite! I don't know about you but if I stay up later than I normally do, I usually tend to want to snack and I often eat more calories than I should! 

Ease the aches and pains

Your body actually uses the time you are resting as the chance to heal and repair its wears and tears of the day! 

Better Mood 

Your mood will increase, you will feel better, and you will be much more less irritated!  

These are just a few benefits, there are so many more! So next time you feel like hitting snooze, GO FOR IT! You need the sleep! Next Monday I will talk about HOW MUCH sleep we need and how to sleep better! 

Do you have any personal stories of how sleep has benefited you!? 

Linking up with Biana and Carylee, Lauren Sarah, On the Edge, Stephanie 

Beer! Wine! Coffee! Water?

I LOVE me a good drink! Especially with the super bowl yesterday, I wanted a little of everything! 

My go to is a nice glass of white wine! I love a Sauvignon Blanc---Kim Crawford to be exact! Have you tried this stuff?? Its the bees knees! 

How about a good margarita? Sangria? I promise I'm not an alcoholic, so how about a good ole iced cafe latte?? 

These are my GO TO drinks! I love them all! And you know what I hate (okay use to hate) WATER!! 

Its just so....plain. Sure its refreshing, but so is an iced late or a cold margarita! So why should I drink the stuff? Everyone always says to drink lots, well how much is lots??

I used to drink 1-2 glasses of water a day. No joke! I thought drinking an entire glass within 4-5 hours was a LOT of water! I just didn't like it at all!! So I get it, its plain, its boring, its no glass of wine or coffee! 

When I started focusing on my nutrition I became educated about how much water I should drink and why I should drink it! 

But how did I do this? How did I adjust myself from drinking 2 glasses a day to 72-80 ounces a day?? 

1. Make it fun! I bought myself some cool water bottles to get excited about water! Water glasses are boring! Wine glasses, margarita glasses, and starbucks cups are not! So make it fun!

Awesome water bottle tracker! 

2. Track it! You can buy a water bottle that tracks it for you or get an app like Myfitness Pal or Lose it! 

3. Drink an entire glass in the morning before you have anything else! I always start my day with water before I even allow myself to have coffee, this ensures I get at least 12-24 ounces (depending on your glass size) of water before I even start my day! 

4. Drink a glass of water before a meal or going out. Sometimes hunger is actually confused for thirst! 

What tips can you share!? 

Linking up with Biana, Sarah, Carlee

I'll have ONE piece of lettuce

Drum roll please...........

12 lbs lost people! I honestly am pumped! I may have cheated and weighed myself 3 days before the end of the Whole 30 but I couldn't take it. I noticed my waist had slimmed down, my legs were smaller, and my face was showing some structure! 

I didn't expect it to be that much but once I saw the number I was shocked! 

So what was key?? Did I deprive myself??

Yes, I ate the above EVERY. DAY.  JUST KIDDING!!!! How awful would that be! I mean I love shrimp, potatoes, and asparagus but seriously people!

So how do I trick my brain into eating less? I wish I could say I had the will power to just stop when I am full! I wish I could just eat ONE brownie and be done, or have ONE piece of chicken and not go back for more, but I just don't have that much self control!

So I play mind games to keep my portion sizes small! Here are my top 2 tricks!

Trick #1 Grab Half

Grab half of what you normally eat! So if you are out to eat and you get a sandwich and chips, eat half and wrap the rest up for later (and probably put it in the trunk of your car because if you are like me the back seat isn't far enough away lol). This trick is KEY to cutting down over eating.

Once you grab half, eat it, and if you still feel like you could eat your hand, drink 8oz of water and wait 10 minutes. Let your mind catch up to your stomach.

Trick #2 Use the Small Plates

Have you ever noticed that dinner plates are large enough to feed a family in Africa??? Seriously, they are HUGE! And being the wonderful food loving people we are, we fill that bad boy up! Obviously we were taught to "finish everything on our plates," so we eat it all! That is just too much food for the average person to consume! So you know those smaller salad plates, use those! That way when you fill it up, you trick your mind and can clean the plate being guilt free!

Portion sizes are key people and its so hard when you LOVE food like I do but I promise these tips work! Try it out for a week and let me know what you think!

Any other trick and tips for portion control???

12lbs smaller and still eating LOTS of food :) Please ignore the lack of make up ;)

Linking up with Biana , Stephanie , and #spreadthekidness

Relaxing weekend

So this is the first weekend in the past month and half that I haven't had any visitors or been traveling!

I have to say it was nice to have a weekend to myself :) 

I started with a good Saturday morning workout! I have had such amazing support from my team recently that I even hit a new level in my business!

Beachbody now trust me with some of their customers :) I was so excited for all

my hard work to pay off that I treated myself to a massage! I gave my facebook followers the option to help my choose, they all know me so well ;) 

Sunday I went to church and worshiped Jesus! It was a great service about sacrificing and focusing on what you can give to others!! 

This week I am so excited to share my story in my Love your Body group! If you would like to follow along its only 5 days and completely free! 

How was your weekend!? 

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

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!? 

Make your why BIGGER than you excuses

It's so easy to make excuses! I've said it all! I'm tired, I don't have time, I don't have money! I've been there, but I also realized I needed to put these excuses aside and better myself! 

>I'm a full time teacher, working 7-5 and on weekends

> I coach girls basketball with 6:30am practice and evening games 

> I am a part time graduate student taking two graduate level classes

> I work beachbody and build my business 

> plus a personal life 

smile emotico

I get it! I'm busy to, I'm broke as well, and I go to bed by 9:30 every night because I'm exhausted! Literally this is me:

But I also want to feel better about myself, I want to lose weight, I want to prevent health issues that run in my family! 

I can come up with a MILLION excuses not to get healthy! However, I am making my WHY BIGGER than my excuses! 

Will you!?

Disappearing in the Clouds

I am sitting here at the airport. Slightly annoyed I must admit because who likes when they miss their connecting flight because the door of the plane is broken and the have to fix. Should I even be concerned about missing the flight? Or should I be more concerned about the door flying open mid flight and my body falling from thousands of feet in the sky? Or how about the guy who pukes on the plane right before take off and now we have to wait to have it cleaned....at least it wasn't in my seat! 

Exaggeration I know! 

Anyway, Im sitting here watching all these planes take off and it made me wonder where are all these people going? 

Flying is a great analogy! Everyone has a final destination. A place they want to get to, a goal! The same is true with your health! We all have a goal! A dream body, a dream weight, dream stomach or arms. There is nothing wrong with that! 

Here are my goals:

Yes you should love yourself where you are at, but you should also want yourself to be healthy. You should want to have goals to work toward. You should work toward them in a healthy way. There is no need to destroy your body to reach your goal! There are healthy ways to get there! 

This is my goal! And i am not there yet, but I am getting closer! I love this journey! I love feeling great all the time! I am loving life and if you want help to reach your goals, I am there for you! I can help you! Just ask me :) 

Even if you don't want to participate in my accountability groups quite yet you can still help me out! If you let me post on your facebook OR on your blog about my fitness challenge starting in January, I will enter you into a FREE Fixate cookbook giveaway!! Just tag me in your post by sharing the photo below and linking it to my page! 

The Tough Stuff

The holidays can be the HARDEST time for people to set and maintain fitness goals! Even I am REALLY struggling right now! Thank goodness for my challengers and challenge group because they are the ONLY thing holding me accountable! 

All I want in my life is some fried food and cookies!! haha but I saw this the other day and truer words could not be spoken:

Not that fitness is a competition, but I am a competitive person, so every time I don'twant to go to the gym for those 30 minutes or I want to stop for some french fries I just think about all the people who ARE doing it, and how I am bettering my body! 

The struggle is real! However, there is no need to wait till January 1st! You can start now! Even if its just breakfast, or a snack, or walking for 20 minutes! Anytime you do something you haven't been doing, you are making progress! You are making a better, healthier, and happier you :) 

What do you struggle with!?

FRIED FOOD! SWEETS!! HELP! 

I STRUGGLE with drinking enough water everyday! REALLY STRUGGLE! Seriously, all I want is coffee, ALL. DAY. LONG. 

I could have an IV of that stuff! Its SOOOO GOOD! 

So drinking 1/2 my body weight (in ounces) of water a day is a BIG Struggle! Why is this a good thing!?

Well, it keeps the metabolism going! It helps with the toxins in your body! It helps keep you full! It makes your skin all nice and smooth!

Did you know that sometimes, when you feel hungry, you are actually just thirsty!?

Staying hydrated as so many benefits! How do you ensure you stay hydrated!? 

My Fitness and Health Journey--it aint easy!

Time for a little interview about me! 

Beachbody is a health and fitness program. It combines a pre-made fitness proram with a nutrition plan. The goal is to eat clean 80% of the time and workout 5 times a week depending on your program. All you have to do is follow what they tell you! 

I got started in Beachbody a few years ago when I did the Isanity program! I lost 19lbs in that program. I then did the T-25 program! The results were seriously amazing. 

The problem was that I did the fitness program, I stuck with the nutriton, but I quickly came up with many excuses to go back to my old habits! To head back through the drive through and to skip workouts! I had NO accountability! Clearly the program works! I just wasn't holding myself accountable! 

I wanted to be healthy again, I wanted to be that girl in the picture at top! The one who put in the 30 minutes a day to workout and ate healthy 80% of the time! I wanted to get off my blood pressure medicine, I didn't want to follow in my family's footsteps of heart issues! I wanted to be an EXAMPLE! I never was the healthy girl, I never was the fit and skinny girl, I just wanted to look in the mirror and be proud of what I saw! This is MY body! Its my responsibility to take care of it! I had to make a change! I had to get back to that girl and I knew that the ONLY program that worked for me was Beachbody. I tried gym memberships, weight watchers, classes, etc. This was it! This was easy to fit in my schedule and it worked! 

Like I said before, the program worked, I just didn't have the accountability! My friend Krista got me set up on a program called Bodybeast. She started something called a challenge group. This was a group on Facebook that I checked into daily. She also posted some awesome tips, recipes, and health tricks to keep me on track! Everyday I posted how I did with my eating, water intake, and workout! It truly motivated me! I knew that everyday I had to post so I wanted to make sure I could say that I completed everything I had to! Yes, there are days where I don't do it, I am human, but this group gave me the accountability to finish what I started, to reach my goals! 

This was my result! 

Once I saw these results I wanted to help others reach their goals! This seriously was because I stuck to a 30 minute workout 6 days a week, ate clean 80% of the time, and had a coach that kept me accountable! All I did was purchase this workout, made an investment in my health and well being, and BAM I knew I wanted to help other people do this! I wanted to get other people to their goals! Since then I have had even more progress! I also reached Emerald which means I have other people who coach under me! 

If you want help reaching your goals, my coaching is FREE! I want to inspire others, I want to help you reach your goals! I will work with you to find a program that works for you! I can help you get results! I know how it feels to constantly try to diet, try a new workout, THIS IS NOT A DIET! It changed my life! Now my JOB is to inspire you and help you change yours :) 

Contact me by commenting below or email me for questions! I have some amazing challengers with amazing results! 

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!?