A Crash Course In Self Care

Project Me... 30 Days of Self Care 

I have to tell you a little back story about how I went about planning my challenge group theme for this month. Each month I run a free group on social media. I like to add value to my followers as my thank you for their support while I build this business. Last month we did a 5 day crock pot boot camp. I wanted to offer them something fun this month that they felt like the "needed." I did a poll in the group and also on my Facebook page. The theme of "project me" a crash course in self care was really popular among my followers. Many expressed this was something they were struggling with BIG time. I also had a lot of interest in a sugar detox. What I decided to do was go ahead and do my free group around the theme of a detox from sugar and my challenge group around self care. I am excited to be offering something that had so much interest from everyone. 

I am hoping I can offer value to those who join this challenge group by giving them some strategies to make a little time for themselves each day. Of course like all of my monthly challenge groups, we will be focusing on clean eating and exercise to help you get healtheir, but I am planning to take that a step further. Life is hard. Stress is hard. Our expectations that we put upon ourself are often too much. We try to do it all and it leaves us doing everything but nothing well. This month we will take a step back and look at our actions and the stress we are allowing in our life. We will work to elimate some of it. In addition I will be sharing some of my best tips and tricks for self care that I have learned for myself along the way. 

This group will kick off on Monday March 20th. We will do a week of "pre-season" activities to get you ready to rock the challenge group followed by support and accountability in the coming weeks. The group will wrap up on Friday April 14th. We will use the Team Beachbody My Challenge Tracker app as the platform to log your workouts and monitor your progress. I will teach you how to use this. 

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about this months support group. If you are in need of some "self care" help and would like to be considered please fill out the application below and I will be in touch shortly. From here we will work together to determine what fitness program will be best for you and work to do some goal setting for the upcoming challenge together.

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Honey Nut Steel Cut Oat Granola

Why buy it when you can make it better at home.... 

When I was doing my meal plan for this week I decided I wanted to do some yogurt parfaits to switch it up. I decided on strawberry peach. The recipe called for gluten free granola. I put it on the grocery list then decided to scratch that idea and just make it on my own. Believe it or not I have been eating clean for three years now and never actually made any granola. I actually rarely use it for some reason was craving it.

I put together this combo and couldn't be more excited with how it turned out. The honey nut flavor is so good! Way better than anything I could have bought in the store. It certainly won't be an all the time kind of treat because of how much honey I used but every once it awhile I have a feeling we will be making a few batches of this.

My only advice would be to double the recipe. I have a feeling this pan of it that I made won't last long.

Ingredients 

• 3 cups of gluten free steel cut oats (or non gluten free if you don't have an issue with gluten) I only had two cups on hand so I did my last cup out of rolled oats. 
• 2 cups of slivered almonds. I used whole almonds and chopped them in the food processor. I prefer raw organic almonds. 
• 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt 
• 1 tsp of ground organic cinnamon 
• 1/2 of melted extra virgin organic coconut oil 
• 1/2 cup of organic honey 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup of dried coconut flakes (optional) you could also do any type of dried fruit if you prefer. 

Directions 

1. Mix together steel cut oats, salt, almonds and cinnamon then set aside. 

2. Mix together wet ingredients and stir (vanilla extract, melted coconut and honey) 

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir well to ensure all of the granola is coated. 

4. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees 

5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread granola over it. After I spread it out I drizzled a little more honey over it and cinnamon. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes then remove and flip the granola 

7. Return to baking for another 20. Flip it again 

8. Give it one last flip and bake for about 15 more minutes. 

9. Allow it to cool for about an hour then you can break up the granola and store it in an airtight container. This would be when you would want to add in your coconut flakes or dried fruit. 

ENJOY! 

My Top Pregnancy Must Have Items

Mom's To Be Listen Up.... 

I wish that someone handed me a list like this when I was expecting but they didn't. I had to figure out for myself what were some "must have" items for my pregnancy. All of us are different and what floats my boat won't float yours, but these items listed below helped me a lot. I would highly recommend adding some of them to your shopping cart if your gearing up for pregnancy or in the midst of it. 

Peppermint Tea  - Everyone kept telling me to drink ginger tea when I was sick in the beginning, but I just couldn't stomach the ginger no matter how hard I tried. I went for peppermint tea instead. I would drink it first thing in the morning and also in the evenings. My morning sickness was actually more like an all the time sickness for the first 14 weeks. This came in handy when nothing else would work for me. Keep in mind once the baby gets here I will be staying away from peppermint because it dries out your milk supply so don't plan to drink it while breastfeeding. 

Hard Candy - This was my saving grace during the first trimester. I literally ate an entire tin in one day sometimes when the nausea was bad. I loved these ones because they were organic but also because of the sour taste they had. For some reason it really settled my stomach. You can order them from Amazon but to be honest I got mine at Cracker Barrel. They started to know me I was coming in to buy it so often. HA HA. But for real, I ate a lot of tins of this stuff. My favorite flavor was the raspberry and myer lemon. Lots of flavor options to pick from though. 

Beachbody On Demand

I have really enjoyed using Beachbody On Demand as an option during the pregnancy because lets be honest some days I just don't feel like certain workouts. I have been doing a lot of the yoga from the yoga studio, especially in the second and third trimester. During my first trimester I did 21 day fix and also Country Heat. They were perfect for that time in the pregnancy. There are also a few maternity workouts you can do based on the trimester you are in. It's been nice to have options so that I can have a "fit" and healthy pregnancy. I used the meal plans and portion control containers from the programs the entire pregnancy. Working hard to eat clean and stay on track this time around. 

Fetal Heartbeat Monitor 

This one was a struggle for me. I went back and forth about having one. I wanted one, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to find the heartbeat and then FREAK out. Having a miscarriage prior to this pregnancy made me super uneasy and nervous about heartbeats. I had a few in my Amazon cart but then one day a friend dropped hers off to borrow. I was almost afraid to turn the thing on but it ended up being a huge piece of mind for all of the first and some of the second trimester. I would listen to her daily. I haven't used it in awhile now because I feel her move so often, but it was a great piece of mind. Some will tell you not to get it but I say go for it momma. If it makes you feel better, get one. 

Snoogle - Pregnancy Pillow

Okay this one I debated and debated. Around the second trimester I started to struggle with my sleep. I knew I needed a body pillow but was overwhelmed by which one to pick. There were so many to pick from. Popular choice lead me to the SNOOGLE. Let's just say my husband hates it and I am obsessed. It's massive but has helped me get a better nights sleep for a few months now. I hope you have a big bed though because it's going to take up most of it. 

Frozen Dark Cherries - Okay I literally eat these every single day. We cannot keep them in stock at our house. Each night before bed I eat a bowl of frozen dark cherries. At first it was a craving but now has turned into a habit. I feel okay eating them though because of the fiber that they contain and also because cherries can actually help you with sleep. At this stage in the game I could use all the help I can get so cherries it is! Try them! Be sure to get the pitted ones. I buy mine at Wegmans in the freezer section. 

Stretch Mark Prevention 

I know, I know stretch marks are genetic you are either going to get them or your not. I have heard it all but guys I still wanted to do my own prevention JUST IN CASE. I didn't really get very many when I had my son but carrying a girl is a totally different ball game. It's game on with the creams for me. I used the honest belly balm the first trimester and some of the second but around December I switched to the Basq brand. I like it best. I am using the cream and the oil twice a day. Ask me in May if it was worth the effort and money. That's to be determined. I love the smell of it though. I hated the smell of the honest stuff. Yuck! 

Heartburn Tea 

Okay I don't know what it is, but being pregnant gives me heartburn. I never have it unless there is a bun in the oven. When I have it - look out. It's like I ate fire. I had it during both pregnancies really bad. My cure is this heartburn tea. I literally can't live without it. I order mine off of Amazon because it's hit or miss in stores and I can't risk running out of it. If you have ANY heartburn or are worried that you will, snag a box of this stuff. It's gold. 

Belly support (Baby wrap) 

I am ready to learn how to baby wear this time around. I didn't for my first, but think I am going to have to the second time around here. So far I have purchased the solly baby wrap and am planning to get a few ring slings for the newborn phases. I have been having horrible muscle burns near the top of my belly each day the bigger I get. That lead me to learn that you can actually use the wraps as a belly wrap to ease of the of weight and pressure. More to come on that as I am new to it but stay tuned. Regardless get yourself some kind of support brace or band. After about 20 weeks it starts to get really heavy to carry around each day. 

Maternity Clothes 

You will hear mixed opinions on this. Some people brag about how they made it 10 months wearing all of their normal clothes and never bought maternity. I say ummm good for you, but no thanks. I already feel uncomfortable enough, the last thing I want to be doing it trying to squeeze into all of my regular clothes. I have always been a size zero so any belly or "growth" grew me right out of my clothes. Plus I was proud of the bump excited to shop at the maternity stores. Am I sick of "ruched" shirts and stripes? Of course but it's temporary. My advice is to BUY it ALL if you can. The underwear, the pajamas, the bras, the dresses, the leggings, jeans, tops you name it.  If you can swing it get it. I feel so much better in it and honestly will still be in it for a few months after having the baby. I had a lot from my first pregnancy but the seasons were off so I had to do some shopping again this time around. Comfort and confidence is key here. I promise you will get lots of use out of it and when you are done with it you can pass it along to a friend or sell it. I shopped a lot at Motherhood Maternity, Target has some stuff and I also really loved ASOS maternity and PINK BLUSH Maternity if you want to "glam it up." 

Wishing you all the best for your pregnancy! Comment below if you have any great brands or products that I should try that has helped you during pregnancy. 

Disclaimer - nobody paid me to feature these brands on there. I am just spreading the love and sharing what has worked for me so the opinion isn't biased if you were wondering.

Stay tuned for a post in a few short months about what I will be taking in my hospital bag for baby number two. I will also be doing a post about what newborn items I couldn't live without this time around. It's crazy how things change in a few short years. So much new stuff since I did this last time. It's been fun to do some shopping! 

Life with just a little bit more...

It's funny how life takes you places sometimes you never knew you wanted to go to. That was coaching for me. I loved my job as a teacher. I had a comfortable life and I didn't think I needed anything else. Except to maybe lose the mom muffin top that I was carrying around after having my son. 

After two years of making excuses about the "baby weight" I joined a challenge group. I wasn't looking to become a Beachbody coach that's for sure. I just wanted a little bit of help. While I got the results I was hoping for, I also found a new passion. I started to consider becoming a coach myself because of how much I enjoyed the challenge groups that I was in. 

This was an opportunity that I knew could be big for my family and I but I just didn't know "how big." I was intrigued about the possibility to give my family "just a little bit more." As you might be able to guess my income as a teacher was "fixed" I got a raise once a year and paid once a month. While it was "comfortable" there was often little left for the "little more stuff." 

I soon learned that the harder I worked a little bit became a lot. It became grocery money, debt relief, date nights, family vacations, shopping sprees and more than anything the opportunity became freedom. 

Freedom to take the road less traveled and freedom to design life on my terms. Next Tuesday I am hosting a coaching opportunity event. This is your chance to learn what I do and how you could do it too. 

I am looking for a specific person to fill the slots in my new coach mentoring program I will be soon opening up. Maybe you know her or maybe you are are. She's driven, she's busy, she's smart and successful and she's looking to give her family and herself "just a little bit more." 

If that person is you fill out the application below and I will be in touch. 

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To be clear - I hustled to earn this lifestyle and you would have to as well. Anything worth having in life takes work and this is no different. 

Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach’s income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings located in the Coach Online Office for the most recent information on our Coaches’ actual incomes.
The Statement of Independent Coach Earnings can be found at http://tbbcoa.ch/TBB_SOICE

The informational group will take place on Tuesday February 28th. You can use this link to request access to the informational group. 

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Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This is the ONLY way I can eat a sweet potato.  wish I loved them because they are so good for you but I just don't. Unless I make it this way. So weird! Regardless this recipe just works for me and might work for you too incase you struggle with this too. 

Give it a try and let me know how you like it. 

Makes  4 servings

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 2-3 hours (on high) or 4-5 hours (on low)

TOTAL TIME: 2-3 hours (on high) or 4-5 hours (on low)

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3)
• 3/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 bottle of yogurt ranch dressing or yogurt blue cheese or just regular if you prefer.
• Cheddar cheese I used about 8 ounces

Directions 

1. Lightly coat a slow cooker with cooking spray (I used a 6-quart but believe a smaller size would be fine too). Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Place the hot sauce, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne in a bowl then stir until smooth. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker, then cook for 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low.

3. About 30 minutes before the chicken is done, bake the sweet potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, then place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon the size of your sweet potato. Turn off the oven and leave the sweet potatoes inside to keep them warm.

4. Once the chicken is shredded and while the sweet potatoes bake, mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water together. Add it to the cooking liquid in the slow cooker, then whisk to combine. I added in about 4 ounces of cheese at this time. 

5. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken, stirring once halfway through. Once thick, return the chicken to the slow cooker and toss to coat. 

6. You may need to take some of the sweet potato out. I had to scoop about a spoonful and set it aside so that the chicken would fit inside of it. Then top with your dressing as well as cheese. I used green onions as a garnish but it wouldn’t be necessary.

Pork Carnitas

Last week I hosted a 5 day free crock pot boot camp with some of my clients. We cooked up lots of different recipes. Everything from desserts to drinks to dinners. This pork carnitas recipe was a winner by a landslide. They all loved it and so did my family so I wanted to share it with all of you. This one won't disappoint. 

Enjoy! 

Serves 4

Cook Time - 8 hours

Ingredients

• 3 lbs of Pork Loin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• Corn Tortillas
• Black or Pinto Beans in a can
• Romaine Lettuce
• Diced Tomatoes
• Diced Avocado
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Pork Rub Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp oregano

Cilantro Lime Topping

• Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1 lime cut into wedges for garnish

Directions

Mix all spices together except the bay leaf in a bowl.

Rub down the entire pork loin with the spices and place in your slow cooker.

Add the bay leaf and water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  

Your pork should pull apart easily so you can shred it.

Once it is able to be shredded, take it from the crock pot, shred and then place back into the crock pot.  Stir the meat to coat with the juices.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Add the drained beans with 1/2 of a cup of water to a pot on the stove over medium heat. Cook until heated through.

Lightly spray your corn tortillas with cooking spray and place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Crisp in the oven on 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until desired crispiness.

Next step is to assemble the tortilllas.

Take your corn tortilla and add your toppings. You can top it with the lime yogurt dressing.

She decided to believe in the girl looking back at her in the mirror

Country Heat Transformation  - Meet Sherry 

Before I share with you Sherry's story I wanted to give you a little back story to her journey. We formed a social media friendship around the spring of 2014. We chatted SEVERAL times back and forth after the last few years about Beachbody programs, Shakeology and clean eating. While she was interested in what I did as a coach she never was ready to join me. I respected that but kept inviting her and offering her a spot in my challenge group. I knew that eventually the timing might be right. I really wanted to help her and get to know her better and finally this past December she gave herself a gift. The gift of heath. She bought the 21 day fix challenge pack. It actually ended up being too hard on her joins so we switched her over to Country Heat. It's such an awesome program for beginner and I knew it was going to be a better fit since she was struggling with the fix. Sure enough it was exactly what she needed. One thing that she really did was well being active in the challenge group that I had her in. She shared her struggles, her workouts, her foods basically all of her journey with the group and with me. There were days when she wasn't feeling it but she showed up. 

SHE LOVED THE PROGRAM and as you can see she got some awesome results so far and is working hard right now on her round two transformation. 

The pictures says a lot but her smile really says it all. This is a woman who is taking back her life. 

I asked her to share a few words with you all to give anyone who might be where she was hope and inspiration to be willing to bet on yourself and give this a try. 

"Before beginning my weight loss journey with Beachbody, I had got to place in my life where I was unhappy with just about everything. My entire life has been finding different ways to change physically without working on the inside.   I was very ashamed at what I had let myself become both mentally and physically.  I had given up on myself, I definitely reached rock bottom! I was pretty hesitant to move forward with Beachbody for a long time but eventually the risk outweighed my fears. I’m so glad I decided to give it a try; Beachbody has given me my life back.  I have tons of energy and confidence. My cravings and sweet tooth have been cut down dramatically. I have lost 14lbs and 13.5 inches and counting. "

-Sherry

Please keep cheering her on. She actually was contacted by Beachbody's Success Story Team. They will be reaching out to her in March and are considering possibly sharing her story in some of their marketing for Country Heat. Here's to wishing her the best of luck with her journey! So so so proud of you! Keep believing in yourself!

Think you are ready to change your life like Sherry did? Fill out the application below. I will be in touch with you about joining me in my next upcoming challenge group.

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Focus On Food - February Nutrition Challenge

As I near more closely into the thrid trimester of my pregnancy I am focusing hard on my nutrition and a little bit less on my fitness like I had before I was expecting. I am doing yoga and trying to keep my body limber and strong, but my nutrition has been what has been most important to me. When I had my first baby I gained 57 lbs because I ate whatever I felt like it. I treated pregnancy as a pass to go hog wild on junk foods. This time around I have been much more concious about what I was fueling my body with. There are going to be five years between my two children. Over the course of those five years I learned a new way when it came to nutrition. 

I spent the first two years of my son's life reaching for fast food. I could have lived off of potato chips and lattes from the drivethru at Starbucks. I finally woke up one day and said enough was enough. I had to learn to be healthier not just for ME but also because I needed my family to be healthy too. I decided to make a change and joined a challenge group because even though I wanted to be healthy I really needed help. I needed someone to hold me accountable and teach me "how" to actually make it happen. 

Well guess what... it worked for me. Clean eating became the norm and my desire to eat junk food began to diminish. I learned that healthy foods can actually be delicious and that 30 minutes of exercise a day actually made me a less stressed crazy mom. 

I drank Shakeology daily because it actually made me feel better. I stopped craving junk foods and saw a huge change in my digestion. I never realized how much I was lacking in vitamins and minerals until I started to add them in. Shakeology helped make my skin glow and hair and nails grow like a weed. While I will admit I was so skeptical at first, I have hardly missed a day since I started drinking it. I really can say it's worth every penny. 

During the month of February the challenge that I am going to host a challenge will have a HUGE focus on food. I want to share with you what I have learned about what a powerful tool nutrition can be to taking back your life and creating new habits so you can live longer and be stronger. 

Not only will I be teaching you how to meal plan, but also how to fall in love with HEALTHY eating. I promise during this time you will NOT feel like you are on any type of diet. In fact, by the end of the challenge you probably won't event want to return back to your old ways. I will teach you how to manage portion control and tips for keeping up with this lifestyle on a budget. 

In addition to our focus on foods I will also help you to pick a Beachbody fitness program that best suits your goals. After we pick a program you will be added into the challeng group for support and accountability. It's easy to buy a fitness program with good intentions but it's hard to stick with it. That's why having a coach and a support group is the piece that so many are missing. I find those who commit go "ALL IN" as a challenger are the ones who get the best results. 

If this seems like something you are in need of and are ready to join me please fill out the application below. There are a limited number of spots so apply quickly to be considered. We will begin on Monday February 20th, 2017. 

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