BEACHBODY
3 DAY REFRESH RESULTS

DETOX. DESTRESS. DEFLATE

Why?

Well. This summer I completed three rounds of 21 Day Fix, so 9 weeks of being on the 21 Day fix. I had SUPERB results. My had completed my last round by the end beginning of September. I made the big mistake of relapsing into some bad habits after having been eating pretty clean all summer.

I did some partying, drinking, staying out late, and eating greasy foods again. All in the span of about 3 weeks. I was still working out, but I wasn’t eating healthy 80/20. It was more like 50/50.  At the same time I had started going to physical therapy for my sciatica; and I always felt like each session left me more sore than before while only feeling relieved days later.  So, I also decided to start PiYo thinking it would help keep the stress off my sciatica and it did. Also, I had lasik surgery; which did not go as smooth as most people would have you believe it would. I was out for about 17 hours and then I couldn’t workout for 3 days because I had to avoid sweat getting in my eyes.  

I knew the struggle that it took me all summer to get my body in shape and looking more defined so I wasn’t about to keep down this path and lose it all over some booze and street tacos.

There are soooo many detox methods going around on the internet and I haven’t personally tried them all but some of them seem like quite a stretch. After a little deliberation I went with the 3 Day Refresh from Beachbody because results are guaranteed or your money back. Any company who is willing to guarantee you results knows their stuff is good!! IMO

How?

So, I picked a day that worked for me (a monday) and I got started. I went to the grocery store Sunday and I got all my food. I planned to eat the same thing for all 3 days.

Day 1 THRU Day 3:

Upon Waking: 10 Ounces of H20

Breakfast: Chocolate Shakeology (with water) blended with half a banana

Optional Morning Tea: 1 cup of green tea

Mid-Morning: Fiber Sweep (digestive health drink mixed in 8 oz of water)

Lunch: Vanilla Fresh (a high protein drink) Mixed with 10 oz of filtered water and a seving of carrots, a gala apple and 2 tsp of almond butter

Afternoon Snack: hummus with carrots (not my photo in the collage b/c I didn’t get to take a pic)

Optional Afternoon Tea: Skipped

Dinner: Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Optional Evening Tea: Skipped

My days went by pretty smoothly despite that all the food was raw food and there wasn’t any solid protein in there.

My first day was not too bad. I felt a bit hungry in the afternoon so I just drank more water. I was able to do my workout for that day just fine and without any light headedness.

My second day I was not well...I had a MAJOR headache. I can only assume it was my body craving sugar. I still managed to soldier on through the day after a little nap. I didn’t take anything for my headache. I still managed to go for a light jog and sit in the sauna on and off for about 30 mins.

My third day did not go well. It was my last day at work and also two days before my birthday. The kind ladies I worked with decided to surprise me with a birthday cake and everyone I had worked with came to share a piece. HOW COULD I NOT HAVE A PIECE? I know I should've been stronger or maybe I should of just pretended to eat it, BUT nope I ate a piece. =( Bad bad bad, Maria! I felt defeated. The rest of the day went as  usual but I had the conflict in my head of  “do I even eat anymore today?” “Should I skip the fruits” I decided to act like the cake never happened.

My fourth day weigh demonstrated the cheat from the day before as I didn’t loose any weight.

If I had to do it all over again, I would. However, I wouldn’t have any cake this time lol

Results:

2.8 lbs lost in 3 days.

More than the weight lost I felt WAY BETTER. My clothes fit well again and I wasn’t bloated anymore. =)

I think it’s a great way to get you back on the loosing track if you’ve veered off a little. I also think that it’s a great way to kickstart any weight loss program.

I blacked out the middle number on the scale reader because 1.) I don’t like people knowing how much I weigh exactly. LOL I am not ready for that and 2.) I personally do not measure results based on the scale. I like to go by my energy levels, how my clothes are fitting, how my workouts feel, etc.

I hope you have found this blog helpful and I hope that I had helped you decide on whether you should try the 3 day refresh yourself or not.

For More Info on the 3 Day Refresh Visit: http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCP3D160?referringRepId=824579

Do You HAVE to Meal Prep ?

Is the thought of meal prepping deterring you from starting healthy living and fitness.

Its true the nutrition and fitness go hand in hand because we can't expect our bodies to do certain things for us when we fuel it with bad food.

I believe that its important to plan your meals, but its not NECESSARY to meal prep. Oh, that's it. I'm shunned from the coaching and fitness world. Yes, is said it. You don't HAVE to meal prep.

I think that a lot of my clients are initially intimidated by the idea of starting a program and meal plans with me because they think that they have to make time to meal prep. Let me tell you right now, you don't HAVE to.

I don't always meal prep. The only times that I really meal prep is when I'm going in really strict and I don't want to put my family through the process I'm going to put myself through. Essentially I remove all emotional connection I might have to food and see it as only fuel and no more. So, I get simple and I get plain. I don't want to put my family thought that because its my choice not theirs.

When I don't meal prep its because I (or Rey) make dinner that is family friendly (read kid) but still healthy just not as as stripped down as what I would meal prep if I was on a strict meal plan. The dinners we cook are, 98% of the time, 21 Day Fix approved. So, we make extra so that I can take the left overs for lunch the next day. The ONLY draw back with that is that if something unexpected comes up and we can't be home to make dinner and we have to take out then you have no left overs to take to work the next day, but that doesn't happen often.

This is something you can do too, so you don't have to "meal prep". I think that term has almost become synonymous with the term "fitness". Its not necessary although it really helps.
As for snacks, I keep them simple. I usually just bag up my snacks in ziplock bags or leave them in my portion control containers with the lid on and throw them in my lunch bag with my lunch.

This is SOOO important to understand, especially, if you're new to this. Meal prepping is not mandatory. I want you to take a simple approach so that you don't become overwhelmed and you can stay committed. :)

Motivation Monday....The Results Are In

ANOTHER BEFORE AND AFTER!!! UGH! CAN I PLEASE STOP!?! NO! lol The answer is NO, fam!

Somebody save me! I can't stop being awesome! 😹🙀😸

This June my own health and wellness Coach, Lindsay Matway, hosted an accountability group just for coaches. Yes, folks, believe it or not us coaches need motivation and support of our own. Prior to engaging in this new group with her and my fellow coaches, I'd been facing my own personal challenges.

Go on a journey with me, will ya? 🎢 🌋 🌅 🏖

Last summer I completed 3 rounds of 21 Day Fix and consequently signed up as Coach. In September 2015 I was given notice that I would be laid off and on Oct. 1st I was unemployed and so was my husband who had just got out of the Marines. So, there we were an unemployed couple dealing with a difficulty that would have probably broken two people apart. Yet, some how we managed to stay on our feet, stay in love, stay in harmony, and stay positive. Things turned around for us in January when I got a job and hubby went back to school full time. We were back on track. Did I mention through out this time I was still working my coaching business and workout out daily (21 Day Fix and Master Hammer and Chisel). Then, as all rollercoasters go, I experienced another low. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in late March. I had the symptoms for years, but I think it finally did me in when I began gaining weight out of control for no apparent reason and therefore ruining all my hard work. The harder I fought to transform my body the harder my body was fighting me back. The months after the diagnosis were experimenting with drugs and dosages to get my tsh levels normal. Just when we thought we had it, we didn't have it. lol I also finished 22 Minute Hard Corps from beginning to end during this time and I barely made a dent on my body image, thanks to my hypothyroidism.
Now, this is enough to get an ordinary person to QUIT.  Many times I contemplated giving up on myself, but my body needed me now more than ever. My livelihood depended on my effort to fight for me. As much as I'd love a bangin' body I had to learn to do this for my health. So, I worked and I worked and I worked through the struggles even if my body wasn't changing. I needed my me time to stay in peace amidst the chaos of life.

By the time I joined this group I needed the positive environment and I needed someone else to motivate me because motivating myself was such a task at times.
Then one week into this accountability group with my own coach I was diagnosed with SHINGLES! Give me a FREAKING BREAK !!! GEEZUS !! It was caught in the early early stages, so I didn't have the break outs or the hives, but I had the pain, the extra fatigue, the insomnia. I was out of it for about 3 days. Thank God the medication worked beautifully and I was back on it.

Three weeks in we took a road trip back home and I indulged in local foods like street tacos 🌮, tostaditas, raspas, carne guisada, CAKE, Whiskey, and my sister in laws delicious breakfast 😳😳😳 lol Hey, the flesh is weak. Then 5 weeks in I took a trip to Nashville for the Beachbody Coach Summit. My first one ever! I had a blast! Even though I worked out there and walked a lot, my nutrition was subpar. I hit up the bbq, ice cream, and hot chicken while I was there.

lemme explain

Then when we got back without skipping a beat my coach asks us for our AFTER PHOTOS! Son of a gun!! Holy crap! I forgot about those. I was like...lemme explain...



I was being my least favorite type of challenger...because I've had some folks like me in my own challenge groups lol Today it was time to face the music and I gotta say I'm not upset. I'm actually quite happy about my results.

This photos is last year before my first ever round of 21 Day Fix in June 2016 fast forward through all that happened in between and the after is after 2 rounds of 21 Day Fix Extreme. I feel healthy, happy, comfortable, confident and STRONG ! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Nope. Not anything to write the press about, but pretty freaking good and good enough to impress myself. A WHOLE YEAR and a month in between and this is all I've got? No. I also helped 32 other people start their own journeys. Still through my struggles I've managed to help others. I don't say this to brag, but I say it because there for those 32 people who have allowed me into their lives as their coach there has been about 300 who have turned me down...also a struggle...also a rejection that I take to heart...also an even that I have rise from. You'd think after all those people saying no to me I'd be used to it. I'm not. Yet, there is something totally rewarding about helping those who want to be helped and helping myself in the process.

No one is ever going to turn me down because I lack commitment or because I'm not a product of my product. Nope. I work dang hard on myself and I give of myself selflessly to my clients without regard of what is happening in my own life. I believe in others who still don't believe in themselves because I know what its like to be completely alone in this journey. I was alone for so long until I found my beachbody family.

If you have read this far, THANK YOU! You're the real MVP.

If you didn't, well...you aren't going to read that you just won a brand new car...send me an email with your address so I can ship it to ya!! lmao


Anyway, without further ado

Here are my results from the Summer Shape Up Coach Edition hosted by my Coach Lindsay Matway...sorry they aren't the same short, but I swear I can't find the before ones.

KICKING HYPOTHYROIDISM'S ASS ONE BEACHBODY PROGRAM AND SHAKEOLOGY SHAKE AT A TIME.  👊👊👊

Transformation Tuesday: Mental

Today's transformation tuesday blog is about a mental aspect of transformation rather than physical. Yesterday I started a new routine as part of a program that I am following. I don't know how long it should have taken me to complete it, but I suspect that I took longer than it should have. Why? Well, because 1.) I was scared of a little red box and 2.) I didn't want to quit.
First I saw the red box and I thought to myself "HELL YEAH! I don't have to do these on a bench" I had been previously using a bench for step ups and now I had to do box jumps, which I thought I might also have to do on a bench. However,  I show up to the weight room and voila, there's a box there. Yes. As I prepare to do this jump, I start getting scared! Why? I've jumped before, many times. The thing was that the landing surface seemed so small to me! I kept thinking that I was going to land on the very edge and tip over or not land at all!
Listen, at this point a while back the old me would of said "eff this! I'm scared! Lets do the alternative move!" BUT NOT THIS TIME! I started repeating to myself "you can land it! and if you fall just get back up." So I finally did it. It was so incredibly relieving lol I'm not going to say it was easy, but I got it done. All 4 sets. It got easier each time. I felt like a bad ass!

I proceeded to do the rest of my workout like the bad ass who I felt like. Then….Tun! Tuddunn! Tun! Tun! I get to the single leg romanian deadlift with single arm row! I've done single leg romanian deadlift many times before so I thought it would be no big deal. It was a big deal. A big sloppy deal. I couldn't keep my balance for crap! I kept tipping over to the side and having to side step. I started to get mad at myself because I was having such a hard time. Again, the old me would have quit or done something easier. Instead, I dropped all the weight and I practiced it without weight. Then, I added two dumbbells for equal balance and rowed both of them. Finally, when I felt like I had it down, I did it as instructed in the book with a single dumbbell (heavier than the two previously). It wasn't "easy" duh, but I could do it. I figured out that I had to stay focused on a single object and keep my focus fixed on it as I hinged from the hip up and down and as I rowed up and back down.

I know that its little achievements here and there that are what keep me going. Little by little it all comes together. The word "can't" is slowly making it's way out of my self talk vocabulary. Everytime I am about to say "I can't" I catch myself and I rephrase that to "I will". On the contrary if I don't' want to do something I say, "I won't" or "I don't want to", but "I can't" is a lie. I can do anything I set my mind to.

Tips to Get You Started Towards Your Body Transfomation Goals

I'm not a professional nutritionist; so please do not take my advice as gospel….
With that out of the way, I'd like to share some tips to help you in your journey to being a healthier you!
Not everybody is the same, but these are some things that have helped me that I still practice today.

Do you know how much you should be eating everyday?
Well it's time to find out! If you don't track your food, you don't have to. You are not required, but I would recommend that you do for a little while. This is to put your  daily food intake in perspective. You may think that the food that you are eating only has so many calories when in reality it has more, or fat, or carbs, or sodium! OH MY!

• I recommend that you use a site like : Scooby Workshop to get an idea of how much you need to intake daily. Be realistic with yourself and answer the questions in such manner. Now that you have an idea of what you should be eating go over to My Fitness Pal and start tracking! Warning, my fitness pal is going to ask you a brand new set of question and they will give you a calorie amount that you are supposed intake daily according to your goals. That has always confused me because it is at a deficit and I don't know why, I just don't get that science. However, once you are logged in, you can go to goals and adjust your goals according to what Scooby told you. Also, if you track your workouts with my fitness pal they will expect you to eat that food back, DON'T because the data from scooby already includes your activity. 

While on the subject of food here are some tips in the kitchen to make your tracking easier and that you can continue to incorporate in your daily life.

^^^ My dinner plate. All carefully measured out. 1/2 cup of quinoa, 6 oz of wild caught salmon, 2 cups of classic garden salad, 2tbs of raspberry vinaigrette, 6 croutons, 1 tablespoon of sweet chili sauce. Sounds like a lot of work, BUT once you've been doing it for a while, it's second nature.

• use a food scale and weigh your food raw
• use measurement cups and spoons *p.s. sometimes I eat my snacks right out of a measurement cup. It's a mind thing because 1/3 of a cup doesn't taste like a 1/3 of a cup when you're eating something yummy. lol It tastes like a tablespoon.
• buy organic when all possible. I know that organic is generally pricier than non organic, but the difference in flavor is worth it. Yummy, delicious and fresh flavors also helps us feel satisfied at the end of a meal. =) Here is a list of the top produce you should be buying organic. Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Strive to buy organic anything that you see in the dirty dozen. 
• If you have to use canned food then drain and rinse it (when possible) to get rid of some of the sugars/sodium etc. I do that with beans, fruits and veggies.
• Know what you're eating everyday. Have a plan. You don't have to plan that far in advance, but at least know what's in your fridge and plan what you will be eating the next day. It makes it easier to stay away from drive thrus and the table of gourmet treats at the office. I plan a week in advance. I stay true to that plan about 90% of the time. 
• Don't let hunger strike! NO! NO! NO! Hunger will cloud your judgement! lol Try to eat before you are hungry! I eat every 2 to 3 hours max!

Last, but not least! Keep your iron in check!! and by Iron I mean weights! lol Make weight lifting a part of your workout routine. If you are new to weight lifting and don't know where to start. Here are some resources that you might find helpful: Body Building, New Rules of Lifting For Women, (there's also a non woman version, which anyone can use) and Drop 2 Sizes. These are sources that I have actually used and have given me great results.

Repost: Numbers Don't Define You - Nia Shanks

This is an awesome read that I came across today and I thought I'd share.

Your self-worth, beauty, strength, and overall awesomeness is not defined by numbers.

You are not the size of your jeans.

You are not the number of calories you eat each day.

You are not the percentage of body fat you carry at any given time.

You are not the number on the bathroom scale.

You are not the cup size of your bra.

You are not the circumference of your waist, glutes, or thighs.

You are not the weight on the barbell you pull off the ground or the dumbbell you hoist overhead.

Read More...

Transformation Tuesday

Most of you who know me, have never known me like this. Yeah, I was BIG and I didn't have a clue or I didn't care. It wasn't until mid 2008 that I realized just how big I was. I arrived in Quanitico, VA, which is very close to D.C., which also happens to be the country's second fittest city. Everywhere I turned there was people running or working out in some type of way. This made me very aware of how innactive I was. I remember when I unpacked our stuff I saw the scale, which up until that point was only used by Rey, who was the only one worried about weight (marine corps height and weight standards). I stepped on that scale and I was pushing 200 pounds!!! I'm only 5'2 and a half! The half counts! lol Holy flipping shit!! I weighed more than I did the day I was checked into labor and delivery for Alysa.
I immediately started doing something about it. However, I was doing it all wrong. I took upon fad diet after fad diet, this pill and that pill, and this shake and that shake because they all promised a land of fucking rainbows and butterflies. Let me tell you, being desperate to be "skinny" will make you do some pretty shameful stupid shit, all of which I regret now. There was moments when I was skinny and then when I was too broke to spend money on a refill of whatever pill I was on at the time, I'd get fat again! It was a vicious cycle. I did every zumba class, kickboxing class, fucking pole dancing class, you name it, I was first in line at that class. They all that helped a little. Yet, none of those things thought me how to eat properly. In fact some trainers encouraged me to eat 1200 calories a fucking day, just the calories my body needs to live if I was in a fucking coma!! I beat my metabolism to the ground, of course I didn't know that then.
In 2010 I discovered this BULLSHIT diet called the HCG diet. It helped. I met my goals in a very stupid and wreckless manner. I pretty much trained myself to live off of appx 800 calories a day. This diet lietarlly encouraged me to not exercise. I was happy as all hell because really. who wants to work out? lol ME! Well now I do, I didn't then. I kept my weight off until the holidays then I was back on a diet again. Then I got pregnant with Leon and I got fat again. lol Once I had him I was on the "loose the baby weight" wagon. I did for a while entertain the idea of doing the HCG diet again....until I realized that it had been banned in the US and I would have to order it from China, in vials, and administer them as injections. FUCK THAT!
Then something in me clicked, "there has to be a better way!" There was, I'm on that path right now. I read and I read and I read, I went to sleep and I dramnt of the shit I would read. I book marked so many blogs and so many scholarly articles from expert sources. I learned many of the methods I use today from these articles/people. I eat! I eat well, I eat healthy and I eat to fuel my daily lifestyle, which happens to include weight lifting and interval training at one point it included training for a marathon. I spent so much time in the past looking at food as the enemy, when in reality food is your friend!!! Well, not cheesy french fries, they're no ones friend....well sometimes, but not always. lol
Anyways, I felt the need to write all of this because its a way to clear my mind and get along with my inner voice better at the same time. There are days when I wrongfully compare myself to others and I think "why has it taken me so long to get here when it took them only so and so time" Well that's why. I was ignorant and it took getting it wrong a lot of times before I got it right. I was lazy, I didn't want to read. I was looking for the magic pill, the magic shake. It's not out there, it doesn't exist.
While I am in a great place right now, it's not always peaches and cream. There are days when I wake up and I'm bloated because I ate too much fiber (lol) or I indulged in a ramen noodle soup (hey, i like poor gourmet sometimes lol), my skin is braking out because I let the sweat hang out over my face too long while I worked out the day before, etc. Shit happens. We're not all perfect!

Here is my advice for you if you if you are just starting out on your journey (with bullets yo)

• stick with it
• stop expecting immediate results
• save your money! unless it's creatine, caffeine, amminos, protein, or vitamins, or any other thing that your body already produces on it's own, or that you can get from food, DON'T toxify your body with that bullshit! (in reference to supplements) 
• WORK  B***HES!! 
• Lift weights
• Eat the food. 
• Count the macros 
• Focus on fat loss
• READ! and research!
• LOVE YOURSELF

I feel like I have to say this, even though you guys already know this, I AM NOT AN EXPERT! lol
This is my story!
I'm not done with working out because I feel like it's a part of my life. While, I am confident that my metabolism is up to speed, I'm also afraid that if I let go I'll look like my before picture in no time lol
As God is my witness, I will NOT let that happen.