Going Raw – Days 3 & 4

Apr 12, 2012

I had all the best intentions to blog last night, but Wednesdays are my  longest days & by the time I got home & got myself settled for the next day, it was nearly 11:30.

My next few days of eating raw have gone relatively better, except that I’ve incorporated Shakeology into meals each day since.  I also have realized that I cannot go 100% raw, but it’s ok if I don’t want to.  I just need to listen to my body and give it what it really needs.  Here are some things I’ve been eating the past few days…

Today’s kale salad thanks to PUREmamas blog.  I didn’t have some of the ingredients, so I modified as necessary, and it was pretty good!

Raw cacao shake with avocado, banana, some raw honey, and a little water.

A little surprise heart as a result of some water I spilled on my desk (I’m also taking this is a sign that love & romance is on the way for me) 😉

Some yummy Tropical Shakeology.

Strawberries, blueberries, & raspberries with hemp seeds.

I also started doing Tai Cheng, Beachbody’s latest, newest workout program, which I’m super excited about.  As I was doing it, I started thinking about how this might really help me with my health issues.  I’m planning on doing it as I go through The Beachbody Ultimate Reset and then continuing it afterwards when I go back to my Chalene Johnson worksouts.

I won’t be blogging again until Saturday night, because I’ll be heading up to Philadelphia tomorrow night to go see Carl Daikeler, Beachbody’s CEO, for one of Beachbody’s Super Saturday events on April 14.  I can’t wait!  Not sure I’ll stay raw, but I’ll definitely be eating as cleanly as possible!

Going Raw – Day 2

Apr 10, 2012

I’m not going to lie – today’s been rough.  I woke up from a restless sleep feeling jet lagged, a feeling that’s lasted throughout the day, and a strong tension headache.  I know that I was definitely grinding my teeth last night.  I was super hungry too.  I threw together a green smoothie for breakfast, but decided to have a banana afterwards too, to keep me satisfied.

I was starving again a few hours later, so I had an orange.

And then a few hours after that, I had my raw Spanish rice and an apple.

And then a few hours after that, I had a plum (noticing a pattern here?)

I’m sure that I’m having way too much fruit, especially for someone like me who has insulin resistance issues.  Oh and did I mention that the butternut squash made me super bloated & looking about 4 months pregnant?  I noticed it last night when I ate, but chose to ignore it, especially since I didn’t feel like making anything else for lunch at that point.

Since I had to mail off some Shakeology samples but was too hungry to wait for dinner, I had a banana.  And then when I got home, nothing appealed to me, except for maybe a Chipotle veggie burrito bowl or some homemade pancakes thanks to Chef Chloe Coscarelli’s amazing recipe from her book Chloe’s Kitchen.  So I kind of broke my raw food rules & had Shakeology!  Ok I know that Shakeology isn’t technically raw, but it’s pretty darn close.  I blended it up with some coconut milk, strawberries, raspberries, and what else, but a banana, my chosen fruit of the day.

Unfortunately, I’m still starving, & need to go figure out what’s on tomorrow’s menu.  I’m feeling very much like I did when I did my juice fast back in September.  Miserable, constantly hungry, & with no relief for my headaches.  I’m not sure I’ll last the 10 days eating raw foods, but I’m definitely going to try my best.  I might do 90% raw with 1 cooked meal, but we’ll see.  For now, I need to rest!

Highlights

Mar 6, 2012

My day can best be summarized by many wonderful highlights.  It’s always the little things, isn’t it?  I started my day at 6 am with my favorite TurboFire workout and that got me pumped and ready to go!

But first, an update on my raw journey.  I’m not focusing on “oh I’m eating raw so I can’t eat that” or “I’m not eating raw because I feel like something cooked.”  I’m just taking things as they come and seeing what I feel like making.  Shakeology is my breakfast every single day without fail.  For lunch I decided to make myself a raw kale salad with avocado, nutritional yeast, sprouts, cherry tomatoes, and pumpkin seeds.  Snack was a cherry pie LÄRABAR and since I had to rush off to the chiropractor shortly after getting home, dinner was another Shakeology.

So what exactly were the highlights of my day?  Coming home to find this waiting for me:

I’ve heard so many people now talking about The Hunger Games that I had to order it.  Can’t wait to start reading!  I of course was completely obsessed with Harry Potter and Twilight, so I’m sure the same will happen to me with this series.

Chloe’s Kitchen is by chef Chloe Coscarelli.  She was the first vegan cupcake baker to win Cupcake Wars and now I’m so excited to have her book!  I flipped through it quickly and the recipes look amazing.  Even though it’s not gluten-free, I can easily modify the recipes to make them so.

That wasn’t the only thing waiting for me though.  There was also all of this:

I now have Tropical Shakeology samples to give to people, yay!  I’m also loving my new t-shirt and can’t wait to use my water bottle.  The lanyard is of course going around my neck since I’m a teacher and we have to wear our badge at all times.

That’s not all though!  When I got home from the chiropractor, yet another box was waiting for me!

So now I have chocolate samples of Shakeology to give away too!  If anybody’s seriously interested in trying out this amazing product, message me and I’d be more than happy to send you some to try!  Now you have to believe that I wouldn’t invest this much money in Beachbody products if I didn’t believe in the company.  🙂

I’m now sipping on some green tea kombucha that I found at the health store the other day. It tastes like green tea, but is slightly bubbly like kombucha, I love it!  Have a great night!!!

p.s. I’m sorry for the poor lack of quality on the pictures.  I’ve been relying on my iPhone a little too much lately instead of my camera!

The Beachbody Challenge

Mar 3, 2012

As of March 1st, I officially enrolled myself in the 90 Day Beachbody Challenge (ok well not really, I didn’t sign up on Team Beachbody until today but I mentally enrolled myself on March 1st) :D.  Although I got TurboFire back in December, I haven’t been consistent with working out to the program, even though I love it & Chalene Johnson with all my heart.  The other day I realized that if I’d fully committed myself back in December, I would’ve already had my dream body now in March.  I’m using that realization to fuel me to complete the next 90 days, which will lead me to being in super amazing shape by the end of May, in time for the Beachbody Coach Summit in June and my 30th birthday the week after!

Doing this for myself has been a huge realization for me.  I’ve committed to workout programs in the past and have made huge strides in achieving a healthier body weight, but I’m still not at my target goal.  I yo-yo diet as much as Bridget Jones.  Having PCOS makes it even tougher.  My mom jokes with me all the time that if she ate the way I ate, she’d disappear and likely be a size 0.  Although my goal isn’t to be a size 0, it can get pretty frustrating when you eat nourishing, whole foods 100% of the time and your body doesn’t seem to show much for it.

Beachbody has been my saving grace and it’s for this very reason that I’m in this business so I can help other people achieve their goals.  Putting this out to the world on my blog also means that I’ve made a full commitment to get where I want to be, no matter what I may come across, in terms of my health or anything else.  I also want to show people that I’m living proof of what Beachbody products can do to help you achieve your goals, but most especially if you have PCOS!  I even already decided that my next workout program will be ChaLEAN Extreme.  🙂

Seriously, me getting excited about working out?!  If you’d told me this even 4 months ago, I wouldn’t have believed you.  Now I actually get excited about it and I’m so passionate about what I’m doing!  And I definitely don’t want to hear any excuses about investing in products that will help your health as being too expensive.  I leave you with this video that had my mom and I in tears of laughter the other night because it speaks the truth!

Time for Me

Mar 3, 2012

Hi everyone!  What are you up to this weekend?  I’m finally taking a day for myself.  I slept in, did my TurboFire workout, enjoyed my Shakeology for breakfast, and made a delicious salad for lunch.  I’m doing the Shakeology 3 day cleanse so that I can get a nice detox and catapult myself on my raw eating journey, which I’m reading about right now.

 

I’m also going to take some time to meditate today and burn my brand new dolphin candle hand crafted by my beautiful friend Beth.

Even though I’ve got lots to do for my personal development and feel slightly guilty for taking a day for me, I have to remember that I have to re-focus in order to help me get to where I want to be.  I might be back with a post later!  Enjoy the day!

New Beginnings

Mar 1, 2012

Even though February is the shortest month of the year, I’m glad that it’s over.  It felt like in February, I was always running from one place to another, never fully accomplishing anything that I set out to do.  I only did yoga once in the entire month and worked out a total of 7 times.  I didn’t blog nearly as much as I wanted to, nor did I plan my meals extremely well, though I still ate healthily.  I lost focus of my goal and felt like my health was regressing rather than progressing.

This month, I’m ready to make more time for me.  I honestly know that I’ve taken on too many things, but I feel like things will eventually come full circle to help me be where I truly want to be.

One great thing that I did for myself this week was sign up for Beachbody’s Coach Summit in June.  I’m SO excited for this, I started crying tears of joy because of what this amazing company has already done to help me on my path to wellness and what it’s doing for others!

I can’t wait!!!  😀

I’ve also been eating strawberry flavored things and am so thankful that we’ve been experiencing gorgeous weather!

This morning I was up at 6 am to do TurboFire.  I’ve taken on the 90 Day Beachbody Challenge for myself and can’t wait to see my results!  March is going to be amazing!

I ♥ Beachbody

Feb 25, 2012

What an amazing day it’s been!  Today I had the opportunity to go to a Beachbody event held at George Mason University’s Arlington campus. I only found out about this event earlier this week thanks to one of my Beachbody teammates and I was so excited that it was taking place almost down the street from where I live (well not quite, but no more than a 15 minute drive).

I’ve been a Beachbody coach for about 2 months now and this was the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about the business and how I can help others to achieve their health & fitness goals, while helping to end the trend of obesity in this country, which is Beachbody’s main goal.

Did you know that Tony Horton, creator of P90X, eats a mostly vegan diet?!

I got to sample some of the brand new vegan Tropical Shakeology, since I’m still waiting for mine to arrive, and it’s delicious!  I also got to meet other members of my team, who are amazing women that I’m so fortunate to be able to work with!

The day opened with Brett Blake, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Beachbody speaking to us about the company and the amazing future that we all hold for being a part of it. What I love about Beachbody is that they actually care about their employees and customers.  They reach out to you and make you feel a part of them, acknowledging that you actually make a difference just for doing your job of sharing your passion for health and fitness with others, thereby helping others achieve their goals.

We also got to hear from Beachbody’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Wheeler.  He helped to create Shakeology and shared with us some amazing new developments that are within Beachbody’s product line, including their 21 day Ultimate Reset.  I personally cannot wait for this product to be launched.  It sounds amazing and I feel that it’ll really help me towards achieving my health goals.

We also got to learn about how Shakeology is developed and how only the purest ingredients are sourced to produce it, straight from the farmers themselves (including sources in Peru!). When you think about everything that you’re getting in Shakeology and the price that you pay for it, I honestly think it’s one of the most worthwhile investments you could ever make in your health.

You know that I’m all about whole foods ingredients, and when you read what’s included in one bag of Shakeology, you’d be amazed at the amount of nutrients that you’re getting in just a single serving of this phenomenal product.

I have it for breakfast everyday and since I ran out, I realize how much I miss it!

We took a quick break before Tommy Mygrant, one of Beachbody’s top coaches, spoke to us about his success in his Beachbody business.

It was so inspiring to hear Tommy talk about his background and what it took for him to get to become a 10 star diamond coach.  And it wasn’t even all about him and his business.  It was about how he was able to help people on their path to wellness and how everything else followed.  How we, as Beachbody coaches, are here to help others achieve their goals – the money and everything else that comes with it (including free trips paid for by Beachbody’s CEO, Carl Daikeler!) are just an effect of helping others.

I heard some amazing inspirational stories of people who have changed their lives thanks to Beachbody.  I know of no other company that rewards you for getting fit and sharing with others what it takes to become fit, do you?!  Needless to say, I’m very fortunate and blessed to have become a part of Beachbody and feel that it came to me at the perfect moment!

After the event, several of us coaches went out to dinner and I got a delicious veggie burger with sweet potato fries.  So good!

Ulimately, I’m so grateful that someone like Carl Daikeler had the vision to create and found Beachbody and to create such an amazingly successful business that benefits everyone involved.  Now I can’t wait to go to Coach Summit in Las Vegas in June!  😀

Yoga Saturday

Feb 18, 2012

Katy and I have started a sort of tradition where we head to yoga every Saturday morning, then grab some lunch at a healthy restaurant or Whole Foods.  Today we headed to Dancing Mind Yoga to take advantage of Katy’s LivingSocial deal (I unfortunately was not able to purchase it since I’ve been to the studio before).  After sweating in the heat for an hour and a half, we were definitely ready for some amazing healthy eating at Whole Foods.

It was perfect with a VitaCoco pineapple coconut coconut water!  (no, two coconuts in a row is not a typo) 🙂

We’ve got a lot of the same things in common and have the same sorts of spiritual beliefs, so we always have a great time chatting and today was no different.  After we ate, we decided to head to Barnes & Noble to check out some spiritual books and meditation music, spent some time at Teavana, and stopped at Godiva for a chocolate covered strawberry each.

Some other things I’ve been eating recently:

The rest of the day was perfect – after hanging out with Katy, I ran a few errands and enjoyed the gorgeous weather that we’ve been having lately.  I even snagged some vegan shampoo & conditioner at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa!  I swear this is the only shampoo & conditioner that truly works on my hair and I had no idea that it was vegan until I happened to see it listed on the bottle.

(I apologize for the quality of the pictures.  I relied on the iPhone because I was too lazy to grab my camera)

I also saw a heart in the middle of the street on the way out of the supermarket (where I happened to see my mom walking in just as I got there too & we hadn’t even seen each other all day – I love it when the Universe shows you synchronicities!)

And I just ordered the brand new Tropical Vegan Shakeology from Beachbody!

Can’t wait to enjoy my next 2 days off!  How’s your weekend going so far?

Breakfast for Lunch

Jan 27, 2012

The weekend’s finally here!  I’m so ready to relax, sleep, take it easy, and plan some amazing meals!

Breakfast today was the green smoothie I made last night with my brand new Vitamix.  Since I wasn’t in the mood to cook and some days I just don’t feel like eating “real food,” I had breakfast for lunch.

Oats soaked overnight with soy milk (though you could also use hemp, almond, rice – whatever works for you), raisins, goji berries, and cinnamon.  I would’ve added dates too if I hadn’t gobbled up the entire bag earlier this week.

Seriously, do NOT waste your calories on a blueberry muffin, which is full of saturated fat and ingredients that are less than stellar for your health.  Buy a Blueberry Pure Bar instead. The second I bite into one of these, I feel like I’m biting straight into a blueberry muffin.  Save yourself the calories and unhealthy factor for this instead!

WILD BLUEBERRY PURE BAR INGREDIENTS: Organic dates, organic wild blueberries (organic wild blueberries, organic apple juice concentrate, organic sunflower oil), organic cashews, organic agave nectar, organic walnuts, organic brown rice Protein, organic almonds, organic unsweetened lemon juice concentrate.

I rest my case.  🙂

When I came home after getting my nails done, I was so excited to see that my latest shipment of Shakeology had arrived!  I was out of this for nearly a week and was going through serious withdrawal symptoms.  If you want to know more about it, contact me, I’d be happy to share!  I will say that I felt like I was losing inches like crazy while I was on it and wasn’t working out that much.  Now that I’m working out a lot to TurboFire AND using this, I’m sure the results will be nothing less than amazing!

I knew I was going to be too lazy to cook, so I followed the advice of a friend and headed to my favorite place to grab a quick meal, Chipotle, for my dinner.

Enjoy the weekend!

Soup and Salad Day

Jan 8, 2012

My day started in the best way possible.  I was up early, ready to work out to TurboFire.  I haven’t done TurboFire in a few days and was ready to get back into the swing of it.  When I saw that the DVD I had to do today lasted nearly an hour though, I was wishing it would go by fast, if only because I wasn’t sure I was THAT pumped to do a workout.

 

I’m so glad that it went better than I could’ve anticipated!  Chalene Johnson keeps you pumped as you exercise and halfway through the sequence, I was more energized than ever. The hour went by extremely fast and I was feeling so good at the end of it, envisioning what my body will look like if I keep this up along with regular yoga workouts.  The choreography isn’t too complicated and Chalene uses positive language to keep you motivated towards your goals.  I also usually hate working out, so the fact that Chalene can get me so pumped about this workout is saying something.  I’d usually much rather be doing yoga than any other workout, especially since I don’t see yoga as a workout, but I’m so excited to do the entire TurboFire program and reap its benefits.

Breakfast:

Being a BeachBody Coach, I want to try the products out for myself so that I’m able to tell people how amazing they are.  Shakeology is a great drink to have either for breakfast, lunch, or as a snack.  It’s super delicious and filled with amazing superfoods!

Lunch:

Blueberry Kale Spinach Salad with a Black Bean Burger

Snack (this tasted exactly like carrot cake – I was pleasantly surprised):

I went out grocery shopping for some things I needed and got some great stuff, including Kombucha…

which inevitably always reminds me of this video and my friend Diana:

You’ll see why about 3 seconds into the video 😉

I also couldn’t resist buying this great little Whole Foods bag.  When the guy told me it was only $0.99, I had to get it!

Dinner was more soup and salad.  I didn’t even intentionally mean to eat soup and salad for both lunch and dinner, but it’s what I ended up making, and it came out great.

Kale salad.  I “wilted” the kale with half an avocado.  Thank you Whole Foods for the amazing recipe!

Carrot Red Pepper Soup

And finally, I had a little dessert.  Usually I try not to eat dessert, but I was flipping through my copy of The Beauty Detox Solution earlier today and noticed an amazing recipe for Chia Seed Delight.  Kimberly Snyder was a very positive influence for me at the beginning of my vegan journey and I love that she’s so knowledgeable about so many plant-based superfoods.

I accidentally put a little bit too many chia seeds in there and ate maybe 1/6th of the bowl, so I saved the rest to eat for another day.

My goal is to go to yoga at least twice this week and work out to TurboFire the rest of the time.  I’m off to relax before going to bed!