The Rest Of My Life

So, I have decided that today is the first day to the rest of my life! I have been sick for the past week and a half, and I have done absolutely nothing. I slept, and ate lots and lots of popsicles! I had a sore throat, and a cold, then a sinus infection, and then to top it all off I got a double ear infection? What?! I must have really pissed God off.

 

I finally went to the doctor after I got the ear infection, and when I stepped on the scale, I was not a happy camper. It pretty much ruined the rest of my week. I decided then & there that I was done messing around. This is it. I have said it before, but I am I determined that I will not let myself gain another single pound! I was pretty excited when I got on the scale this morning to get a *starting weight* and I according to it I have lost 6 pounds! So I guess I can't complain about that, but.. I am still not happy.

 

I am planning on finally starting Focus T25 again on September 16th. There is a challenge group going, and I am super excited to do it. If you're interested in joining, let me know. It's kind of last minute seeing as how tomorrow is the last day to join, so sorry! I did decide though I wasn't waiting till then, and I got up in the early, dreadful morning, at 4:00 a.m. Who in their right mind does that? Yup, this crazy chick and her mother.

 

I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, seeing as how I actually got up at 2:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. Then I realized that Shaun T. was about to make me his bitch. There is no doubt about it, that's definitely what he did. It feels sooo good to be working out again, and I am going to be sore tomorrow. No pain, no gain.. or should I say lose.. Hmm.

 

 

Also, I'm letting the cat out of the bag and *drum roll please.*  I am finally moving!! Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I am coming for you! I am so excited for this new chapter in my life. It's moving much faster than I had planned, but I just have to trust in God's plan, and know that everything is going to work out the way it should. I am so excited to see what my life holds for me!

 

My Dream Board for the rest of the year. Sorry some of it's hard to read!

 

There is still 3 and a half months left in the year, people! You know how much you can accomplish in that amount of time? Let's do this! I want to see you succeed! If you would like to join my private motivational group as well, let me know! Together we can do this!

 

 

 

 

 

Motivation, Where Are You?!

So, I know I haven't done a post since doing The Ultimate Reset. I actually didn't even finish the Reset. I did good on it for about a week and a half, lost 10 pounds then I got really sick a few times, and ended up stopping it. I'm not even sure what actually made me sick. Ever since then I have not been able to follow through with anything! I have absolutely no motivation, and no oomph.

 

I mean I am going on a cruise next March, and I want to feel the best I ever have and comfortable in my skin. I think about it all the time, but that doesn't even seem to motivate me anymore.

Every part of who I am and who I want to be stems from losing weight and being the best version of myself. I want to make health and fitness a full time job, I want to inspire people and I want people to know if I can do it so can they! I want to be healthy when I have kids so I can raise my kids that way. Also, when I find "Mr. Wonderful" I hope that he will be just as interested in his health and fitness as well. How can I want and do all of this, without doing it for myself first?

 

I did come to realization that my problem is definitely my nutrition. It seems like I can't control what goes in my mouth no matter how hard I try. I know that I eat out of boredom, but I think I need to really evaluate myself and figure out what got me to this point so I can fix it. Why can't I turn away from the temptation? I know it's yummy food, but come on I should be able to have a little control! I can exercise for days, but when it comes to nutrition, I just can't do it. I think that I am going to take some time and just focus on the eating clean. I plan on completely scheduling every little thing I put in my mouth, and doing food preps a couple times a week.

I keep wondering if subconsciously I am telling myself that I can't actually do this. That I can't be successful, and I will never achieve my goals. I know that's not true, but I honestly think that might be part of my problem.
 

 

As I said, when it comes to working out I can do that. I did Focus T25 for a while, then I went on a trip and got off track again. I need to seriously get back to it. I love this workout! Who doesn't have 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week? Errbody's got time for that!!

I feel like this is just a tumble effect. If I don't eat well, I feel sluggish, and then I don't want to workout. I talked to a friend of mine and she told me that it's all in baby steps and to not overwhelm myself. This doesn't happen overnight. I am such an all or nothing person and it's hard for me to just work on one thing at a time, but I think this is what I need to be successful.



 

I need to do something again though. I always say that I am trying to live life to the fullest, but I am not. I don't want to do anything. I have no confidence, no self esteem, no desire. I need to figure this out before I look back on my life and regret not doing all the things I wanted too. I will get myself on track, I will start loving myself, I will start living my life again. I am not going to be this girl, I refuse to be her. I want a change. I need a change.

 

 

I did this blog to share every aspect of my journey and my life. Not only the good stuff, but the bad stuff as well. The hard times. The times when you and I need the most support. I will be starting off small, and working to the bigger picture. I am ready to start the rest of my life.

Phase 1 Complete!

Hey everyone. I am so sorry that I have been MIA the end of the week! I fell off the wagon for 2 days. It wasn't bad, but I got really sick and didn't eat, but when I did eat it wasn't food on this meal plan. I got right back on the crazy train though and finished off the rest of Phase/Week 1 going strong! I was scared to death to weigh this morning, but I decided to just go for it and *drum roll*....... I was down 4.6 pounds!! I am so excited about this! I was certainly hoping for more, but when I fell off for 2 days and still lost that's pretty dang exciting! So that just gave me the push to go even harder for the next two weeks!

I haven't really noticed a significant difference this week, but I think part of that is falling off of course, so I will have to let you know about Phase/Week 2. I can say that I am ready to get to Phase/Week 3 because that's mainly fruits & veggies. Oh and lots and lots of salads! I can honestly say that I have cooked more this week then I probably have in my whole entire life. How sad is that?!

I think I must be sleeping better though. Usually on my 4 day weekend I will sleep all afternoon & just lounge around the whole weekend, but this weekend I was super productive. I was up about 8 every single morning, actually feeling pretty good, and I got a lot accomplished. I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow, but then I guess I never really am.

Since I pretty much did the whole week I don't really have a whole lot to tell you. I think I pretty much summed it all up pretty well. I will be much better this week, I promise you all!

I haven't had any headaches, which most people get. I think that's because I am not a big caffeine drinker so I am not having any withdrawls. I though that I would have sugar withdrawls, but I haven't thankfully. I have been craving it something fierce, but the fruit and staying full is helping that out a lot. I am hoping at the end of this when I crave something sweet I can just grab some fruit and be good to go.

The yummy green stuff.. NOT!

 

This week I had been feeling pretty hungry, but I have also been half assing the meals. I either don't have something, or I am in a hurry and don't have time to prepare it. I need to hire a personal chef! I went grocery shopping for the week though and plan on preparing my meals ahead of time.

I also haven't been taking pictures of my meals because I got my phone wet and have left it unplugged/dead hoping to save it. I think I will have my dad take it in to work and see if they can see if it's able to be saved. Wish me luck! My phone is my lifeline!! Well until tomorrow.. Bye!! :)

Reclaim Day 2 & 3

Hey! Sorry I am a day late, I figured I would just put day 2 & 3 together so I am not completely behind!

Yesterday I was still pretty tired when I woke, BUT I was up all night peeing because of that gallon of water. Oh boy! So worth it though. I had some oatmeal with berries for breakfast along with my supplements. I felt pretty tired all day.

So then I had my Alkalinize with not as much water, and that was a mistake! I could barely get it down this time. It tasted more like grass than yesterday. I had to plug my nose and then take a seperate drink of water. People say that after a few days you get to where you don't hardly taste it at all. Something about the alkalinity of your body affects that. Well duh, Ashlee. That's probably why it's called Alkalinize...But I can't wait for that day! I then had about a cup of fruit for a snack. I still am not feeling too hungry this morning.

For lunch I had a salad with some chicken. You eat a ton of salad on this, so I may never want to even look at a salad again! I think if you can find some different ways to mix it up that will help tremendously.

Then for dinner, I was naughty. I am in the process of something (not quite ready to tell you yet, so be patient. :) ), and was pretty busy with phone calls and meetings last night, so we just ordered some sandwiches from Pizza Hut. I thought maybe that was a better option then pizza. I might be wrong though, sometimes you would be surprised! Then I drank my last bit of water and crashed. I was soo ready for bed.

Then today, I actually woke up feeling pretty rested. Not completely ready to get out of bed, but more willing then normal. I absolutely despise mornings. Grr. Then I took my supplements of course, and had a bowl of fruit for breakfast. Favorite breakfast ever! You all know how much I love my fruit.! Lunch was another salad of course, and then for dinner I had Tempeh with some veggies and brown rice. I didn't take any pictures today because my phone died.. Now that I think about it, today was an all around tough day on my reset. Hopefully tomorrow is better!

This was the first time I had ever tried Tempeh. I was nervous, but pretty excited. I am the kind of girl who orders the exact same thing and hardly ever tries something new. This reset has pulled me completely out of my comfort zone and I am trying things I never would have before. I can say that so far there's not anything I have found that I don't like. The Tempeh is going to take some getting used to because I do have a bit of a texture problem, but I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it was!

Today I noticed that I was feeling pretty irritable. I didn't keep up on my supplements as well as I should have. I took them, but they weren't at the same time and consistency is key. We were just super busy at work and it just didn't work out. I will be taking the nasty green stuff tonight instead of this morning. Hopefully that works and won't throw me off. As I said though, I was a lot more on edge today, and that might be some of the emotions coming out of me that I was told would happen. Hopefully I don't go too crazy and mean! Well I am getting ready to feed my doggies and then head home and go to bed. I am pooped. It was a long day at work and I am so glad that tomorrow is my last day and then I have a four day weekend! I'll be talking to you all again tomorrow. Have a fantastic night! :)

Reclaiming The Body (Day 1)

Hello there! So I decided Sunday night, super late, that I was going to start my Reset yesterday instead of waiting until Wednesday. I am just ready to get my life on track, and if I get super emotional or go nuts, I guess people will just have to deal with me, right? That's why you surround yourself with people who love you unconditionally.

 

I woke up today feeling suuuper tired. I am pretty sure that had a lot to do with not falling asleep until midnight or later, and having to get up at 5:30. I always tend to do this after weekend, not really sure why.

 

I then got up and cooked me some eggs for my breakfast. Now those who know me, will know how surprising this is. I am the kind of person who literally pushes it until the last possible moment to get my butt out of bed and be to work on time. You want an example? I get up at 5:35, to be out of the house at 5:50.. But I am feeling pretty dang excited to get this thing rolling.

Of course sporting my Ultimate Reset Bracelet. It's keeping me motivated & determined!
 

So I got to work at 6:00 and that was when I put my Mineralize into my water and took two of my Optimize pills. Were those two words gibberish? Those are the supplements I am taking. I was really nervous about the Mineralize, because it's salt and I wasn't sure about drinking salty water... But it actually doesn't taste salty. It tasts different that's for sure, it's almost like flat water maybe.? I don't know it's hard to explain, but it's not too bad at all. I am also drinking distilled water, because it is the most pure water.

 

I drank a whole gallon of water! What?! Oh and yes I drank the last bit with a straw, out of the jug.

 

I got pretty hungry about 9:30 so I drank more of my water and tried the Alkalinize. I was absolutely terrified to drink this! It is a dark green color, and I have heard it's salty and tastes like grass. That sounds delish right.? Ugh yikes. (I will post a picture from day two for you to see how yummy it looks!) But I can say that it wasn't awful! It's certainly not my favorite thing to drink, but I can certainly handle it. It wasn't salty, and it reminded me of a very strong tea with a little after taste of grass. It's kind of amazing how different things can taste to different people. Then I had a snack which was an apple and peanut butter. The plan says to have your snack after dinner, but I work longer hours in the morning so I have my snack in the morning. I then had some soup and a salad loaded with veggies for lunch. Super yummy!

 

Then I went most of the afternoon feeling pretty great. I was never really hungry or felt like I was starving. So I didn't eat again until about 6. I was able to have real potatoes, and I loved that!! Potatoes.. well carbs in general are my absolute favorite. I am pretty sure I could live on spaghetti and steak & potatoes. Oh yum!

 

My Meals for Day 1.

 

After dinner about 7:00 I felt really tired, sluggish, and just zoned out. I didn't even pay attention to my show! Law & Order:SVU bay bay! I tried to be in bed pretty early, and got home about 8:00, but since I drank so much water before bedtime, I was up about 50 times peeing! Okay maybe I exageratted there, but not by much! I can say that I feel like my first day was a complete success. Let's hope that day two through twenty one can be just as great! Stay tuned! :)

 



Can I Be A Baby Again.?

Hey everyone! I know what you're probably thinking, "Girl, it isn't Friday, AND you missed last Friday too!" Okay, maybe you aren't thinking that, but I would be if I was you. 

Sorry I have been so MIA. My life has been crazy busy and I've been making some major life decisions  that I will possibly be telling you about when it all happens. I had every intention of doing this blog yesterday, but it just didn't work out. It might be late, but at least I am doing one, right?

Another reason I didn't do a blog last week is because my motivation and my commitment has been seriously lacking. I am not sure what my deal is, but I need to get it under control. This is ridiculous! I just seem to have no willpower, no motivation, no energy, no nothing. I just want to sit around and do nothing, and believe me that is doing absolutely no good! 

I need this shirt!

So anyway! I wanted to let you guys in a little somethin', somethin' I am going to be starting on Wednesday which I hope will be the kick in the butt I need! It's called... drum roll please.. The Ultimate Reset! 

Now some of you may have heard of this and know what is, and some of you may be asking, "What the heck is The Ultimate Reset?" Well to put it simply, it's a cleanse, detox, and reset without all of the harsh chemicals or starvation. It's a 21 day, 3 phase program. I will be taking some natural supplements and eating 3 meals a day and 1 snack. I have been wanting to do this forever, so with my lack of determination being at an all time low, I decided that it was time to just go for it. I like to call it "Spring Cleaning."

I have talked to multiple people about this program, and from what they have told me it just all around makes you feel better. They say you lose an average of 15-20 pounds, but that's just a bonus and the real results come from the way you feel. They say they sleep better, and have more energy. I mean, how couldn't you? It's cleaning your body of all the toxins that you have taken in over the years. It will reset your body to when you were a baby and put you back in working order! I can say that I am sooo excited about this, but I am also pretty nervous. I do feel determined to stick this through! Kind of ironic with me mentioning my lack of determination up above..

So, the plan is that I will be posting daily during The Reset. I will be keeping you all updated on how I feel, what I eat, and of course my results. I did some grocery shopping today, and it's a lot of foods I have never eaten before. Like seaweed?? Uhm yeah, pretty nervous to try that.. But I keep telling myself that it's all for the best and it's going to be worth it! Oh! And Whole Foods is now my favorite store. See, I live in a rinky dink town with absolutely nothing! I am not exaggerating, the closest Walmart is 50 miles away. Yeah, you read that right. What am I thinking, huh? 

I am going to be eating a lot of fruits and veggies, and trying new things. I am excited. Change is a good thing and I love fruits! I could probably live on fruits. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Speaking of fruits... I am addicted to juicing! I absolutely love it. I cleaned out my fridge today for my new groceries and found a bunch of fruits that are on the verge of going bad, so what did I do? Yup you guessed it, I juiced the heck out of them and a made a yummy drink! Mom and dad even approved of it. If you don't have a juicer, I highly recommend it! Not only is it good for you, but it's delish also!

Well it's pretty late, and I have church in the morning so I should probably be getting to bed. I am pretty tired now that I think about it.. So I start my reset on Wednesday, and as I said I will be posting every night at the end of my day. I am excited, and I am glad to have you all along side me as I do this. It's going to be an amazing 21 days. Bring It On!

Goodnight you sexy people!

There's no finish line, so enjoy the journey.

It's Friday, do you know what that means?! That's right, new blog baby! I wasn't sure if I was going to wait till next Friday to post this, but then I got done with my workout, was feeling great, and decided today was the day. I am going to talk about my reasoning behind this blog, why I decided to do it, and what I hope to get out of this. :)

 

I guess I will start at the beginning. I have always struggled with my weight ever since I was young. I am not 100% sure when it started, but I remember being in like 4th or 5th grade, and going to my biological father's house for the summer, and trying on some clothes that I left there, and I was barely able to get them up my legs, let alone buttoned. I'm not really sure why I didn't decide to start then, maybe because I was so young?

 

Well after that I just kept going up and up and up in my weight. It has always bothered me a little, and I do feel like I have missed out on some of my younger, teenage years, but I have always been a happy, bubbly, full of life kind of person and have had many friends. Sometimes I think that it can be more of an act, then truly happy, but most of the time I am genuinely happy. As I have gotten older though, I am still happy, but I am 21 years old, and most of the time I don't want to go out and live my life to the fullest. I don't have confidence in myself.  

 

Now this isn't to say that I haven't tried to lose weight. I have tried a couple of the fad diets, such as Ideal Protein, and Slim Fast. I actually lost 25 pounds with Ideal Protein, but as soon as I started eating normal food, I gained it all back and plus some. Nutrition is definitely the hardest part for me in this whole journey. I just love food! I heard about the Eat Clean Diet, and that is what I try to follow. It's something I could see myself on for the rest of my life. You need to find something that is a lifestyle diet, not a quick fix.

 

Now working out is a new found love of mine. My mom ALWAYS tried to get me to workout with her, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I hated it. I wanted to be able to lose weight without all the hard work and hassle. I wanted to wake up skinny. Well I hate to break it to you my loves, but that never works! I now want the satisfaction and the accomplishment when I reach my goal to be able to say that I literally worked my ass off to get where I am. I have tried many workout programs from The Firm, Turbo Jam, Insanity, ChaLean Extreme, and TurboFire. I am currently doing TurboFire, and it is definitely my soul mate workout!

 

What changed it for me and what made me decide to take my health into my own hands was stumbling across Kenna Shell. I remember seeing her picture and just right away was drawn to her. So I had a couple questions that I asked her about, and she would always answer right away. It was nice to know that she had tons of questions, but she took the time to answer all of those. She then talked about coaching and we set up a phone call, and that was when I decided that this is what I wanted to do. Not only did I want to get myself healthy, but I wanted to help others and inspire others along the way. I became a coach in October of 2012.

My life has changed drastically since October. I am still at the beginning of this journey, and I will be on it for the rest of my life. I wanted to start this blog, to have a journal for myself to look back on of course, but most importantly to help others! I want to share my struggles, my accomplishments, and let you know that you are not alone in this. I want you to know that you can do this, and I will be beside you the entire way! I want you to join me on this journey. I want you to take your life and your health in your hands and change your life. I want you to succeed. I want to help you succeed. I want to be held accountable and have you as my accountability partner.
 I want to inspire you.