Day 14 of My Beachbody Ultimate Reset

Sunday

The last day of Phase 2!

Breakfast

I'm having mashed chickpeas with a little bit of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of lemon juice, and 1 clove of garlic. I also had a cup of steamed spinach and 1/4 avocado. It wasn't too bad.

This journal entry was extra short, but I did take some pictures of what I had for lunch and dinner.

Lunch

Lunch was Coconut-Kabocha Squash Soup with a microgreen salad.
 

 
Dinner

Dinner was Edamame and Roasted Corn Succotash and Lemon-Pepper Kale. Although, I don't know why they included the 'pepper' in the title of Lemon-Pepper Kale, because there was no pepper added to that recipe.

My husband thinks I should contact Beachbody about all the typos I have found in the guide. This guide has seriously seen better days! One of the things that helped me out a lot, was putting sticky tabs at some of the vital spots in the guide, including the snack list, the supplement schedule for the phase I was in, and extra tabs that I moved around each day within the recipe section.

 

Day 13 of My Beachbody Ultimate Reset

Saturday

For the past 2 days, I've been waking up a few minutes before my alarm goes off. I don't know what that means, unless that's part of the Reset. I didn't even get a full 7 hours of sleep last night, either.

One of the hard parts about the Ultimate Reset is what to do when you attend events in other cities a ways away from home. It's even harder when you are traveling with someone who isn't doing the Reset, because when it comes time to eat, unless you've brought a lunch, you're probably eating at a restaurant.

Lunch

This morning, my upline coach and I went to what's called Super Saturday. It's sort of a training event for Beachbody coaches and those who want to learn about Beachbody. After the event was over, we headed to a BBQ restaurant, and I ordered a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side. It came with a delicious-looking corn muffin, a couple of croutons, and that was it! All for $8! The waitress brought it out to me. and announced it as a plate of lettuce. What a rip off salads are at restaurants, but I did what I needed to do. At least I had packed a serving of Mediterranean beets, which I ate along with my plate of lettuce.

Home! Now, to plan my shopping list for next week! I use pin and paper for planning out my lists. I write the name of the item I need, then as I go through the recipes, I put a tally or tallies next to each item. I also annotate how much of each item I already have.

One of the ingredients that I will need this coming week is hummus. It turns out that it isn't too hard to make. I made my own tahini for the recipe as well, and I will also need tahini for dinner tonight. Below are the recipes for the hummus and tahini. I chose to omit the lemon juice from the hummus. It was delicious!!! Making your own hummus may save you money, too, since you probably won't be having it more than once or twice for the rest of the Reset. So, you may consider making a smaller batch, too, unless you have someone available to finish it off for you. 

Homemade Lemon Hummus
Taste For Life test kitchen
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked garbanzo bean (chickpeas)
½ cup sesame tahini (see recipe below)
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup water
Juice of 2 to 3 lemons
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
salt and black pepper

Directions:
Combine beans, tahini, oil, water, lemon juice to taste, garlic, spices, & salt & pepper to taste in bowl of food processor or high-speed blender. Process until smooth & creamy, pausing to scrape sides w/ spatula. Chill until ready to serve.

Homemade Tahini
greek.food.com
Makes 1-1/2 cups
Ingredients:
2 cups sesame seeds
1/8 to ¼ cup canola oil

Directions: Spread sesame seeds on shallow baking tray, and cook at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes shaking pan frequently. Add sesame seeds to food processor with oil. Process to smooth paste (about 5 minutes), add more oil if needed for thick pouring consistency.
Store in fridge.


Dinner

Garlic Tahini-Filled Kabocha was a little strong, even though I realized afterward that I only used half of the tahini mix that the recipe called for.

The First Day of My Ultimate Reset

Monday, March 31, 2014

I began the first morning of my Beachbody Ultimate Reset by weighing myself, then took my Optimize supplements with 16 oz of distilled water. The Reset comes with 6 different supplements, including Mineralize, which is basically Himalayan salt, a pretty pink salt. I take the different supplements at specific times throughout the day, and I found that setting alarms on my phone really helps! I have to wait a certain amount of time after taking Optimize before I can eat my meals, so I use that time to prepare my meals.

Distilled Water

The guide recommends putting a certain amount of shakes of Himalayan salt in 12-36 oz of distilled water, but they also give the option to put a 1/4 tsp of Himalayan salt in a gallon, then shake it up, and that's what I do, to make it easier. Also, pretty much all of the baking I do that involves water, I use distilled water. Distilled water is basically cleansed of all the stuff that is in regular tap water (which, believe or not, is also what's in most bottled waters that you buy at the store). It contains pretty much only the oxygen and hydrogen molecules that make up water! Even a Brita and other brands of pitcher filters are not purifying enough, and they recommend that, if you do have to get water from another source (because you're traveling, or you run out of distilled water before you have a chance to go to the store), you use a reverse osmosis or carbon filtration connected to your faucet, and that you use it sparingly.

I went through a whole gallon of distilled water today , because they recommend that you take your total weight, in pounds, divide it by 2, and that's the minimum amount of ounces of water you should be drinking each day. I think I still need to drink more water, because my lips are fairly chapped. Water is a big deal, because it is so good for your body in so many ways!

Over the past few weeks, snacking has become a thing for me. The problem with this, is that I was over-snacking! I would constantly be visiting the kitchen, and I really saw that today, as I'm trying to limit myself to 1 snack per day. I must have visited the kitchen 10 times yesterday, and temptation was really there; enticing me to grab a little handful of this or that! I prevailed though, and stuck with it the entire day, it just took a little will power, and remembering what I was doing. Also during times like this, I also remind myself that it is only for 21 days, which helps me focus a little bit more.
 
Yummy Food!

I purchased the bulk of my produce (for the first 6 days) on Sunday, and let me tell you, I am going to be consuming so much healthy goodness (more than I really ever have in my entire life) over the next 21 days!

The meal plan is actually pretty delicious, although I think I will be reducing how much Wakame seaweed I add to my miso soup! The program is set up into 3 phases: Reclaim, Release, and Restore, with the first phase allowing for meat, while in the second stage, I will be eliminating meat and dairy, and by the third stage, I will primarily be eating a vegan diet. In each phase, you can mix or match (within the meals from that phase) what you want to have on a specific day. I stuck with the meal plan for today's meals, and will probably continue to do so for tomorrow's. It just makes it a little easier that way!

My favorite meal was dinner, which consisted of steamed asparagus, baked salmon, and baby potatoes. It was delicious!

I ended the day with some restorative yoga, which involved deep breathing and light yoga stretches! Unfortunately, I think I spent too much time on the computer studying last night, so it was a little harder to fall asleep, but I am feeling a bit more rested in the mornings! (As I am actually writing this Wednesday morning :) )

I'm keeping a journal, because I think it's so important for the next couple of weeks to continue to journal throughout the day! It helps me unpack, so to speak, everything that is going on, especially the feelings I experience. It makes me feel as though I burden is released; like I've told a good friend my problems, and I don't need to hold on to them as much!

You can see what I did to start preparing for my Ultimate Reset, by clicking here, for a previous blog post!

Clean Eating for a Healthier You

Clean Eating for a Healthier You

Rough Start

Since becoming a Beachbody coach, I've had the opportunity to first work on myself, and then to begin to work in the lives of others. It wasn't an easy beginning! In fact, it was definitely a rough start. I was a little salesy at first, because I honestly didn't know what I was doing! On my Facebook page, I had friends dropping like flies, saying things like "I'm on here for my family and friends, not to be advertised to!" I got it....eventually. I started taking the word 'Beachbody' and 'challenge' out of my posts, and started posting about 'support groups.' These support/challenge groups give members a way to interact with others, including their coach, and have fun as they're motivated and encouraged to continue working out and eating well. Once I started talking about supporting others, and taking the selling to others out of my posts, things started going better! After all, that's what I really wanted to do-help and support others! About a month ago, I realized that if I wanted people to trust me, and know that I will support them I would have to show them without them having to invest much. I decided to venture into the world of cleaner eating.

Clean Eating

Clean eating is defined, at least when it's defined by me, is cutting out the junk; getting rid of the processed food, refined sugar (including high fructose corn syrup), white flour, and getting more of whole foods such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and more water! When I started posted on my Facebook page about a clean eating group that gives members 30 days' worth of clean eating recipes, shopping lists to go with them, plus nutrition tips every day for 30 days, I was astonished at the response I got! Especially when these groups that I form are free! I simply ask for my members to get a free Team Beachbody account with me as their coach, so that I can learn to be a better coach through helping more people. I can only do that if I have people I'm helping, right. People who I can stay in contact with after the month is over. Then I had another idea; why not put together another set of recipes, so that those in my first group could move on to another the next month, if they wanted to. That way, if they aren't ready to commit to a fitness challenge or Shakeology, they could still get support and continue to actively improve their lives.

I have been amazed by the participation and the results that I've seen in under 3 weeks! These members are working hard at eating well, and are losing weight! I calculated today, with the numbers that about 8 members have given me, together our results have been a loss of over 15 pounds in about 2 1/2 weeks! I'm excited for those who are ready to move on to my next group! It's awesome to see individuals finding success through a simple meal plan. So many of the members have told me that they, and their families, love these recipes. Many members love the idea that they don't have to plan their meals for the week, nor do they have to figure out what they need to go shopping for (because the shopping lists are designed for each week's worth of recipes). The recipes come with not only the 3 squares, but include snacks and desserts (all clean eats, of course). Yes, it's alright to have what many people call "cheat meals," but if you don't know how to control yourself, and the cheat meal turns into a cheat day, which turns in to a cheat 2 days, and then, before you realize it, it's become a cheat week, month, and maybe year. You give up on yourself!

During the group, members not only get nutrition tips, but other tips, as well, including this one, that my coach posted in one of her groups:

Today I want to talk to you about emotional eating. We often eat (junk) because of an emotion we are feeling....boredom, sadness, anger, frustration even happiness. This oftentimes gets us in trouble because it is not helping the situation but actually in the long term making it worse. We just consumed a lot of junk (calories) and it didn't solve the situation or make you feel any better about it long term. It was a temporary satisfaction that leads to long term demise.

I want to share something with you all and some of you may have seen this before. How many times have I heard someone say I just had a stressful/bad day so I deserve chocolate/wine/ice cream or for guys a couple beers. How many times have I said that to someone or thought it myself. Our number on the scale is so much more than bad eating and lack of exercise. You need to focus on the other aspects of yourself as well during this challenge so that after the challenge is over you do not return to old answers and habits for stress and emotions.

Soon after starting your weight loss program, you begin to realize that your eating is not the only part of your life that is out of control. We soon discover that we are people who lack balance and harmony in many other areas of our life, too.

We are a four-sided person emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical. Consider each area with regard to your current situation. Begin by asking yourself the most important question, where is my life most out of balance?
Next, turn your attention to the four bars that represent your heart, soul, mind and strength. How much balance do you currently have in each of those aspects of your life? What area of your life needs attention today? Do you see a pattern emerging between the balance and harmony you are experiencing and the struggles you are having with your weight? Remember, no matter how strong you may be in one area, you are only as strong as your weakest point!!!!!!

Remember the battle begins in your mind. I have recently discovered the power of positive thinking myself and this has changed my life. Try to focus on the positive. Not only the good things you have in life, but also the good things you want in life. Completely redirect your thinking. Spend no time thinking on the negative. NONE! Do not focus your attention on it all. If you are not focusing on it then you do not need to find ways to comfort yourself because of them. Especially with food. Remember you are special, unique and worth it. Believe in yourself!!!

Today I challenge you to examine the emotions you are feeling when you want that tub of ice cream or that bag of chocolate bars or that bag of potato chips. Think about whether you are wanting comfort or if you really need to eat whatever you are about to stuff in your face. Then find another way to deal with the situation. For some that may be prayer, or meditation, or yoga, or a self help book, or a convo with your best friend, or a good sweat fest. I personally have used all those methods. The reason this is so important to me is because that is me. I am an emotional eater and I have had to find another way to deal with it.

Eat Well, Feel Good

Eat Well, Feel Good is actually the name of my first clean eating group. It is so true, don't you think? Many of us grew up eating processed, artificially flavored, and dyed food, and don't realize how horrible these foods are for us. I get that these types of foods are often cheaper and more "appealing" than good, wholesome food. It takes time to get used to a clean eating diet. Sure, I crave pop, pizza, candy, and donuts sometimes, but lately my mind has been quicker (and Shakeology helps me with cravings as well, especially with how delicious and dessert-like I can make it) about remembering how that junk food makes me feel. I ate take out pizza a few weeks ago, and felt sick shortly after. I hadn't felt that way before, and we'd been having it every Friday to try to start a family tradition, but we missed a week. In reality, I'd missed a week of poisoning myself with refined sugar and bleached white flour, nitrites from pepperoni, and who knows what else. My body had flushed out the junk, and was in shock when I hit it after it's week of detox.

Like I said, I crave junk, and am not above having it every now and then, but it can suck me in! Junk food is addictive! I believe the clean eating group is a way to help with that. We admit to our struggles, and we rejoice in the triumphs! Does a clean eating support group sound appealing and promising to you? I'm not gonna lie to you and say that it's easy, because it's not, but at lease we can work together to make it a little more fun and a little more bearable! If you are interested in joining a group, I'm starting another one February 3.