Iron Tribe and Paleo Living

On February 24, 2014 I went to a Try the Tribe workout..... Run, Squats, Situps, Kettlebell swings, run... Say What!!!!!

I have been working out off and on for a past year or so at home, but really had no idea how out of shape I was! Yeah it was bad... but at the same time I Loved it! This is my type of workout. I work out better in a group when I have not only time to compete against but other people. Sure we may not being doing the same weights, but finishing last is not something I am good at. Well at least this is how I start off at Tribe.

In the first month of Tribe I  learned how to eat properly on the Paleo Lifestyle. Cutting out diary wasn't really that hard for me because I have been drinking almond milk for a few years now. I did however eat yogurt a good bit. After only 4 week at tribe I was down 6 inches even though my weight had stayed the same. I decided to add back in a few things, rice and tortillas. Bad idea. I learned quickly that my body did not like these things. As most people go after about 6 weeks I had started settling into my old ways. Ice cream, Yogurt, Stuff Crusted pizza from pizza hut you name it.. Oreos too!!

Well enough is enough. On the First of May I had a realization. Things had to change. It was time for me to totally commit. I was getting stronger at Tribe but my body weight was going no where. Food is my real enemy!! So for the last 4 days, going on 5 now I have really tighten in my food.. Here is what I have been eating.

I feel so much better!!!

This week in Tribe I hit a new PR for Back Squats 185# at a 3RM. 

I also ran for the first time more then 400m. 800m in 6:38mins

#whyitribe

Faith and the Single Mom 2013

“We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” -2 Corinthians 5:7-9

As a single parent we have the responsibility for everything when it comes to our kids. Not only do we have to feed and clothe them, but we have to make sure they go to school, have a roof over their heads, take them where they have to be and make sure they are being raised with manners and with a moral compass. At the same time, we have to deal with our own rejection from our ex-spouse or lack thereof and figure how to support our child(ren), in the ways that they need it.

 When our jobs seem threatened or our finances are not in order we tend to totally panic. Will the child support show up on time? Will it even show up? Some single parents have an ex-spouse that pays their child support on time and is there still to help with the kid(s). For some of us though there may have never been an ex-spouse in the picture or they disappear without a trace. Sometimes it is for the good of the child(ren) and other times it is the ex-spouse being selfish, childish or just plain irresponsible.

Have you ever heard that God will not give us more than we can handle? This is not only a saying but it is found in the bible: 1 Corinthians 10: 13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” However we know that bad things happen to “good” people and sometimes it just makes no sense. Of course when it comes to faith we do not what is really going on with someone. They can say that they are a Christian, go to Church every time the doors are open, be active in their church and tithe but we really don’t know their heart. Only God does. He promises not to give us more than when we can handle when we are with him. Once we start drifting he may do things to bring us back.

In Sunday school this last Sunday we were studying the book of Mark like we have been doing most of this year. In the verse Mark 11:15-19 it talks about how the priest made things convenient for those that came to the temple to give their sacrifice during Passover. At the temple the prices were highly inflated and Jesus did not want his father’s house made of a den of robbers. We ventured off into the subject that if something like that was convenient was it really a sacrifice? Sure it cost them money they may not have but it was not something they cared for or would no longer have to feed their family. Convenience can make things a sin because it makes things others than God the priority in our lives.

Just like with our health and fitness we have to work consistently on our relationship with God. Just like we can’t wrap ourselves healthy or take a pill to fix our health problems, we can not attend church once a week and expect us to have a relationship with God and for him not to give us more than we can handle because we are not really in our faith with him. We are those hypocritical Christians that says we are Christians but we do whatever we want because we are saved and we can do what we want. Well we all know that this is not true. When things are going wrong in our lives we need to look at our relationship with God. Maybe he is bringing on the anxiety and stress so we will turn back to him. Maybe he is giving us insomnia so we will be brought to our knees before him.

Single Parenting and Baseball: How are they alike?

I am a baseball Mom! I have 2 boys that are all about some baseball. For us it is a year round sport. Did you even know that you can play baseball year round? Well you can. I have an 8 and 11 year old. Both boys play park ball and the older one plays travel baseball. This is our first year. And I say “Our” not “His” because someone has to take him to the practices and all the games. We also play Fall Park Baseball and Spring Baseball though the older one may not be able to play Park ball come spring due to Travel Baseball and games tournament schedules.

Here we are a little over two weeks in and we have had more practices then I can count on two hands and I am feeling exhausted. My older one is playing in the Major League and the little one is in Minor League. For my little one it is his first year in kid pitch baseball. After watching a few of his practices I got to think about how baseball at the many different levels is a lot like life and being a single parent.

When you are a kid all you want to do is be in the infield because that is where the most important and best players are. All the kids want to be the best. No one wants to play in the outfield. I mean really think about it. How many kids do you see ask the coach, “Hey Coach I want to be centerfield?” I know that is a song but it is not reality. It is the same for us Single Parents who were once married. I know that some people today are choosing not to find a spouse before having a baby but the norm is to get married and then have a baby. But then something happens and the marriage falls apart and all of a sudden we are in the outfield. We are Single Parents trying to get by. We lose our dreams, some income and sometimes our sanity it feels like. We want to be the infielders, part of the team and not stuck out there by ourselves. What most kids don’t realizes that as they move from Park Ball to Travel to High School and College, the outfield becomes one of the most important positions on the team. Yes you have to have a good pitcher and catcher but if you have an outfield that can’t catch a ball you are going to be in big trouble. So for us single parents we have to learn to enjoy being single parents while we are out there in the outfield. We should be focusing on ourselves and our kids before trying to get back into the infield, aka dating or marriage. If not we become lousy infielders and get moved right back out to the outfield. 

So how can we focus on ourselves? Our kids?

I have found that for me I need to focus on my faith and health to be the best mother I can be. When either of these start to slack off, I can tell a big difference. When I don’t pray and/or studying the bible regularly things seem to fall to pieces. When I eat junk and don’t exercise I feel sluggish and I get very irritable. When these two things are in check I am a better mother. Once I have it together I then need to focus on my kids. Now I am not saying ignore them until the others are taken care of, but I need to be consistently working on all three things. The kids have school and baseball. They need to be taught responsibility, good habits, be encouraged & guided to growth their faith and they need to be kids too. They need to have some fun. For my boys that means some time on the computers or xbox, playing wall-ball or shooting targets with their airsoft guns. Summers are spent hanging out with their friends in the pool or camping out in the many tree houses in the neighborhood.

Beachbody helps me be able to be there for my kids. I can get a great workout in at home and if the kids are feeling it that can work out with me too. It gives me the opportunity to own and work my own business from home and hopefully one day be able to  fire my boss (or at least go part time) and be able to spend more time with the kids.

You have to find what works for you and stick with it. If you are a single parent out there find other single parents you can talk to or hang out with that will not pressure you to date or marry again quickly. You cannot move back into the infield until you are ready. That might take a year or two and it may take until the kids are in college. Everyone is different. We have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of anyone else. 

Single Parents & Get Results Quick Schemes

I have been doing a lot of Personal Development here lately. Some of it has been reading a book by John Maxwell with my team of beachbody coaches and some has been on my own during the long drives I have taken for certification. You can listen to a book or two on a 12 hour drive.

So what have I learned from all of this? Something I knew but maybe needed driven home to me more by these great authors and motivators. There are NO, none, nada, Get Results Quick Programs out there to build wealth or lose weight or find your Prince Charming or Princess for you single dads out there.

As Single Parents we are strapped for time and sometimes strapped for cash. When we want something for ourselves or maybe even our kid(s) we want to in the least amount of time possible and for the least amount of money too.  How many companies are out there today that promise you that you can make $500 in the first month or week all by and/or using and promoting their products?  On the same note, how many companies are out there that say here take this pill, drink this drink or wrap your body to get toned sexy abs or booty without changing your lifestyle any and no exercise is required? You can see results in as little as 48 hours. I mean really folks, how gullible has our society become?  I don’t have to work hard, I can eat all the junk food I want and never get off the couch but I can make $500 a week and look like a model.

Well sorry to tell you the bad news but most of us know that this isn’t true. However there are a few of you out there that fall for every get results quick schemes that come along.

At this point you might be saying, “Hey aren’t you a Beachbody Coach? Don’t they sell a Shake that helps you to lose weight and exercise DVDs that say you can get results as in little as 25 minutes a day?”

I am an Independent Team Beachbody Coach.  Beachbody does have a shake, they do offer all kinds of exercise programs that vary in length, but no where do we say you don’t have to work for what you want. Being a Coach is a business. It gives me the opportunity to own my own business, set my own hours and make an unlimited amount of income based on the amount of effort that I put into the business. It allows me to help other people reach their fitness goals and it holds me accountable to mine even though I fall off track from time to time, I am always working for my goals.

I do get frustrated from time to time on all aspects of it. I am not losing weight quick enough, I am not making a ton of money after a year of being a coach, though I only really only started working my business in the middle of June. I see friends that have joined other network marketing companies moving up in ranks and from what they say making a good income. But what really bothers me is that some of these companies are the Get Results Quick Schemes that no one can sustain for a lifetime and to be honest how healthy are they? Would we have an Obesity epidemic in the United States if everyone could take a pill a day or wrap your body to really lose weight? Sure you may see results for a little while but once you stop whatever you are doing the weight will come right back on.

The only real way to earn a living or get healthy is to Work for it! You have to work hard at your job or business, eat clean and healthy and exercise in some fashion every day.

“The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard Work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” –Vince Lombardi

Day 17 2013 Ultimate Reset

Day 17 and Counting

I am feeling great!! That is all I have to say!

However I am so over Fruit! I can not wait until Day 22, Ultimate Reset ends on Day 21 and for breakfast on Day 22 I am having oatmeal with cinnamon, Honey (raw and unfiltered) with an apple! I so can’t wait

Lunch today was a little tricking. I had a 2.5 hours meeting at lunch that I had an option of a few things. Red Beans and rice, shrimp and grits, fish tacos or a salad with chicken. I got the red beans and rice with sweet potatoes fries. Okay they are fried I know I think. These looked baked.

I wasn’t hungry for my snack today!! WOOH!

Dinner was Fabulous! Butternut Squash, Apparagus, Green beans and Quinao! I will be having that again tomorrow!

I may not be losing a ton of weight with the Ultimate reset, results do vary, and I may not be following it 100% I am learning how to make healthy choices. I am trying new foods and learning that somethings I thought that I didn’t like I do.

Day 16 2013

Day 16 and more fruit    

Okay so I think week 3 of the reset is by far going to be the hardest. Why? Fruit every morning for breakfast!! Enough said there

Well today I woke feeling bloated and blah. I asked on the week 3 reseat facebook page and the advice was to have some Herbal Ginger Tea. I will be the first to say that it worked and didn’t taste all that bad.

Well Breakfast… Fruit with Honey. It isn’t too bad I just would like a change. Maybe some Oatmeal and nuts or something

Lunch. Well I had plans with a friend and we went to Jason’s deli. I had a Microgreen salad and Veggie soup. It was nice to have the soup because it is so cold outside!

After Lunch I was checking in with my dietbet.com group and saw that they now had a 6 month bet you could place. Well needless to say I am all in. You have to lose 10% of your body weight in 6 months! I am so in! But the only problem I want to be at my goal weight in 6 months. That is 49.5lb at the moment or 27% of my body weight. I finally found all the rules before I decided to join. This will keep me motivated.

I skipped the afternoon snack because I was not hungry and went home to dinner. Dinner was Curry Califlower, Kale and Quinoa. I was supposed to be rice but I had the Quinoa cooked already! I was a little worried about the Curry but honestly I couldn’t taste it.

I did cook some Banana Nut bread tonight and had just a taste to see if it was any good.

5 more days to go!

Day 15 Ultimate Reset 2013

Day 15 with 7 to Go!

Either I Slept really good or I need to get used to the time change!

Results are in for week 2.. 14 days done and I am down 8.5 inches and almost 6 pounds! More important the bloat is gone and I am finally losing inches on my calves and thighs!

Breakfast… Fruit Today I added Raspberries to the mix! So Breakfast was fresh fruit with a little bit of honey on it. The honey isn’t on the list but it helps it go down.

Lunch: Well I Had a salad and Veggies. It was supposed to be Miso soup and a salad but it is very hard to make soup at work.

The day went on and it was time for the Alkalinize. I have gotten to where this stuff doesn’t bother me anymore.

Snack today was carrots and Avocado. It is much better made into guacamole.

Now on to dinner! Quinoa, Garlic Veggies and a sweet Potato. The hardest thing to do was finding something to put on the sweet potato that wasn’t butter and sugar. I settled for cinnamon, olive oil and some Himalayan salt. It was pretty good and filly though after dinner my stomach started bothering me. I am not sure if it was from the Veggies or the bite of cornbread I had.

All in all it was a good day. No craving for chocolate and it is date night! What more could a girl ask for?

Pass the Wine Please….

Day 11 Ultimate Reset 2013

I so didn’t sleep good last night. And here is the reason why I believe because it has become a pattern. I am a single mom. Ever since my divorce has been final (going on 6 years now) I have made some really bad choices when it comes to men. Bad may be the understatement of the year if you know me really well. Anyways how does this do with no sleeping well a few days a week? I have found this great guy and things are going great! We have quickly settled into a routine and things couldn’t be better. It seems that the mornings after we have a good evening together I wake up just a little over the edge nervous. A few friends of mine just say that this is me missing him. I am slowly starting to agree. I am twitterpated.

Just in case you don’t know what twitterpated is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImXJc2f05Dk

So breakfast today is fruit again. Oh how I would really like some oatmeal with walnuts and cinnamon. There is a lot of fruit on the menu for the next couple of days. Heck I could even go for Chickpeas. I am a creature of habit but I need some protein with breakfast.

By 10am my stomach was starting to growl. Okay confession. For 10 days I have been able to get almost a gallon of water down and today I have 24oz or a little more down. Maybe close to 30oz. I have been getting in 72oz by lunch and today that is not going to happen. So I broke. On weeks 2-3 of the reset you can have Vegan Shakeology with water and some fruit added in. luckily being a beachbody coach I carry around samples packets of all the flavors with me. So I poured up a cup of water and put in my chocolate Shakeology and yummy… Oh how I have missed you my Shakeology!

I just came to this very conclusion.  The marketing for Shakeology says :

1)      Lose Weight -  I know this to be true not only from my own experience but from one of my coaches who just couldn’t get off that last bit of baby weight but once she started using shakeology daily it came off

2)      Reduce Cravings – So true! I never crave anything. These past two weeks I have craves chocolate like it was going to stop being made.

3)      Feel Energized –The Ultimate Reset has been known to make you tired and to feel like you just ran a marathon because of all of the hard work your body is doing. However my energy level is no where near the level that it is always at when I am on shakeology daily.

4)      Improve Digestion and Regularity – Well nothing has changed there but I wouldn’t expect that because of all of the clean food I am eating! And the detox supplement

Lunch was a lot later than normal. I made an appointment at 11:30am, not sure what I was thinking but I did it. Lunch was a repeat from dinner last night. Quinoa Lentil Pilaf the way I made it and I had the rest of my Sweet Potatoe & red pepper Bisque soup that I didn’t eat yesterday for lunch. It was just a taste.

I rushed out of work because it is Halloween. The rain was supposed to move in at 5pm and I the boys with a lot of friends wanted to go Trick-or-Treating. Maybe I am just a big kid but I love Halloween. I always dress up with the kids as we walk around the neighborhood. This was going to be a trying Halloween for me. Normally I pick at the kids candy while we are out because we could walk for 2 hours or more. Typically we have dinner beforehand but not today because of the rain. So one all the kids (my 2 plus 3 neighborhood boys, plus one of the oldster kids friends and his brother, sister and mom) friends were over we left to go get on other friend who lived around the corner. We walked for almost 2 hours before getting back to our house. I didn’t eat one piece of candy the whole time we were out. I came home took my supplements and cooked my dinner. Hearty Vegetable Miso Soup with Asparagus. Okay it was supposed to me steamed swiss chard but I wanted my asparagus. This time I cooked it with a Olive oil, almonds, onions and some garlic. Hello new favorite!

Well after dinner was done I still had this awful craving. I broke down. I had a bit and I been a bit of a chocolate chip cookie and a small bit size twizzler. I didn’t beat myself up about it. The twizzler was not good but man oh man the chocolate chip cookie was. I could have eaten the whole thing and it was one of those big ones from Costcos. I quickly went upstairs so I wasn’t around any of that stuff. We all make mistakes, we all slip up but I am not going to let this two little bites ruin my 21 days. It will happen but it won’t happen again the next 10 days!!

I am half way through the reset and still loving it. Tomorrow night will be trying because we are going to a Ducks Unlimited Banquet. Chicken, BBQ and all the sides plus a bar. Oh my! I got this!

Day 10 2013 Ultimate Reset

Once again I slept really well, 7 hrs and 29 minutes but I was restless 5x. However a cold front is moving in and my head was killing me when I woke up. Who needs a weather man?

Breakfast today was a plate of fresh fruit. Strawberries, Blueberries and a green apple. It was filling but it takes me a long time to eat. The day went by pretty quick but I did start to get hungry quicker than normal. I think I need a little bit of protein with my breakfast.

For lunch I got to have more Potato and Red Pepper Bisque with a salad. It was very filing and I couldn’t actually eat all of the bisque. I figured I would save it for another day or if I was just starving later.

The day went on and I become full of energy. I started looking for the shakeology recipes on the Participates Portal and come to find out that yogurt and berries was really only on the week 1 snack guide and not week 2 & 3. The books needs to be a little clearer how it is wrote to show this. I had already made my Greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey and berries for my snack so I figured another day wouldn't hurt me.

Dinner: That was a Quinoa Lentil mix that I totally messed up but it was good. I put the onions, red pepper and carrots in my Ninja to chop and ended up making them more like a soup. I just threw everything in a pot and mixed it in. It was more like a soup then a salad. I then cooked some asparagus in olive oil with almonds. I was supposed to have broccoli but I just can’t get over the smell. I will try it before it is over.

All in all it was a good day. I wasn’t tired at night like I normally am which lead to a restless night. Of course I forgot to set my fitbit to sleep mode so I don’t know how I really slept but I know it wasn’t good.

Tomorrow marks the mid-way of the Ultimate Reset. Some of the meals I have experienced I know I will continue and others I know I may either modify or try to make them where I could continue them. We should be eating to live and fuel our bodies, bit living to eat. I am ready to get back on the bandwagon od exercising and getting into tip top shape. 

Day 9 and Cravings 2013 Ultimate Reset

         

I may have slept for 8hrs 19 mins but the 6x I was restless well those were probably the times I was having some crazy dreams about food. Yes I dreamed about food. Steak, Potatoes, Triple layer chocolate cake and a big glass of milk! Totally crazy!

Today was very easy for me to get up. It seems that the 8 hours of sleep totally agreed with me.

Breakfast: I wasn’t so sure about breakfast. Miso Soup, Chickpeas and a slice of avocado. The Chickpeas and Avocado I could do again but the Miso Soup I can so do without. I can not get it to taste like what I am used to from the local Sushi Places.

By lunch I was getting hungry and looking forward to my lunch date with one of my BFFs and then my red beans and rice when I got back. Now how can you eat out on the Reset? Well it isn’t easy and I have only found 1 or 2 places that you can. We go to Ruby Tuesday’s because it is right down the road. There I can get a salad bar and have my microgreen salad with some grilled veggies on it because some of that stuff and still can’t eat raw though it is slowly getting to me. I have now had cucumbers 2 times. You must understand. The only way I eat cucumbers is as pickles. Well I had a nice lunch with my friend and headed back to work looking forward to my red beans and rice but I was half full or more. I measure everything like the reset said and man it seems like a ton of food!! After eating my red beans and rice I really could have curled up in my chair at work and taken a nap.

Today I have been craving Chocolate and a Cup of Coffee with some Pumpkin Spice creamer. I resisted but ended up have a cup of Green tea with Jasmine. The next thing I knew it was time for that nastly little green supplement of stuff. Even after 9 days it still doesn’t not taste better

For Snack I had plan greek yogurt with cinnamon, honey, blueberries and strawberries. Now that is some good stuff. I am really looking forward to dinner tonight.

Well I arrived home to find my grandmother was looking for something to cook the family. I was going to offer to make enough sweet potato and red pepper bisque for everyone but she made the one thing that made me almost have to leave the kitchen, spaghetti! Let me just say that while being on the reset for 9 days now I have learned a few things about myself.  1) When I cook I taste test a lot. I may know my portions but from tasting I probably had 1.5 times the amount I should have of something. 2) When I am cooking if there is a bag of chips or cookies open I tend to reach for them if I am cooking something you can’t taste along the way. 3) Spaghetti noodles sitting in front of me are just a bad thing. Grab you a fork and pull you out a few and eat while you are waiting on the sauce to get ready. I didn’t have any spaghetti but you can sure as bet as soon as everyone had their plate fixed I put all the leftovers up. Out of site and out of mind.

Dinner: Well I started getting everything ready for the soup and right before I put it in the blender I started to think I was missing something. My Asparagus! I totally forgot to put it on to cook. No problem though. A Little bit of Olive oil, almonds and onions and they started cooking just nicely. Dinner was just great. I loved the soup and I am looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow. However I followed the recipe and doubled it but man on man does it seem like a lot of soup? It made a really big bowl of it.

Today I am still really achy. The detox supplement I was so worried about really isn’t that bad but my whole body aches like the flu. I can’t say it is like I exercised because that is a deeper pain. Time for a nice warm Epson salt bubble bath.. Now where is the Wine? It is a fruit right?

Day 8 and Week 1 of being Vegan 2013

Sunday night I went to bed early! I slept for 8hrs and 41minutes. I was awake 1 time and restless 7 so that is why I hit the Snooze button like 4 times before getting up

I am nervous about the next 2 weeks of the reset. Week 2 cuts out animals products including dairy. It is fruits, veggies and some starches from here on out!

Results from week 1: Yeah I weighed.. down 3.8lbs and 8 inches total. I measure in 9 places. Chest (under where the bra would be to get a real measurement of “bra fat”),  At my waist (belly button), hips at the biggest part, right and left thigh, calf and bicep. I was happy that my thighs and calves went down!

Time to take my supplements and add in the Detox. Everyone talks about how bad it is but really compared to the Alkalinze it is not bad at all. Breakfast today is fresh fruit. For me that consist of Strawberries, Blueberries and half a green apple. I can say until the reset I only fruit I ate was apples or bananas and some grapes. I am starting to increase my taste buds and get over the little things that have bothered me all these years. Surprisingly enough this breakfast kept me full until lunch.

By lunch I was able to get 72o z of water down. I am keeping a 24oz bottle next to me and making sure I am getting own 1 and hour until lunch then finishing up with more in the afternoon. It is my goal to get at least 90oz a day.

Lunch consisted of a Micro-green salad and homemade dressing with a slice of avocado. This is something that I just started eating to. It is great in guacamole but alone I was not so sure about that. I seemed to get hungry quicker after this meal. I may need to tweak it a little bit and add some chickpeas to give me a little boost.

Snack time… Oh yeah Greek yogurt with a touch of cinnamon, honey and the rest of the blueberries and strawberries I didn’t eat at breakfast. This was oh so good.

Time for Dinner.. Red Beans and rice (homemade with no meat), Asparagus and Zucchini. It was very filling. 

After Dinner I took my oldest to look for him a Halloween costume. It was around 8pm when we got back and I was so ready for bed. The tired spells have come back and my body is aching all over.

I tried a hot bath with some Epson Salt but it is so not the same without a glass of wine. I feel like my body has been put through another Insanity certification with Shaun T there himself and I haven’t exercised in weeks.  It is almost like the aches you have when you have the flu. This is something that a massage only helped a little bit and my massage therapist told me I have a lot of trigger points in my legs that needed to work out and I must have been hitting the gym hard. If only he knew.

Day 8 is over and in the books! Only 13 more days of Vegan eating and tomorrow’s breakfast doesn’t sound at all appetizing. 

Day 7 Week 1! Ultimate Reset 2013

Sunday mean church. Sunday I woke up again at 5am. My sleeping is starting to be off. Though I have it narrowed down to what is causing this! I also awoke with a killer headache. Back to bed! Time went by quickly and it was time for church.  I got up and fixed my Oatmeal and Yogurt! Needless to say only the yogurt got eaten and I took the Oatmeal with me. We always have breakfast type foods in out room so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t tempted. So there I sat in my Sunday school class filled with women eating my oatmeal, cinnamon and apple while everyone else was having some yummy looking bread dish.

After church I came home and took my supplements. I had stopped by and gotten the boys some Zxaby’s because my headache still had not gone away. I laid down because my head was throbbing and I had an hour for the cashews to soak in water for my soup. I ended up sleep in a little longer but when I got up I had my Zucchini-Cashew Soup and Microgreen salad. Today I am awfully tired. I needed to go get some Distilled water though because I was totally out and I had a few other things I needed to get for the kids lunches for the week. Off to the grocery store I went.

No snack today! When I got back from the store I took my Alkalinize and figured out what the kids wanted for dinner. For me I knew I was having Tempeh, Veggies and Brown rice. All stuff that I already had cooked and in the fridge so all I had to do was heat it up. It was around 7pm before I was able to have dinner since my timing was off for the day due to the longer than expected nap I took. I so needed that nap. I was still tired. However I had dinner, talked to my man and then got ready to watch the walking dead! Yeah it is a Sunday in October!

Wooh!! Week 1 is done and ready to move on to the next Phase of the Ultimate Reset: Release

This may be a heard week because I will be moving away from animal products and moving to a fruit, veggies, whole-grain based diet. 

Day 6 Ultimate Reset 2013

It is Saturday and we are having a garage sale at my house. I had decided though that since my mom and grandmother handled it I was going to try and sleep in. Well at 5am I was wide awake. Then again at 6am and so on. Twister, our English Springer Spaniel, would bark anytime someone walked up to the house! Heaven help me. Well I got up around 9am and took my supplements. I sat outside for a little while with my mom until I decided she needed to see my Halloween Costume for the party I was going to that night. She laughed at me.. Now I am normally very conservative but over the past year I have grown a lot of confidence in myself and went a little out of my comfort zone this year.

On to breakfast: Kale with Pine nuts, Baked Tempeh, 1 slice of whole grain bread and I forgot the avocado. It was good. Tempeh is growing on me and Kale it very slowly. I hung out for a little while but knew I needed to get going. I need to run to the mall to find some think hose to wear to the party because it was going to be cold. Then to get my grocery shopping for week 2 done and back home to cook my dinner for the night.

Now my timing of the supplements and food was off today. I was gone for almost 3 hours and when I got back it was time to start cooking and getting ready for the party.

So I had my lunch: Quinoa Salad and a Microgreen salad, I through the Quinoa on top of the Microgreen and started preparing dinner.  See for dinner there is a soup with Cashew’s in in and they have to soak for an hour. So while they soaked for an hour I cut up my veggies for dinner and put them in the oven. They are supposed to cook for 40-50 minutes and here it was 2pm and I needed to leave my house at 330pm. So I got my veggies on and ran upstairs to get my hair done. I had 20 minutes to get my hair in curlers so I could come flip the Veggies. Done! I came down flipped the veggies and cut up my Zucchini up to start to boil for my soup.  I now had about 15 more minutes.. time to get to get the make up done and get partially dressed.

Well everything got done and I was out of the house at 345pm. Not bad because I didn’t have to be there until 415pm but I have been taught if you are supposed to be there at 415 and you show up at 415 you are late.. Always arrive 15 minutes early.

So here I was, dressed as the Cheshire cat going to a Halloween Party to meet my Boyfriends’s friends for the first time where there would be all kinds of food and I have my dinner packed and a snack just in case I got hungry.

So Dinner was Zuchini-Cashew Soup, Roasted Root Medley and some Quinoa. It was supposed to be Miller but I substituted the Quinoa because I didn’t have any millet at the house. My man was cute. He didn’t want to eat in front of me because of what I was having and they had BBQ, some little sandwiches that looked good, dumplings ( I had 1 little bite of his) and all kinds of sweets. I told him I was good to fix him a plate and I would be fine. Talk about some will power. Over the night I did have two small glasses (like 4oz each) of hot apple cider because it was freezing and 1 piece of candy corn. It was in a cup at the table we were playing cards at. I am surprised I had that much self-control because they had brownies and I had wanted some Chocolate.  The night wad good though!

Day 7.. almost a third done with the reset!

Day 5 Ultimate Reset 2013

I am still sleeping well! 6hrs and 43 minutes and only restless one time. Yeah I hit the snooze button.

Breakfast today was super yummy! Oatmeal with walnuts, honey and fresh fruit! Yummy yummy! It was filling and good and something I will continue when the reset is over.

Lunch: well when ready the menu for the day I kind of got things all messed up. I was supposed to have Quinoa Salad, Hummus ad raw vegetables. I am not sure what I was thinking but to work I brought Quinoa with stir fried veggies and the hummus with raw carrots. It happens. We read thing wrong or pack the wrong lunch but all in all not a bad thing because the Quinoa salad with the green lentils I am not sure I could have stomached.

I left work just a little early today to run by the Delta Zeta Market place. It is a place with vendors to be able to do a little shopping. The smell of roasted almonds and pecan almost did me in. There was also a lady there with all kinds of jellys, jams, butters, spreads you name it. I did buy some for use later and tasted just 2 of them to see what they were like. I was very careful to read the label to see what exactly was in them. I would have loved to have gotten some of her butters (apple, pumpkin ect) but they all had high fructose corn syrup in them, so they were out of the question.

I didn’t have nor did I want a snack. Seems that my appetite is slowly going away.

Dinner: well my older was still out of town so my little one got Papa Johns. Do you know what it was like to ride in the car with Cheesy Bread from Papa Johns. As for me I came home and made me some Stir-Fry veggies which I almost burned because I was doing one to many things at a time and made some Miso soup. I also had some greens for a salad. Not sure where I got that but I had one.

On to Day 6 which I already knew was going to be challenging one for me.

Day 4 Emotions Set it 2013

Day 4 Emotions Set it     

Thursday.. Day 4, I woke up feeling a little uneasy and it was harder to get up this morning than any other day on the reset so far. I am starting to put to and to together on days that I feel like this and think I have it narrowed down to one key trigger. As I prepared for the day things got better. I just needed to get out of bed and get rid of that feeling. Ever since my divorce from my children’s father I have suffered from anxiety. Some of it is from past experiences and other is total pressure I put on myself. Really who should be trying to raise two boys as a single mom, working a full time job and trying to grow 3 businesses of their own? At some point in my life I am going to slow down, well maybe.

I also did the one thing I said I would not do! I weighed! My stomach is feeling tighter and I feel lighter so I weighed.. 2-3 pounds down.. Not bad! I will not weight again until Saturday afternoon. My plan was originally only to weight in once a week. I caved today and Saturday I am doing it because my man is taking me to a Halloween party one of his friends is throwing and there will be food and drinks I am sure. I want to stay on track so I figure that will be the best way! It will be hard for me. It is a social event and the first time I am meeting his friends. Yeah I am going to be coined the weird girl who brought her own food and water to the party! I did ask him if he would tell them beforehand because I don’t want to see like a stuck up little women and of course he was like sure… I am going to tell them you are just a very stuck-up picky eating and wasn’t sure what they would have or if I would eat it. You would have to understand his personality to know that this is so something he would say and it would be taking in a funny way. Of course I have my come back ready.

So with one kid away on a field trip the house was really quiet. I got the littlest ones lunch ready and started preparing my food for the day. This will be bad for me to admit, but I am supposed to do lunch with a friend so I didn’t pack what was on the menu for lunch today (Nori Rolls with Tempeh and Veggies, Lentil-Lime Salad and a Microgreen salad with no nuts). We are supposed to go to a local Sushi place that I know makes things fresh and has the organic brown rice, However I did pack the Microgreen salad with nuts in case she cancelled. Which she did due to work, but I am going to have lunch with another friend at Ruby Tuesdays where I can make my own salad and get a grilled chicken breast. Four days in and I am caving? No I am making healthy choices and a lifestyle change. I will be carrying my bottle of distilled mineralized water in!

Breakfast this morning was a fresh fruit plate. I had Strawberries, Blueberries, Peach and an apple. Those that know me know I don’t eat strawberries unless they are chocolate covered, blueberries only in muffins and Peach only in Margaritas! This is a big accomplishment for me. I also had Organic Plan yogurt with Honey and a slice of toast! Very filling!

By 11:15 I was getting a little hungry but that is okay. Lunch with Miss Heidi is right around the corner and I will be making Healthy choices at Ruby Tuesday.

For Lunch I had the Salad Bar (Spring Mix Baby Lettuce, Onions, green legumes, I tried a few cucumbers, nuts, carrots with oil and vinegar), grill zucchini, roasted spaghetti squash and ½ a plain chicken breast because it was so big. I was full! And I am thinking I may not need all or any of my afternoon snack other than to wash down the Alkalinize which I forgot today as I realized when I went to take it.

I got home from work only to find that my Halloween Costume had come in. That totally distracted me for a few moments and almost forgot my Alkaninize again.  However I took it and started in with dinner. On tonight’s menu was Quino with Stir-Fried Veggies and a cucumber-tomato salad. I didn’t make the cucumber salad but had the other and man on man was it good! It tasted so good! I was eating that as my son and grandparents were eating Taco Bell. It didn’t even phase me. Okay well for a brief moment when I first saw it I thought it would taste good but I stuck with the plan! It is so easy to get off track.

Today I haven’t been as hungry. I only had my almonds for my snacks in the afternoon instead of the almonds and apple. I think I may have been more bored then hungry but I had the almonds not knowing what time I would get dinner done.

The reset seems to have a calming effect on me. I can easily get aggravated if things are not going like they should (kids homework, dinner getting done, ect) but the last three days I have been calmer. Maybe it is because my body is detoxing. Maybe it is because I am trying not to stress about anything and maybe I just letting things go. Only time will tell.

I wasn’t as tired yesterday as I have been at night.  Normally by 830om I am beat and ready for bed. Dinner was easier than normal though and took less time to prepare so maybe that was it. Dinner was good and filling. However at 930pm I put a movie in and stayed up and watched it. Needless to say I only got 6hrs 43mins of rest. I awoke feeling rested and got right out of the bed at 630am.

On to Day 5 with 17 more days to go I can already see that some of these changes are things I will be doing once the reset is over. Some of the meals are good and I will continue to them long after my 21 days is over. It takes 21 days to create a habit. The only thing I a missing right now is my exercise. I want to push play. I want to go to the Barre. I want to do the new Rounds of Insanity, PiYo Strength, TurboKick and Hip Hop Hustle I have received in the mail. November 11^th here I come!

Day 3 & Still Going Strong 2013

I woke up groggy but that slowly faded. I think it was more just the getting up and going then anything. I only hit the snooze button once before I got up. According to my Fitbit I slept 7hr and 45mins and was only restless one time! WOOH!! That is a first in months. My typical sleep pattern: Go to be around 9pm, talk on the phone for an hour, flip the channels for 30mins-1 hour, turn the TV off and lay there looking at the ceiling for an hour or longer and then be restless 5-15 times and awake 3-4 hoping for 6 hours.

By time I showered and got ready I started getting a little hungry. I put my Kale on to Boil and took my supplements. I then got my kids lunches ready and my older son’s dinner ready since he was leaving on a field trip and needed a bagged dinner for the trip. Once they were off and I had my breakfast and lunch packed it was off to work I go!

Breakfast was better this morning and after my 24oz of water before breakfast I wasn’t as hungry. Another 24oz of water and some work and then it was time for supplements 2. I wasn’t hungry yet but I took them because it was time. Today’s lunch was not something I was looking forward to. The Lentil-Lime Salad stuck to high heavens and I am not sure how it was going to taste at all! Well let me just say it was hard to stomach and I didn’t get much of it down at all. I tried everything to get it down I just couldn’t. Luckily today was a Micro-green salad today though to. However, I made my dressing on Monday and it had separated in the container I had it in and would not shake bake together. It was almost like all of the oil had evaporated which I know can’t happen. It was weird but I went with it. It took me about an hour to eat the whole salad today. This made me have to wait longer to take the nasty Alkalinize. It may be okay with some OJ.  There has to be an easier way to get it down.

All in all I haven’t been as hungry today but I am still looking forward to my Apple and almonds!

Dinner was Miso Soup, Sushi with Tempeh, avocado, rice and carrots along with a cucumber salad. I still can’t find the nerve to try cucumbers again so I opted for a salad no dressing. The sushi was rather easy to make and tasted pretty good. I need to learn the tricks to making sushi. I got it to roll okay but getting it to cut into pieces was a totally different story so it was more like eating a burrito wrapped in seaweed! The Miso soup was okay but I have had better. It was lacking something and brown instead of the usual yellow that I am used too. I could have picked up the wrong kind of Miso though. It was a brown paste and didn’t look too appetizing.

After dinner it was date night!! Yeah. Well date now for now is a movie at his house since there is no going out to eat or ordering some Chinese food and eating in. Luckily I have been blessed with a man that understands this and it working on his on health and fitness right now so it isn’t an issue. However I have found that these meals or the preparation and cleaning of the kitchen afterwards makes me totally exhausted.

I feel asleep rather quickly once I got home and sleep pretty well. According the fitbit 7hr 39min and 2x restless (snooze button 2x).

Day 4 is off and running!!

Day 2 Ultimate Reset October 22 2013

For the first time in a while I slept through the night. I didn’t wake up in a cold sweat nor did I wake up at some crazy hour in a full blown panic attack. That has been happened to me for the past few weeks or longer. At first I blew it off as getting sick and then to stress. I am starting to think my hormones are just out of wake because I am getting to that age.. Mid-Life Crisis here I come! Lol

However, When my alarm ( I use my iPhone)  did go off I hit what I thought was the snooze button but apparently I hit the Off button. I meant to just stretch and sit there for a few minutes but 30 minutes later I awoke and quickly showered so I could get the kids lunched packed and my breakfast and lunch packed.

One thing about the Ultimate Reset is that there is no Shakeology until Week 2 and 3 and then it is the Vegan (Tropical Berry or Chocolate Vegan) with water.. I will so be getting my Chocolate on. I am so used to getting up in the morning and having my daily dose of dense nutrition with Almond milk and whatever I feel like adding to it! I love me some Shakeology! Well today was day 2 without Shakeology and I missed it. I came close to reaching for my milk and blender as I was fixing the kids sandwiches because that is how I roll, but I didn’t! Instead I got the kids lunches ready and then prepared my stuff for lunch dinner and snack. I took my supplements and off to work I went!

Breakfast. I was hungrier today then on day 1 by time I got to work and had waited my 30 minutes to eat breakfast. AS I sat down to breakfast I noticed I had forgotten my blueberries. I am not a fan of blueberries unless they are in something baked like a muffin but I was willing to give them a try! So I added a little bit of organic honey to my oatmeal and had it with my organic plain yogurt with honey.

I felt more focused at work today and didn’t want my normal cup of coffee. By lunch I had drank 68oz of distilled mineralized water. I took my next round of supplements and patiently waited for me lunch.. Salad with chicken and homemade dressing!! Yum yum

The day continued on and it was time for that Alkalize again.. It still taste gross! After my waiting period I had an apple and almonds again. I then finished up work with a glass of green tea and honey followed by 24 more ounces of water!

I seemed to be more productive at work today but at the same time my mind wonder about things I needed to get done, questioned I have for the guy I am dating and how in the world I was getting everything done between baseball, scouts and cooking tomorrow’s food tonight and going to the grocery store! I still had work to do for my Beachbody business to do when I got home to. And the all-important Originals and Supernatural are on tonight. I am glad there is a TV in the Kitchen!

Dinner time: well that happened really late. We had pitching lessons from 605-635 but had a 30 minute drive to and from and had to stop by old navy to get some blue jeans because the older son was going on a field trip in the morning.  So we got home around 725pm. I put my Kale on to boil, took my supplements and prepped the Tempeh for baking. Yeah it had to marinate for an hour before baking! Needless to say I only marinated it for maybe 45 minutes so I wouldn’t be up all night.

I then made my guacamole and taco that I got to eat for dinner and once the kale was ready I was ready to go.. I can say that the Black been rice taco is something I will have again! It was yummy. After dinner I came to the realization we had no bread for the kids sandwiches for lunch so I needed to run to target while the tempeh continued to cook. My grandmother agreed to flip it over when the timer when off and reset it.

After I got some from Target I prepared my Green Lentil Salad for my lunch the next day. The smell is awful and I am hoping that it taste better then it smells because if not I am not going to be able to stomach it.

After everything was cooked and done I tried just a bite of the Tempeh! To my surprise it was good. This is coming from someone who while in Vegas and the beachbody coach summit ate Vegan Chicken wraps. I didn’t even know there was such a thing to be honest. At this point I was tired and ready for bed and it was only around 9pm. I am a night owl so for me to be tired at 9pm is not normal for me. Normally I start getting sleepy around 11pm even if I have been laying in bed since 9pm. I did lay in the bed and talk on the phone for a while like me and the guy I am dating always do, so it was around 10:45pm before I turned the lights off and went to bed.

I woke a little groggy but that quickly wore off as I started getting ready for the day. According to my Fitbit I slept for 7hr 45min and was 1x Restless. Okay this means for the first time in months I slept through the night because I am sure the 1 restless time was when I hit the snooze button.

What I can tell after just two days. I do have more energy. My stomach is getting flatter and I am resisting the urge to get on the scale.  Biggest part is I really want to exercise because I am not sluggish. However I have 19 more days before I can hit Play again!

Day 3 is under way so I will return!

Day 1 Ultimate Reset 2013

Grocery Shopping and Day 1!

Well what an experience it was grocery shopping for the Ultimate Reset! I made my list for the first few days while sitting at an all day baseball tournament. I literally went day by day and looked at the recipes and food I would need. I have bought foods that I have never even heard of being a Meat and Potatoes girl raised in the South. This is going to be such an experience for me. I ended up going to Targets who had most everything I needed for the first few days, then to a Local Fresh Market grocery store where I thought I would be able to find the rest of what I needed but that was a no go. So I then found myself at Publix picking up sandwich meets for my kids school lunches and find a few things I needed.

So I went Home Sunday night ready to get ready for the week and started digging into the recipes.. Well day 1 was all stuff I could fix Monday morning before work or when I got home so that is exactly what I did. However, I did go through the spice cabinet and clean it out. We had stuff in there from like 2-3 years ago or longer. Basically I got organized and got my mind wrapped about what was about to take place.

What is taking place? The more I read about the Ultimate Reset and the more I watch success videos I get more excited and alittle bit nervous. I really didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into until I get the kit it and started reading. What I knew: There was some stuff I had to take several times a day. I  knew there was no exercising for 21 days. I knew it was eating Clean and Healthy. I knew distilled water was involved. What I didn’t know: There are a lot of food out there that I knew nothing about like Tempeh. That really after the 21 days that exercise should be kept at 50% of your ability for the first week and then full steam ahead. Something I found interesting it said that you should stay away from alcohol (for me wine) for at least a month after  the rest is over. I fully planned on rewared myself with some 50 Shades of Grey Wine the weekend after. I can see the point that because you are removing all of these toxins from your body and drinking wine would quickly return them and probably make you sick. I also didn’t know that it would help to clear out “emotional bag.” Not only is this a reset to get all of the toxin out of your body but some have said it really helped to clear their mind and get ready of any emotional baggage they were carrying around. Last but not least, I didn’t know there would not be a substitute list for things I just can’t stomach: Spinach, Kale (though it is not to bad), Cucumbers, Berries and a few others.

Day 1 is over in the books so how did it go! Well I think it went pretty well. I only messed up a few times. Like I got up and took my morning medicine (not reset supplements) with normal water and then forgot to take my last round of supplements 30 minutes before I ate. Well know I know if I forget I can take it 2 hours after I eat! Good to know. I did have 1 cup of Organic Green tea with some honey in it instead of coffee because I was dragging!

By lunch at 11am I was getting hungry but had to have my supplements first. I took them, waited my 30 minutes and then ate my salad. It was okay filing but by 1pm I was starving and I had to wait until 2pm to take my Alkalinize (nasty stuff every made I think) and then wait thirty minutes before I could have a snack. After my apples and 12 raw almonds (yeah I had to count them) I felt better. I finished the day at work and ran by the store to get a fresh piece of Salmon. I went home and marinated the fish while starting to prep food for the next couple of days knowing that they were going to be crazy! I fixed rice, lentils, chicken, hardboiled eggs, my dinner for Tuesday night since we have baseball from the time I get off work until 7pm.  It was around 8pm on Monday before I got everything prepped and ready and man was I wore out.

Day 1 was not bad at all and the food was good. The big thing for me was not being able to get out during lunch to socialize and sticking with the timing when things need to be eaten or taken. None of the food n day 1 was stuff I had not heard of though Kale was something I had not tried and I am really not a fan of since I have tried. I was given a recipe on how to prepare it better but since it calls for milk and cinnamon I am not sure about using it while on the reset.

When I woke up on Day 2 I felt refreshed and ready to go! I haven’t slept that good or through the night in a few weeks.

More to come! I will be blogging everyday to document my experience and to share my results!