Tag: end the trend

Fall Into Fitness Challenge Group!

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It has been a great summer with lots of nice weather, and I am sure that we have all enjoyed our fair share of BBQ’s, cold drinks, ice cream, junk food, etc. Now that summer is over, it is time to get yourself back on track with your nutrition and your exercise routine. After all, summer bodies are built in the winter months!

Let’s get ahead of the holiday weight-gain and get some awesome results to show off to your friends and family during Christmas and New Year’s visits. Most people wait until New Year’s to start, and statistically speaking, very few actually are still on track a few months – let alone a year later. Establish those habits prior to the holidays, and not only will you be less likely to gain a bunch of weight during the holiday season, but you’ll also be more likely to stick it out beyond January 1st.

I actually have a few girls starting CIZE in a couple of weeks, so I am currently looking for a few extra people looking to lose 10-15+ pounds. You will be drinking shakeology daily, working out, and interacting daily in a private challenge group with others doing the program as well! Not only will you receive the full fitness program, but you will also receive the nutrition plan and a month supply of Shakeology (which replaces one meal a day – I prefer breakfast). PLUS you also receive a month free of Beachbody On Demand where you can access over $2000 worth of fitness programs by amazing trainers, meal plans, and healthy meal recipes to try out. This is in addition to having a personal coach (me) to help and support you along this journey, and a small team of people doing this with you for support and accountability.

This is a fun way to learn about health and fitness in a secure environment with like-minded people to support and encourage you along the way. Let me know if this sounds like something that you could benefit from! In the meantime, feel free to join my Health and Fitness group.

Comment below with “I’m In!” if you are ready to take this next step toward a healthier life!

xoxo

Jessica

September Goal: Lose 10 pounds

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Those who follow my blog will know that I recently pledge to get back on track with my nutrition and my exercise. This week was my first week back on the wagon, and though I had a bit of a rocky start, things are definitely getting better. I am sore all over my body (in the good way), which always happens to me when I start a new program, so it is pretty normal. I am happy to report that the headache and dizziness symptoms seem to be subsiding, which means that my body is getting accustomed to my new diet sans junk food.

I started this week with the goal of losing AT LEAST 10 pounds this month. I stepped on the scale this morning out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised to find that I’ve already shed 5 pounds! That is pretty exciting stuff, however, you have to remember that a lot of that was likely just bloat from all of the junk that I had been putting into my body last month. For those of you wondering what I am doing, I thought I would fill you in!

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I am currently doing a Beachbody fitness program by Chalene Johnson (my favorite trainer of all time) called ChaLEAN Extreme. I love it because it provides a combination of the high intensity interval training (HIIT) that I love from her Turbo Fire program with the weight lifting aspect that I need to build muscle definition. That combination for me is perfect. Since there are two scheduled rest days with this program, I’ve also been adding in some extra cardio on one of those days and also on some of the shorter workout days. I just cherry pick from my catalog of programs or use Beachbody On Demand to do whatever workout I feel like doing that day!
In addition to the fitness aspect, I am also drinking Shakeology every single day for my breakfast meal. I prefer the chocolate Shakeology, and I mix it with a scoop of chocolate whey protein for an extra boost, almond milk, and frozen strawberries. It tastes like  milkshake, and it is totally delicious. My diet has been consisting of mostly natural foods. I have a fruit snack once a day an hour or two after my shakeology, I have veggies with lunch and supper, chicken, rice, greek yogurt, rice cakes with nutella, eggs, etc. I also just started using these soft chews from GNC called CLA 500mg in strawberry-banana. I have no idea if they work or not, but they are supposed to help with fat loss. The GNC folks must love to see me come through the door lol because they can take me into just about anything if the price is right!
There you have it guys! This is what I am doing, and you are welcome to take the pledge to lose 10 pounds this month with me. I have a free health and fitness group, and you are more than welcome to join if you need some extra motivation and accountability. Summer bodies are made in the winter everyone, so get to work now and get ahead of the holiday weight gain haha.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to message me with any questions you may have!
xoxo
Jessica

Band Challenge: Day 6

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Move 1: Lunge with a frontal press

This move is very similar to the lunge with overhead press that you did yesterday. You wrap the band around your back foot, lunge forward with the other foot, drop down low, come back up, and then do a press straight up. The difference is that your arms aren’t out to the side this time bent at a 90 degree angle. Instead, your elbows are pointed down in the start position, and your lift straight up. Do your lunge, and then the press when you get back up out of your lunge. Repeat this sequence on one leg for 30 seconds, and then switch to the other leg for the final 30 seconds. As an extra little challenge if you’re up for it, try doing an extra 10 seconds of just the frontal press from an upright position.

Move 2: Squat with a calf raise

This move is similar to the lunge with a calf raise, only instead of a lunge before the raise, you do a squat. You will stand on top of your band with your feet shoulder width apart, and you will hold your band by the handles or below at your hips. You will squat down, rest your hands on your knees for balance if necessary, and come up into a calf raise. You might wobble a bit on this one because you’re doing a squat and a calf raise at the same time, but you’ll get better over time. You will repeat this sequence for 1 full minute. As an extra little challenge if you’re up for it, try doing an extra 10 seconds of just the calf raises from an upright position.

Move 3: Sumo squat with jab punches

By now you should be familiar with the sumo squat, but essentially you will be squatting with your feet wider apart than your typical squat and your toes pointed outward. Instead of standing on your band for this exercise, you will actually have to wrap it around your torso. Take the band and hold the center of it to your belly, wrap one end around your back and to your front, and then repeat on the other side. Once you have a grip on both of the handles, drop down into your sumo squat, and then you will alternate arms and punch an invisible target in front of you. Try to aim at chest height, and try to hit the same spot each time. If this gets too hard, you can drop the band and continue the punches without it, but only if it is absolutely necessary! Otherwise, continue with the sumo squat and punches for 1 full minute. You don’t need to squat up and down on this one, you just stay in that sumo squat position throughout the full minute. It will burn, but that is a good thing! If you need a little break, you can just come up slightly to rest for a few seconds, and then drop right back down.

Move 4: Lawn mowers

With this move you will get into a lunge position and step on your band with your forward foot. You will need to step closer to the end of the band for this move, and you will only use one end of the band. All you have to do is imagine yourself trying to start a basic lawnmower with the pull cord. You stay in the lunge position for 30 seconds with your other hand resting on your knee for balance. Meanwhile, the hand opposite to your forward foot will be pulling on the band and trying to bring it up to the shoulder. You should feel this in the back of your shoulder, and it will feel almost like you’re trying to bring your shoulder blades together. Once the initial 30 seconds are up, switch to a lunge stance on the other side and pull with the other arm for the final 30 seconds.

Band Challenge: Day 5

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Move 1: Bowler’s lunge with a row

This move is a little bit complicated, but you just have to imagine yourself about to bowl. Get in a lunge position, but instead of your back leg being straight out behind you, your back leg will cross behind you. Most of your weight should be on that forward leg, and you should be able to lift that back foot off the ground. If you can do that, you’re in the right position. You will need to have the band wrapped around your forward foot, and you lunge down, come back up, and then do a row by raising your arms up toward your chest. Repeat this on the same leg for 30 seconds, and then switch to the other leg for the other 30 seconds. As a little bonus if you’re up for it, try doing an extra 10 seconds with just the rows.

Move 2: Bicep curl with a leg raise

This move is going to require some balance, and everyone is going to start at a different place depending on your fitness level. You are going to stand on your band in the center and hold the handles in front of you for the curl. Start by curling your arms up toward your chest, and slowly lift one leg out to the side while crunching your body toward the leg raise a little bit. You don’t have to lift your leg high in the beginning, and if you have to tap your toe on the ground periodically to get your balance that is totally okay! Try not to let your foot come back down to the ground until you’ve lowered your arms back down from the bicep curl, and then repeat the move on the other leg. Alternate legs with the bicep curl for 1 full minute. As a little bonus if you’re up for it, try doing an extra 10 seconds of just the bicep curls from a standing position.

Move 3: Sumo squat with an overhead press

Get into your sumo squat position with your feet planted firmly on top of your band and your toes facing outward. Grab the handles of your band, and hold them up with your arms bent at 90 degrees. You will do a sumo squat, come back up, and then raise your arms up toward the ceiling for your overhead press. Repeat this for 1 full minute. As an extra little bonus if you’re up for it, try doing an extra 10 seconds with just the overhead press from an upright position.

Move 4: Lunge with a calf raise

For this move you will need to wrap your band around your back foot. You lunge forward with your forward leg, drop down low, come back up, and then do a calf raise with your forward leg. You stay in that split stance and repeat that sequence for 30 seconds, and then you switch to the other leg for the final 30 seconds. You can rest your fists and the handles of the band on your forward knee as you do the calf raise for balance if necessary. As an extra little bonus if you’re up for it, try ditching your band and just doing an extra 10 seconds of fast calf raises from a standing position.

Banana Split Shake – AKA – buh-bye ice cream craving!

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Summer is officially here, and one of my biggest downfalls – especially during the summer – happens to be ice cream. I love ice cream, and I practically lived off of gelato when I was in Europe last summer lol. I suffer from ice cream cravings pretty frequently during the summer months when it is hot. Sound familiar?

This is your solution! I normally make the same shake every day because I just love it, but I had recommended a banana split shake to someone the other day, and it stuck in my mind until I finally decided to make it today. This is super easy to make, and it seriously tastes AMAZING. If you have a craving for ice cream on a hot summer day, this will totally do the trick to get rid of that craving. PLUS – it will likely be the healthiest meal that you will have all day long.

What you’ll need:

  • Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
  • 1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
  • 1/2 cup Frozen Strawberries
  • 1/2 of a Banana
  • 3 or 4 ice cubes

How to make it:

  1. Start by putting in 1 cup of your almond milk, and I usually add a little bit of water so that the shake doesn’t wind up being too thick.
  2. Add your powders.
  3. Add your fruit, and I recommend cutting the banana half in smaller pieces for easier blending.
  4. Add ice
  5. Blend until smooth
  6. ENJOY!!

All of this takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, and it is seriously awesome. You might not want to share this with your kids or significant other, because they just might try and steal it from you! Click Here to learn all about the benefits of Shakeology, or to purchase your risk-free bag now.

I have a limited amount of Shakeology samples!! If you’re local and you’d like to try this out, shoot me a message and I can arrange for you to get a sample.

Be proud of small steps forward

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Don’t allow yourself to get discouraged and fall off the wagon simply because things aren’t progressing as quickly as you had hoped. Results will come over time and effort. Even if you don’t see the changes as drastically in the beginning, they are happening within you regardless. Over time, you will start to really notice those changes, but you won’t if you allow yourself to give up before you reach that point in your journey.

If you set a goal to reach a certain point in 3 months, and you don’t quite hit that by the end of the three months, should you give up? Absolutely not, because if you stayed on track for three months then you would have made progress to varying degrees. That progress is something to be proud of, regardless of whether or not you hit your intended goal.

If you wait until you hit your long term goal to be proud of yourself, you are less likely to be successful. You should be proud of yourself every time you do something you previously couldn’t do, or up your weight in exercises, or even just for forcing yourself to do a workout on a day when you really didn’t feel like doing it! Being proud of yourself and what you have accomplished helps you stay motivated to keep going. Always remember to be proud of the small steps forward, because even though they are small, they are still steps moving forward.

If you haven’t started your journey yet, but you’d like to, visit us in my FREE Health and Fitness group to join a group of people learning how to lead a healthier lifestyle and incorporate activity into their lives. We’re voting now for the July Challenge, so you definitely want to get in the group ASAP!

Thank you PiYo!

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After being forced to take almost 2 full weeks off from exercising due to a back injury that I sustained during one of my workouts, I decided enough was enough. This has happened to me a couple of times before, and it is primarily because of a car accident that has me a bit more susceptible to injury.

My problem is this: I have a hard time taking time off from my workouts. I like my workouts, and I NEED my workouts. I just feel better, and I’m a much happier and positive person to be around when I get to do my workouts. When I get injured, I have a tendency to brush it off and get back on the horse too soon. This is bad, and I know it lol.

This time, I decided to be proactive. While I was laid up, I decided to submit an order for PiYo. This program uses your own body weight to strengthen your muscles, and it doesn’t involve high impact activity. I thought that this would be a great way for me to compromise, by allowing me to get my workouts in while still giving my body the time that it needs to strengthen and heal.

After just ONE WEEK of doing PiYo daily, I thought I would give myself a little test of flexibility and pull out one of the old P90X yoga moves that I struggled with for the longest time: plough. The first time I tried, I struggled a little bit. I practiced with straight legs up for a bit, and then tried again. Second time was a charm! I was able to get back into plough again after just one week of PiYo, mind you it probably wasn’t as pretty as Tony’s pose lol. The hand clamp is definitely a work in progress haha!

It is amazing how much strength and flexibility that I feel I have gained in only one week on this program, and I am really excited to see my progress at the end of the 2 month program. If you enjoy yoga and/or pilates, I would highly recommend taking a deeper look at this program and considering it for your exercise regime. It is also perfect for people that have injuries that prevent them from doing some of the more hardcore weight or cardio based programs, because it allows you to still get a great workout without doing damage to your joints.

Click Here to read a bit more on the PiYo program, and try out a PiYo based workout for free.

How to be a winner

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So what if you’ve started and stopped you health and fitness journey many times over. Who cares if you’ve tried every diet out there, and failed to stick with it every time. Does it really matter that you’ve tried every weight loss remedy, pill, wrap, or drink on the market and still not gotten to where you want to be?

No. It does not matter what happened in the past, so long as you DO NOT allow it to impact your future in a negative way. Instead, LEARN from those errors. Use the mistakes that you’ve made in the past to fuel your fire and keep you moving forward in the present. Don’t allow your past failures to cloud your judgment and make you believe that you aren’t strong enough to do this, because you are.

You really just have to keep pushing yourself to dust yourself off and try again day in and day out. Keep trying to get through your workouts, and keep trying to stay on track with your nutrition. Each day you will get better, and it will get easier. As you build strength you’ll accomplish more, and it will build your confidence back up.

Only when you begin to believe in yourself, and to allow yourself to think positive thoughts of your success instead of negative thoughts of failure, will you be able to keep yourself on track.

“Obesity runs in my family”

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I used to be the one to make that statement pretty frequently, but I now know that it is just another excuse for letting yourself go and not switching to a healthier lifestyle.

Yes, some families (like my own) are born with health issues or a less active metabolism, which can cause them to be more susceptible to weight gain. However, being in such a family I also know that the habits of the family could also be a huge factor. Junk food is a daily thing, overeating happens with almost every meal, and exercise is minimal to nonexistent. If those behaviours could change, I have no doubt in my mind that they could lose weight. The “obesity runs in my family” line is taking the easy way out, and I say this from personal experience.

And yes, some people are blessed with the genes to stay slim despite eating nothing but junk food, while others gain a lot of weight. Honestly though, you need to understand that being skinny does not necessarily equate to being healthy. What happens to a lot of people that are skinny throughout their youth, and take advantage of their fast metabolism by eating nothing but junk food just because they can? In many cases, that behaviour catches up to them. Over time their metabolism tends to be less and less active, so as they get older they will start putting on weight. By that point their behaviour is ingrained in them, and it will be much harder for them to make the switch to a healthier lifestyle.

Either way of life is unhealthy. You can be skinny and unhealthy, or you can be overweight to obese and unhealthy. They both come with risks, one more so than the other, but neither are good for you. You can choose to stay that way or you can work your butt off and make a change.

I would love to help you along your journey, so if you would like to get started on making some changes you are  more than welcome to join my FREE Health and Fitness group. If you are ready to make some BIG changes and really get serious about your health and fitness journey, you can should consider viewing our Team Beachbody June Specials as well as our Summer Blowout Sale!

Winner of May Step Challenge!

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Whoohoo! Big shout out to Kassie again for winning the May Step Challenge. I am super excited to say that her prize has arrived, and she will soon have a full fitness and nutrition program to continue with her weight loss journey on a more intense level.

Kassie has been a total rockstar in my FREE Health and Fitness group. She participated in both my March and April Bikini Bootcamps, and she also participated in my May Step Challenge. Kassie exceeded the goal of 10,000 steps a day pretty much every single day, and most days she would double it! She won that challenge by a total landslide, and she definitely earned this reward.

I am super proud to say that Kassie has lost 40 pounds, and she has been continuing with me for my June Biggest Loser Challenge. Although I suspect once she gets this, the Beachbody On Demand platform might get put to the back burner haha! Kassie has worked her butt off (figuratively and literally lol) with me for over 3 months now, and I could not be happier that she is the winner of this awesome program.

Enjoy your program Kassie, and I look forward to seeing how far you can go with this program!

Note: If you would like to learn more about this program or its original counterpart, please head over and view my page on our June Promotions.