It's accountability time...

Two weeks ago I asked my Bootcamp participants to make a 2-week ACTION goal. It's check-in time babies!
This post is for you...

Please post below about your journey, successes, hiccups, etc.

Maria B. your goal was to eat veges at both lunch AND dinner everyday.
Erinn C. your goal was to NOT drink ANY soda (diet or regular).
Kelsey B. your goal was to take a multi-vitamin every day.
Nicole S. your goal was to do either my 10-minute Ab video or the Beach Body Ab video every morning.
Megan P. your goal was to do a 30-min. Wii workout 4 days a week.
Brandy K. your goal was to drink at least 100oz of water every day.
Brittany S. your goal was to run 25 miles and get your booty to Bootcamp.
Beckie M. your goals were to workout at laest 4 days a week and to do my 10-minute Ab video 5 days a week.
Hillary F. your goals were to make it to Bootcamp EVERY day and to no drink alcohol.
Courtney K. your goal was to NOT eat the treats that you buy for your kids.
Heather G. your goal was to to my 10-minute leg workout every morning and my 10-minute ab workout every evening.
Lauren Y. your goal was to run at least an extra 10 miles.
Rick W. your goal was to do an extra 70 minutes of cardio each week.
Melinda K. your goal was to start taking your USANA supplements every day.
Abby F. your goal was to to 30-minutes of pilates 5 times a week.
Jamie G. your goal was to take your USANA Essentials twice a day every day.

So how did you do? What obstacles did you overcome? What did you learn? How do you feel about your success? What is your NEXT 2-week goal?

Set ACTION goals NOT end result goals...

Set yourself up for SUCCESS not defeat!

Setting a goal like, "I will lose 5 pounds in 3 weeks" focuses on the end result but there are no set actions in place to reach that set goal.
So, what typically happens? No modifications are made and the goal is NOT met. This results in feelings of failure - gilt creeps in, self worth declines and you'll probably go and EAT!!!! No bueno!

This is the PROBLEM!

Instead - set ACTION goals!
   "I will walk for 30 minutes every day for the next 3-weeks."
   "I will do Gemma's 10-minute leg workout video on facebook every other day for the next 3 weeks."
   "I will not drink wine for 3 weeks."

These are ACTIONS that you control. YOU are able to see your triumph over these each and every day, thus feeding your sense of accomplishment, self worth and success.

At the end of 3 weeks you can view all your successes and feel great about yourself.
This is a good thing.

We all need a little more 'feel good'!

So let's ALL set ACTION goals that we control and set ourselves up to succeed in every goal we set.


...Some quotes that inspired this post: From Living With Joy by Sanaya Roman

"Create something that is delightful tomorrow - one small step, or one small point of action that will bring you one step closer to your goal."

"The mind likes to have a sense that it has accomplished things; you must keep it satisfied."



"When your emotions are heavy and sad or negative, the aura around your body is dense. It's like driving with a dirty windshield.  You can not see clearly or far."


"...change is much more involved that simply asking for something and having it. You may need to go inward, expand your faith and trust, and open your heart...You also need to let go of many old images about who you are."

Now is the time - (Day 5 of the 'Get It Back' triumph)

Now is the time
Day 5 of the 'Get It Back' triumph -

Tuesday after a long weekend and I'm feeling great. I got a lot of, much needed, rest in a weekend of getting a TON of, much needed, tasks completed. My boyfriend busted his butt helping me plow through seemingly never ending 'To Do' list and was so graceful and loving even when I got frustrated and grumpy. I'm so thankful for him. :-D

I stayed on track with my healthy eating plan and moved my body and contracted my muscles every day all weekend. It was a weekend of GETTING BACK ON TRACK.

Started today with a 30 min workout - 15 minutes on my Circle Glide (YES I do actually use the products that I model and present on TV) and a 15 minute stretch while watching 'The Secret.' Fantastic start to the day.

Ready to eat a healthy breakfast and have a glorious day.

My Goals for the rest of the day:
~Have joyful and meaningful Food Journal appointments with all my clients.
~Stay on track with my healthy eating all day long.
~Get a really good workout in at the gym.
~Do all my burpees.
~Accomplish many tasks that take me significantly closer to my dreams.
~Have successful and powerful meetings with my new clients.
~Have a ROCKIN 6:00pm Bootcamp.
~SMILE all day long!!

Day 2 - Part 2 - Chicky, Chicky Boom Boom Chicken

Here's the ingredients of MY 'Chicky Chicky Boom Boom' Chicken Seasoning...

Sae Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Basil
Oregano
Garlic
Lemon Juice (for moisture)
AND
(My secret ingredient) Cinnamon

No oil, No butter, No JUNK! Just spray the cookie sheet with non-stick spray and bake on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Squirt with lemon juice when you take it out of the oven one more time.

DELISH!!!!!!!

Day 2 - Part 1 of the 'Get It back' Challenge

OK - did a mini workout yesterday, never did go running but did manual labor all day long - so intense that I'm actually sore all over today :-D
Ate tons of veges, grilled chicken and whole grains, drank lots of water. I DID cheat with a few potato chips - but I was in one of those 'Eat or Crash' scenarios where I needed calories ( I really did work THAT hard yesterday).
More work to do today.
Started with same breakfast as yesterday :)
Heading out to get this day cranking.
I'm feeling strong and capable. Can't wait to see ME again.

Day 1 - Part 1 of the 'Get It Back' challenge

Morning of day 1 - FLUNK!!!!!!!!!
Woke up ready to run - hadn't charged my ipod so I stalled while it charged - Drank my Rev3 - did some sit-ups/crunches, push-ups, lunges and tricep dips - felt great.
Got ready to run - - - - Can't find my ear phones :(
Now I'm too dang hungry to run and hate runing without my ipod - I'm too dang ADD to go for more than 5 min.
Even found my heart rate monitor strap and put it on ready to ROCK this.
Ok - going to eat a healthy breakfast - still have all day to get it together :)

Savory Secret: Sweet Tooth Appeasement (Choc. Covered Strawberries)

Thin people have a sweet tooth too. They just learn how to control IT so IT doesn't control THEM.

Here's a little trick.
Shopping list:
~ Fresh strawberries (preferably organic so you don't consume all those cancer causing pesticides)
~ Chocolate bars (milk, dark, and/or white) - (again, preferably organic)

Melt 4-5 squares of the chocolate either in the microwave or in a pan. If you do it in the microwave keep a close eye on it and stir it every 30 seconds or so. The chocolate can be melted but look like it's still in squares if you just peer in the microwave window. Stand 4 or more feet away from microwave when it's in use!
If you use a pan put the stove on low heat and stir constantly.

Once melted dip strawberries (that you already washed) in the chocolate and lay them on a plate or piece of wax paper to cool and solidify.

If you want to get fancy you can melt one of the other chocolates, as they are each a different color, and drizzle over the already dipped strawberries with a fork to make them look striped and decorated (NOTE: this is very impressive at parties).

Eat a few of these next time you have a SWEET TOOTH ATTACK. You'll satisfy your chocolate/sugar craving, and the strawberries are sweet and juicy yet nutritious. This is much better than downing an entire pack of Oreos.

P.S. In my experience white chocolate takes longer to melt and starts to solidify faster, it is also a little more difficult to drizzle!

Bon Appetit

Got the warm fuzzies.

I have a case of the warm n fuzzies.
Today wasn't anything spectacular. Just an ordinary day.

But it was spectacular. I met some great people, had some lovely conversation, got to help a few people, had great classes, talked to friends I adore, had a nice workout, ate good food - nothing exceptional but I'm ending my day with a lovely feeling of euphoria and joy. Contentment and peace are coursing through my veins right now, I like this.

Life is good.

Be healthy!

If you can't pronounce it...

If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it.
With the exception, of course, of cinnamon and worcestershire.

Dipotassium phosphate, Sodium tripolyphosphate, Datem, Disodium guanylate, Ferric orthophosphate,and the list goes on and on and on...
These kind of ingredients are not grown in a garden, they do not occur in these forms in nature. They are made in a lab, many are chemicals that the body does not even digest or absorb.

Crazy ingredients are ok in MODERATION (just saying that so you can feel better about cheating sometimes), but not in every single food item that goes in your body. If the food you eat comes in a box, packet, tube, or paper bag. If you have seen a commercial for the food you're eating. If you can not grow it yourself (hypothetically speaking) or go out and kill it with your bare hands (hypothetically speaking again) - then it simply is not meant to be inside your body.

The digestive system of the human body can absorb Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats. THAT'S IT!
So what happens to all these other things we consume that don't fit into these categories?

Hmmm! Good question. Think about it and you tell me.

The people I know who eat the most processed foods are the heaviest people I know, they have the most health issues and suffer the most depression. I'm not saying, I'm just saying!

So please, start reading your labels, or better yet eat foods that don't have a label (fresh fruits and veges, not take out, smart arse!)


I'm off to make a nice fruit smoothie :)

Make small changes...

I met up with a friend yesterday.
She's got a baby in her belly, second trimester. We started discussing all the things she can't eat. We discussed the mercury levels in fish, nitrates in processed lunch meat, we discussed the potential dangerous contaminants in over the counter prenatal vitamins. And on and on...

It's OVERWHELMING when you really stop to think about all the things in our world that are damaging to our health. The parabens in the lotion we place on our skin, the chemicals in our household cleaners, the flame retardant in your mattress, the PERC in your dry cleaned clothes, the hormones in your milk, the antibiotics in your chicken, the mercury in your tuna, the iron in your multi vitamin, the lead in your calcium supplement, the pollution in your air, the chlorine in your water, the plastic in bottle you're drinking out of.... and the list goes on.

As consumers we've supported all this industry to the point that it's more expensive to purchase SAFE products or to time consuming to find alternatives.

So people get OVERWHELMED and just say 'Screw it!' And continue polluting their bodies and the bodies of the people they love. It's seems useless to try. The problem is everywhere.

There's one VERY important thing to keep in mind, however, EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS! You don't have to go 100% green over night. That's too stressful. You have enough going on in your life to add that to it too.

Pick ONE thing to change. One battle to win. And SLOWLY start making it part of your life. You may not be able to do it ALL the time at first, and that's OK! Give yourself permission to not be perfect but know, and know it with all that you are, that every tiny thing you do really DOES make a difference.

So make that small change (ooh I said the word CHANGE):
Start recycling your plastic, or
Start buying organic chicken, or
Make your own household cleaner, or
WHATEVER!

Chose the one thing that's easiest for YOU and start implementing it into your life, slowly but surely. It DOES help! It DOES make a difference! It WILL impact your health, the health of those you love and the health of this planet.

So, what is it that you will start doing?

Today is the first day of...

Well, well. Lookee here. I'm a blogger!
It's Oh-fishal!
I've considered starting a blog many times before and now I've finally gone and done it!

This blog will be about my journey to change people's health and quality of life through education on all things life related. I am sick and tired, I want to say that again.. I AM SICK AND TIRED of the marketing BS that is labeled as 'scientific research.' Consumers have been brain washed to trust 'the word' of the very company selling the product - FLUNK!

We as a nation trust the FDA, other government agencies and doctors more than we trust our own bodies. The United States people have been transformed into cattle. Pill popping, sugar craving, hormone eating, chemical breathing, fat growing, no life living - cattle!
It's time to take some money out of the hands of these large pharmaceutical companies and turn it into knowledge in the minds of the public.
Degenerative disease (Heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, fibromyalgia, MS, cancer, etc) is not an inevitable part of life. More often than not these ailments can be completely prevented with a few small changes in lifestyle.

It's time to "get busy living, or get busy dying." I chose the former. How about you?