Ultimate Reset Day 1

It's day 1 and so far so good! Syed and I got up a little extra early, well I got up a little extra early, I usually sleep in longer than him and have to be dragged kicking and screaming from bed. But I did, because I knew we had to take our supplements, Oxygenize, Mineralize, and Optimize with an ungodly amount of water, which has now replaced our coffee. Then we had to actually cook breakfast. I'm not really a breakfast eater, and since I'm usually running around late like a chicken with my head cut off, I just make a quick Shakeology and drink it on my way to work. Today we cooked and actually sat down, watched each other eat, and GASP, talked!!! This is helping our relationship already. ;)

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, steamed kale (which I've never had before) and a slice of dry whole wheat toast. I don't like whole wheat bread in general but this one was actually good, it was a Whole Foods brand that I picked using the eenie-meenie-miney-moe method. Pat on the back for me. And I ate it without choking on it, oh because we're not allowed to drink water while we eat. Did you know it messes with digestion? I didn't, learned something new today.

Now it's lunchtime and I'm considering moving my computer into the bathroom cause I'm peeing every 10 minutes. 54 oz. of water and my second round of supplements down. I feel good and ready for lunch, a very colorful salad with jicama, something else I've never had before.

So it's only 12:30 and I've learned new things, expanded my palate, drank more water than I usually do in a day, got Novali to school with time to spare, and had a conversation with Syed that didn't involve passing each other in the hall. I'm feeling pretty accomplished! More to come...

Oh so what is this I'm doing anyway? It's called the Beachbody Ultimate Reset and it's a 21 day gentle cleanse, detox where we wean ourselves off animal products, eat vegan for 2 weeks, turn into fish drinking lots of water, and take a special blend of supplements to remove toxins from our body. I'm really excited about the next 3 weeks cause lately I've been slipping into some old habits, eating out too much, feeling sluggish and my IBS is flaring up. So my goals are to refocus, reenergize, sooth my angry tummy, and lower my body fat % to a reasonable level (see last post).

Here's to a healthier lifestyle. Gotta go pee again!

Why I'm Earning A Presidential Active Lifestyle Award

I thought this was super cool, and wanted to share! (yes I just said super cool) :P

Beachbody^® Joins President's Challenge

Beachbody has been recognized as an advocate of the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA), created by the Presidential Council on Fitness.

How it works:
Between July 15th and August 17th, the Presidential Council will recognize:

• All customers who buy a Beachbody fitness program or order Shakeology^® 
• All current Coaches
• All new Coach signups

Each of these Coaches and customers will receive a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award issued by the Presidential Council.

We hope you'll join the mission by spreading the news and inspiring as many people as you can to get healthy and fit. Stay tuned for more info to come over the next couple of weeks.

Let's do our part to get America moving!

---

P.S. To learn more about the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, go to www.millionpalachallenge.org. Please note that you're not required to follow their sign-up instructions. Beachbody will be taking care of everything for you.

February Weight Loss Challenge

Fight The Flab In February:

How many of you made New Year’s Resolutions this year?  Do you make the same resolutions each year?  Do they include going to the gym, working out, eating better, losing weight?  I think these are probably at the top of everyone’s list, including mine, at the beginning of the year.  But it seems that for a lot of people, the motivation and effort seems to die down as the weeks go on.  

One of the things that it really helping me maintain my weight and feel healthy is drinking Shakeology every single day.  I’m absolutely addicted at how great it makes me feel.  It’s a phenomenal product and I wish everyone that I care about would try it. Syed and I both drink it daily, as well as many of my friends.  I just got my dad on it and I’m really expecting it to make a big difference in his health and energy levels. Next up, I’ll be getting my mom drinking it too.

So in an effort to share my love for it, and give people a boost with their efforts going into February, I am sponsoring a Fight The Flab In February Shakeology Challenge. I’m forming a 30 day accountability group.  All you have to do is purchase a 30 day supply of Shakeology HD and replace 1 meal a day for 30 days.  At the end of 30 days, I will randomly select some of the participants for a raffle.  We’ll be raffling off gift certificates to some cool places, just for fun and to thank you for participating.  We start on 2/14/11.

No obligation, no risk.  If you don’t like it or don’t feel any results, you can get your money back, even if you’ve used the whole bag.  However, I have a feeling you will love how you feel after 30 days!

A one month supply of Shakeology HD is $119 + tax.  Make sure you order HD (home direct) to get free shipping.  With HD you also get 2 FREE workout DVDs.  

If you don’t want to commit to 30 days, ask me to try a 3 day cleanse!  I’ve had friends lose up to 7 lb in 3 days!  A 3 Day Cleanse includes 9 servings of Shakeology, 6 Green Teas, and a shaker cup for $40.

Check out Shakeology here at http://www.shakeology.com/tamaragomez

If you’d like to try a sample, just let me know.  

You can contact me at tamara.gomez18@gmail.com

Inferno Day 3

Today was uneventful as we were snowed in, schools closed!

Breakfast:
8 oz. low fat cottage cheese
2 pineapple rings, canned in juice, drained

Snack:
Apple with 1 Tbsp. almond butter

Lunch:

1 medium baked potato

1Tbsp. low-fat sour cream

1 scallion, diced

1 slice turkey bacon

1 slice low fat cheese

Snack 2: 

Chocolate shakeology with 4 oz. unsweetened almond milk, 4 oz. water

Dinner:

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon w with Ginger Rice and Bok Choy

2 4-oz. pieces of salmon, grilled

3 Tbsp. teriyaki marinade

2 pineapple rings, drained

1 garlic clove

1 medium head of bok choy, chopped

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1/3 cup brown rice

1 tsp. powdered ginger

I have to admit, I don't like salmon.  But the combination of all the flavors was amazing!  I loved this meal.

Workout today was ChaLEAN Extreme Burn Circuit 2

Inferno Day 2

I have to admit, today was tough.  It was Snomageddon, snOMG, whatever you want to call it, it was the Blizzard of 2011.  Thundersnow!!!  That was something new for sure.  The morning started out just fine.  Breakfast was :

6 oz low-fat strawberry yogurt
3/4 cup cubed cantaloupe
1 tsp honey

I also added a cup of green tea.

Because I had a late breakfast, I decided to save my 1st snack for later, which turned out to be a good idea.  Lunch was yummy!

3 slices turkey breast
1 whole wheat tortilla
1/2 tomato
1/4 avocado
handful of mixed greens
1 tbsp nonfat Italian dressing (I actually substituted balsamic vinaigrette for this)

I forgot to take a picture BEFORE I started devouring it!

Then came the challenge.  Snow came, I left work in Oak Brook at 2 pm.  Didn't make it home till 6:30 pm.  I was hungry and SOOOO tempted to get something to eat on the road.  But I held strong.  At about 3 pm I had my snack that I had saved from the morning:

Chocolate Shakeology, 8 oz. water, 2 tsp. peanut butter.  Mixed with ice.

This kept me going.

Dinner was:

Chicken Tacos with Beans and Quinoa.  As I'm typing this I just realized I forgot to make the beans!  Oops. LOL

Two 6 oz. chicken breasts, grilled and then diced
5 tbsp. pico de gallo
1 tbsp. low fat sour cream
4 small whole wheat tortillas
1/2 avocado
5 sprigs cilantro

2 cups black beans, cooked
2-1/2 cups quinoa seasoned with cilantro, salt, and pepper, cooked

*I cheated just a little, you can see some cheese.  I just couldn't resist :-O

It was great and we ended the night full, warm, and cozy.  SNOW DAY tomorrow!!!

Inferno Day 1

Today was day one of the 5 Day Inferno from my TurboFire workout and it was awesome!  Breakfast was an egg and turkey bacon sandwich with tomatoes.  Got my morning started just right.  Then I had a snack of a banana and a handful of almonds.  The plan called for walnuts but I don't like walnuts, so almonds did the trick.  Lunch presented my first temptation.  We had a big department meeting and lunch was provided for us.  I came armed and ready to resist the standard boxed lunch from Panera or Corner Bakery.  Then the lunch trays were brought in.  Oh man, it was MEXICAN FOOD!  Why would they do this to me?  Anyone that knows me well knows that I die for Mexican food.  Or maybe I live for Mexican food.  Ok, I LIVE AND DIE for it.  Trays of chicken, ground beef, tortillas, tostadas, chips and salsa, cheese...  But I was good, I sat and watched everyone devour their lunch while I ate my little salad with scallions and tuna.  I got a few weird stares.  One lady even looked at me with pity and went "awww".  But I proudly announced that I had challenged myself and my friends to no takeout/fast food this week.  I held my head high, and guess what, I felt great when it was all said and done!

Snack was a chocolate Shakeology.  Then I did my workout, ChaLEAN Extreme Burn Circuit 1.  Followed by my dinner of honey mustard chicken and steamed broccoli with parmesan.  I feel light and satisfied :)

Time to get a good night's sleep!

All about cravings...

I wrote this as a reply to an email from a friend, and I thought it would make a great first post!!!  The questions were: 


How do I handle food remorse and cravings?
How much water is too much?
How do I stay motivated to work out?

Food and my diet are my biggest struggle.  I’ve never been one to crave sweets.  Instead I crave salty and crunchy foods.  Heavy comfort foods.  Especially when I am tired or overwhelmed, which is a lot of the time.  And I used to be totally addicted to Coca-Cola.  First of all I stopped buying it at home. I used to get it a lot when I ate fast food.  Now I’ve trained myself to get water, the occasional soda, but overall I have really stuck to not drinking it.  It was hard at first but little by little I just got used to it.  Now, often when I drink it, it tastes disgusting and I only end up having a few sips.   I have my days when I can be really good and I have days where I crave everything bad.  And I have issues with stopping when I am full.  Once I start, it’s a little more and a little more, and before I know it I’m stuffed and I feel nasty.  I also have major food remorse.  I use that remorse to remind myself that I don’t enjoy the feeling.

I sometimes literally argue with myself, esp. on my way home from work because that is my opportunity to stop and buy food.  It’s like the little angel and devil on my shoulders.  The little devil makes EVERY excuse in the book.  For me it’s really about constantly reminding myself of how far I’ve gotten.  And that often when I eat bad, I physically feel sick afterwards.  I don’t want to feel that way.  So I try to remember how bad I felt the last time I indulged.  It’s all about building a habit.  I am good more often than not, and when I’m on a roll it’s easier to stick to it.  When I let myself overindulge it snowballs.

And seriously, Shakeology is helping A LOT.  After I drink it, I feel satisfied and I don’t crave bad stuff.  It’s like once you do one good thing for yourself, you build momentum.  I also suffer from IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome and it’s helping me with that.  This past week I wasn’t consistent drinking it every day, and the past few days I’ve had the worst stomach aches and I’ve been sluggish.  When I was drinking it consistently for a few weeks, I felt so much more energized than usual and I wasn’t feeling as sick to my stomach.  I wasn’t even drinking coffee, which is HUGE for me.

So it is all about just building that momentum and being patient.  And not beating yourself up.  Your body really starts to reject junk food after a while and not even crave it anymore.  And have someone to help you stay on track.  When I’m tempted I text my bff and she yells at me LOL.

As for water, unless you are drinking gallons a day, there is really no such thing as too much.  Water is the best thing you can give yourself.  I forget to drink water sometimes during the day and then I wonder why I’m so tired and sluggish.  I always have a reusable bottle with me and I fill it constantly and sip all day.  You should be aiming for 8 – 8 oz cups a day, right before, during , and after your workouts.  I used to chug 2 tall glasses at least during Insanity!  And headaches are often caused by dehydration.  If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.

As for motivation with my workouts, I have them scheduled into my calendar.  As soon as I get home, I get dressed into my workout clothes.  No matter how tired I am, I do not let myself sit.  If I do, forget it.  I just jump right in and once I start, I feel great.

Last but not least, surrounding myself with like-minded people is helping me.  The biggest challenge is holding YOURSELF accountable.  I don’t want to give advice to others if I’m not following my own advice.  So again, it’s like my conscience telling me to be good!  I have surrounded myself with so many motivated people, I’m constantly being reminded of my goals and learning new tips and tricks.  Most of us have the same struggles, so having the support of others is key.  Sharing my experiences is helping ME more than anything!!!