30 Days DONE!

It honestly seems like I just wrote my blog post about how I was going to be following the Whole30 program.

One thing about me - when I set my mind to something, there's not a lot that is going to stop me. Especially if I tell other people that I'm doing it. So I started April 1st with a plan that I was going to follow the Whole30 plan to a T and the only thing I would do "off-plan" was that I would drink my Shakeology every single day because I'm never giving that up.

You can read this post to see why I chose to do it - but I want to talk a little bit about my experience through the last 30 days and why I loved it.

I did NOT do this nutrition plan for weight loss. I don't care to lose weight. All I care about is optimal health. I love to work out and I love getting stronger. And I think trying different things out with nutrition is not only fun, but is good for you. Your body likes when you switch things up.

Having no dairy was pretty simple for me since I usually stay away from that anyway. When I first gave dairy up a while ago, it was harder because I love greek yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. :) But I learned through experimenting that my body does NOT like dairy and my gut despises it. So why feed my body something it cannot stand? I feel lethargic, bloated, and very uncomfortable whenever I eat it. Does that suck? Yes - but it's not the end of the world. I will have the occasional cheese or ice cream treat...seldomly. I'll enjoy it and then regret it very soon after :)

Having no grains, legumes, sugar or peanut butter was the hardest part at first. But honestly the longer you go without sugar, the less you crave it. I can't even tell you the last time I craved chocolate now. I have had the occasional craving for a salty, crunchy snack - but that's usually on the days that I got busy and didn't eat a meal or regular snack soon enough.

I can't even explain how good I feel. I would definitely recommend others to try it!!

What's next? How will I continue on now?

I'll continue on with a paleo nutrition plan with some small exceptions. I'll definitely stay away from dairy still. I will plan to add back in my oats for breakfast sometimes though. I missed my oatmeal! And I'll have the occasional whole grain from time to time. But I will limit it because I know I feel better when I do.

I'm 6 weeks in with no alcohol and I have 2 weeks to go. I committed to no alcohol for the duration of my 8 week fitness program I'm doing now. That has been a huge part of how great I feel right now too - for sure!

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Thinking about doing the Whole30? Here are some great resources that talks more about it and why you might want to try it...

http://www.thepaleomom.com/2014/03/whole30-interview-melissa-hartwig.html

http://meljoulwan.com/2013/12/27/30-reasons-whole30-2/

http://dailyburn.com/life/health/whole-30-diet-book/

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Before I started - I purchased these two books and I highly recommend them! If you are suffering from autoimmune symptoms / disorders, this is definitely worth a read.

I got mine from amazon and here are the links for you!

Whole30 

It Starts With Food

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Feel free to follow me on Pinterest to see other recipes for Paleo / Whole30!

Click HERE

If you'd like to chat more about it - I would LOVE to chat with you. Email me or message me on facebook!!

Free 2 Week Fitness Bootcamp

Every few months I like to throw in a fun free group to get lots of people involved and it's something that is SO much fun for me.

I wish that I had the time to do it more often, but doing it once every 3-4 months is just about all I can do because my clients and all of my regular challenge/accountability groups keep me VERY busy!

Why do I do these free groups? Because I LOVE meeting and helping new people.

Some people are very hesitant to join my regular groups because they might be intimidated with committing to starting a new program. Maybe they haven't worked out in a while or just don't feel like they know where to start. But most people are just plain scared. Scared of failure. So they don't want to invest money in themselves because they don't have the faith in themselves yet.

Something I love to do is to help women build up that confidence. I like to teach other women that not only is it healthy for you....but it is absolutely necessary for you to take care of yourself.

So many women feel guilty for spending the time & money on themselves. They worry about everyone else and say they are too busy. But you know what sister? You can't pour from an empty cup!

You are a much better wife/mom/sister/friend/whateveryouare when you feel good from the inside out. I PROMISE you that.

So this new free group is going to be something new for me and I'm pumped. Every day I'm going to post the "workout of the day". And for the first time ever, I'm going to be showing you the moves myself and making videos for you. I'll tell you how many reps / how long to do each move. They won't be super long so you WILL have and make time for it.

This might be something you need to jump-start your healthy lifestyle and we can start working together more closely after this. Or this might just be something fun for you to add if you are already pretty active (like my current clients!)

So JOIN!! There is no cost. All I ask is that for two weeks you show up for yourself. Just show up. Do the workout to the best of your ability. Does it need to be perfect? No. Will you be able to do every single move perfectly? No. (I can't do everything either!) But you just do your best, focus on proper form and go on with your bad self!

When does the group start?

May 2nd and it will run for two weeks.

What will you need? 

Your positive pants and a set of dumbbells. I love strength training! It's so insanely good for your body.

How do you join?

Click on this link:::

https://www.facebook.com/events/255901814757259/

That will take you to the event that I've created on Facebook. This is step one. Make sure that we are friends on facebook too! When it gets closer to starting time, I will create a closed/private group to add everyone that has clicked "JOIN". And we will get this party started.

What other fun things are in store?

I have fun prizes to giveaway to the people that kick the most booty.

I'll also be talking about something I'm super passionate about - NUTRITION. Seriously, most people think they can just workout and then eat whatever they want and they should see results like yesterday. But if you aren't focusing on the food that you put in your body - you're not going to see much. I've learned so much over the last few years and I love sharing that with others.

This is a FREE group and it is open to anyone and everyone. Please invite at least a couple friends to do this with you. I want to spread it as far as possible and my reach is only so far. So that is where you come in!!!

If you could share the event on your facebook wall, that would be so awesome!!

Have questions? Message me on facebook by clicking here:: FACEBOOK or you can email me by clicking here:: EMAIL

Pay Bills and Die.

I love this image/quote so much. I think about how short life is probably a weird amount.

When I was in college, I worked at an assisted living home for quite some time and it really put a lot of perspective in my life. All of these people once had regular lives, most raised families, and a lot of them I'm sure felt that they would be "young" forever.

Some of them had family but no visitors because they had turned very bitter in their old age. Some didn't have much of their mind left. Some reverted back to child-like behavior...carrying around baby dolls. Some of them had their mind and they would talk to me about how hard they worked all of their life. And how they wish they could go back and just do something that they loved instead. How they wished they could turn back time and spend more time with their family than they did.

It was pretty normal - wish they spent more time on family and less on worrying about making more money.

Because yes we need money to live. But so much of the time, especially these days - we just want to make more money to buy more stuff. And stuff piles up and unfortunately you take NONE of it with you when you go.

Life is short. We will be old one day. We will all die one day. I'm not trying to be morbid - just hear me out.

I went through the motions for a long time. Go to college and work hard because that's what you do. Choose a professional career because I wanted to make good money so I never had to struggle. I never felt a passion for what I was doing. I did each and every position for a paycheck. That was it.

But there is so much more to life. There IS something out there that you are passionate about. Maybe you haven't found it yet. I didn't have a clue what mine was. I stumbled upon it and it was the most incredible stumble EVER.

I just started with a program called T25, started drinking a super-food shake, joined my first online accountability group and focused on my health.

My eyes were opened to what an amazing community it was. And how much of a FIRE in my belly I had to pay it forward. To help as many people as I could to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

So I leaped at something scary and became a coach. I never imagined it would explode into a successful business of my very own. Something that I am in complete control over. Something that fills my heart AND gives me a nice paycheck every week.

I'm not longer just living. I'm not just going to work, paying bills and doing the same thing the next day.

Why am I sharing all of this? It's not to brag and say - hey look at me, I'm doing so awesome.

It's because I want whoever is reading this....maybe someone who felt like I used to feel - to know that there is truly more possibilities out there than you may realize.

My team is exploding with growth and I'm doing some really awesome top team trainings and I want to help as many people as I can create a life by design.

Do you want to work from home? Do you want to create your work own hours? Do you want to NOT have to ask a boss for time off for vacation (especially unpaid)? Do you want to be with your kids more? Do you want to travel more?

Whatever it is - the beauty is - the sky is the limit. TRULY.

If you know me at all - you know that I would never make this shiz up. I'm for real and I want to share this because it's an amazing opportunity.

So do some thinking. Do some soul searching. Maybe you already love what you do and if that is the case I'm SO HAPPY for you. That is amazing and I know how incredible that feels.

But if you really do want something different. Something more. Not just existing - but bursting with passion for what you are doing. ON YOUR OWN TERMS. Please reach out to me and I'd love to share more with you. And I would be honored to train you and equip you with all of the tools that you need to be set up for success.

LIVE YOUR LIFE. <3

How to get in contact with me?

Message me on facebook here ----> MESSAGE
Email me here ------> EMAIL

Own Your Story

I've been thinking a lot lately about our "stories". This weekend at our Super Saturday event (a quarterly Beachbody event), a top coach talked about how she was molested at a young age and how she has been able to share her story to help other people.

Then someone said to me "I can't believe she said that up on stage. That would be so hard for me to share."

And I replied with "I probably would too because I know that it would help SO many people in some way."

I try to do my best with sharing "my story" with everyone. As a health and fitness coach - people have to trust me enough to want me to help them. Reaching out to someone for help in this area of your life is not easy. So making sure you choose a coach who you trust and who you can relate to in some way is very important. So I know that sharing ME is the most important thing I can do so people can make a good decision....if I'm the right coach for them or not.

But sometimes we don't really know our stories. Or we think we don't have one. I'm here to tell you - we ALL have one. And we all have a lifetime of events that have led us to the point we are at right now. Just because you might not have something very dramatic in your story - doesn't mean that you do not have a story. What are you passionate about and why are you passionate about it? You have a story.

Sometimes we are too scared to share our story. Some people are scared of sharing it because it's too horrific or there is too much shame associated with it. Some people are scared to share their story because it involves other people and they don't want to hurt them. I totally get it. There are parts of my story that I will elaborate on some day...but I do have that fear sometimes of unintentionally hurting someone else. And how do we tell our stories without telling our version of someone else's story in the process? Because won't that ultimately always happen?

Our stories do not DEFINE us. They are a part of us for a reason. We learned, we stumbled, and the beauty of it is - we choose the ending. Our story isn't done because of our past. We decide how the rest of the course goes. There shouldn't be shame in your story. There is BEAUTY in it.

Honestly if we set our fears aside....so much good can happen. I truly believe that. Sharing your story is not complaining. Sharing your story is not something you do for sympathy. Sharing your story is something you do so people can understand you better. And most importantly for me...sharing your story is a powerful tool to be able to HELP other people. I feel a calling to help other people. A calling to inspire other people, especially women, to be healthier and to feel less alone in their journey throughout this crazy, beautiful life.

I think so many of us women keep things bottled up inside because we want to appear to be the strong, "I got my shit together" type woman. And if you're a Mom...forget about it. You're not going to show your weaknesses that easy. Not when you have Pinterest Moms showing you up on social media with their fancy birthday parties and play dates and ahhhhh...it's just SO MUCH.

I just feel like if we truly share our struggles...along with our victories.....we will all stop trying to compete so much. We will stop feeling so badly about ourselves. Why must we always feel this need to measure up? There is nobody you need to measure up to. You just do your best, girlfriend. Some days you will royally screw up and just be thankful for the next day. But I can assure you - you are NOT alone. And you are not doing worse than anyone else. We all suck sometimes. We all rock sometimes.

And we all have different, amazing stories that make us unique. If we share those and if we aren't so scared about being judged, we can all be in this together just a little bit easier.