How I lost 30 pounds in 60 days...

It may seem obvious - workout, eat clean foods, drink water, drink Shakeology daily... and that is pretty much all I did.. but I have some tips I learned a long the way to get me there!

Eating real food...

- Clean out your pantry!! That Hamburger Helper in the back of your pantry is not doing anyone any favors... Clean you pantry out of all the things you might be tempted by! As a parent, it wasn't easy and did have to keep some snacks for Aubrey... And at Easter time, I made her hide all her candy in her room so I wouldn't eat it - I knew I would never go in her room at night and risk waking her up to get to a kit-kat! What sane mom would??
- Prep is KEY!! When it was first recommended to me to do a meal prep day for the week - I thought that sounded gross, like I would be eating left overs all week... But, I embraced meal prep and now I LOVE IT! It takes away all the excuses of why I can't eat clean!! Dan goes grocery shopping every 2 weeks and once a week we prep. Grill full of chicken, pot full of brown rice, veggies all cut, snacks portioned out! So if I am running around with the girls all day, and I look at the clock and it is 630 I can have dinner on the table in 5-10 minutes! Prep is also nice on the pocket book... After awhile, I learned what I needed and how much I needed on the grocery list... Week 1 I eat a lot of berries, salad, bananas and Week 2 I eat more apples, pineapple, carrots and frozen veggies (things that have a longer shelf life.) Frozen veggies are almost as good as fresh - they are usually picked and frozen at the peak of freshness and are a great alternative financially and if you are like me and only shop twice a month.

- Don't get caught up in "I don't like fish"... Guess what? ME EITHER... I don't like fish, eggs, avocado, sweet potatoes, ect... That does not mean I can't succeed at this... Yes, I eat a lot of the same foods (chicken, brown rice, peppers, sugar snapped peas, ect), but I have learned to take these same core ingredients and make it work!
- Do not STARVE! If you throw your body into starvation mode, you will ruin your metabolism and your body will hold onto whatever calories you do eat... I practiced zig-zag dieting which helps burn calories and keeps your metabolism guessing... And the best part is, its okay to have a cheat meal - WHY? Because your body isn't expecting it! This method is used a lot to help break a plateau but I find it easy to follow and I am hoping using this practice, I won't plateau.... So for example, I will eat 1200 calories on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then Thursday I will eat 1600 then Friday is 1400... Saturday and Sunday are 1400-1600 depending on what I am doing... If I have a 'bad' eating day, I will turn around and really watch what I eat for a day or two and eating 1200 really lean calories and reduce or elimate carbs the next day or two.. ALL CALORIES ARE NOT CREATED EQUALLY - always remember that! And never eat less than 1200 calories in a day!!!

 

Pushing PLAY...

I think we can all agree that time is valuable - whether you have 10 kids and 10 jobs or no kids and no job we all value our time. So when you push play - be the best athlete you can be in that time... If your workout is 20 minutes or an hour you are using your time anyways so make the most of it... We all have bad days, or days we aren't feeling it... but push play, follow the program and be the best you can be everytime! You will not regret it!

Go Public...

I did not realize the impact going public with my weight loss would have! Once I started posting about it and talking about it, I found so many people supporting me, and then joining me and WATCHING ME... People wanted to know what I was doing, I felt like everywhere I went people wanted to see what I would eat at a wedding, graduation, picnic, restaurant, ect... I felt like people were saying "will she go to the dessert table?" "will she eat a hot dog?" so it was like an extra set of eyes on me! Because lets face it, what you eat in private is what you wear in public!

Taking those dreaded BEFORE PHOTOS....

I hadn't looked at myself like that in years.... I set up the tripod and set the timer, took the first photo and looked at the preview on the camera to make sure the zoom and everything was okay and I literally almost fell to the floor... I was overwhelmed with "how did this happen", "this is too much to change", "this is going to take forever"... I was soooo ------- sad.... I had abused my body, I let it go... I studied those photos, and I put them in my phone and I looked at them daily... and when I didn't feel like pushing play I thought about them, and when I wanted to eat ice cream I thought of them and how I felt in that moment... and nothing could taste as good as getting fit would feel... So take them, study them, remind yourself of how you felt in that moment... You can't change what you can't acknowledge, acknowledge that what you see isn't healthy...

Day 1 to Day 60
T25 & Shakeology
Clean eating and Challenge Group

Surround yourself with support - challenge groups are great way to get support from peers and coaches! At your fingertips 24/7, we love to hear how you are doing, what you are struggling with, and your victories... If you stick with us, we WILL REACH OUR GOALS TOGETHER! I will do anything to help you reach your goals! I have taken my challengers measurements and photos for them, I have helped that write a grocery list, I have let them look at my pantry, I have had them in my home to try shakes... Let's do this together :) If you are ready, I am here!