Get Better By Getting Stronger

Ladies, does strength training intimidate you?

Too many women believe that strength training will bulk them up. Apparently some men believe this about women, too.

When I first started strength training, my son said, "Ok, mom. Just don't start looking like a dude."

The truth is, our physiology doesn't naturally allow us to bulk up in the same way men do. At least, not without playing around with some serious supplements. 

Want to be a stronger runner? Get stronger. Want to shed extra weight? Get stronger. Want to look fabulous in that new bathing suit? Get stronger. Want to be more confident? Get stronger. 

Strong is the key to so many wonderful things. 

That's why I get so excited about my strength workouts. 

You can, too. Join me for our upcoming Beauty & The Beast Challenge Group. I will help you get stronger.

Excuse Me While I Slip Into A Sugar Coma

Let me start this post by saying, I'M FREE!!!

My Beachbody Ultimate Reset is over and I am free to once again eat and drink whatever I want. It's an exhilarating and oddly liberating feeling. I can literally go to the store and buy whatever I want and eat it. I think I recall reading something in the booklet about easing back into various types of foods like sugar and dairy. Not sure. But here's what I do know.

I suck at transitioning slowly back into normal eating patterns while still retaining some semblance of the healthy eating habits I learned on this program.

For the past two weeks, folks have been asking what my first meal would be after finishing my Ultimate Reset. I wanted to say that it would be something all healthy and noble, like whole grain pasta and peanut sauce made from natural peanut butter (which actually sounds good, but takes way too much time to make). You see, my issue with the Ultimate Reset diet isn't so much the lack of Doritos and beer on the menu, it is the extensive ingredient lists, cooking time, and dishwashing involved. It. was. exhausting. At a certain point I just didn't even want to eat anymore. It was too much work.

So, my first day post-UR may have involved a quick trip to the grocery store shopping all of the interior aisles. You know, the aisles where all the unhealthy processed foods are? My cart may have been filled with two pints of Cherry Garcia ice cream, a bag of Doritos, a block of cream cheese, a box of Entenmann's donuts, and a Hungry Man frozen dinner.

Therefore, I may have gained back whatever fat I lost during my 3-week Ultimate Reset all in one day. *sigh*

Here is who might benefit from this program: people with decent will power who don't live with a bunch of teenagers bringing chips and cookies and candy into the house all the time and waiving it around in front of your face. That, I believe, is what kicked off the cravings. And people who have the time and desire to cook. People who enjoy cooking. People who are good at it. Because the program had tons of delicious-looking recipes, but I lacked the skill and motivation to actually make them. Or maybe people with cooks and maids to do all the hard work for them, because quite honestly, all I really wanted to do by the time week 2 hit was nap.

Whatever. What I've learned is that I might just survive the zombie apocalypse because I can go without food for much longer than I thought. And now that I've moved onto Les Mills Combat and Turbo Fire, I will be better equipped to engage the zombies in hand-to-hand combat. I am much happier to return to my lifestyle of eating relatively healthy 80% of the time and working off the bad stuff every morning with a kick-ass workout and long run.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must slip into my sugar coma now...

Bring on Turbo Fire!

My Ultimate Reset is almost over and I must say, not a day too soon. I miss my workouts. In fact, I miss my workouts so much that I've actually been doing them even though I'm not supposed to. Yes, I'm a bad Beachbody Coach. But in my defense, I've only done 3 of them and only this week and it's only so I won't hurt all the people. I NEED the workouts to not hurt all the people.

So, Monday morning marks the start of our Turbo Fire Challenge Group on Facebook and you best believe I'll be pushing play first thing when I roll out of bed at 4am. I. can't. wait.

Turbo Fire is fun. It's exciting. It's powerful. And it burns some serious fat, which is good cause I'm having some Doritos and beer after three weeks of black beans and brown rice. Want to burn some fat of your own? Click here to email me and I'll let you know how you can join us!

I do have some closing thoughts on my Ultimate Reset experience and I will share those tomorrow. Yeah, you're just gonna have to wait.

BB Ultimate Reset: End of Week Two

You might have noticed a lack of posts over the past few days. Life has been, ummmm, temperamental of late. Actually, she's been a straight B-word. My bosses have gotten together in an effort to force me onto mood-regulating medication. My pursuit of a PhD has been halted by my inability to speak French. My air conditioning has stopped working. Not for the entire house, mind you. Only for the upstairs portion where my bedroom, bathroom, and office are. Whatever. These are not insurmountable or tragic issues. But I can't go for a nice long run or engage in an intense workout to relieve my stress.

So, I am admitting here and now that I fell off the clean eating wagon yesterday. Ok. I didn't just fall off. I jumped off, rolled over a cliff, bounced off several rocks, and landed at the bottom of a ravine. It was bad.

Here's what happened, just so you know that it wasn't all my fault. It started with a friend who had tickets to a wine festival. Well, you can't go to a festival without eating festival food and you can't go to a wine festival without drinking wine. Following those rules, I ordered a corn dog and fries. Let me tell you that the corn dog did not comply with standard corn dog dimensions. In fact, when it came out of the fryer (oh yes, fresh fried corn dog - super healthy), it looked very much like fried fish on a stick. I was starving, so I went for it anyway. Result? I felt dirty. And not just "I need to wash my hands and face" dirty, but "I NEED to shower twice and wash my hair" dirty. So, I did what anyone in my situation would have done. I drank wine. Not in huge amounts, but enough to bring on a swift headache and a desire to lie in bed for a week. But the festival supports animal rescue in our area, so really I was eating and drinking to support an important cause.

Later that evening, my mother and I went to a play to benefit Bedford Domestic Violence Services where they laid out an appetizer spread that was impossible to resist. I did well, initially. However, this play was so gut-wrenchingly devastating that I had no choice but to fill my plate full of meatballs, pigs in blankets, and chocolate-covered strawberries in an effort to eat my emotions. An excellent performance, but I was already in an emotionally fragile state. Oh, and there was wine. But again, I was eating and drinking to support an important cause.

So, if you think about it, is was really my altruism that forced me off of the wagon. What can I say? I'm a giver.

So, here I am at the end of week two and feeling a bit guilty. But, all is not lost. I managed to climb my way out of the ravine, chase down the clean eating wagon, and climb back on board. Only one week left of my Ultimate Reset and then I can get back to a higher calorie intake and more intense workouts. Turbo Fire is calling my name.

Turbo Fire Challenge Group starts 7/22! Contact me for more information!

BB Ultimate Reset: Day Ten

Halfway There and Already Hitting Goals! Woo Hoo!

So, I am sharing a little early today because I'm excited to report that this Ultimate Reset has helped me reach my weight goal. And I'm oh so painfully close to my measurement goals.

 

If you already have a free or club Team Beachbody Membership, then you know what the picture below means. All of that green means that I have met most of my fitness goals. At the completion of my Ultimate Reset, I will have my blood work and check up done to see where I am at with my internal fitness goals. It's beautiful.

 

 

 

I didn't do the Ultimate Reset to lose weight, but often weight loss is a by product of getting healthy. And it all began with setting up my Free Team Beachbody account.

 

Now, only eleven more days until I get to start my next challenge group with Chalene Johnson's Turbo Fire on July 22nd! Order your challenge pack by clicking on the Turbo Fire link and follow me on Facebook to join me!

We All Need More Shaun T in Our Lives

I'm not speaking to Beachbody.

Yeah, it was all cool and exciting when I got my first commission check and signed my first coach. And yeah, it was fully excellent when I lost 13 pounds and found my inner strength again. And sure, the idea of one day being able to stop working for 5 different companies and be my own boss is empowering. (And restful. Five different companies. Just thinking about it makes me tired.)

But seriously, Beachbody, you wait until I'm about to embark on a 21-Day Ultimate Reset to release my Shaun T's newest workout??? You KNOW I can't do this kind of intense workout while resetting my body! I have to do my Tai Cheng while resetting my body. You could have waited to release this new program, but nooooo.

FocusT25. Just 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Shaun T. It's perfection.

And yet, I don't get to jump on the T25 bandwagon until at least July 22nd and honestly, I have Turbo Fire, Insanity, and Body Gospel all on my list of programs to try next. And I've heard great things about Les Mills Combat, too.

So, I'm going to need you to just stop it. Stop releasing anymore cool new programs until I've had a chance to catch up. Unless...

Who's up for a Turbo Fire/Insanity/Body Gospel/T25/Les Mills Combat hybrid? I'd even be willing to throw some Hip Hop Abs in there. Because really, we all need a little more Shaun T in our lives.

https://www.facebook.com/SunShineStrongNow

Contact me today if you'd like to try T25. Just don't tell me how much you love it until I get to try it, too.

Summer Schedule of Free Online Challenge Groups

I've had phenomenal success on my ChaLEAN Extreme program (are y'all sick of hearing me schmooze about Chalene Johnson, yet?) and I'm already looking forward to my next ventures. The free online Challenge Group has been the key to my success on this program. We hold each other accountable and provide that added encouragement that we all need to be successful. We support one another and these people have become like my second family. I'd love to share that experience with all of you. I'll be holding the following free challenge groups this summer and invite you to join me in one (or all) of them!

Starting June 1st:
Looking for a fun way to flatten your abs without having to do crunches?

Hip Hop Abs Challenge Group


Starting July 1st:
Looking for a gentle way to get started with a new fitness program?

Ultimate Reset Challenge Group


Tai Cheng Challenge Group

Starting July 21st:
Want to step up your results with a more powerful program?

Turbo Fire Challenge Group

Insanity Challenge Group

Starting August 1st:
Would you like to combine the power of your faith with your desire to lose weight and get fit?

Body Gospel Challenge Group

Ready to make a change in your life? Email me at SunShineStrong@beachbodycoach.com and I will tell you how to get started!