Take the CHALLENGE

Two years ago I made a decision to make a CHANGE! I was not happy in my own skin and was really struggling to find the motivation and accountability to do what I knew I needed to do to get my health and fitness back on track.

I had an eight month old baby boy and used every excuse to spend my spare time on the couch watching TV. This also meant eating junk all the time. My lunches usually consisted of: hot dogs, cheese, doritos, Chef Boy R Dee (yep even as a 30 year old!!!), more cheese, and maybe some reeces cups. WOW! Talk about the eating habits of a CHILD. That was me though! I thought it would be too hard to make a change and kept putting it off.

One day I decided that I had to change my habits, not just for me, but for my husband and little boy. If I expected my family to be and eat healthy, then I had to lead by example! I wanted to be the reason my family developed life long healthy habits, NOT the excuse they have in 20 years when they're addicted to junk food and have this huge hurdle to overcome.

Thank goodness I discovered the support and accountability of challenge groups. I knew I was not going to go to the gym because I didn't want to take the time away from my family, so I was happy to find that I could get some amazing results by working out at home. Plus, I replaced those terrible lunch choices with my healthiest meal of the day in shakeology!

I had my doubts, but I will tell you, the ONLY thing that kept me going, focused and determined was knowing that I had a group to support me and keep me accountable. When I didn't want to workout, I did it anyway because I didn't want to check in and say I slacked off.

Before finding the support and accountability group that worked for me, I used having a baby as an EXCUSE to be lazy, to slack off on taking care of ME and just get a little lost, losing my purpose and sense of self. I made the choice to be the positive influence I knew I could be for my little boy and make a change.

Now, I have 2 precious little ones, and I could easily say I don't have the time or energy to invest in myself, but I have learned that I cannot be the mom I want to be and that they deserve without first taking care of myself. If you have been making the excuse that you don't have time because you have to raise your kids, I encourage you to look at it from another angle and make them your REASON instead of your EXCUSE. You'll be amazed at how quickly your kids will follow your lead and start picking up on your new healthy habits! Just 30 minutes a day and a PLAN can make ALL the difference!

June is already practicing her superman pose to get her core tight

If you are ready to make a change and instill those healthy habits and build your healthy legacy now, I can help you! My next private group starts on April 6!

Take a minute to tell me more about your goals and what you need from me and let's take this journey together! Complete the form below and I will get back to you ASAP.

Fill out my online form.

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Best shoes for high intensity workouts

I often get asked about the best shoes to wear for high intensity workouts.

In short... cross trainers NOT running shoes.

When I first started working out at home, I wore running shoes because that was all I had. They worked ok, but restricted my movements and sometimes gave me blisters. OUCH!

These are my FAVORITES that I have been wearing for over a year now- Nike Free 3.0's. I only wear them for my indoor workouts so they don't get worn out too quickly and they have not steered me wrong yet. That being said, everyone's feet are different and you will likely have a different preference, but if you're still searching for your perfect pair, you should at least go try these on for size.

Lemon Herb Cod

If you're like me, cod has never been much of a staple in your diet.  With the nutrition plan I'm following, though, it's mentioned a lot,so I thought I'd give it a try. I found this recipe at Sarah's Cucina Bella and was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty quick and easy too!

Ingredients:
1 lb cod
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped (I only had dried so I used that and it was good, but I would recommend using less than 1 tsp if you only have the dried powder on hand)
sea salt
pepper
Paprika
9x13 baking dish- I lined mine with tinfoil just to make clean up easier

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse cod filets under cool water and place in baking dish.
Drizzle with olive oil and lemon.
Then sprinkle with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and paprika evenly.
Bake for 13-17 minutes or until opaque
Eat by itself or on top of brown rice with sauce drizzled on top.

If you are on the 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme, this will be one red container and one tsp. Enjoy!

21 Day Fix EXTREME Meal Plan

This is my second week on 21 Day Fix Extreme. I did well with my eating last week by just keeping track of my food with writing it down. This plan is very specific for how much of each different food group you can have in your diet so I had to figure out a good way to plan and keep track of exactly what I'm eating.

I worked long and hard to come up with this one so hopefully it will be easier in the future and hopefully it will help you too!

As a guideline if you are not familiar with the 21 Day Fix programs:
Red= PROTEIN
Green= VEGETABLES
Purple= FRUIT
Yellow= CARBS (BROWN RICE, QUINOA, SWEET POTATOES, OATMEAL)
Blue= HEALTHY FATS (AVOCADO, CHEESE, RAW NUTS, HUMMUS)
Orange= DRESSINGS/SEEDS
Tsp= OLIVE OIL, COCONUT OIL, PEANUT BUTTER, ALMOND BUTTER

This particular plan is for the 1500-1799 calorie bracket since I am nursing my 5 month old baby girl and need to get extra healthy calories for her :) The 1200 calorie bracket= 3 green, 2 purple, 4 red, 2 yellow, 1 blue, 1 orange and 2 tsp.

This program is amazing and has already helped me lose 4 pounds in just over a week. 30 minute workouts and super cute colored containers to figure out exactly how much a portion is.  For reference on the containers, here are the approximate sizes:
RED: 3/4 cup
GREEN: 1 1/4 cup
PURPLE: 1 1/4 cup
YELLOW: 1/2 cup
BLUE: 1/4 cup
ORANGE: 2 TBSP

Some recipes from this plan:
Turkey meatloaf
Salmon
Avocado rice

Clean Eating CHALLENGE

These last couple weeks I have really been working on my nutrition and of course have been a proponent for clean eating for a while now!  It can be so confusing to figure out what clean eating really is and what you should or shouldn't eat.
 Fat free? Sugar free? All natural? Gluten free?

So many choices and recommendations coming from all angles!

If you want to learn and put clean eating into practice, THIS is your chance! I am running a FREE Clean Eating group starting on Monday. I will also be offering this as an email series as well, so even if you're late to the party, please complete the form so I can help you and make sure you're included!

Fill out my online form.

There are tons of Wufoo features to help make your forms awesome.

Turkey Meatloaf

So I have never been a fan of meatloaf. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I had some. But, when I found this recipe for 21 Day Fix Extreme I decided I would give it a try. My husband loves meatloaf and he was very grateful that I actually put this on the menu this week!

Ingredients:
2 lbs         lean ground turkey
1 cup        all-natural mild salsa
1 cup        cooked quinoa, cooled
2               large eggs
3 cloves    garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp         sea salt (himalayan or celtic)
                Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine turkey, salsa, quinoa, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl; mix well by hand or with a spatula
3. Shape mixture into shape of a loaf and place on ungreased 13 x 9 baking pan.
4. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until center is no longer pink and meat is cooked through.
5. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
6. Cut evenly into 8 pieces.

For all you 21 Day Fixers, 1 serving (1/8 loaf) is 1 red (protein), 1/2 purple (fruit), 1/2 yellow (quinoa).

You can even freeze the individual slices for future meals!

Working out with a Toddler

Some days I use my time to workout as a time for ME. I think it's important to have some time to myself every day, even just 30 minutes. As a mom, some days can be extremely draining. I even have a nanny and still often feel this way because my almost three year old still only wants me most of the time. I do love having that workout time to myself, and honestly would not get it in if I didn't have the option to do it at home without paying for a gym membership and taking extra time driving to and from the gym plus the extra socializing- it would take more like 2 hours of my day and that's not how I want to spend my time.

There are a lot of days, though, that I share my workout time with my toddler, Benton, and it is often more fun and entertaining than anything else I do. I love the feeling that I am making a positive influence in his life by showing him that it is completely normal to prioritize our health and fitness. My hope is that he always sees it as important so that he never has to backtrack and gain control over his health because of poor decisions he made over and over again. I only have a short time in his life with this kind of influence and I want to be sure it counts.

 He also likes to steal my headbands and totally rocks the Richard Simmons look ;)

I took these videos today as we worked out together because I love watching him. He has just recently gotten to where he tries to do some of the workout moves with me, and he cracks me up.

These samples are from the new 21 Day Fix EXTREME. I'm only 3 days in but already seeing some results! Only 30 minutes and foolproof meal planning :)