Chocolate Protein Oatmeal

A Fun Twist On Traditional 

This morning I was craving chocolate for breakfast. Since that's never a good idea, I decided I would get creative and make something healthy but would still satisfy my chocolate craving. I will tell you, you have to be used to the flavor of protein powder to enjoy this. If you have never had protein powder it may taste "funny" to you. Some of my household wasn't so into the taste. I enjoyed it though! Here is what you will need.

Ingredients 

Steel cut oats

1 scoop of chocolate protein powder ( I used vegan chocolate shakeology) 

4 teaspoons of all natural peanut butter

Pink Himalayan salt

Fresh cut strawberries 

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract 

A dash of organic ground cinnamon 

Directions 

Cook oats according to package. I used quick cook steel cut oats. I made the servings for 4 on the package. 

Once oats are cooked stir in peanut butter, protein powder, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix well.

Garnish with berries. 

Let me know how you like it!!! 

Hammer & Chisel Week 5 Recap

-Getting Closer To Our Goals - 

We are back in action. If you have been following my weekly recaps from Hammer and Chisel you would have read that we lost a little bit of motivation for a few weeks. It wasn't that we were outright not doing it we just were not focused like I knew we should have been. Something clicked last weekend leading into this week and I was back in the game and motivated. I was really proud of myself for not missing a workout this week. We mostly stuck to the meal plan I had created for us and I even tried a few new recipes. We put together a pretty awesome broccoli cheese soup recipe that was really simple and quick. 

My partner in crime was also back in action with me and for a few of the days our little man joined us too. He told us he likes working out with the "sweaty guy" compared to the girl. The sweaty guy is Sagi from Hammer and Chisel and the girl is Autumn both are the trainers we workout with on the program. 

Mid week I celebrated turning the big 2-9! It was an awesome day. My friends and family treated me like a queen. Lots of presents, flowers, cards and love. Excited for this year. I really feel like big things are coming my way. I have been working hard on a lot of personal and business goals to create what I call life by design. I have a feeling my hard work will soon be paying off. On my birthday we went out to dinner. I even had some cake and ice cream this week so there were a few treats. Honestly though, that does not phase me. This has never been about a diet, rather a lifestyle change. I eat clean 90% of the time. A few treats won't kill me. 

One thing that I have found very motivating is the fact that I am starting to see a physical transformation in myself which has not always been common with me. I have not lost weight in awhile and I weigh more than I did when I started my journey because of the muscle I gained. However,  I am currently down 6 lbs since starting the program. Which for me is actually quite a lot! 

Here's to keeping up this motivation in the coming week ahead of me. Getting closer to the end of the program. Going to add in the 10 minute ab additions as often as I can in these next few weeks. You may remember this but my husband and I are competing against one another for the best transformation. I am hoping I win, but he may still beat me. Something about a girl with goals, she's pretty hard to beat if you know what I mean. 

Below you will find what this weeks meal plan looks like! This is my number one tool for being successful with healthy eating. Meal planning is a must for everyone! 

Interested in joining my next challenge group so that you can learn to live a healthier lifestyle? Fill out the application below and I will be in touch. I have a few new groups forming soon that I would love to include you in!

Fill out my online form.

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

Build A Business After Bedtime

Teaching Busy Women How To Build A Business 

Today I want to paint a little picture for you. It is a picture of how I got started being a Beachbody coach. I joined as a challenger, like most coaches do. I was a busy mom who wanted to get rid of a little bit of baby weight. Nothing drastic. More than anything I wanted to learn how to take care of me again. To make mom a priority and matter a little more than she had been at that time. I was busy balancing a full time teaching job, I was taking graduate classes for my master degree to be a principal, I had a two year old, a household to take care of and a husband who traveled for work very often. Momma was putting everyone first but herself. I knew it was finally "time." I hit my rock bottom moment the night of my son's second birthday party and I ordered my challenge pack the next morning. I wanted to change more than I wanted to stay the same so I went "all in." I started with the 21 day fix. I got awesome results and begin quickly telling everyone about it. Not because I was a coach at that point, simply because it really did work and really did make me feel better. I guess you could say I wanted to share the love. My coach noticed my sharing and planted the seed about becoming a coach myself. In my head I was laughing at her thinking yeah right, do you know how crazy my life is. I could never have time for something like this. But something inside of me whispered girl don't pass this up. You could be good at this.

So I slept on it for a few nights, did my homework on this "company" and this "business" and started to think it might be something I could do. You see I told you in the paragraph above that I was a teacher but I didn't tell you what kind.... I was a business teacher working towards a masters in leadership. That combo together seemed like a dynamite coaching formula. I loved business and I loved leading and helping others so I finally said WHY NOT. From day one though I decided if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it well. My only issue was, it was not my full time job and I only had "a few hours" a week that I could commit to growing the opportunity. What that meant was that I was going to have to learn to get good at multi-tasking and making lots of things happen in short periods of time. The good news is I was already a busy working mom. I had that mulit-tasking thing down. I just had a lot to learn about the business. I treated year one like an internship and observed as much as I possibly could.

I quickly began to learn the ropes and started to look forward to my evening hours of my second job. It felt weird to say "my second job" because in reality I didn't need a second job. I had a great one and so did my husband. We were living comfortably in a beautiful town and a brand new house we had just built. We were not struggling to pay bills or put groceries on the table but we were not ROLLING IN IT either. I was a teacher, making teachers pay. I was comfortable but didn't have much room for fun spending. To be honest, it wasn't the money I was chasing. Honestly it was just the new adventure that I seemed to be falling in love with. I suddenly had all of this passion that I never knew I was missing. The excitement of starting and growing something that was "mine" and that something happened to be rewarding me financially very well suddenly lit me up like a fire. 

It did not come without a hell of a lot of hard work.  I have worked to learn to get healthier and more fit and I have worked to learn not just how to run a business, but to lead a team and teach them how to duplicate my success. This business of mine was built around nap times, bedtimes and early dates with my alarm clock before I headed off to my teaching job. It took sacrifice and a love for what I was doing. But I am standing on the other side of success telling you it tastes pretty sweet and was worth all the sleepless nights I put in to get where I am today. 

Some question why I would want to be a coach but the reality is, I am a teacher. I always have been and I always will be no matter where my career takes me. My classroom looks different now, but I am still teaching. I love showing others how to do something. It is an amazing feeling teaching my challengers how to live a different life and make themselves a priority and I love teaching my team of coaches how to build their own little empire. That is what makes my heart full. I believe that life is too short to spend it not doing something you love, so if you have not found what it is that makes you shine then you should keep looking. It's out there and it's worth chasing.

If you are reading this and have been considering becoming one of my challengers or a coach on my team please reach out to me. I am about to begin two new training groups in February and would love to have you in my "class." One  of the groups would be to teach you how to run a business and one to teach you how to get healthy and fit. Pick your pair of shoes you want to wear, I can teach you how to run with this in either pair. 

Fill out my online form.

HTML Forms powered by Wufoo.

Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup

Clean Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients 

3 cups of organic chicken broth 

8 cups of steamed organic broccoli 

1 tablespoon of organic unsalted butter

1 cup of organic milk or half and half 

1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour ( or white if you prefer) 

3 cups of cheddar cheese 

Black pepper and Himalayan Pink salt to taste 

Directions

Combine chicken broth and milk heat until bubbly 

Add in flour - stir to thicken 

Season with butter, salt and pepper 

Add in broccoli

Using a food processor or emersion blender process broccoli until chopped into very small pieces 

Add in the three cups of cheese - combine into mixture until melted 

Serve and garnish with a sprinkle more of cheese 

Makes about 6 cups of soup. 

21 day fix container breakdown

Serve it in a green - count it as a blue, yellow and green 

Sorry For What I Said When I Was New...

Common Mistakes New Recruits Make

As I near my two year anniversary I look back on some of the mistakes I made as a new coach. I hate to say this but I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Like not one. I am so sorry for all of the awful posts and invites I put out there when I was just learning the ropes. I thought my job was to promote Beachbody and sell products but I quickly learned that is not how you have success in multi- level marketing. This business is about relationships and helping people. Not just selling them something. People don't need you to sell them something, they need you to help them. Truly with all that you have, you need to help them. When someone picks you to be their coach they are putting the future of their health in your hands. They asked for your help because they need you and they need to trust that you have their best interest at heart. They are not just another sale, they are a life that you are going to help change. 

Here are some of my top tips for new coaches: 

1. Use your social media posts to engage your followers. Share different parts of your life with them not just the new product that you are promoting. 

2. Instead of selling the product - SHARE why you love it and what you love about it. The truth is facts tell but stories sell. No selfies of you kissing your Shakeology cups. (Or whatever else you might be marketing.) 

3. Ever notice how stock ads or promos about your product get VERY FEW LIKES but pictures of your family, kids or milestones get tons more. It's because they don't want to see your random advertisements in their newsfeed. They want to see YOU and your life. STOP trying to sell. It's yucky and nobody likes it. 

4. People will be drawn to you and your story. The more you share your story and why are you a coach the more people will be able to relate to you and want to join you. 

5. Offer value to your followers on social media. Give daily motivation, tips, recipes, tricks. Whatever you can but give them a reason to follow you not just to hear random testimonials about your product. If you can do this they are less likely to click unfollow or block you. 

6. Invest in personal development trainings and do it daily. Podcasts, readings, trainings whatever it is. You need to grow to get good at this business and the only way you can do that is to do personal development.

7. Treat this like an internship - assume you have a TON to learn. Look to your upline for advice, support and critical feedback. They went before you and they know what they are doing. Ask for the help. Plan to be here for ONE FULL YEAR before you make any choices if the business is right for you. I told myself from day one, be here in a year, be here in a year, be here in a year. Guess what, if you do things the right way chances are after that first year, you aren't going anywhere.

8. Stop sending people your links to your website before you bother to get to know them. Sorry to burst your bubble but people don't just buy from your link without interaction and engagement. Get rid of it. Don't put it in your posts, don't randomly send the link in your messages. Give it when they ask for it and when they are ready to work with you. Not a minute before then.

9. Believe in yourself before anyone else does. If you want to be successful in this business then you are going to have to believe that you can make a life for yourself out of this. Trust me when I say this, there will be doubters and haters and lots of people telling you this won't work. Prove them wrong. Every last one of them. Realize that you are capable of greatness if you are willing to work for it.

10. Go back to #9 - see my last line. You have to work for this and you have to work harder than everyone else around you. You must be relentless in learning the business and do it well. I didn't get into the top 200 out of 400,000 other Beachbody coaches by sitting back and taking a few selfies each day. I worked my ass of while balancing a full time job, grad school, motherhood, married life and the demands of running a household. If I can do it anybody else can too. But you see I did something different than most, I refused to quit even when it got hard. I focused on learning as much as I could and then once I got that down, I focused on teaching my team everything I learned along the way.

I wish you the best of luck. Get some thick skin. Get ready to have others question what your doing. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Decide you are willing to work for this.  I am here standing on the other side telling you this business is amazing. It will change every bit of your life for the better. You will not be the same person you were when you began your journey. But it will take hours and hours of hard work. It will require to live your life out loud on social media. It isn't for the weak of heart but it certainly rewards those who are up for the challenge.

If you are interested in joining my team please fill out the application below. Allow me to help you learn from my own mistakes I made as a new coach. Let me train you to run your business the correct way and help you duplicate my success that I have had. After I got the hang of this, I quickly learned that my degree as a business teacher combined with my masters in leadership makes for one hell of a Beachbody coach. I hope you will consider being my next student!

Fill out my online form.

Use Wufoo templates to make your own HTML forms.

Cafe Latte Shakeology Review

It's HERE and it's AMAZING!

I waited patiently for the arrival of this yummy flavor for months now. I knew Cafe Latte was going to be my thing because I LOVE coffee. What I typically do some days is mix coffee with my Shakeology instead of using water just for some extra flavor when I make my chocolate Shakeology now I don't have to do that anymore.


Many have asked me what is so special about Cafe Latte and how much more caffeine does it have in it than regular coffee. Well here is the deal,  everyone's heard of the coffee bean, but how many are aware that the red, fleshy fruit that surrounds it is actually a powerful superfood? Café Latte Shakeology now includes Whole Coffee Fruit, an incredible superfood, and has a rich, aromatic café latte flavor. By using the whole fruit, it lowers its carbon footprint while delivering the delightful refreshment found in a cafe cup of joe. It has all the exotic superfood ingredients necessary to deliver a daily dose of dense nutrition. Shakeology is nutrition simplified. It can help to increase healthy energy, reduce cravings, support weight loss, and improve digestion and regularity. 

So far I have tried it two different ways. I mixed it with water and caramel extract the first day and today I mixed it with a banana and some vanilla extra. I like how versatile the flavor is! Another bonus is that after I drank it I didn't have the "coffee" smell in my mouth after like I typically do when I drink regular coffee. 

Anxious to use this to help keep me out of the drive thru at Starbucks. I still tend to love to swing in for a tall pike place with cream. Some habits are hard to get rid of. Hoping this helps! To all of my coffee drinkers be sure to reach out to me if you would like to try this new flavor! 

Good to the last drop!

Click here to order yourself some of this new flavor and stay tuned for more recipes to come!  

Clean Chicken Fried Rice

No Need For Take Out Anymore - Make This One At Home 

We love chicken friend rice but what I don't love is all of the awful chemicals that tend to be used when you buy it from a take out place. This weekend when we were snowed in, I decided to try making it myself instead. Not to brag but I kind of knocked this one out of the park. It was a huge hit!! My only complaint was that the left overs the next day were a tiny bit dry so plan to eat this one all up on the day you make it! 

Ingredients 
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (I went with organic but you could use either)
Brown Rice
3 organic brown eggs (again any egg would work)
1 onion diced
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up
Olive oil for sautéing the chicken
3 cloves of garlic
Braggs liquid aminos( You can find this in the organic/ health food section of most grocery stores)
Pink Himalayan salt
Black Pepper
Organic raw honey
3 small pads of unsalted organic butter

Directions 
Cut up chicken into bite size pieces. Use about a tablespoon of olive oil to sauté the chicken.
After the chicken is cooked season with the garlic cloves, pink Himalayan salt, pepper and a drizzle of honey
Add in the chopped up onions and allow them to cook until clear
While onions are sautéing cook the mixed veggies according to package
Also cook rice according to package. I used enough rice for 4 servings.
Once you add in the mixed veggies drizzle the Braggs Liquid aminos over the mixture. I didn't really measure exact amount just made sure I was covering everything. I would assume I used 3 - 4 tablespoons
Then move your mixture to one side of the pan. Crack your three eggs into the pan and quickly move them around until they look like scrambled eggs. Combine that with your chicken and veggie mixture.
Lastly add in the cooked rice. Mix well. I then added in a bit more salt, pepper and braggs. Followed by three small pads of organic butter. I let it sit for 5 minutes then served it!

Enjoy!

One Step Closer To Our Answer

Learning To Dance Thru The Storm 

Since I have such a large following now on social media and I put it all out there ALL the time, I have a lot of people who really have shown care and concern for our family as I have battled some health issues this past year. I have been very public about my infertility struggles and thyroid issues because I know that someone out there needs my story and is going thru the same storm. By deciding to be public about it, I have found that I really am not alone. So many women have reached out to me because they went thru it or know someone who went thru it too. They make the walk seem just a little less dark. I can't say thank you enough for all of the prayers, messages and concern.

I feel like I owe you all an update because I gave a little clue last week on social media that we were up to something and then I gave another clue that it didn't go so well. I got tons of messages checking on us and it totally melted our hearts knowing we had so much support. 

So here it is - Since this past summer Kevin and I have been dealing with and coping with the fact that we may only ever have one child. After three failed attempts with clomid this past spring it kind of rocked us to our core. It was hard on my health when I did those three rounds and emotionally it was killer to go thru it and not have it work. While we realize there are other more drastic forms of fertility treatments and options we can try, it really got us down and felt very defeating. I found myself in a sad place in June and quite honesty have not wanted to go back there since we got thru it. We decided to focus on the blessing we had in front of us and stop wishing for more when we have one already who was all that we ever have wanted. We finally got to a place where we were not as sad and were starting to "be okay" with the cards that we were dealt. We looked at the bright side that he was healthy and at least we were blessed with one. Some don't even get that lucky. We looked at the other side of the card and talked about the lifestyle we could give him since we only had to afford one. It meant lots of vacations in the future, only having to buy 1 car some day for our teenager and a only one college education we would have to help fund. It meant a lifestyle for our son very different than the one we both grew up with. Both Kevin and I grew up in normal middle class families. We didn't have cleaning ladies, we didn't go on exotic vacations and we had siblings who we had to share with and sometimes our parents told us "no you have to wait until pay day to get that." We grew up very loved but we didn't have the "lifestyle" our son has. While we are very proud of what we are able to give him, we are missing something that money really can't buy. It's a brother or sister and he wants one terribly. He is at the age where all of his little friends are having baby brothers or sisters and asks us often when he will get his. And that is when it hurts. When my sweet little boy says his prayers at night and prays for a sibling my heart breaks a little. It is so hard not being able to give him that. Because of this, we decided that we could not look back on our life someday when we are older and regret that we didn't try again with fertility treatments. 

After lots of praying and debating back and forth, back and forth we decided we needed to try IUI at least once. I don't think we will take it any steps further than a few rounds of IUI. There are other options for us such as in vetro, foster parenting and adoption but I think we will call it quits if the IUI does not work. We can't go thru this over and over but also can't move forward until we have at least tried this. 

Because of Beachbody coaching I am in a a place financially where I can afford this. Sometimes I think this is one of the reasons why coaching was put in my life so I could say yes to things like this. It took me almost 8 months to "see this." Even though I know I can swing it financially, I knew emotionally it was going to be hard. I hadn't been ready to go thru it for the fear of the letdown. I almost didn't even want to try because I have been afraid of the sadness. Finally we got enough courage to say yes and move forward. I made the call to Magee to set up the treatment, have the medications ordered and we got ready for "the ride" we were about to go on. Blood work, meds that made me crazy, ultrasounds, shots, trips to Pittsburgh and the waiting game. We were ready. We went to Pittsburgh last Friday for the first steps. Everything looked good and I got the go ahead to start the medicine. The actual insemination procedure would have occurred yesterday or today depending on how the meds worked. But we had to skip it this month. 

You see right after my appointment at Magee I had an endocrinologist appointment. I wanted to be certain I had my thyroid under control and had the green light for this from my doctor. It's been a battle the last year getting it regulated and overcoming the fatigue that comes along with thyroid issues. I may look like I have all this energy but MAN I am exhausted 90% of the time. It's killer but I hide it well. We learned Friday that I do have Hashimoto's disease. I sort of saw it coming but Fridays ultrasound and blood work conformed it. That wasn't the big issue though. My thyroid is regulated and okay to handle pregnancy now. It wasn't before. My problem now seems to be my cortisol levels. My labs showed they were very low and concerned my doctor. She wants to do more testing to determine if I have adrenal fatigue going on. I have a six hour test at the hospital coming up in a few weeks where they will try to figure out if I have any insulin resistance, adrenal issues or a mass on my pituitary gland. All of these issues can be solved but we have to figure out the root cause first. 

 As much as it hurt to hear that we would need to hold off on the fertility treatments, I am thankful that God put me there that day at that appointment so I didn't move forward quite yet. Knowing that something is not quite right just yet means that the IUI most likely would have failed. He didn't want me to go down that road yet. I believe he has bigger plans for us. He was there that day telling me to just be patient my dear, better things are coming. It's still going to rain a little more for you, but I don't give you more than you can take. Stay strong. Your sunshine is coming soon enough. 

Keep the prayers coming as we work on walking towards our sunshine. Thanks for all the love and support. It means the world to us! 

XOXOXO

Sarah, Kevin & Carter 

Super Saturday Weekend Recap

Good Times With Good Friends - Super Saturday Weekend 

Well I am about a week late to the party with my recap from last weekend's big event, but I couldn't not share with my followers some of the excitement from the weekend. As you might already know we traveled to Pittsburgh last weekend for Beachbody's quarterly corporate training event. This one was bigger than most because we had the CEO of the company as well as Autumn Calabrese celebrity trainer and creator of the 21 day fix in Pittsburgh with us to recognize Melanie Mitro as the top coach of 2016. Being a part of the number one team in the network absolutely has it's perks.

Friday Night "Black Out" Event 

We stayed at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. It is simply stunning and one of my favorite hotels in Pittsburgh. We were treated like kings and queens for the weekend. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was that I was not there alone. I had almost 20 people there with me from my own personally sponsored team. They say it starts with one in this business. Last year this guy was the only one sitting in the audience with me. He believed in what I could do and the mission I had for our family. He believed in my dreams on the days that I didn't. He supported me and told me to keep going and little by little my efforts grew and I wasn't the only one on this crazy train.

One year later we were among MANY of my team members and their spouses and let me just say it feels good to watch your dreams grow and it feels good to be able to say because of one choice I made two short years ago our world is forever changed but so are all of my coaches worlds as well.

So thankful this guy encourages me to dream big! It's worth all the hard work! 

Friday night was packed full of fun. We sampled the newest Shakeology flavor Cafe Latte. Learned about all of the new programs and products coming out this spring and did a kick butt live workout. Nothing like sweating with 1,000 other coaches on a Friday night in a packed house. What my favorite part was that so many of my coaches were there with their spouses. It was awesome to see them supporting their wives and the big dreams they are chasing. 

Cheers to the newest Shakeology flavor!

That night after we changed out of our workout clothes,  Kevin and I treated ourselves to a fancy LATE NIGHT dinner at the hotel. Nothing like filet mignon at midnight. It was so fun to be there with him celebrating the year I have had as a coach. I truly could not do this without him so this was our weekend to celebrate all of the big business milestones I accomplished this year. He is my rock and my biggest fan. I wish everyone has someone like him. 

Team Fit & Fabulous - The ones always having the most fun in the crowd. 

Post workout picture with my team! 

Saturday morning I was up bright and early and was kind of nervous. I was asked to speak at the training event that Melanie Mitro was hosting for the Dream Team coaches. I was honored and excited to speak and share some of the lessons I had learned as a coach this year. I actually chose to talk about where I fell short this year as a coach. It took some guts to get up and own my failure, but after doing it I was so glad I did. I have gotten so many compliments, emails, messages and thank you's from others who needed to hear my story. Below is my presentation. Take a listen if you have a chance! 

Getting ready to speak at the training. My upline coach and my success partner! Two of my favorites in this business!

Up on stage after we all spoke. Proud to be called one of the team leaders on the Dream Team. 

After the training I joined the diamond coaches on my uplines team while she treated us to lunch and spoiled us with new Kate Spade clutches. She's way to sweet and totally knows how to make her team feel loved. 

The reason why I am a coach - the women who showed me the ropes.... 

Taking my diamonds out to dinner

That evening we still had some fun ahead of us, it was my turn to do the treating. I took my diamond coaches to Hyde Park. A fabulous steak house in Pittsburgh. It was time to treat them like queens and reward them for all of the hard work they put in this year. Oh and of course there were presents because I am totally a giver. All of my diamond coaches got new Kate Spade watches. I thought that they were symbolic of the ladies on my team. Because even though we all get the same 24 hours in a day, these women seems to accomplish enormous amounts of work during those 24 hours. Sometimes I wonder how they do it all and quite honestly sometimes I don't know how I do it all myself, but we still seem to make this business work and we do it successfully.

If you look at the make up of my team you will find its filled with busy women who are often balancing other full time jobs, families and the demands of running a household. They are often the people who you would think wouldn't want anymore on their plate. They are often women who weren't looking for this opportunity, it just seems to have found them. I'm feeling completely blessed to have these busy girl bosses beside me. After two years of coaching, I have found that if you want to find someone to make things happen, find a busy person because they are the ones who get things done and often make the best coaches.

After our dinner out we joined the rest of our team and lots of other coaches from the Dream Team to celebrate ending the year as the number one team in the network. Melanie rented out the Lexus Club at Consol Energy Center and we partied it up in style. My favorite part of the evening was dancing and singing the night away with my team. I might be biased but these girls were totally the life of the party. Just like the saying goes "find your tribe and love em hard." That's totally what I did all weekend. 

Dream Team Party - Celebrating Mel and the team she has built! So thankful to have her as a mentor! 

The friendships that I have made along the way as a coach is hands down one of my favorite parts of this business. These women have become some of my very best friends who rather than compete with me, help inspire me and run with me to the top. 

If your looking to join a team that is filled with women who will support you, encourage you and teach you the ropes you need to consider joining me. Let me be your mentor and teach you how to build a business that has been as successful as mine. After all wouldn't it makes sense to ask a business teacher to teach you how to start your business. Kind of a no brainer if you ask me. ;) If you would like more information, I have a live Q&A event that I am hosting this Thursday night from 8 - 10 pm EST. You can access the event by clicking here. I will answer all of the commonly asked questions about coaching. After the event, we can talk more and I can help you decide if this could work for you too. 

Fill out my online form.

HTML Forms powered by Wufoo.

The Master's Hammer and Chisel Mid Point Check In

HALF WAY BABY! HALF WAY!

Still here rocking this one together! Starting to see some awesome results! 

I don't know what it is but for some reason since Christmas I have been struggling to get back on track with Hammer and Chisel. WE LOVE IT but we really have been in vacation mode AKA slacker mode. I did awesome during the holidays but for some reason after the holidays is where I have fallen short. I battled the flu right after Christmas then spent the past week traveling for a Beachbody event. There were lots of dinner and lunch parties that took me out of my typical routine for meal planning. While I did "pretty good" last week I still think I could have done better. I only missed two workouts but my nutrition was still just so so. I can't seem to eat enough. I keep skipping out on my veggies. So this week I was supposed to take my mid point photos and weight myself. While I am starting to notice a change in my upper body and my pants are getting a little tiny bit big, I am not getting as "cut" as I know I could be if I were on point with following the containers. Hence why the transformation is not so dramatic. 

Totally loving my new workout tank! 100% truth!! 

Last week I tried a few new yummy recipes that I wanted to share them with you. Both were out of this world amazing!! Click on the following links for the recipes. Quinoa Berry Parfait  and Ham and Bean Soup 

While I was a little nervous about this one, it was a perfect morning treat. I wasn't sold on quinoa in yogurt but it actually was awesome.

For the duration of the program I am looking forward to doing what I said I would and sticking to the plan. Even on the weekends which seems to be where I am falling short. I just started a new challenge group this week to help some new clients get healthy. I think that accountability piece with them is really going to help me too. As long as I have been doing this who coaching gig, I still find I need to treat my own journey the way I did in the beginning as a challenger myself and my results tend to be much better. There truly is strength in numbers.

Here is the meal plan I will be following this week. FOR REAL ;)

Loving my nail and hair transformation I am getting from Shakeology. Check out these nails! 100% REAL!! My body loves the vitamins! 

Fill out my online form.

The easy to use Wufoo form builder helps you make forms easy, fast, and fun.

When You Start To Realize You Must Be Doing Something Right

January Super Saturday Weekend 

Photo Op from last year's big Super Saturday event. 

A year ago I set out to travel to Pittsburgh to attend my first "big" Beachbody event. I went alone. No team of coaches with me, just my supportive husband. The CEO attended flew in from California. Autumn Calabrese the creator of the 21 day fix was there to lead a live workout. Melanie Mitro was named top coach for 2015 and there were over 1,000 people there who had the passion for this company just like I did. I spent the weekend attending trainings, working out and networking with some of the finest coaches in the network. Being a part of the number one team in the company sure has it's perks that for sure. It was one of my favorite weekends of the year but I longed for the day when I would have a team join me at the event. You see in this business it often starts with one before you grow your own team to lead. Friday night my team of coaches will be heading to Pittsburgh to join me for a weekend of excitement. Our team has gotten much much bigger in one years time and while NOT nearly everyone is able to come, I am proud to say that over 20 people will be joining me in the burgh. That's why I am looking forward to this event more than anything. I absolutely love spending time with this group of people.

A few goodies for my coaches! Looking forward to spoiling them this weekend!

So I am sure you are wondering what the heck will we be doing all weekend? Having too much fun and learning how to move our business forward in 2016 is the simple answer.
Friday night we will have a corporate training with the CEO, recognize many accomplishments from the team for 2015 and then finish with a late night workout with one of Beachbody's master trainers and also Autumn Calabrese creator of the 21 day fix. What a way to spend a Friday night!

Saturday morning will be filled with lots of trainings from some of our top coaches on the team. I have some exciting news that I have to share. I was actually asked to BE ONE OF THE TRAINERS!!! I will be taking the stage to share some of my business tips I have learned along the way. I really am looking forward to being up on stage teaching everyone. It turns out my training as a business teacher paired with my masters training in leadership makes for one heck of a Beachbody business owner. My passion for teaching business to others is still at the heart of what I love to do. While my stage might look different, it still feels like a classroom to me. 

Just to be included in such a line up is a huge deal to me! Out of 400,000+ coaches in the entire network two of these ladies are in the top 10! So many amazing business women speaking! 

Saturday afternoon will be spent with some of my coaches on the team! We have celebration lunches and dinners planned along with a big fancy cocktail party Saturday night with karaoke and dancing. I am so looking forward to getting dressed up and having fun with "my tribe." There is nothing more fun than spending time with others who "get it" and have the same passion as you do! 

Stay tuned for lots of pictures and a recap! Should be a blast! 

Thinking of joining my tribe? I would love to mentor you but only if your willing to be bold and put your heart into this business.  Boldness is a choice we are all presented with, a state of mind, a way of being. If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. If you don’t shoot, you’ll never score. This life is too short for you to waste it wondering, “What if?” We all have it in us, even you, my dear, whether you know it or not. So why not try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

Fill out the application below and I will be in touch about getting you started. 

Fill out my online form.

HTML Forms powered by Wufoo.

Organic Berry Quinoa Parfait

This was my breakfast treat from this morning. I'd be lying if I didn't say it made me nervous to eat. Quinoa with plain greek yogurt... I wasn't sold until I ate it... Oh my goodness. It was great! I am not a yogurt girl at all. I tend to skip out on most all dairy, but I like using greek yogurt when I can here and there for some extra protein. It was a combo that didn't disappoint. Don't be nervous - give this one a try! 

Ingredients 

Plain quinoa
Plain greek yogurt
Mixed berries
A drizzle of organic honey

Hearty Ham & Bean Soup

SOUPS ON 

When we first got married and I made Christmas dinner all of my older lady guests insisted I save the ham bone for making soup. Young and foolish I could have cared less about a ham bone and tossed it.

Today on this chilly day I pulled out this years ham bone that I finally decided to save this year. Now I see what all the fuss was about.

My goodness was this ever delicious and perfect on a day like today! So glad that I got a little wiser in my older age and saved the ham bone. In the event that you were wise enough to do the same give this recipe below a try. It's a wonderful treat!

Ingredients Needed 

• 1 ham bone (I leave meat on the bone while it cooks)
• 4-5 cups leftover ham
• 2 cups dry navy beans
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• ¼ cup fresh parsley or 1 tbsp. dry
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 8-9 cups organic chicken stock

Directions 

1. Prepare dried beans by soaking them in cold water for 8-10 hours, then drain and rinse (I do this the night before).
2. In large pan heat oil and sauté celery, carrots, onions and garlic until tender.
3. Add chicken stock, ham bone and ham. Transfer to larger pot if necessary.
4. Add beans, parsley and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 2-3 hours.
6. Chop up large pieces of ham before serving
7. Enjoy!