Happy Monday!! I want to be 100% honest with you...I have been a little off with my work outs lately. Nutrition has been just about 100% but I just haven't "felt like working out". For someone who loves the feeling of crushing a good work out and not mention the endorphins. To me that was my body telling me I was burnt out. 

Generally every 12 weeks (sometimes even shorter than that) because honestly I just need a break! I need to wake up feeling like ahhh I get to work out not I have to work out. 

So this week starts some new work outs and honestly I am excited!!! I am really happy with the progress I had with Body Beast and it was super fun lifting that heavy especially doing it with Mike! 

I am kind of making my own stuff up to be honest...as I dive deeper into training I find I want to really test myself so I am going to be increasing my work out time per day and really what I focus on.

Goals of the new programming?
~Target my weak areas and make them better: specifically I want to improve my shoulders and my legs/booty. So I will be working those muscle groups more. 
With the weights I will also be lifting heavy with less reps and sets (so 3 sets of 6-12 for upper/lower body and 3 sets of 20 for abs). 

~I will also be increasing my amount of cardio from...oh around 0 days to 3 days a week. (2 days of HIIT + one day of Steady state cardio) 

~ another keep thing is going to be nutrition. I have selected what supplements I'll be using but not so much what macro percentage. I am thinking 40 carbs 40 protein 20 fat but we'll see. I did find out I am a fat burner vs a carb burner which is crucial and main reason I have a hard time gaining real muscle mass. 

I will be taking:
shakeology + protein powder
glutamine
BCAA's
fish oils 
P90x recovery shake (post work out)


Also, I  think to reach where I really want to get to, it will take me about a year to achieve. So I will really need to have the big picture in mind and FOCUS!
So I want to compete...I originally thought I was ready now and for Bikini division I think I could fare okay...but I then realized, I don't want to do "okay" I want to add a little more muscle, and do a fitness or a figure show and I want to place! No more wallowing and not being out right with my goals, there they are!  


So then in all of these since nutrition is soooo key how can I or anyone else for that matter avoid feeling deprived? 

Well really, in my opinion, it comes down to lifestyle. We are a culture of people who do all things over food. Example: meeting with friends= lunch, celebrating hitting a goal at work= happy hour, birthday celebrating= going out + cake.
Rarely will you find that your friends and family will ask you to go celebrate your sister getting straight A's with a session of rock climbing or hiking. Not to say there is anything wrong with that BUT it all comes down to decisions at that point. If you are in the realm of "I need/want to lose weight" then eating all that crap just because it is there is NOT what is going to help keep that weight off. There are so many other ways you can enjoy life and friends without over indulging and over eating. The first is obviously changing your mind set and what senses you choose to enjoy the most.

Second, if your boyfriend/girlfriend has the metabolism or maybe just doesn't have those same goals as you, that's okay just be sure to hide his/her treats from line of vision. If you don't see it chances are you may forget you have them! 

Third, have "substitutes" that leave you feeling satisfied. Instead of eating ice cream try low sugar froyo or banana protein icecream (you can flavor this however you like!) or for me instead of eating all of his crap I may just have a fiber one brownie...no they aren't the best but I'd rather have something like that instead of a huge heaping plate of something I will really regret! 

Fourth, FOCUS. Is that chocolate bar really something you want or is it just a drop in blood sugar or increase in your stress level? I know this is a big one for me! At around 5 pm my levels usually drop which almost always means if I see it I will eat it. I have reworked my calories to prevent this from happening. It wasn't easy or always fun but it got my body where it needed to be.

Fifth, we all slip up sometimes. Move on and let it go! 

Have a fantastic Monday everyone! 

Happy Thursday everyone!!!! So hard to believe I am on the last day of the reset already!! At times it was definitely tough but soo worth the rewards. For me doing the reset wasn't really about weight loss (although it did help get rid of the holiday puffiness that was sticking around). For me the biggest thing was to develop better habits and a better relationship with food.

I am going to be completely honest with you guys...as much as I love living and eating healthy some days I just would get completely off track and feel deprived because Mike (my 6'5 can eat whatever he wants boyfriend) could eat cakes, and whatever else he could shovel in his mouth! It is so tempting and way too easy to feel deprived and get off track. And then the holidays come and it's pretty challenging to say no to my mom's cooking!! Of course these are all just crutches and 100% my fault. These are some of the biggest reasons I started the reset, I needed to change.

So results will come once I am officially done but here are my thoughts and of course what I have learned.

REVIEW OF THE BEACHBODY ULTIMATE RESET:

~Yes it was tough not working out, but I have plantar fasciitis right now so I needed to rest any ways. Other wise you can walk, do yoga, and other light activities but nothing too strenuous because remember your body is having it's own internal work out right now!

~the food- there were a couple things I either couldn't find or I just didn't like so I would go to a meal in that block (each week is a block/phase) and stick with the supplements.

~improvements in my life:
I sleep better...more soundly
I haven't had any stomach issues (I have slight lactose and puffiness associated with too much gluten so I have to watch)
I do not crave sugar...weirdly I crave veggies!
I am more excited to try new foods and veggies
I have found a new system I can add to my life to eat cleaner and enjoy vegetables
I have had the mental clarity to rest for 21 days
I am no longer a caffeine or sugar addict
I feel all around healthier!
and hey an added bonus the winter weight plus some body fat are goneeeee! 
 
Some other good things were that I have finally found new ways to eat veggies that are HEALTHY AND TASTE GOOD!!! Yes I know this was a shock for me too!! I get so tired of the same old things and honestly there are just some I plain and simple hate (exhibit green beans YUCK!). I did try as many as I could but there are just some things I like the green beans I just do not like at all! But that was okay because it didn't hinder my results. I think I will probably end up keeping a majority of the recipes and having them as sides to dinners and with lunches (especially the soups and salads!) .

Other than liking vegetables more it also got me out of my sweets kick.I do have a serious sweet tooth and I have decided that a little is okay but when you go over board is when problems arise. This is really an area you have to decide for yourself what results you want and where your goals are headed. All I know is for me, if I don't let myself have a little when I want it I will some way later to decide I earned it and over do it.

~no coffee...eh I was okay here. The first 2 days were rough I was a little cranky and got some caffeine withdrawl headaches (yup I drank wayyyy too much!) but after that I was doing just fine with green tea and water.

~I did drink my shakeology as my afternoon snack--this really helps keep my sugar cravings down!

~will I keep up with the maintenance? I haven't decided yet. I did really miss meat...I think because I couldn't have it, that made me want it more

Other random things I have learned:
I did  realize I really do love eating clean and leading that lifestyle but I am not perfect. So I am going to allow myself 2 "out and about cheats"-so if Mike and I go out or I want an adult beverage ;-) I will have those. My biggest plan is to stick to clean eating and start learning to make my favorite treats healthier.

My plan after the reset:
~ease back into eating meat
~still will limit dairy (I will continue with Greek yogurt and cottage cheese but nothing else)
~avoiding wheat/gluten--1 day of pasta per week
~eating 5-7x per day
~lots of veggies
~keeping up with my shakes
~starting body beast Monday!!
~make favorite foods clean
~have 2 outings/cheats per month
~plan and prep meals the weekend before

Have you made any big changes that you plan to keep up with?

Some of my tasty reset foods!