Month: January 2015

What are Doctors saying about Shakeology?

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Have you heard of Shakeology?

I was super skeptical to try it for the first time because I had tried so many different shakes in the past that never actually had any lasting effects. My coach at the time sent me some samples, and I actually really liked it so I decided to give it a shot. I have been drinking shakeology ever since, and I truly believe that it is without a doubt the healthiest meal of the day!

Check out what doctors have to say about it Here!

Click Here to visit my website and purchase Shakeology today.

Magic Weight Loss

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Have you wasted HUNDREDS of dollars on pills, drinks, supplements, wraps, fad diets, and more and simply not lost the weight? I have. Before Beachbody I had tried so many different weight loss remedies and fad diets, wasting money that I didn’t really have in a desperate attempt to lose the weight.

Let me let you in on a secret.. there is no magical weight loss remedy. What will ALWAYS work is eating nutritious foods, working out, and sticking to it! If you commit yourself to a workout program and eating healthy, not dieting, just eating healthy, you will lose the weight!

Let me help you reach your goals the healthy way, and send me a message detailing where you are at currently as well as your goals (whether it be losing 10 pounds, or losing over 100 pounds!) so that I can help figure out what program would work best for you.

Click Here if you would like to take me on as your coach!

Core/Ab exercises you can do from home!

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This is a list of some simple core/ab moves, as well as some moves straight out of various Beachbody workouts. Keep checking back for a bigger list, because I will add more over time.

-Hold weights in each hand straight down beside your thighs, and then shift your body from left and right bringing the weight down toward the floor. This works your obliques.

-Leg lifts; lie down flat on the mat with your hands on the mat for balance, and then raise your legs up into the air at a 90 degree angle. Then you’ll lift your butt off the floor and push your legs into the air as high as you can, come back down slowly, and then repeat as many times as you want.

-Crunchy frog (P90X): Sit on the mat and lean back at an angle. Lift your legs up off the floor and bend your knees up to your chest as you wrap your arms around your knees, then your legs go straight outand arms go out to the sides. Repeat.

-Sit at an angle with your legs off the floor and knees bent, then reach from side to side and touch the floor. This move can be done just by linking your hands to tap, or you can use a light weight.

-Leg extensions: Start this move on your knees and put your hands down on the floor for balance. Then you will just lift one leg up so that it is parallel to the floor, let it come down but not hit the floor, and repeat. If you want to make the move harder you can extend the leg and raise one arm out also parallel to the floor, then bring the knee up to your chest and pull the arm in at the same time.

-Leg extensions standing up: This time you balance on one leg with your hands on your hips, and then just raise the leg out to the side as high as you can. Starting out you can tap the floor between reps, but over time try to do them without touching your toe to the floor.

-Scissors: Lie down and start with both legs up straight in the air at a 90 degree angle and your arms down on the mat for balance. Then you will bring one leg down parallel to the floor, but not touching. As you bring that leg back up, the other one comes down.

-Cross crawl (Les Mills): Lie down on the mat with your hands behind your head and start by just bringing one knee up but bend it so that only the bottom half of your leg is parallel to the floor. Then switch back and forth a couple of times to get used to the movement. Once you’ve got it, (let’s say you are doing the right leg) you’ll add the crunch and then turn your body to the right, bringing your left elbow close to your right knee. Do this again several times on each side.

-Bridge: Start in a sitting position and put your hands on the ground behind you, then bend your knees and plant your feet on the ground. You will then lift yourself up until your body is parallel to the floor. Hold as long as you can.

-Plank: Start by lying face down and then resting your toes on the mat. Plant your hands in a pushup position, and then lift yourself up parallel to the floor. Hold as long as you can. This can be done on your hands or on your elbows if holding on your hands is too difficult starting out.

-Modified plank (Les Mills): Start the same way as plank, hands and feet planted body parallel to the floor. Then come down off of your right hand and onto your elbow, then the other hand, and then lift back up onto your right hand, then the other hand. Repeat. This one buuuurns when you do it enough times.

-Banana rolls (P90X): This sounds silly, but you will look just like the shape of a banana. It is probably easiest to start lying face down. You’ll want to do this at the end of your mat because then you will have more range of movement, and the mat should be positioned under your hips and butt. You’ll want to have your legs lifted off the floor as high as you can get them, and the arms straight out in front of you also lifted as high as you can get them. Hold for 10 seconds, then turn onto your side and position your arms and legs in the same manner just to the side. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat on your back, and this one will be tough so you can bring your legs a little higher if you have to. Then do the other side.

-Superman (P90X): This is exactly the same as the first part of banana roll. Keep your arms straight out, legs straight out, both as high as you can get them. Hold for as long as you can, give yourself a break, repeat as many times as you want.

-Cobra: Lie down on the mat with your hands straight out in front of you, then lift your chest as high off the ground as you can manage while bringing your arms out to the sides and pushing them as far back as you can. Repeat this as many times as you want.

-Lunge and reach (P90X): With this one you’ll want to be standing with wide legs, and then you lunge down to one side and reach for the ground. Then you will start to stand up and as you get halfway up you’ll start turning your body to the opposite side and reaching your arms up into the air. It will feel like you are picking something up off the ground, and putting it up on a high shelf on the other side. Repeat on the same side, then do the other side separately. You can do this with or without weights. If you want to add weight but you don’t have dumbbells you can even use something as simple as a can of soup.

-Stand up crunches: Can be done with a light weight or without. Just stand in a wide leg position for better balance. Then you’ll hold the weight or grip your hands together and crunch down from side to side. Do not lean forward, make sure that you have good posture and your back is straight. It should be like your back is up against a wall and all you’re doing is moving side to side.

Figure eights (Turbo Fire): Can be done with a light weight or without. Again you’ll stand in a wide leg position for balance, and then reach your arms straight out and bring it down to one side, then up, back down as you cross in front of your body to the other side, back up, etc. This literally is a figure eight, and the wider you make them and the further out your hands are the harder the move will be.

-(Les Mills) Start this move by lying down with your legs straight out but not touching the floor, and then bend your knees up toward your chest as you crunch up and reach your arms toward your toes. Then you’ll lie back and bring your legs out straight in a hover again, then lift the legs up straight in the air at a 90 degree angle while crunching up and again reaching your arms toward your toes. This counts as one full rep.

-Mountain climber: With this one you plant your hands on the floor, and then bring one knee up close to your chest. Once you put that leg back down you just switch to the other leg, and repeat. The faster you go, the harder this gets.

-Spider: Here you will start in a plank position, and then lift one leg up and bring the knee up to the side and crunch it toward your upper body. Do this on both sides repeatedly.

-Burpees: With this one you start standing up, plant your hands down on the floor quickly, jump your feet back to a plank position, jump them back forward, stand up. That is one rep. If you get good at these and you want to get a little crazy and make it harder you can add a knee tuck jump in between reps, you can jump your feet out wide after the plank before jumping them back in and standing up, or you can do both.

-X press (P90X): This one is done standing up, and you’ll want a wide stance with your toes pointing out toward the sides of the room. This one is best done with light weight, so if you don’t have those just grab a couple cans of soup. You start by squatting down and your arms just hang in between your legs, then as you come up out of the squat you reach your hands up overhead into an X. Repeat.

-Lying toe-touch: Start this move lying down with your legs straight out and your arms up behind your head. Crunch up and reach your arm across your body and touch it to the floor on the opposite side, then come back down slowly before doing the other side. Repeat as many times as you want. You can also do this with your legs crossed if you want a bigger challenge.

-Steam engine (P90X): Start standing up with your hands behind your head. Then you will bring one knee up as high as you can, and turn your body toward the knee so the opposite elbow almost touches. Then you’ll switch back and forth repeatedly.

-Another one to do standing up is to hold weight on one leg and lunge back with the other, your arms and upper body turns in the opposite direction of the lunge. Then you bring your knee up as high as you can, and your arms and upper body turns to the other side toward the knee. Repeat on this side as many times as you want before doing the other leg. You can also do this move by reaching your arms into the air straight up as you lunge, and then crunching your arms and upper body down as you bring the knee up.

-Running man (P90X): This one is done with most of your weight on the front leg, and the other leg in a bit of a lunge backward. Then you just move your arms back and forth as though you are running. The faster you go, the harder the move gets. You can also do this with light weights to make it harder.

Click Here if you would like to take me on as your coach!

My Fitness Pal

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Hey Everyone! I have had a couple of people in the group approach me about meal plans, so I wanted to write a blog post for everyone in case anyone else had the same issues with nutrition. I am going to do you one better than simply give you a meal plan. I am going to do for you what my coach did for me when I started getting into fitness – show you how to use myfitnesspal. This is an AMAZING tool because it takes all of guesswork out of counting calories and macronutrients (carb/protein/fat). I strongly advise each of you to create an account at www.myfitnesspal.com because it will be super helpful for you to keep track of your nutrition and make sure you’re on track. After I explain a bit about myfitnesspal and how to use the features, I will then discuss macronutrients and the levels you should be focused on depending on your goals, and then I will get into some healthy meals and snacks that you can use on your plans. Honestly, this method works SO much better than anyone simply providing you with a basic meal plan to follow day after day. Anyone can give you a meal plan, but you are GOING to get sick of the foods on the plan and you are most likely going to give up. With MFP, YOU are in charge of what you are eating and are able to change it up from day to day as long as you stay within the calorie and macro limits. You’ll fluctuate a bit in macros from day to day as you change things up, and that’s okay, as long as you are around the numbers you are supposed to be using.

Okay so how do you get started? Like I said above just go to the link, and create an account by either signing up through facebook or email. I believe it will ask you some information about your current weight and stuff like that just to help determine a calorie level. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see the “My Home” page automatically. This is where you can track your progress and see how many calories have yet to be consumed each day. Honestly though, I recommend filling out your meal plan for the day the night before. This way you can shift things around a bit to make the macros match up, that way you get them closer to the goal than if you were doing it as you ate your meals. Under the Home tab you can also visit Goals, which is where you update your calorie limit if you want it changed as well as how many workouts you do and your macro targets. If you want to change anything you just hit change goals, and then go to the Custom option to set your own fitness goals. If you have lost some weight or seen a decrease in measurements, you can track that under the Check In tab. The rest of the subtabs for home are all self-explanatory, so I’ll move on to the Food tab. This is where you do all the work! You just click the day you want to prepare, and it automatically has 3 meals and 3 snacks set out for you to update with foods. You just click “add food” and it brings up a database where you enter the food you want, click the right food and the proper amount, and click “add checked” to add it to that meal option. Once you’ve been using it for a bit there will be a bunch of foods listed under the tabs “recent and frequent” to make it easier for you to use. You can also save meals if you plan to be eating the same kinds of meals more frequently to make it easier, instead of having to repeatedly search for those ingredients or items every time you make it. If you’re making something completely original, you can visit the Recipes tab to log in all of the ingredients. This works AWESOME if you are making soups or chili or anything like that with multiple servings because all you do is put in the ingredients used and the amount of servings it makes, and MFP calculates how many calories and macros are in each serving!! Lastly, the only other thing you really need to know about MFP is the Exercise tab. This is completely optional, and I honestly don’t care if you use it or not! It is totally up to you, but if you are running or walking or doing some kind of physical activity and you want recognition for it – by all means, log it in!

Now that you know how to use MFP, let’s focus on calories and macros. This is going to differ depending on weight and size, and if you are doing workouts on a regular basis. However, as a ballpark number for those of you not doing fitness programs, I would say somewhere between 1300-1500 calories. You DO NOT want to go below 1200 calories a day. If you do, your body can enter what is called “starvation mode” and it will be completely counter-productive. A lot of people seem to believe that if you just don’t eat that much you will lose weight, but in reality your body will start storing the foods you do eat as fat because it will think it isn’t being fed enough to function properly. If you’re working out on a regular basis you will want to add 400-500 calories to that calorie range to create a deficit for the calories burned off in your workouts. Again, this will depend on your size and weight. As for macro nutrients, if you want to be on a fat burner diet I would aim for 25% carbs 25% fat and 50% protein. Everybody is different though, so if you are finding that you are sluggish and totally grouchy on that plan, you may need to modify. If that happens to you it is just because your body needs more carbs, so just bump it up in increments. So start the next day at 30% carbs and 20% fat with protein staying at 50%. If that still isn’t working for you, and it may not be when you’re just starting out, modify it again to 40% carb 40% protein and 20% fat. Once you’ve been doing your plan for a few weeks I would suggest bumping it back down and seeing how you fare. It could be that the first method was too drastic of a change starting out, but once you’re used to eating better it may be easier for you to manage the other level.

Okay so now that you know how to use myfitnesspal and you know what kind of a range you should be focused on macro- and calorie-wise, I am going to give you a list of meals and snacks that I like to have on my own plan to help you figure out some healthy foods you can be eating yourself. Keep in mind that you will want to measure everything out with measuring cups or count the chips or whatever you have to do to make sure you’re getting the amount you’re putting in to MFP – otherwise, the calculations will be off.

Meals:

-Homemade soups: You can throw in just about any vegetable you want with spices and bouillon cubes for flavor. Just try to pick something with a lower sodium content. Add some chicken if you want for a better protein source.

-Homemade chili: Throw in tomato paste and diced tomatoes with lean ground hamburger, kidney beans, chili powder and any spice you want for flavor, and whatever else you like in your chili.

-Omelet: cook a couple eggs with some egg whites (you can buy little cartons with egg white so you don’t have to waste your eggs getting the whites) and throw on chopped veggies when it is cooked.

-For meats I prefer lean ground beef and boneless skinless chicken breast. Lean ground turkey is also an option, as well as haddock and some other fish. You can add your choice of vegetable to this with white rice, sweet potato, or regular potato. Good veggie options include carrots, celery (really good for a snack if you have the munchies – people into fitness comps eat a lot of this when trying to lean down), asparagus, cucumber, peppers (any color really), and broccoli.

-Greek yogurt with fruit mixed in. I prefer to chop up strawberries, but you’re welcome to add whatever you like. Plain yogurt is better, but I can’t stand the taste so I use vanilla and just measure it to make sure the calories are the same. If you want to use plain yogurt and don’t like the taste, you can skip the fruit and add a serving of peanut butter or Nutella for flavor.

-Cheerios with almond milk.

-Shakeology with almond milk. I personally like the chocolate shakeology with vanilla flavored almond milk. I also mix in some frozen strawberries for flavor, and if I am using vanilla shakeology I mix in a teaspoon of Nutella.

-Ezekiel bread with a serving of peanut butter or Nutella.

-Stir fry: Dice up some boneless skinless chicken breasts and throw the pieces in the frying pan. You can add whatever veggies you want, some rice, and seasoning or soya sauce for flavor.

Some meals I like to have ONCE a week as a cheat meal:

-Nachos: Organic nachos (Kirkland brand, comes in a big brown paper bag at Costco), salsa, and tex mex cheese.

-Homemade pizza: You can find healthier pizza crusts at the grocery stores so you just have to go searching for one. I add pizza sauce to mine (measured out), pepperoni, pineapple, and tex mex cheese.

Snacks:

-Fruit: apple, banana, strawberries, blueberries, grapes. Try to limit yourself to 1-2 servings of fruit because they are high in natural sugars. I personally just have an apple a day and then have the strawberries in my shakeology.

-Greek yogurt as a bedtime snack.

-Plain rice cake with a serving of peanut butter or Nutella.

-Protein shake: I prefer Gold Standard chocolate whey protein from GNC. You can get cheaper stuff at Costco and other places though I am sure.

-GoGo Quinoa chocolate chip cookies: These are vegan and gluten-free, and you can purchase them at Costco.

-Skinny pop popcorn: You can find this at Costco and it is a great alternative to chips. I would recommend just having this on weekends if you are craving junk food. Measure out the proper amount. It is only 39 calories a cup, but you still want to measure so you know how much you’re eating. Trust me lol I know from experience that it is easy to eat way more than you’re supposed to with this stuff if you don’t measure :P

-Almond and unsalted roasted cashews are good in moderation, but you don’t want to have too many.

There you go! Now with the snacks I would recommend having 2-3 snacks a day that are between 100-200 calories and then your meals in between. To make it easier on yourself for on the go snacks, you can get little Ziploc baggies and measure out those amounts in whatever snack item you want and put them in a basket on the counter so that you can easily grab and go on the fly! There are tons of other healthy foods out there as well, but this is just a template to get you started from my own personal diet. I hope you find this useful. Please feel free to comment on this thread with any questions that you may have or if you need clarification on anything. I stopped using MFP for a while because when you’re eating the same foods all the time you kind of get used to the macros lol, but I will be starting up again soon. You’re welcome to add me as a friend on there if you want (handle is jsajm) to review my food journals in the days to come once I start using it again. If you’re not sure you’re on track, you can also just tell me to visit your page and check out your food diary.

Click Here if you would like to take me on as your coach!

Motivation Myth

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A lot of people that I have talked to have said that their main problem with weight loss and fitness is that they lack the motivation. The truth of the matter is, motivation is just a myth – you have to CREATE the motivation. First what you need to do is sit down and really think about your current body and weight, and how it affects your life and the lives of those around you. If you have children in your life, think about how your weight and current fitness level effects them and think about the kind of example that you want to set for them. Think about any bad experiences you may have had in the past related to your weight, any negative feelings it has caused, stuff like that. Think about WHY you want to lose weight, get in shape, tone, add muscle, etc. In order to keep you going your reason has to be more powerful than just “Because I want to look good”. Take some time to really think about this, and then write ALL of your reasons down. As you progress through your fitness program you will need to use these reasons as fuel to keep you going. Any time that you feel your motivation slipping, return to those notes that you took in the very beginning and think about why you started in the first place.

Sometimes thinking about your why isn’t enough, for example, it is also important to have goals. If you have long term goals, that is great, but the short term goals are the most important. If you just say I want to lose 30 pounds and then a month later you still aren’t close to hitting that goal, you will probably get frustrated and slip up. Instead, focus on setting smaller goals and reward yourself as you reach them. Keep a record of your goals, both long term and short term, and cross them off as you reach them. Writing them down helps to solidify it in your mind as something that you CAN and WILL achieve. In addition, it helps to voice your goals to others because it gives you a sense of accountability. If other people know about your goals, you won’t want to give up and admit defeat as easily. Keep sticky notes somewhere you can see them daily, like a mirror in your room or something, and write some of your favorite motivational quotes on them alongside your most recent short term goal. This is kind of the “eye on the prize” philosophy, it keeps your goal on your mind at all times and helps to keep you focused.

Here is my example: When I started P90X last May (2013), I honestly didn’t think I would make it all the way through the program. I’ve since completed two rounds of P90X and a round each of Turbo Fire and Les Mills PUMP, and lost a total of 55 pounds. Before that I had tried P90X and the gym MANY times before, and I always failed to make it to the second month. I would start and stop, binge on junk food for a bit, then start and stop again. It got to a point where I realized that I was over 200 pounds and I didn’t think that I could work out, so I started trying all of those crazy weight loss money grabs out there like Visalus shakes, Body wraps, weight loss pills, fad diets, juice cleanses, etc. I wasted hundreds of dollars on all of these crazy products that would either not work at all, or work in the first week as I lost the water weight and then the weight would come right back on. I decided last April that I did not want to spend my University grad year the same way I spent my high school grad year; stuck on the sidelines hiding because of my weight. I decided that I needed to take CHARGE of my life, and that in order to get the body that I wanted that I would have to WORK for it. So that is exactly what I started doing. Last May I found myself a coach, and a great group of like-minded individuals going through Beachbody programs as well. Having a support group is definitely important, and was instrumental to my success. In addition to that were all of my reasons for REALLY wanting it. I thought back to any kid who ever called me fat in school, to all of those parties and school events that I skipped because I was ashamed of how I looked, to all of the summers I spent hiding in my house avoiding the heat and the beaches or pools because I was too embarassed about my weight to show up in those places in summer clothes or bathing suits, and most of all, I thought about my grad year of high school and first three years of university where I completely isolated myself and lived with depression and self loathing for how far I had let myself go. THOSE were my reasons for continuing, and I used all of the negative feelings and experiences to act as fuel and motivation to keep going whenever I wanted to give up. I won’t lie to you, it isn’t easy at first, but once you start noticing the benefits of regular exercise and your mood starts to improve you won’t WANT to stop.

I hope these tips help! If you are ready to start your own fitness journey, shoot me a message and we can talk about your goals and figure out the best program for you. You’ll have my support along the way, as well as a whole team of like-minded individuals in a private Facebook group with over a thousand members.

Click Here if you’re ready to join my team and take a challenge!

How/Why I became a Beachbody Coac

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I am often asked about my story, and I finally took the time to write it all out to share it with all of you!

My name is Jessica, and I am now a Beachbody Coach. I was never a really thin girl, but I was happy and confident in size 5 jeans until about grade 10. I then got the birth control needle (DEPO) and had major complications, including weight gain. That was just the tip of the iceberg, because as I continued to gain weight I dropped further and further in confidence and self-esteem. I then began comforting myself with foods. The bad foods caused me to continue to gain weight through to grade 12, which made me isolate myself from others in school. Grade 12 was a very lonely year, so I just focused on doing the best that I could in my classes.

I went to university thinking that would be my big break and I would make new friends and have a fresh start, but I soon realized that I isolated myself there as well. I didn’t know anyone, so I skipped all of the frosh week activities because I lacked the confidence to go alone. I skipped out on events and parties because I didn’t feel pretty or skinny enough. I avoided dating because I couldn’t stand to see myself without clothes, let alone let anyone else see me. And worst of all, I avoided the beach and going swimming in pools all of those years because I hated the way I looked in a bikini. It wasn’t until the end of my third year in university, at over 200lbs, that I decided that I needed to make a change.

For about six years I had been through a never ending cycle of feeling down about myself, comforting myself with food, and then gaining more weight and feeling even worse. I had gone through pretty much every diet out there, a few juice cleanses, a bunch of different diet pills or drinks, even body wraps; nothing worked. I was finally fed up with wasting money on the next magic diet or weight loss item that was supposed to make you skinny with zero effort. I decided to take charge of my own life, and to work for what I wanted: Enter Beachbody.

I dug out P90X, which my mom had bought me back in high school, and decided to give that a go. It was hard at first, but I got better day by day. I kept a food journal on MyFitnessPal to track my food intake and make sure my macros lined up, and I started getting shakeology and drinking that daily. I also found a great coach, and he and his wife/teammate helped me along the three months and put me in an amazing challenge group full of likeminded people struggling to achieve their own goals. I realized that it isn’t about having the motivation to work out, it is about WANTING the results and forcing yourself to do what is required to get them. At least in the beginning anyway! Once I started seeing a difference in my body it was very exciting, and it made me WANT to go down to the basement gym and do my workouts.

Three months passed and I had come a long way, but I had a long way to go. I decided to become a coach for two primary reasons. First, I knew at this point that there were so many more people out there who were feeling the exact same way about themselves that I had been feeling about myself all of those years, and I wanted to be able to provide them with the gift that I had received and help them achieve their goals. Second, I knew if I was a coach and I had other people relying on me, it would help me stay accountable and keep up with my own workouts!

I started coaching, but I continued doing my workouts. I did two rounds of P90X, a round of Turbo Fire, a round of LES Mills Pump, and a round of ChaLEAN Extreme with some LES Mills Combat thrown in. I gained muscle definition, and went from plus sizes down to a size 10 jeans and size medium in dresses. For me, that was HUGE! I started to gain my confidence back throughout this process, and I took more and more pictures (which was something I had avoided for years). I started going out with friends and having fun at parties. I was in a relationship for a while, and a few months after that ended I started dating a bit. I even went backpacking through Europe this past summer, and yes, I went to the beach in a BIKINI! I am very happy to say that I did not end my university career the same way that I ended my high school years. I lost 55lbs, I made some friends in that last year, and I actually had fun.

Beachbody truly changed my life, because I could never have done it on my own. There are so many programs to pick from, so I honestly believe that there is something for everyone! I am still working toward MY ideal body, and I may not know exactly what that is until I achieve it, but I do know that I will be achieving it with Beachbody.

I am so excited to be a part of a community of individuals working toward a healthier and stronger life, while having the opportunity to share that lifestyle with those who desperately need some positive changes in their own lives. It is such a great feeling to watch someone reach their goals as you coach them through this wonderful journey. We are all blessed as coaches to be able to call this our job!

Click Here if you are ready to embark on your own health and fitness journey! I would love to coach you through this amazing process :)

Halloween with Little Sis

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Did you know that you can use Mineral Pigments to paint your face and/or the faces of your children for Halloween? I saw that other people had been having success with it, so I decided to put this to the test on my little sister Halloween 2014. Kay wanted to be a zombie bride for Halloween, so I started researching images on Pinterest for ideas on color schemes.

I used light beige shades all around her face with a wet brush to create that shimmery off-white zombie look. I used purples and pinks around the eyes to create that sunken in and un-dead look. Then I used browns and purples in the contour areas of her face to create sunken in bone lines. The final touch was a bit of black and red on the lips, with some red dripping down her chin to create that bloody mouth look!

This was my first attempt, and I was super happy with the results. Kay absolutely LOVED her makeup, and she was super excited each time she was complimented by treat-givers!

Kay has very sensitive skin, so she is unable to wear a lot of that typical face paint for Halloween without having it irritate her skin. When she does wear the regular stuff, it takes forever to get off and requires a lot of scrubbing. With the natural based pigments, Kay did not have ANY reaction to the makeup whatsoever. In addition, when it came time to remove it at the end of the night, all it took was a wet facecloth and some soap and water!

This stuff is amazing, and it is way healthier for your children to have on their skin for hours.

My Transformation

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#Throwback to the time when I weighed over 200 pounds and I avoided crowds at all costs, had zero confidence in myself, refrained from swimming for years because I couldn’t stand to see myself in a bathing suit, refused to have my picture taken because I didn’t want more proof that I was fat, and so many more side-effects to being overweight.

Enter Beachbody and the coaching system – My life changed. I found a great coach with an awesome team and a large support system on Facebook with people all over the world going through the exact same thing as me. Engaging with these people every day helped me keep my focus and stay motivated to continue when I had never been able to do that on my own before – not for lack of trying. Before Beachbody I had started and stopped with the gym and various workouts, never making it more than a few weeks. I had tried just about every weight loss pill, drink, wrap, diet, cleanse, etc. None of which gave me lasting results. I finally decided in May 2013 that I could not, and WOULD NOT let myself go through graduation year of university the way I went through my high school grad year – alone and miserable.

So I got to work with P90X, one of Beachbody’s awesome programs. This started me on a path that I will never forget. I’ve lost 55 pounds and counting. I now enjoy and look forward to the workouts that I used to have to force myself to do. I have a lot of fun, and I’ve gotten my life back. I have confidence in myself again. I have gone swimming in a bikini again. I finally had the courage to cross one of my dreams off of my bucket list this summer when I went backpacking through Europe.

Fitness isn’t just about losing weight. Fitness is about overall health and happiness, and when you are exercising and eating right you will start seeing progress that will make you feel great. That is what keeps you going, and the little milestones along the way that make you happy is what gradually starts to change your whole outlook on life. Before, I was grumpy and depressed all the time. Now, I am pretty content most of the time. Fitness and nutrition is a total mind and body transformation, and I owe this all to Beachbody for providing me with the tools that I needed to make this transformation happen.

Thank you #Beachbody

Rant: Prejudice toward fitness enthusiasts

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I apologize in advance for the rant that is about to take place, but this has me so FIRED UP. I first saw this picture and I was like “Wow, that’s awesome!”, then I saw all the comments that were shown underneath the post I was looking at.

1) A lot of people are judging her and claiming that she must be a bad mother, not spend any time with her kids, has a dirty house, etc. I would LOVE to know how anyone could possibly know that from looking at a picture. As a Beachbody coach I have had the privilege of coming into contact with a LOT of fitness enthusiasts, and many of them have children. My coaches, Chet and Natalie Nichols (Team Get Fit), for example: They have three kids and they now have ROCKING bodies, and they are awesome parents. So many other coaches and regular people just trying to get fit have children and yet they make time for workouts. Just because you choose to make working out a priority does not mean that you do not care about your kids, in fact, I would argue the opposite. If you are unhappy with your weight and you don’t do anything to change it, your insecurities and your health issues have the potential to negatively impact your children’s lives. Working out does not necessarily mean that you can’t watch your kids either, you can just wait for them to go to bed and do it then! People keep saying it isn’t realistic for single mothers: WRONG. If you make it a priority, just like you make your kids a priority, you CAN get the body you want. You just have to be willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means staying up a little later after the kids are in bed or getting up before they do and working out. You can even do what this woman did and take the kids to the park and workout while you are there, or even just go for long walks with your kids. You can say I don’t have kids so I don’t understand, sure, but I do know tons of people who DO have kids and who have done whatever it takes and gotten results.

2) People are saying she is not a REAL woman, because she has been in fitness competitions and pageants and whatnot. My question to the people saying this is: Who are you to say who is and isn’t real? Yeah so this woman was in fitness comps, pageants, etc. So what? She didn’t always have that body, she had to start somewhere, we all do. I have countless friends from my home town who have done fitness competitions, one of which actually won her last comp (Julie Carson)! They don’t start out competition ready, they work their ASSES off to get the results that they get. Julie did it while working a full time job and going to university with me full time. A friend of mine did it with a young child, a husband away a lot with the military, and going to university. It seriously makes my blood boil to see these comments about fitness enthusiasts, making them out to be “fake” or “unrealistic”. They put in the hard work, they stayed dedicated, and they did this consistently over a long period of time to get the bodies that they now have. You can look at a photo of a woman with a completely fit body, but until you know her story, you should not judge her. Unless you’ve read their story, and you’ve seen their before and after pictures, you have NO way of knowing where they were when they started and what/how long it took for them to get that body.

3) People are judging her because she has a website, and because she is a personal trainer so she must she be in it for the money. Guess what, most people these days have Facebook pages or websites for their businesses!! I have a website, every Beachbody coach I know has a website. I didn’t become a Beachbody coach just because of the money, I became a coach because I was seeing the results from the business and I wanted to help reach out to others and show them that the products work and that they can get great results too. It’s not always about the money, sometimes it is just about finding something that you are passionate about and deciding to make that your career.

4) People are criticizing the message. “What’s your excuse” is meant to be a motivator, it is meant to tell everyone out there all over the world “Look, I have 3 kids AND I have a great body, and you can too”. Myself, and tons of other fitness enthusiasts, all post pictures of stuff like that, or older people with great bodies, or people with missing limbs and great bodies, etc. with the caption of “What’s your excuse”. It’s not meant to call out all mothers, I don’t even think it was directed solely at mothers, I think it was just meant to show people that despite your circumstances you can make it happen. I was always one of the worst out there for making excuses, up until 5 months ago. I decided at the beginning of the summer that I was not going to let this grad year in University be like my high school grad year. I want to be able to ENJOY my grad year, and not be too self-conscious and uncomfortable in my own skin to even participate in the events. I made it a priority, and despite working full time over night shifts AND doing a pilot study for my thesis, this summer I managed to complete P90X. I then started my second round of P90X in September, and I have been balancing my workouts with going to class, doing assignments, studying, working on my thesis, and working on weekends! I don’t have a lot of time, and I am often exhausted, but this is something that is important to me so I MAKE time.

5) People are saying it would take a lot of money to pay a maid to clean her house for her, babysitters to watch her kids for her, a personal trainer, and a chef. WRONG. If you really don’t have the money for a Beachbody fitness program, a gym membership, etc., you can still see results from doing home workouts. Do crunches, sit ups, push ups, burpees, lunges, squats, jumping jacks, etc. There are TONS of things that you can do, it might take you a little longer to get that type of body, but if you do that consistently every day or most days of the week you will see results. So you see, fifteen minutes a day is doable! Do what you can, give up some Facebook time, give up one of your shows, or even do the exercises WHILE you watch your show! You don’t have to spend hours a day to get the results you want if you don’t have the time, but to say that you would need to hire a maid, a babysitter, AND a personal trainer is just ridiculous. You can find countless little 15 minute workout routines on Pinterest. Hell you can even ask me, and I can GIVE you some moves to do! Also, fitness is not just about exercise! Fitness has a LOT to do with nutrition, and the majority of your results are going to come from what you are putting into your body. Many fitness enthusiasts dedicate ONE day of the week to cooking, like Sunday for example. They will then cook a bunch of food that they will eat for the week. Here at my house we’ll make soups for the week, lean turkey chili, cook up a bunch of chicken, etc. Then it is all ready and you just have to heat it up and then chop up some veggies to throw on your plate as well.

Why is it that we judge first and ask questions later? Many of the people who made comments like the ones I addressed above clearly hadn’t read the woman’s story. And yes, she was never overweight to begin with, but that doesn’t make her results any less inspiring. She still had to put in a lot of work to get the muscle definition and toned body that she now has. As excited as I am to get results like she has gotten and make fitness my career, I am now nervous about all of the criticism that I am going to get along the way. I am a real person working my butt off for success, but once I achieve success, I worry that people are going to only see that and judge me in the same manner. It’s such a shame, because if people could get over their negativity and prejudice they may actually be able to get great results themselves!