Rollin' With The Punches

So every Sunday is my meal planning, grocery shopping and meal prep day! Today was supposed to be extremely important because I am starting the 21 Day Fix Extreme tomorrow (which really dials in on nutrition).  So, I sat down this morning in front of my computer -- armed with my coffee, 21 Day Fix Extreme Nutrition Guide, old meal plans etc...all ready to GO. Like, get er' done, let's do this, ready to go! And my computer wouldn't turn on! Now, as you can imagine, I literally run my LIFE on this computer and at that moment, I couldn't access my meal plan templates, old grocery lists & favorite recipes. To say I felt a wee bit lost is an understatement! But I wasn't going to let it get me down. I knew it was the devil messing with me, trying to throw me off track, but I stayed the course and worked out my meal plan on a piece of paper! Since I had to head to the store to fix my computer (which turned out to be a 3.5 hour excursion), I didn't have time to food shop. Luckily, I ALWAYS have my staple items on hand to make it through and for now, I can make it all the way to lunch tomorrow with what I have at home. I'll load up on the rest and prep everything tomorrow. The point of this is two fold: first, don't make excuses, no matter what obstacles get in your way. If you've got a goal, you've got to be ready to roll with the punches, be flexible and come up with solutions; second, make sure you ALWAYS have certain items on hand in your pantry, so that you can make it through a few days if you don't have the time to do a complete shopping and prep! Here are just some of the items that I love, use and ALWAYS HAVE! 

 Trader Joe's Rolled Oats

Trader Joe's Organic Chicken Broth

Trader Joe's Organic Romaine Hearts

Trader Joe's Organic Raw Honey

Trader Joe's Almond Milk 

Trader Joe's ShipJack Tuna

So, even though I didn't have time to do my shopping and prep today, I didn't let it deter me! And tomorrow, it will be my #1 priority. But only after I get through my breakfast:  Egg Whites, Broccoli & blueberries on the side for some sweetness!

The next 21 days are going to be intense and I am going to take you along with me, updating my blog every day! I'm going to include pictures of my meals, recipes, all of my real life struggles in staying focused and finding the time to workout and meal prep, but mostly, I am going to share my TRIUMPHS, because I know there will be many!

How I got 35 pounds off in less than 4 months

So for the record I have 3 daughters, ages 8, 5 and 4.5 months! And with each pregnancy I gained, 75, 65 and 35 pounds respectively. That's right! First pregnancy was a disaster from a food standpoint. Second one, I did a little bit better! But by my third pregnancy I got this "eating healthy food" and exercising thing down pat!  It took years of research, reading, implementing, failing and then trying again to come to where I am today; which is why I stress to everyone that getting healthy and fit is a journey. It's progress not perfection!  So, the million dollar question! How did I lose all the baby weight so quickly this time around? The answer is rather simple. I focused on nutrition and started working out again as soon as the doctor gave me the green light! Oh and to make things easy (you hear me moms!!!--->>>EASY), I used the 21 Day Fix with Shakeology to kickstart my weight loss and get me back into the groove!  

Let me tell you a little bit about this gem right here! The reason I LOVE it so much is that it focused on NUTRITION! And this is the part that so so so many people need help with! This program takes all of the guess work out of figuring out WHAT and HOW MUCH to eat! It comes with seven color coded containers that all correspond to a category of food and are used to control your portions! Then you throw in seven world class workouts and voila -- YOU'VE GOT YOURSELF SOME SERIOUS RESULTS! It works wonders because it's the first program to place equal emphasis on fitness and healthy portion control.  It teaches you HOW to create a healthy LIFESTYLE, NOT A DIET.  Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or 100 pounds, you can do it with this program! Now -- I am going to be perfectly honest with you -- this was HARD to do with a newborn when I DIDN'T PLAN. But the days that I planned out my meals and knew exactly what I was eating -- I DID GREAT!  So it took me a little longer than 21 Days (and that's perfectly ok) -- but with consistency and focus, I did get ALL the baby weight off and was able to put on my pre-pregnancy jeans in record breaking time! However, now I've got to get pregnancy #1 and #2's weight off -- haha! And so I've moved on to a  bit more challenging workout program called Insanity Max: 30! I've got so much love for that program that it deserves its own post! But for now --here's a picture of my progress overall since September. Not bad for a mom of 3! 

Yo-Yo Dieting and How to Stop

This isn't my first blog. In fact, it's my third. The other two flopped for one reason and one reason only, and that was because I was consistently inconsistent.  I set my expectations so high and refused to post anything until it was perfect. It became so overwhelming that I ended up not posting at all. Then I realized that this was a pattern in my life. It permeated to other areas. If I was't going all in, giving it my full force and succeeding to the point of perfection, I didn't bother to do it. I gave up because the results weren't immediate.  The biggest part of my life that suffered as a result: my health and weight.  Saying that I was a yo-yo dieter is an understatement. I've been everywhere from Weight Watchers, to Nutri-System, the Cabbage Soup Diet, Stacker 2s (when they were legal), juice cleanses, colonics, Master Cleanse with the ridiculous grade A Maple Syrup, Cayenne pepper concoctions, Atkins, Dr. Phil...you get the picture. And it wasn't until the magical moment when I found that simply eating healthy, like really healthy (i.e. avoiding processed foods and incorporating whole, fresh and local foods) did I find peace and progress in my life. It's not complicated and something that even me, a busy mom of 3, full time lawyer, business owner and NOW Certified Health Coach can do. And my purpose, my passion is to teach you how. Welcome.