Who am I? My Why, Part 1 and Part 2

I'm 35 years old and I've finally discovered who I am!

"WHO AM I" has been a constant question I’ve asked myself over the past 12 years as a mom.  I’ve tried on different hats to see if they fit, but they never do.  Why?  Because they're not MY hats!  We wear many, and that’s ok, but you have to figure which ones fit.  

I’ve admired my husband from the first day I met him 16 years ago.  He knew exactly what he was going to do in life.  He was driven, he had purpose, he had a goal in mind. His goal...Law School.  

Throughout college, I didn’t have a clear goal or purpose or career in mind.  Yes, I was driven to be successful, get good grades, do well and learn.  But my major was vague, I didn’t have direction or know WHAT I wanted to do after college.  I didn’t know what career path I wanted to pursue.  

I applied for a number of different jobs in all different areas and career types.  I worked for about a year before having our first son, then part time another year before having our second child.  From there, despite the school loans that were piling up, I began my “career” as a stay at home mom for the next 12 years.  At that time, I found my purpose through being home with my children.  

However, I still longed and had a desire to be successful in a career, outside of being a mom.  I craved to fulfill that deeper sense of purpose I knew I had in life, but wasn’t fully living out.  

Early in our marriage, I had a taste of being an entrepreneur.  I fell in love with the possibility that anyone could be successful, despite their background.  It definitely planted a seed in my mind that “success is possible” even for ME.  However, I made excuses that really came down to a belief in ME, so, I pushed it away and told myself “I’m not as good as them”.  

A few other times I found entrepreneurial ventures that I could do while my kids were at home.  While they were successful, I didn’t have a clear purpose and belief in WHAT I was doing, and ultimately in ME...that I could succeed.  

Fast-forward to August 2013, when I was introduced to Beachbody.  Health and fitness had already begun to gain traction and importance in my life.  I was first introduced to the fitness programs through Beachbody and then soon learned of the coaching and business side of it, which intrigued me.  The entrepreneurial seed had already been planted in my heart and I knew that’s what I loved - be your own boss, work flexible hours, earn an income, all from home!  

I saw this as a great opportunity personally to get healthy and fit, pay it forward and help others do the same, and to grow and earn an income that could really change our lives.  I knew I was a great encourager and motivator and health and fitness was something I was passionate about!

I jumped in as a coach and truly fell in love with the company, their mission, and helping my challengers....but I felt lost at the same time.  My WHY has always been for my family...to give us the freedom from my husband’s long hours, flexibility (in time and finances) to take family vacations, to be able to pay off school loans and credit card debt.  That’s never changed…

But, I hadn’t been completely honest with myself.  My family is Part 1 of my WHY...but I am the Part 2!  It may sound selfish, and that’s ok.  The other part of my WHY is to SUCCEED at something outside of being a mom.  To truly find my deep passion and purpose in life.  To know that I am capable of great success, paying off debt, supporting my family.  I crave the pat on the back that says “well done, you did amazing, you did more than anyone ever thought possible!”  Let’s be honest, as moms, we don’t always get that!

As a student I worked my tail off and got straight A’s.  There was great accomplishment when I received that final grade I earned, there was recognition as I walked across the stage to get my diploma and heard my name called followed by “Cum Laude”.  I’ve not allowed myself to crave that success since I graduated from college.  But the desire is there, it’s waiting to be unleashed and achieved!

WHO AM I?  

This has been a constant question I’ve asked myself over the past 12 years as a mom.  

I’ve tried on different hats to see if they fit, but they never do.  

Why?  Because they're not MY hats!  Those hats just caused greater confusion in my purpose.  

We wear many, and that’s ok, but you have to figure out which ones fit.  

So, WHO AM I?  

• I am a wife, a mom of 3, I am saved by the blood of Christ.  

• I am a health and fitness Entrepreneur who can help you start a business for yourself from scratch.  

• I empower women to see beyond what they haven’t accomplished yet in life and help them find their purpose outside of their children.  

• I am a dreamer, I am driven, I am motivated to succeed and crave success - personally, physically and financially.  I am an encourager.  

• I always have laundry waiting to be folded, dirty dishes in the sink, things that don’t get done.  I get sidetracked by bright shiny objects, I’m a homebody, I love family time, I love books but have never been a strong reader (therefore I don’t enjoy reading...which is something I am changing).  Sometimes my husband is a better “wife/mom” than me...he helps keep the house and kids in line and is definitely my better half!

• I love to snow ski, hike, take family vacations and “escape from reality”.  

• I have struggled to find out who I really am, what I truly want in life and have felt like I’ve been “going through the motions of life” with no clear focus, purpose and direction.  I have struggled with confidence,  belief in myself and poor body image.  I often fear what other think of me, I fear screwing up big time and that I'm not "good enough" (whatever that means).  But...I continue to grow everyday and develop as a person and I strive to push through these struggles and fears and become the best version of me that I possibly can!  I am a constant work in progress!

• My dream is to pay off our school loans, credit card debt, save for our kids’ future education, to be able to have the option to retire my husband (not that he wants to, but to give him that freedom to choose what he wants to do and not be confined to job just to provide for us).  

Beachbody is the avenue in which I KNOW these dreams can come true for our family.

We make sacrifices every day for our children and our families, but there comes a time in our life where we must, as women and moms, be able to say “what do I want?”  How do I want to grow, succeed, influence, and impact this world?  Then, we must have the freedom and the opportunity to spread our wings and build our dreams on the way down!  This IS possible for YOU too!!

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This has taken a long time for me to be able to put my thoughts and feelings into words. My hope is that this has helped at least one person be able to put their journey, story, thoughts into words. I'm passionate about empowering women to find their passion and be able to see their dreams being lived out. Do you crave the freedom, flexibility, success, income that you never dreamed YOU could achieve? I'm here to mentor you through your journey of success, whatever success looks like to YOU! You have the ability to write YOUR STORY!!  

Are you ready to spread your wings? If so, please have the courage to reach out to me and let's discuss together how we can get you past your fears, insecurities and hesitations and move you onto finding your passion, purpose and driving force in your life! Leave a comment below with your email or send me an email here! (subject line: My Story)

A Journey with Dieting, Calorie Restriction and Low Thyroid

I've had writers block for quite some time now and have not been consistently posting my progress updates with a particular fitness program or my weekly meal plan.  If you take the time to read this, you'll understand a little more (trying not to go into too much detail, otherwise we'd be here forever) of what's been going on with me and my struggles I've been dealing with physically and personally.  These struggles are partly my absence of my normal updates, so thanks for sticking with me.  I hope this can help you be encouraged as you read.  I am not perfect, I am FAR from that.  I too, even as a Beachbody Coach, struggle with body image, weight gain, and knowing what to do at various times.  This post has been a longtime coming, but I think it's time to share some thoughts...

T25 - Week 1 Women's Progress Update - Meal Plan for Week 2

I got through my first week of Focus T25 and I absolutely LOVE this program.  I did it back in August of last year thru October and had great results.  And I have to be completely honest with you...I'm far from perfect in my health and fitness journey.  Although I have been consistently working out and eating clean, I have also been going through some different sort of health problems over the last couple months.  This has caused me a lot of stress and while I thought I had been eating perfectly, now that I step back and look at it, I realized that I had gotten more lazy than I thought and was adding little indulgences here and there and as a result...gained some weight I wasn't happy with!  Can you relate?  Well...I'm just like you!  I'm not perfect...I'm still on my journey and just a real life human who slips up from time to time!

So, side tangent completed...back to my Week 1 T25 update!!

Like I said I LOVE this program...Here was my week schedule:

Monday: Alpha Cardio - This is just a fun workout...it goes fast and is high paced workout.  There's a lot of jumping but Shaun T gives you a great modified version of each move.  Let me tell you...my calves are really tired after this workout!

Tuesday: Alpha Speed 1.0 - Ok I think this is seriously one of my favorite of his workouts!  Speed 1.0 speaks it all!  It's fast but it's great because he mixes in stretching and stability throughout this whole workout!  So after being sore, it feels really great to stretch within the workout!

Wednesday: Alpha Total Body Circuit - I'll be honest...this one is tough.  It's not my favorite, but I do like it.  However, it is hard and I'm really tired and sore afterward!

Thursday: Alpha Ab Intervals - I love working my abs and this is a great one to do this.  Shaun T is all about the CORE throughout this entire program and he really focuses on reminding you to "focus" on your core and tighten your core.  This is a mix of ab work and intermittent cardio bursts!  Super fun!

Core Focus - T25

Friday: Alpha Lower Focus & Alpha Cardio - DOUBLES DAY!!!  Yes...you have a doubles day!! It's tough but totally doable!  However, I was really tired doing the Alpha Cardio for the 2nd workout, I had to modify some of the moves because I was sore and tired but I got through it and finished week 1 of T25!!  Wahoo!!




I stuck strict to my meal plan, and allowed a "cheat meal" for Saturday night.  I was perfect on my meal plan throughout the day and at dinner had the appropriate portion sizes of each of my food items, but then added in 4 oz of red wine!!!  YES ONLY 4 oz...I even measured it out!  That is SHOCKING for me to measure it out, but I did...then I was done when the 4 oz was finished!!  It felt really rewarding to only have what I portioned out!

I also stayed committed to drinking my Shakeology each day...which, I've got to say, WOW what a difference that makes throughout the day.  I had run out of it for a couple weeks and started back up with it and I notice such a difference in my cravings throughout the day, they aren't there as much as they used to be, and for my energy level, I don't get that 2pm slump like I noticed myself getting when I wasn't drinking it for those 2 weeks.  It is amazing the difference that Shakeology has made for me each day!!  LOVE LOVE my Shakeology.

Strawberry Shakeology

Results of week 1:  3 pounds lost!!  Whaoo!  I don't expect that to happen each week, I think it was a lot of water weight, however I'm happy that it was like that!

So here's to another great week starting this week!  I'm geared up and ready to go strong this week, sticking to my meal plan and workout plan!

Week 2 Meal Plan for Focus T25

 

You can find these recipes HERE!

Also you can find more meal plans HERE!

If you'd like more help with meal planning email me and I'd be happy to get you some help planning your meals!

I only have a few spots left for my Summer Slim Down Challenge, if you are interested in being a part of the accountability group that will help get you the results you are looking for before the start of summer fill out this application below to be considered!

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

Health's a Journey, Commit to the Ride!

On August 26th of this year, I decided to embark on a new health and fitness journey in my life! I have always lived a fairly healthy lifestyle but, like anybody else, have gotten lazy at different times in my exercise and eating. 

Over the summer I had been trying to change up how I eat and make it cleaner and without as much processed foods and get motivated again to be consistent in working out. I knew I was looking for a change but didn't know exactly what it was.

As I was searching out clean eating on Pinterest, I came across a blog that really sparked my interest. I started reading everything I could on her blog and then saw a post that nailed me! It was a post about her upcoming "challenge group". Like I did, you might say, "what's a challenge group"? As I asked questions I found out that it's simply an accountability group done thru a private FB group. One that holds me accountable to the goals I have for changing my health and fitness (refining my eating to be clean and becoming more fit and toned). I decided to take the leap and join the accountability group!

I committed to 60 days of clean eating, committing to a Beachbody workout (T25 is what I chose), and drinking Shakeology every day for one meal per day. I am currently on day 52 of the challenge and have greater energy throughout the day and not as many food cravings. I've lost over 5 lbs and over 5 inches. I am getting stronger and feeling so much better overall!

I have gotten so addicted to how amazing I feel through this and so excited about the opportunity to share this with other people, I decided to become a Beachbody Coach and be able to help other people in their health and fitness goals by running accountability groups of my own. The change starts with US!

This isn't a "change for 60 days", this is truly a lifestyle change in how I live my everyday life. I am amazed at how feeding my body with healthy nutrients and often throughout the day makes a world of difference in how I feel!

If you're looking for a change in your health and fitness message me and I can get you the details on my next challenge/accountability group.