Preparing to be OBSESSED!

In just a couple of months, Autumn Calabrese (Beachbody Trainer) is releasing her new program called 80 Day Obsession. There has been a lot of marketing on social media for it and it looks like it's going to be pretty amazing. The whole premise behind the program is that the cast is going through the whole thing from day 1 to day 80 as if they are doing personal training with Autumn. She takes you through 3 phases of workouts and each day/week is different. I have been following some people that are in the test group and watching anything that Autumn posts about the program and the results that people are getting with this are just incredible.

I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Autumn created a Facebook group for everyone who wanted to get ready to do 80 Day Obsession called "Prepare to Be Obsessed." She is leading us through three of her programs from the "easiest" to the "hardest" in her opinion. We started with 21 Day Fix. I have done a few rounds of this program and by the 3rd week, I get bored. I did push through and get it done. My results were okay. I did not lose weight but I'm trusting the process and know that I will see results. The next program she took us through was Chisel. This is her part of the Hammer & Chisel program that I have started twice and never finished. Doing the Chisel calendar was fun. I am ready for a change after 28 days though! I took measurements at the beginning of this one and will take measurements again tomorrow morning as well.

We start 21 Day Fix Extreme on Monday. I have done this one a couple of times but have never finished it. One time I hurt myself, and another, I let life get in the way. I won't do that this time. I am committed to preparing for the next Autumn Calabrese program! I bought a meal and fitness planner and hope that it will get here early on Monday so that I can get this week's plan into it. I feel like the motivation to complete a program will be high if I have something that I can journal in. I also think that it will help me plan ahead and stick to the plan each week. I always plan ahead. I have trouble sticking to it!

If you follow me on instagram or facebook, I'm sure you've seen my posts with the #preparetobeobsessed hashtag. I feel like I'm truly using this group to prepare to do the new program. 80 Day Obsession is the first program that not only includes an eating and meal plan guide, but also teaches timed nutrition to get the most out of the food that goes into your body. I have never tried this before but I'm looking forward to the challenge and learning a lot. I'm also hoping that in 80 days, it will become such a habit that I won't want to stop!

I'm also counting on this facebook group to get me through the holidays since the new program comes out in January.

I have just a short reflection on what the group has done for me so far. This focus on fitness and nutrition with over 18,000 other people in the US, Canada, and now possibly the UK has helped me shift my thinking about food. I know that if I plan, I will get the foods that I need and stick to the plan. Food is slowly becoming fuel rather than a tool for emotions, stress, and celebrations. I really hope that by the time 80 Day Obsession comes out, I will have fully made the transition to food=fuel!

I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you want in on all of this awesomeness!

I need some structure in my life.

First and foremost in my life, I am a wife and mother. I am also a teacher. I love my schedule. Yes, I have to take work home on a regular basis. I am also a Beachbody Coach, which is something that I can do anytime. Why am I telling you this information that most of you already know? Because this lack of a schedule in the summer is throwing off my life! Please know that this is not a complaint about having summers off. It is more a statement about what I need in my life to go with MY schedule. I'm sure that others, who officially work year-round have times when their routine has to change. Whether that's a vacation, change in hours, job changes, promotions, no matter what it is, it is important to have a plan for many of us.

I had jury duty this week. It was so stressful, and I didn't even have to report once! It's the not knowing what I will need to be doing from morning to afternoon. It was such a relief when the jurors were released for the week as of yesterday!

I also don't have a real routine in the summer. It makes me crazy. I need a routine. The month of June was great. The kids had camp. I would drop them off, eat breakfast, workout, and get ready for whatever else the day would bring. The month of July is a little bit more broken up with different camps and vacation.

I tend to do a lot of planning and personal education in the summer. This summer I'm working on two classes. They are due in November but my hope is to get them done before August! We'll see how that goes. I need to make myself a schedule and include some work time for my classes.

This tells me that I really need to sit down and take the time to plan out what my week will look like each weekend. It is so much easier for me when I don't have to decide what I will be doing!

Beachbody makes the working out and meal planning pretty easy. I have access to all kinds of programs that include a calendar for the different workouts within the programs, and meal plans that are easy to follow and allow me to keep some of my favorite meals in my life.

It will all work out. Knowing what we need as individuals is one of the first steps to success. What do you need?

Don't you need a lot of stuff to workout at home?

When I signed up for Beachbody, I started with the Free Trial of Beachbody On Demand. I've been with this since the beginning. In fact, most of the programs were not available unless you purchased them! Now, all you need is that yearly subscription and you get it all! It's come a long way and over time, it has only gotten better. The best part about it is that I don't have to leave my house. I have everything I need. The thing is, I didn't start out that way. I started with a set of 3lb weights and a set of 5lb weights. Those were my light and heavy weights the first time I did 21 Day Fix. I didn't even have a yoga mat, though that was my next purchase!

Over the past two years, I have committed to this lifestyle. I want to workout every day. I want to be around for my family. This way, I get to do both. I don't have to pack up my stuff and make sure that I'm not forgetting anything to run to the gym, rush through a workout, and then come home so that I can make sure I'm there for my family. If I forget my water, I press pause and go fill it up. When allergy season hits, I have my box of Kleenex next to me and and don't have to worry about grossing people out with my used tissues.

So, how did I get to the point that I am at with a mini-home gym in my living room? I bought higher weights as I needed them. It takes time to build up the muscle and strength so I did not need heavier weights every other week. My family also figured out that I was completely committed to this and started getting me gear for birthdays, Mother's Day, and Christmas. In fact most of my weights and the rack that holds them are from my kids! My mom and dad have gotten me weights! I watch for clearance in stores that sell fitness gear. I also shop secondhand stores.

You don't have to have everything at once! Start slow. Most Beachbody programs will take into account that people are in different places in their fitness journey and show multiple ways to do the workouts. 21 Day Fix can be done completely with bands instead of weights! Hammer and Chisel shows how to do the workouts with or without a bench. You don't have to have everything all at once.

Today's Hammer and Chisel Setup

My husband had 20lb weights lying around so when I needed one heavy dumbbell for a leg exercise, I took them!

Here's what I do to make things work. Under the bench is just a non-slip thing that goes under a large rug. I use it under the bench and also under the floor mat when I use it. That way, I can jump or move and it stays put!

I have a yoga mat from Target. I don't get the most expensive mat. It's not necessary, though I do like the Gaiam brand. Many of my weights have also come from Target and Walmart. Friends of mine have ordered weights on Amazon. I got a pull-up bar that hangs in the door frame on Amazon and a door attachment for my bands as well.

There are also many programs that don't require any equipment. With the All-Access pass, you can click on a program and see what you need before you decide to do the program.

So, yes, I have built up my collection of fitness gear over time. But, what I hope you gain from reading this is the understanding that you don't need a lot of stuff to workout at home. I would suggest starting small. Beachbody still offers a 14 day free trial of Beachbody On Demand. Send me an email: gkup25fit@gmail.com. Find me on Instagram: GKup25! I'll help you get started!

Shaun Week

Can one week, 7 days, really make that big of a difference? Yes. Yes it can. That was one of the hardest weeks I've done in a really long time. And you know what? Shaun T did it on purpose. He started out with the basics. You get started on Day 1 and you think, "this isn't so bad. This is totally doable!" And then he proceeds to KICK YOUR BUTT!!

Day1: Insane Basics

"If you focus, your body will get the results" --Shaun T

Reading that quote, I wondered what he wanted me to focus on. Then as we worked through the warm up and the moves in the workout, I started to understand that we just need to focus on the positive, the correct form while doing the moves, and letting go of the negative. This is true of the whole week and any program that you decide to do.

The workout itself was fun, active, and easier than I thought it would be. Don't let that fool you. This was not an easy week, but it was worth it.

Day2: Pure Cardio 2

"The results start in the mind and they filter into your body" --Shaun T

I felt pretty good after this workout. Part of that was just the quote at the beginning of the workout. Shaun talks about changing your mindset and believing that you can do this. It was huge for me. I don't like this kind of cardio, usually. I liked this one. It had a good combination of moves and the breaks came at good times. Shaun was easy to follow (even though he distracts himself quite a bit!) and the people in the video are REAL. You see them sweat, struggle, take breaks, and just all around work hard just like you do at home. It is inspirational and definitely helps you believe that you can do it!

Day3: Insane Weights

"Strength is not in the dumbbells, it's in your body. How far can you go, how hard can you push, and how bad do you want it?" --Shaun T

This was by far my favorite day. I love doing combination moves with weights that work your entire body. There were times that I got lost and did not do each rep perfectly but they were long and complicated, so I gave myself a break! I also went with lighter weights just to make sure that I could get through the whole workout. I used my 8lbs. weights. I could have used my 10s. and they still would have been pretty light, but I don't think using my 12s or 15s would have been safe for me. Even Shaun T used 15 lb weights and kept it pretty light. This goes back to the quote. The size of the dumbbells is not what indicates strength. It's believing in yourself and trusting the process. After the first round, Shaun comes up to the screen and tells you to "own your tired." It's all part of that trust and believe mantra. He wants you to feel that your tired and know that you are succeeding because of it. When you believe, amazing things happen. It changed that "tired" from a negative to a positive and allowed me to keep going.

Day4: 25 ABS

"Everything comes from the core of who you are" --Shaun T

I have a love/hate relationship with ab workouts. This one was pretty awesome. The modifier uses the chair but most of the moves are done on the floor. If you don't have a soft, grippy surface to do the workout on, you will need to have a mat. I have a puzzle mat workout surface in my living room so I did not need the mat. Having had lower back issues the past few months, I was careful with this one. Any time that we had to lie on our backs and lift our legs, I put my hands under my tailbone. I just wanted to make sure that I was supporting my back. This meant not fully doing some of the moves. I felt pretty good after this workout. It was not the hardest Shaun T ab workout I have ever done but it was still challenging!

Day5: Ripsanity

"I'm about to burn your muscles and bring fire to your life" --Shaun T

He's not kidding. Your muscles will burn after this. It is the first workout that made me worry that I would be too sore the next day to do another workout. I did not enjoy the entire thing. I pushed through the entire thing. It was probably the best I felt after a workout the whole week so far. I even posted on Facebook that it was HARD! I never really consider workouts hard. Challenging, yes, but the word hard doesn't usually enter into my mind when I'm working out. That was hard. Again, it was hard, but it was worth it.

Day6: Speed 4.0

"We are going to hit it today and move through this" --Shaun T

Okay. I'll be 100% honest. I hated this workout. I don't like agility workouts. Do I think they are important? Definitely. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy them. I get cramps in my feet. I struggle with shoes. I can't get training shoes in a size 7 because they are too small and my toes get scrunched. I get 7.5s and my feet move around in them just enough to make my arches and the balls of my feet cramp up. Thicker socks don't help. Agility is important but I think the moves in Shaun's agility and speed workouts just don't agree with me. I was able to do the CoreDeForce agility workout without any foot cramping. It may just be the combination of moves and the way that Shaun is ALWAYS jumping. I used the bench (as a chair) to modify if the cramps in my feet got bad. I got through this workout and knew that with just one day left, I could get through the week.

Day7: Dig Deep

"Dig deep is something that should be in your soul so that you can create greatness" --Shaunt T

I was worried that my feet would cramp up again when I started this workout. Shaun breaks the rounds up well in this workout so that my feet did not feel as bad. They did cramp a couple of times but not as much as the day before. Just if we were doing similar moves as the Speed workout. This one is short. It makes you want to work hard because you know that it won't last that long. I felt great when I was done. I felt like I had accomplished a goal that I was nervous about. I have tried Insanity. I have done a month of T25. They are not my favorite programs. I LOVE Shaun T. His dance based workouts are some of my favorites. The way he talks through the workouts and motivates is amazing. You want someone to make you feel good at the same time that he is kicking your butt, Shuan T is your man. This week was worth it.

Overall, this is a great week of workouts. You can repeat the weeks and make your own longer program with it. I would definitely find a way to put a rest day in there, though the ab day works like an active recovery a little bit if you add some stretching in afterwards.

The best part of this week was the group of people in the online support group for the week. Challenge groups are the number 1 reason that doing Beachbody programs at home is so much better than going to the gym. There are lots of reasons that make it work better for me but the motivation and support from other people doing the same thing and even from the way the trainers talk during the workouts is so beneficial. If you haven't experienced this, please look for a challenge group. I run them with coaches on my team all the time. I will be running some smaller, shorter groups on facebook soon as well.

Send me a message, find me on facebook or instagram (gkup25), email me at gkup25fit@gmail.com, and commit to healthier you!

There is no finish line . . . so why bother?

Years ago, when I was getting ready to get married, and then again after I had my boys, I decided I was fed up with how I felt and needed to do something to change. My goal? To lose weight and get skinny. Isn't that where most of us start?

I knew I wasn't happy, and I thought that losing weight and looking a certain way would make me happy. I lost close to 50 pounds with that being my goal. In my mind, looking skinny would make me feel happy. Imagine my surprise when I lost all that weight and my flaws didn't go away. They just got smaller. I also gained a few more "flaws" along the way. (I say "flaws" because I don't really think about them that way now.) I'm proud of the work I put in to lose the weight. I had to make huge changes to my lifestyle with a family that, at the time, did not want to make those same changes. 

There were quite a few challenges that came up as I worked through these changes.

• randomly stopping for ice cream in the middle of the day, for no real reason
• junk food in the house
• wanting to focus our groceries on healthier options but being the only one ready to change, still buying boxed/processed meals
• doing a program that tried to teach healthier habits but really only focused on a calculation of macros rather than actual nutrients
• No working out--since I had to weigh in every week and working out makes me gain weight (the good kind) I refused to do anything besides cardio once a week. I knew that if I did more than that, I would get on the scale at the end of the week and the number would go up instead of down.

This list is just a few. I want to focus on the last bullet point. I had set a goal weight for myself. To this day, I have not reached that elusive number on the scale. I was paying to be part of a program that wasn't giving me enough information. It was great to get me started but if I really wanted to make good, healthy progress, I had to find another way to get to the finish line. BUT WAIT!! I said there is no finish line. Well, at the time, I still thought there was. I knew that I needed to workout more. That it would be the change that might eventually push me to my goal. I still thought the goal was a number on the scale. 

As I continued to make changes in my life, my family finally jumped on board and we became a much better team. I started tracking my progress differently. My mindset has changed so much over the last few years. I don't really have an end goal in mind anymore. I don't see a finish line that will take me into the magical place of happiness and loving myself. I had to learn to love myself now. 

If there is anything I've learned that I hope to share with others, it's that loving yourself as you are now is extremely important for reaching your goals. I say that there is no finish line. There really isn't. Once I accepted that and rethought my goals, I was able to start appreciating the little steps and changes that were taking place in my life. 

I know that I talk about Beachbody all the time. I truly love the company. There is nothing else that has helped me as much as being a part of this huge fitness movement. The best part is that it isn't a program that you have to do to get to a final number on a scale. Each time I start a new program, or one I've already done, I set a new goal for myself. That goal is NEVER a number on the scale. I don't even weigh myself anymore. I know how I'm doing based on how I feel, how my clothes fit, and the definition I see in the mirror.

So if you're still focused on an end number on the scale and feeling frustrated . . . let it go. Set a smaller goal. Focus on one small change that you can make that will enrich your life. If that's cutting out refined sugars, then focus on that for a week. If that's adding in a 30 minute workout to your day, make that your goal and track it. Maybe you just want to find small ways to be more active in your day. Plan for it and stick to it. Goals don't have to be a far away finish line that you feel like you'll never accomplish. Trust me, having an arbitrary number on the scale as a goal was setting myself up for failure. I've been doing this for almost 5 years, since my youngest was almost 2. I still haven't hit that original number on the scale that I had set as my goal. Look back at my posts. Have I failed? NO!! I'm succeeding . . . one small checkpoint at a time. The focus is no longer on a number at the end of a long road. My goals change with my needs. What do you need?

Finding the Motivation

Being a teacher in May is a struggle. Not only are students ready for summer, I am also ready for a break. This means coming home after work burned out and tired!

I am not a morning person. I don't like to move or even pretend to function when I first get out of bed. It takes me a good 30 minutes to feel human. Can I workout in the morning? Sure. Have I done it before? Definitely. Do I prefer it? NOT. AT. ALL.

So, that leaves working out when I get home from work. I am blessed with a babysitter that doesn't mind keeping my kiddos for one more hour while I run home and get my workout in. The boys prefer to stay and play with their friends while I work out. It's a win-win for me and for them. We are extremely thankful for Ann.

When I get home from work, I'm tired. I feel like sitting on the couch, messing around on my phone and social media, or reading on my Kindle.

Sometimes, there is nothing remotely motivating about changing into workout clothes and getting sweaty and tired.

Sometimes, the motivation actually comes after I push myself to just go through the motions. About halfway through a workout, I am both thankful that I did it, and wishing it were over!

So, if the motivation isn't there, and I have to force myself to do this everyday, why do I do it?

Because I've been on the other side. I know what it's like to absolutely hate my body. I know what it's like to think I'm worthless and disgusting. I know what it's like to feel hopeless. Like there is nothing I can really do to change my situation.

Even after losing 50+ pounds, I still feel that way at times. What I have gained from Beachbody is priceless. I pay around $100.00 a year to access over 500 workouts with calendars.  That means I get to change things up constantly. I never get bored and I can workout at whatever time works for me. Daily motivation becomes a non-issue. AND I feel 1,000 times better about myself.

My happy hour is what I make it!

Then and Now

This week has been rough. I was about to start my forth week of 22 Minute Hard Corps on Beachbody on Demand. During my workout on Sunday morning, I went down into a squat to jump back up and didn't come back up. I pulled something on the left side of my lower back. I couldn't move. Monday morning, I called my chiropractor and got in for Tuesday afternoon. It has taken two visits to the manual therapist and chiropractor to feel like I was starting to heal. It just so happens that I was not stretching enough after my workouts. I was neglecting my muscles. My hips were completely crooked. When I laid down on my stomach, my left hip was visibly higher than my right hip. I'm all untwisted and even now. My muscles are healing and I'm taking it easy. It has been six days.

Here's the really cool thing about my experience with my injury. I have another story from about five years ago.

This was me:

I was miserable. I didn't even know how miserable. I actually thought I looked okay. I had decided that I was going to accept myself for who I was and be okay with my body. I was in deep denial. Not only that, I was unhealthy. I didn't take care of myself. Nutrition was the last thing on my mind. I tried to go back to working out a little bit before this was taken. About six months before that I was in a wedding and needed to fit into a dress I had ordered before I was pregnant. I barely fit in my dress but I was proud of myself for getting into that dress. I was overweight before that and had purchased the dress in a bigger size than I was at the time just to make sure. I figured I could always take it in. I ended up having to take it out a little bit, but I got into it.

Shortly after that wedding, I injured my shoulder. I had problems with my shoulder before my second pregnancy but didn't do much besides muscle relaxers and ice. It would come and go. This time, I hurt it bad enough to venture into the chiropractor for the first time. It took two years to get my shoulders to a point where they didn't hurt anymore. I went every week, then every two weeks, then every three, every month, every five weeks. Then I would stop going for awhile but didn't do much to fix it.

In April of 2015, a friend introduced me to Beachbody. Now, I didn't have to go to a gym and do things that I wasn't comfortable doing in front of strangers in my current size. I worked out in my living room. I could use my little weights to start out with and not feel like people were laughing at me. I had 3lbs for my light weights and 5s for my heavy weights. I was excited to try something new. I signed up for the limited version of Beachbody on Demand when they first started streaming their programs. I did Brazil Butt Lift! It was fun and dance based but there were a lot of really great moves and it was a major learning experience for me. I think I was still doing Weight Watchers at the time but I can't remember anymore. I had lost quite a bit of weight but still wasn't anywhere near healthy. I moved on from there and did the 21 Day Fix and a few other programs I had access to. That's when I started to really look at the foods I was putting into my body.

It took until the summer of 2015 to fix my shoulders to a point where I could workout and lift weights without re-injuring myself.

Do you see the difference?
3 years of recovery and chiropractor visits. My shoulder injury did not feel worse than my back did this time around. My back is recovering after 6 days. I'm taking care of myself because of everything I've learned through these amazing programs.

Now, with Shakeology, I'm putting so much good stuff in my body that my muscles are able to recover and heal so much faster. I have to put in the work, stay on top of my meals, and plan to succeed. Because I do that, I'm in a much better place in my life.

This is me:

The major difference is not my size, though it is a huge difference. The biggest difference is my determination, confidence, and knowledge. I'm a better version of myself. I love myself enough to make my health a priority. Shakeology is expensive. Coach purses, daily trips to Starbucks, ordering pizza, hair color, 50 pairs of shoes, and all those other things that we think we need are expensive too. For me, those other things that I thought I wanted don't even come close to the benefits I see with Shakeology, Beachbody on Demand, and the effort of meal planning.

I'd love to help and guide anyone who wants to feel this good. Just send me a message and I'll help you get started.

My 3 Day Refresh Experience

Over the last few months, I've started to notice that my clothes are not fitting as comfortably as they used to and that a lot of my cravings have been for sugary treats and chocolate. Having a sensitivity to chocolate, this put me in a weird place for my health. I decided that with Spring Break coming up and having some time to chill and focus on my health, I would try out the 3 Day Refresh from Beachbody and see if I could get my healthier cravings back.

Disclaimer: Yes, I am a Beachbody coach. No I will not be dishonest about this product to get sales.

I received my Refresh a few days before I was ready to start and read over everything in the program guide. It looked pretty straight forward but I knew that I needed a plan. I mapped out my meals and made a shopping list.

I had planned to start on Monday of Spring Break, but thinking through what my week was going to entail, it made more sense to start on Sunday and finish on Tuesday.

I already drink Shakeology every day, but the guide also suggested that I eat salad for a few days leading up to the refresh to get my system ready for the amount of veggies I would be putting into my body. I did this and I think it helped.

DAY 1:

I had my Shakeology for breakfast with 12 strawberries. I put 5 in the shakeo and ate 7 of them. Shakeology always keeps me full for a long time. It was easy to wait a couple of hours to drink the fiber sweep. The fiber sweep is somewhat filling, but not the most pleasant thing to drink. It's only 8 ounces and has a slight lemon flavor. If you can ignore the texture and drink it quickly it's not completely horrible!

Lunch on the first day was cucumbers with hummus, the vanilla fresh protein shake with frozen cherries. This was actually highly satisfying and filling.  My afternoon snack was celery and almond butter. For dinner, I ate the veggie stir fry from the recipes in the program guide. It was actually amazing. I drank my vanilla fresh and also had a cup of vegetable broth that I had heated with some fresh basil. I learned that I needed to drink my shake a little bit after dinner instead of with it so that I would not get hungry before bed. I had some herbal tea about an hour before bed to combat a little bit of hunger.

Here are some examples of the meals that I had.
This does not include my afternoon snack.

DAY 2:

Ok. I promised to be honest. Day 2 sucked. I had my shakeology with frozen blueberries in the morning. I drank green tea since I did not want a headache from no caffeine. I drank the fiber sweep a couple hours later and this time it didn't do much to satisfy my hunger.  I suffered through trying not to think about food. --This is also a mental thing for me. I normally eat small snacks throughout the day and try to keep them healthy. When I finally ate lunch, I put peaches and cinnamon in my vanilla fresh shake and had a tomato, avocado, and basil leaves for lunch. This might not have been the best choice for staying power. I was almost ready to give up. I was full but needed my afternoon snack a lot sooner than I should have. So again, I had celery and almond butter.  It helped quite a bit and I was determined to get through the days I had left. Since I needed the snack so much earlier, I was hungry again before dinner.

This is the one thing I did that I do not regret. I ate about 10 almonds. It got me through to dinner and I was able to cook for my family and make myself a spinach salad from the dinner recipes. I ate the salad and saved my vanilla fresh shake for about 30 to 45 minutes later. I went to bed without hunger that night.

I stopped taking pictures of my meals.

Day 3:

Surprisingly, this 3rd day was a little easier to get through. I went to a play with my boys, niece, and mom. She wanted to go out for lunch afterward. Here I had to be very organized. I got up about 7AM and drank my water and had my tea. (This is backwards from the way the program tells you to do the AM.) After I drank the tea, I had my Shakeology with frozen cherries. This was about 830AM. I packed my lunch which was a small red pepper, hummus and a fruit. I also brought a blender bottle to mix my vanilla fresh shake with water. I also packed a smaller blender bottle with water and the fiber sweep packet. When we got to the theater at about 930AM, I mixed and drank the fiber sweep in the parking lot before we went in. It worked out perfectly.  When we went to the restaurant, everyone ordered some food and I ate the lunch I brought. No one bothered me about it and everything worked out fine.

I did the celery and almond butter for my snack as late as I could. It was hard in the afternoon and I did end up eating a few almonds to tide me over to dinner.

I ate a cucumber tomato salad from the dinner recipes for dinner and waited to drink my shake for about 30 minutes.

And that was it!

My results:

-4.1 pounds

-1 inch in the waist

I actually did not expect to see a difference but it's there. The change in my mentality is what I was really looking for. I thought that I would wake up the day after doing this and just want FOOD!! I didn't. I had my shakeology with almond milk, cherries, and spinach. I will probably have a snack mid-morning but not a fiber drink! I was also worried that I would destroy all progress the next day and not be able to keep off the weight I lost. To be honest, I did not expect to lose as much as I did. My mind will not let me sabotage myself. I am looking forward to this refocus on my health. My new goal is to focus on tracking my food again. I do the best when I do that. I will also be starting 22Minute Hard Corps soon!

Why Shakeology?

"When it's this good, you have to get every drop!"

If you do Beachbody programs, you have heard of Shakeology. All of the trainers use it, and they mention it at the end of most of the workouts. Some of the videos even end on a Shakeology commercial. The coaches swear by it. It took me two years to buy-in and I wish I had found a way to get it into my life sooner.

I used every excuse in the book. I already had a protein powder that I liked . . . it's so expensive . . . how can a powdered drink mix be worth that much money?

The number one thing that most coaches will tell you to try and convince you to buy it is that it's no more expensive than a drink at Starbucks. Just $4 per day.

My response? I don't go to Starbucks everyday. There really wasn't a cost that I thought I could eliminate to make room for the shakes.

Another reason to get it . . . It reduces cravings. I didn't think I had many cravings.

And of course, "It's the healthiest meal of the day!" Well, I didn't really have a comeback for that one but I felt I already ate healthy foods so it couldn't be that big of a deal.

What convinced me? My energy levels and a struggle with seasonal depression. My symptoms were an overall lack of physical and mental energy. I would feel like I was going to fall asleep in my desk chair by 2:00 PM. I'm a teacher. I can't be that tired. Everything that happened, good or bad was amplified. I fought with my husband, I lost patience with my children, and I wasn't the best teacher I could be in the afternoons.

My students took notice. They started asking me what was wrong in the afternoon. Finally, I was honest with them. I told them that I struggle with my energy levels in the afternoon but that I was working on a solution and hoping that it would start getting better. (I teach 6th grade.)

At that point, I had to do what I said I was going to do and come up with a solution. I had listened to the hype and every single person that used shakeology tell me how great it is. I started asking questions. My coach put me into a coaches training group to help me make a decision about being a Beachbody coach and I saw a video that convinced me that this is what I needed to do.

See, what I had been doing was loading my body with supplements that were supposed to help with my energy levels. The problem is that after years of abuse and not eating clean, my body was no longer able to absorb the good stuff I was putting into it.

I discussed this all with my husband. We decided that I would try it out for 2 or 3 months and see if it helped. If it did, we would figure something out and make it work financially.

Here's what happened . . .

I got my first bag in the mail and started it right away. For the first week, I could tell that it was cleaning out my system. It wasn't a horrible feeling, just a discomfort in my stomach and a little gas. (sorry, but it's true) My coach and others who use Shakeology told me that I would feel a burst of energy on the 5th or 6th day. I was skeptical. How could that happen for everyone that uses it? Aren't our bodies all different? Well, it happened. By the 5th day, there was no way I was giving this stuff up. I started talking to my husband about it and letting him know how good I was feeling. By the third week, I had him convinced that it was definitely the right thing to do.

One of the biggest concerns for him was financial. Two teachers don't make a huge amount of money. We realized something in the three weeks that I had been drinking the shakes for breakfast. I had more energy at night. There weren't any days that I drove home thinking that I would not have the physical or mental capacity to cook dinner. I can clean up the living room at night, do a load of laundry, help clear the table after dinner. These are all things that I would struggle with before Shakeology. This also meant that we didn't order food or go out as often.

We had been ordering a pizza ($25) every week. There's my shakeology cost. I'd much rather make a pizza and know that the ingredients I'm using are clean and healthy . . . that my family is putting great food in their bodies than eat takeout pizza every week. As soon as I mentioned this to my husband, he actually visibly relaxed a little bit. I could see that he was starting to think about these benefits and what it meant for the family.

If I could, I would buy four bags every month and feed this to each family member once a day. Someday, I hope that I'll be able to get to that point. For right now, I'm going to keep drinking my Shakeology and taking care of my family the best way I know how. By taking care of me so that I can cook great meals and encourage them to stay active. I was one of the biggest skeptics. It took me 2 years to buy-in and now I'm so glad that I finally did.

If you want in on this awesomeness or just want more information, send me an email or comment on this post.

Gina Kupfer
Beachbody Coach
gkup25fit@gmail.com

New Beachbody Coach

My journey to be the best version of myself has a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs. From gaining weight in college, losing weight before my wedding, and gaining it all back again, I have tried a lot of different programs and diets. The best thing to happen to me was finding Beachbody.

After I had my second child, I weighed 215 pounds. I knew I could lose the weight if I went back to one of those diet programs. That's exactly what I did. I even worked out once or twice a week and thought I was doing everything right. Then I got stuck. I needed more. Instead of following a diet, I needed to change my lifestyle and mindset.

A friend introduced me to Beachbody about two years ago. I started with a 21 Day Fix Challenge pack. The best part about Beachbody is that it isn't just a bunch of workout programs. Between the information about clean eating, proper nutrition, and fitness, I was able to make changes to my life that have made me a better mom, teacher, and wife. The best part is that I do it all from home. No traipsing to the gym or running outside in bad weather.

Having this amazing experience has changed my life and now I want to pay it forward and hopefully help other people achieve what I have over the last two years with Beachbody. I made the decision to become a Beachbody Coach. If you would like to know more about what I do or join me on this amazing journey, please send me a message at gkup25fit@gmail.com.

Find me on Instagram: GKup25