New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year's Eve!  We are less than an hour away from the New Year here in NC and I couldn't be more excited for the new year!  2014 was a very good year.  I joined a play group and made several new mommy friends. I had the privilege of watching my baby girl grow into a beautiful, smart, and happy toddler. Our dog, Colby, earned 2 agility titles and over half of the points he needs for his Champion title.  I started my new carrier as a Beachbody coach, and I love it!  As awesome as 2014 has been, 2015 is going to be even better. I can feel it!

Do you take part in the tradition of New Year's Resolutions?  I have off and on throughout the years, and I feel like the years in which I write out and share my resolutions are the years in which I accomplish the most.  I did not make resolutions last year, and while it was a great year, I feel like I could have accomplished more.  This year, I'm going to start the year with a laser focus on my goals, which will be lofty, and see how far I can go!

My resolutions this year are a mix of personal and professional. Here they are:

(1) Lose the last 7 pounds of baby weight plus 10 more pounds.
(2) Read 12 personal development books during the year. (1 per month)
(3) Start each day with 3 gratitudes so that every day starts in a positive way.
(4) Help at least 10 people lose at least 20 pounds.
(5) Become a 2015 Premier Beachbody Coach

What are your goals for 2015?  Have you made any yet? Quick! There's still time. 15 minutes til midnight here on the East Coast!  Start your year off in a focused way and I bet you will accomplish more for yourself and for others than you ever have before. Bring it on 2015, we're ready for you!

TurboFire: First Week Recap

Wow! This week has been absolutely crazy!  I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Do any of you feel that way?  In hindsight, starting a brand new program the week of Christmas might not have been my best idea, but I'm kinda glad I did because it gave me a strong reason to make good decisions amidst the holiday temptations.  I was doing great Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was supposed to be my rest day, but I was planning on doing Thursday's workout so that my rest day was on Christmas. Between last minute shopping, wrapping, and cooking, that didn't happen! Christmas was a jam packed day, of course, but so much fun!  I got back on track Friday, but wasn't feeling well yesterday or most of today. Ugh... what a week!  Highs, lows, and everything in between!  

I'm feeling better tonight, and ready to get back into it tomorrow, so I've decided to redo Week 1 of TurboFire.  I'm a completionist type of person. Type A all the way, so I wouldn't feel right just pushing forward, having missed half of my first week's workouts.  Even though I will be going back and re-doing week 1, I wanted to give you a review of the workouts I did complete: Fire 30, Stretch 10, and HIIT 15.

Fire 30:  This workout got me sweating!  There is an option when you start the workout to choose "new to class" where Chalene breaks down the sequences you will be doing in the workout.  I chose not to do the breakdown and just jump in trial by fire style.  I have a dance fitness background (was a Zumba instructor) and, though there was a learning curve for me during the workout, I feel like the sequences were easy to pick-up and you repeat them enough times to get them down pretty well.  Lots of punches, and some limited jumping. There are a few sets of burpees that took me by surprise, but they are totally doable!  All in all, I enjoyed this workout! My "punching" muscles were VERY sore the next couple days (the front of my shoulders and where my biceps meet my elbows).

Stretch10: This was an EXCELLENT stretch series! You do this same stretch workout after Fire 30 and HIIT 15.  It is very thorough, hits all the major muscle groups and relaxes tension in your neck and shoulders.  Highly Recommend!

HIIT 15:  I have to say, I had never experienced a HIIT workout before putting in this dvd, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.  My husband joined me for this workout, because as he said, "its only 15 minutes".  Haha, ONLY 15 minutes!  In that 15 minutes you complete a quick warm up and then 3 sets of 3 different HIIT Intervals that last about 45 seconds each, with a short break in between each interval.  There is a lot of jumping during this workout, so if you have weak knees, follow the modifier. I promise, you will still get a great workout!  I really wish my heart rate monitor was working so I could have measured the calories I burned during this workout, because I bet it was a ton.  My heart rate felt like it maxed out several times during the workout, and I could tell my metabolism remained high for a long time after my workout.  Even my husband remarked how hot he was temperature-wise several hours after we worked out. Higher temp = higher metabolism!  All in all, a good workout, and super short!

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow.  Here's to a fresh start in a brand new week! My clean eating challenge starts tomorrow and Week 1 Day 1, take 2 of TurboFire is going down.  Now I'm off to bed, so I can get up and get my workout in before the kiddo gets up! Night everyone!      

Clean Eating

Well, its the day after Christmas, and I don't know about you, but I allowed myself a cheat day yesterday, and I'm feeling kinda sluggish today.  I have been pounding out the water today to rehydrate and help flush out all the excess salt from yesterday's indulgences, and I'm starting to feel better!  After all the heavy food yesterday, I was just craving a salad, something light and clean to fuel my body.  Do you ever just crave something healthy after a cheat meal/day?  I have the feeling that I'm not alone in this, so I am going to host a 5-day Clean Eating Challenge Group that starts on Monday, December 29th.  I wanted anyone and everyone who needs a holiday detox or wants to know more about clean eating to be able to participate in this group, so I made it FREE and open to everyone! Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/317084685161986

I took yesterday completely off, so that I could celebrate Christmas with my little family with no distractions.  The only time I had my phone on me was to take pictures of my little girl enjoying her new toys.  It felt really good to unplug for a day, but today I woke up pumped and ready to get back at it! I've got the Clean Eating Group starting Monday, a Beachbody Challenge Group starting the following Monday, January 5th, and I'm planning out our free monthly fit challenge too!

Tonight, I was researching clean eating "rules" and found a wide variety out there.  Some guidelines were super strict, others were labelled "for beginners".  I took all of what I found and created a list of 10 guidelines that we will be following in our 5-day challenge:

Tomorrow I will be finalizing our Meal Plan and Grocery List and posting it to the group. There is still time to join us.  We would love to have you! Click on the link provided above and join! 

If you are interested in participating in one of my future challenge groups, please fill out the form below: 

Fill out my online form.

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The December Challenge Group Results are in!

Happy Tuesday y'all!  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Can you believe it? This month has absolutely flown by.  I really feel like since I had my daughter, time passes so much more quickly than it did before.  Or maybe it's just a sign I'm getting older. Either way,  this month has gone crazy fast!  

My 21-Day Challenge Group finished up on Sunday, and my ladies did AMAZING!  Even with the craziness of the holidays, everyone lost pounds and inches and are going into the holiday healthier and stronger!  We had a great time and will be taking a super short break for Christmas and then the next Challenge group will start just after the first of the year!  I am having so much fun coaching my challengers.  Being a coach is such a rewarding job! I've gotten some great feedback from my challengers lately that has me smiling from ear to ear and totally jazzed up for the New Year!  We've got great things in store for January, February, and March so stay tuned!

Today was Day 2 of TurboFire. I am so sore!  Yesterday I completed Fire 30 and today was my first ever HIIT workout, HIIT 15.  Have you ever done a HIIT workout? HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.  It's the type of workout where you go as hard as you can for a short period of time (in this case it was 30-45 seconds), take a short break, and then repeat.  It's a really effective way to workout, but should be used in moderation. You've got to make sure to allow enough time in between HIIT workouts to let your body recover, so you don't injure yourself.  A HIIT workout, when done correctly, creates, what Chalene Johnson calls, the afterburn effect.  What she means is that HIIT workouts significantly increase your metabolism in a short period of time and then your body maintains that higher metabolism for a longer time after your workout than in a normal cardio session.  An increased metabolism equals more calories burned every minute, and we all know we've got to burn more calories than we are consuming to lose weight.

My Polar heart rate monitor bit the dust yesterday, I've been looking for a new activity tracker for awhile -- one that I can wear 24/7 and tracks everything, including my sleep.  I was hoping to get one for Christmas, but I think I want to go with the new FitBit that's coming out after the first of the year, the Charge HR.  I've never fully understood how the activity trackers, including all the previous FitBits could be accurate without monitoring your heartrate, so I was really excited to see that the new FitBit was going to incorporate a heart rate monitor (using your wrist, so no annoying band around your chest!).  What activity tracker do you all use?  I'd be interested to hear what you like and don't like about the different options out there!