P90X2-Day 3

Ahhhh....Rest or Recovery Day! Already? It seems too soon to be having a day "off"....but I did take full advantage. I honestly did want to do the Recovery DVD....BUT....instead I showered and went to the mall with my mom to make all of our Christmas returns/exchanges and then I hurried home to cook dinner for a family who just had a new baby and THEN cooked our healthy P90X2 dinner.
Dinner was a HIT again! Tonight we had a Mandarin Spinach Salad with Lemon-Basil Broiled Salmon. YUM! Best salmon I've ever cooked at home....and that salad was amazing!
We each ate TWO CUPS of fresh baby spinach leaves topped with mandarin oranges, walnuts, avocado slices, red onion and a homemade mandarin vinaigrette dressing (recipe in the nutrition guide).
Matt couldn't take the "no weight lifting"...and did the P90X Shoulders & Arms DVD while I was cooking dinner. :) Since his primary goal is to NOT LOSE WEIGHT and BULK UP (opposite of my goal!! ha ha) He wants to add in some additional weight-lifting.

Tomorrows workout is called Total Body along with the new Ab Ripper. I can't wait. I have NO IDEA what "Total Body" means, but I'm sure it'll be good! :)

By the way, I am LOVING this new book PUSH by Chalene Johnson! I can't believe how much clearer and more focused I feel after just 3 days now that I know exactly what my goals and priorities are and I've written out my "Top Priority Statement". Since I love it so much, I'll share it with you. This is very personal to me...and was the result of lots of brainstorming and question-answering in the first chapters of this book.

"My number one priority is to build myself up with Bible and prayer so that I can be the best wife possible for Matt and so that I can do my best to teach my children how to have a passionate personal relationship with Christ and to be grateful and respectful people. I will weigh all pursuits against this goal and decline any activity that doesn't lead me to it. I desire that God, my husband and my children know that they are more important to me than any personal pursuit."

P90X2-Day 2

PLYOCIDE!!!!!!
That is the name of today's workout! Just the name of it sounds like we were gonna die! :) Actually, it wasn't tooooo horrible. It was tough...maybe comparable to an Insanity workout sort of. Anyway, no matter...we DID IT! Shaky and sweaty and starving....we finished up that grueling 55 minutes and then went downstairs to cook our super amazingly delicious dinner! It was Bruschetta Chicken with Roasted Veggie Pasta. WOW! I've never cooked with so many fresh herbs! That bruschetta was omg! And the roasted veggies...wow! Even Brooklyn (our picky eater 10 year old) had seconds! That may be one of the best home-made meals we've ever had!! The bad news is that it took nearly an hour to cook due to all the chopping of veggies and herbs.

Anyway, all is well so far! Tomorrow is "Rest or Recovery" day...

One thing about this version of P90X that is a LOT different than the original...there is NO weight lifting in Phase 1 (first month). I know Matt is NOT going to like that ONE BIT. :( We may have to make a few slight adjustments. :)
Phase 1 is called "foundation"
Phase 2 is called "Strength"
Phase 3 is called "Performance"

Is anyone else out there doing it? I'd love to hear what others think of it compared to the original P90X. :)

P90X2-Day 1

Well hello there! Long time no see, eh? Yah, I know. See my previous post for an explanation! :)

Aaaaanywayyyyy.....as you can tell from the title ....we are doing P90X-2!!!!! So excited and ready to BRING IT again in these intense workouts with my hubby! I won't lie, it's a bit intimidating committing to this for 90 days knowing that I also am teaching fitness classes every day IN ADDITION to my P90X2 workouts, but....I'm reminded that I've done it before (back in 2008) and I can do it again. :) Basically I'm doing the "doubles" version right!?!

I don't like to do things "normal"....as a matter of fact, being normal, average and like everyone else is really YUCKY to me....so rather than start on January 1st, like most normal people would....we decided we would start Dec. 26th. An odd date to pick for sure....but for us, it is the perfect date, because 90 days from Dec. 26th is March 28th, which is our 14th wedding anniversary!! :) What better gift can we give to one another?? Cool right?

Today's workout was "Core" and wowee! I had no idea there were so many exercises you could do with the stability ball that I had never heard of or seen before! 55 minutes of core-tightening, ab sculpting craziness! Even the warm up and cooldown/stretch used the ball. One thing we don't have that they use is a foam roller. I'm not sure if I want to bother investing in them or not. I've heard people say wonderful things about them....but...ahhh more money! Blah! I don't even know how much they cost actually. Anyone ever bought one or used one?

The eating plan is going to be interesting. It's been a long time since I've shopped for some of these crazy ingredients. I guess it's not really all that "wild"...its just a lot different than what we are used to. I bet 80% of my shopping list were items in the produce section! TONS of veggies, greenage and herbs! Last night after our first workout, I made a big green salad and baked a 4 oz. salmon filet for us to put on it. I had mine with light strawberry vinegarette dressing (YUM!) Later in the evening, we were both REALLY hungry again, so I had 3 stalks of celery with 1 T. of natural Peanut Butter and a small greek yogurt cup.

Have any of you ever tried PB2? Supposedly it's this powdered peanut butter that you can order online and it's supposed to be way less calories and really yummy in recipes. I think I may try to order some today....!?!

In addition to starting P90X2, I have also begun reading Chalene Johnson's new book called "Push" and I'm very excited to start getting my life and goals more organized! I've only done Day 1 so far and I am feeling very optimistic. I will keep you updated on how it goes!

Well, that's it for today folks! Leave me a comment if you're reading. If I don't get any comments on this, then I'll know not to bother with blogging anymore. :)

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a blessed and healthy 2012!
Love, Jen

Sometimes Life gets in the Way...

I'm writing this today because it seems to be a big issue with many people. Life. It just gets in the way of our exercise program sometimes, doesn't it?? I know it has in my own experience. MOST of the time when we don't get a workout in...we are just making excuses. But there have been times in my life when I wanted to work out more than anything...but just could NOT fit it into my day (or even week).
So as much as I promote and encourage DAILY physical exercise and following a program to help hold you accountable, I promise, I do understand that it sometimes just isn't possible.

When that happens are you doomed to stop progress and start gaining back weight?
NO. You. Are. Not!

This is where "what you're made of" starts to become really obvious. If you really want it bad enough (being healthy and fit) then you WILL find a way to not let your eating get out of control during these periods of life when we are so busy. Even when you're too busy to do your P90X, Insanity, TurboFire or whatever workout, you almost POSITIVELY aren't too busy to take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the back of the parking lot, get in the floor and do 30 push ups or go for a brisk 15 minute walk. You also don't have to start eating all sloppy and lazy either. As a matter of fact, when your workouts decrease, that is when you should be even more diligent to stick to healthy, nourishing foods. It doesn't take any longer to chop up some fresh veggies and fruits and eat them than it does to run through the drive-thru at McDonalds. It just takes a little preparation and planning. But it is do-able.

One of the worst mistakes I've made (and struggle with) is the whole "falling off the boat" mentality. You know how it goes...you mess up...maybe miss your workout and eat a cupcake and then you find yourself saying "well, I've already screwed this day up, I might as well go ahead and just have this pizza and pop for dinner and a big brownie fudge sundae for dessert and watch TV tonight and I'll just get "back on the boat" on Monday.
You ever been there?

DETERMINE that won't be you ever again. I mean...really when you think about it and look at it (while you're not in the middle of it) doesn't it sound totally STUPID. Making MORE MISTAKES because you made a little mistake does NOT equal smart. It equals STUPID. (talking to myself just as much as anyone).

So, in conclusion, what I'm trying to say is this, I get it when life gets in the way and it comes at you with the force of a semi-truck and knocks you off of your planned program. But don't just throw your hands up in the air and say, "oh well..I'm off the course by an inch, I might as well just move over a whole mile and get back on that old (fat and lazy) road I'm so comfortable with and used to. NO! Just fit in some activity when and where you can, choose healthy foods, get your sleep and get back to THE PLAN the very minute that life lets up a bit.

I'm rooting for you! I'm here to help you! :)

Nah, you don't have to eat the right stuff...

.....UNLESS YOU LIKE THE IDEA OF LOSING WEIGHT and being supremely healthy!
Weighed in on Saturday...2 more pounds GONE! I know I shouldn't be THIS SUPRISED, but I really am. I can NOT believe eating the right things really makes THIS big of a difference. I mean..I KNEW it mattered....but this much??? wow!

I haven't been "dieting". I haven't been starving myself and going around hungry all the time. All I've been doing is eating DIFFERENT things. I'm still eating all. the. time. and still going out to eat and even having a few little splurges...but I'm losing weight at the rate of 2 pounds per week, all because of the different decisions on food I've been making.

We did Olive Garden again yesterday...and again, I had salad with NO dressing, no breadsticks and I ordered a light entree (670 calories total) and halfed it with Matt. I figure I consumed about 500 calories total while I was there including the 2 Andes mints I ate at the end. I felt great (while everyone else was heavy and stuffed) and I didn't have any guilt. SUPER COOL.

I hope you will just try it...see what happens!

15 days of Eating Clean

So...I've made it to Day 15 of this 20 day challenge! I am still feeling the best I've EVER felt! Not one single time in the last 2 weeks have I been full, bloated or lethargic! WOW!

I did flub up last night though. (hanging head...) Here is my excuse: 2 ladies at my church had babies this past week. I offered to take them both dinner but since my schedule is SO INSANELY BUSY right now, I decided to buy pizza for their families and just bake them fresh, homemade chocolate chip oatmeal raisin cookies. Long story short, I bought the same for my family and left a few cookies at home for us...and I ended up eating 2 slices of pizza and a cookie last night. Even though I know that isn't THAT HUGE of a deal...because quite frankly that is about HALF of my normal 4 pieces and 2 (or more) cookies....STILL that is NOT what I wanted to do during this challenge and I'm bummed that I gave in. However, even after that, I wasn't stuffed or heavy feeling and I at least stopped before I let myself get too carried away, so I am not going to count that as a loss, but more like a little stumble. :)

Since I started this on a Saturday and I weighed in last Saturday...I will weigh in again tomorrow and see where I am. I am excited about finishing out this thing (next Thur. Sept 1) and I'll let you know the final results!! There is no doubt that I have learned an important lesson through this!! If you were doing it with me, I hope you have too! :)

Menu for this week:

A few people have asked me to post my menu for the week and while I know it is boring reading...if it helps even one person...then it's worth posting! :) I know I have a sort of weird schedule and eating habits...but this is what I do and what I will consume this week.

Monday:
Breakfast: 1 small biscuit, 1 egg white, 1 turkey sausage link, coffee
Snack: Shakeology with 1/2 banana and 1 T. Peanut Butter (at 11:00)
Lunch: Green salad with 6 oz. of albacore tuna and 1 T. strawberry vinagerette (at 2:00)
Snack: 10 mini rice cakes with hummus and 1/2 an apple (at 4:30)
Dinner: Shakeology again (on Mondays I have Shakeology for dinner because I have a fitness class from 6:30-7:30 and I can't eat anything heavy before or after. Shakeology is perfect.)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Non-instant whole grain oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts and Truvia, coffee.
Snack: Apple and string cheese.
Lunch: Shakeology.
Snack: Banana and 1 rice cake with PB.
Dinner: Baked flounder with Orzo, grilled asparagus and salad
Dessert: Fruit

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Veggie omelet, 1 turkey sausage link, 1 whole wheat toast w/ spray butter, coffee
Snack: mini rice cakes with hummus
Lunch: Shakeology with PB.
Snack: Apple and 10 almonds
Dinner: Grilled shrimp, baked sweet potato, green beans, salad
Dessert: 1/2 c. plain non-fat greek yogurt with blueberries

Thursday:
Breakfast: Open faced egg white sandwich. (egg white, 1/2 slice low-fat cheddar, turkey bacon on 1 slice whole wheat toast.
Snack: Apple and low-fat string cheese
Lunch: Shakeology
Snack: Green salad with strawberry vinagerette and left over grilled shrimp.
Dinner: Grilled pork chops, seasoned brown rice, broccoli and salad.
Dessert: 1/2 c. plain non-fat greek yogurt with blueberries

Friday:
Breakfast: Non-instant whole grain oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts and Truvia, coffee.
Snack: Granola bar and apple.
Lunch: Shakeology
Snack: Raw veggies and hummus
Dinner: Going to a Gala Ball...and will eat and drink whatever is served! :)

I will also do the following workouts this week:
Monday: Intense Interval Class, 1 hour
Tuesday: Bootcamp Insanity, TurboKick practice, 2 hours
Wednesday: Weightlifting class, TurboKick practice, 2 hours
Thursday: Bootcamp Insanity, TurboKick practice, 2 hours
Friday: TurboFire, 1 hour
Saturday: Intense Interval, 1 hour

The 100% Guaranteed way to lose weight

That is a bold title, yes? Yes! I am confident though.

This is why: For the past 7 days (today is Day 8) I have been eating nothing but lean meats, fresh veggies and good carbs. I've cut WAY back on any fats (very little to no dressings, sauces, etc.) and I've also cut my carb consumption in about half. The biggest change, by far, for me has been not having dessert.

My "normal" is to have dessert at LEAST once a day. :( I know...it's naughty. But it's probably one of my favorite things in the whole world and as hard as I work, I "feel like I should have a treat." {side note: that is the stupidest, most ironic thing I say and I hear people say ALL THE TIME. When you work so hard to eat right and exercise daily...don't TREAT yourself by eating crap. DUMB DUMB DUMB. A small little indulgence occasionally is fine...but don't look at it like a reward. Reward yourself with a smaller size item of clothing or a pedicure or an hour to yourself to read a good book or something. Anyway..okay back to where I was...} The problem is I don't have dessert once in a while..I have a treat once or twice a DAY. I've always known this is what is most likely holding me back and keeping me from losing the weight. Guess I was right. The good news is I have discovered that this new amazing way I feel tastes better than cupcakes and pies and cookies.

ANYWAY...I said of all of that to say...that in just ONE WEEK of completely changing the way I eat...I've dropped 2.6 pounds! I knew I felt lighter...but I really was surprised to see that big of a drop. What a shame that I've been tormented for so long trying to get rid of this weight when all along ...this is all it would have taken! And ohmyheavens...I feel AMAZING!

So...do you want to know what prompted this whole eating clean thing and why I've been able to stay SO MOTIVATED??? This may or may not be a great reason and it may not help you at all, I don't know...but one day about 2 weeks ago, I put on a cute outfit and even though it looked fine from the front, when I turned around there were 2 big floppy love handles hanging over the sides of my britches. It was so disgusting that I took a picture of it and texted it to my coach Demi. I asked her WHAT could I do to get rid of it? Her answer? "EAT CLEAN 100% OF THE TIME!" So simple, yet...something I hadn't done since my first round of P90X (when I lost 17 pounds and got muscular for the first time in my life). I decided right then and there that I KNEW she was 100% right...and that until I was ready to commit to that....I would never have a lean body like hers. So...every time this week when I was tempted to flub up, I saw that image of that text from her to me with those words and I considered what I was about to do. I was about to sacrifice 100% for 90%...and I already know what results that gives. So...I stuck to my guns (with the exception of Tuesday night and the stupid fried pickles. :-(

More of the story:
For years I've been struggling to lose these last 10-15 pounds. Because I'm not overweight or unhealthy, it seems extra difficult because honestly I'm not THAT unhappy with myself. Still, my personality is one that wants to achieve and back in 2004 when I first started this journey, I made the goal of getting to 125 pounds, thus for the first time since my 16th birthday, making my drivers license honest again. :)
Even though this whole thing started because I wanted to LOOK better...the way that I am feeling now is like a drug. I'm addicted. I never want to feel bloated, heavy and stuffed again.

Looking good is just the "icing on the top" now. Feeling this way is my motivation. :)

For an example of what I've been eating:
Breakfast : 1/2 of a whole wheat english muffin with egg white, 1/2 slice low-fat cheddar and 1 slice turkey bacon. (eaten like an open faced sandwich)
Snack: Apple and 10 almonds
Lunch: Shakeology and small salad (no dressing-just a little salt and pepper)
Snack: Celery with natural peanut butter
Dinner: Lean Roast with steamed cauliflower, salad and 1/2 ear of corn.
"Dessert": 1/2 c. greek plain yogurt with strawberries.

The Shakeology is a MUST! It is keeping my digestion working like clock-work. :)

Eating Clean: 6 days and counting!!

I am so happy to say that I am STILL eating clean and lovin' every minute of it! :) I do have one confession to make: On Tuesday night I had dinner at Texas Roadhouse with some family and THEY ordered fried pickles and I had a few. :( I shouldn't have, but no one was eating them (no one else liked them!!) and I couldn't STAND to see them all just get thrown away! I didn't go overboard at all. I probably ate 10...being honest. There were probably 50 in the basket...so I definitely exhibited restraint. :) BUT...I didn't have the warm rolls they bring out and I ordered Sirloin Steak and Veggie Kabobs. I had them switch out the rice that comes with it for fresh veggies and a baked sweet potato with NO toppings of any kind. I drank water. It was DELICIOUS and a great time and I'm so impressed and encouraged that I can still eat out with my friends and family and not have to leave feeling like I need to be wheeled out in a wheelchair! Even after I eat a large meal like that, I still feel great because I didn't overload on fried, greasy food (no fries!!) and no heavy carbs. It's GREAT! One thing I can DEFINITELY COMPLAIN about though is how much healthy entrees COST! Oh my goodness!!! The grilled salmon (which is what I really wanted) was $5 more than the sirloin kabobs!! :( When we went to the Olive Garden last week, my baked fish was $15. I usually spend around $7/ plate when we go out...so this is a bit hard to swallow...but oh well, I guess that's just the way it is. Can't really do anything about that. :(

I have to admit, if it wasn't for my daily Shakeology (which I've been mixing with 1 TBSP of peanut butter and it is AMAZING!) I don't know if I would be handeling the "no sweets" part so well. But that shake made with the PB is so creamy and big and sweet and delicious that it is completely satisfying my sweet tooth! -Or maybe the sweet tooth is going away already!?!? I don't know but I'm loving this way of eating and I just can't believe I don't do it all the time. (or haven't as of yet). Chips and crackers and cookies and french fries and nachos are NOT THAT GOOD. They taste good for a few seconds while they're on your tongue but the misery that accompanies them for hours and days later is so not worth it. For almost a week now, I've been feeling energetic, light, thin, fresh and healthy and just really vibrant. I pray I will NEVER go back to those old ways. For those of you who said you were going to do this with me...how's it going? Are you feeling great too?

"Before" 20 Day Challenge-Front

Don't know why these pics are so small!?! Maybe becuase I took them with my phone. Anyway, this is my "Front" before picture. Let's see what happens in 20 days!

"before" 20 day challenge pic

I don't know why this picture is so small...but this is my "before" side view picture for the 20 day challenge. Taken on Sat. Aug 13, 2011.

20 Day Clean Eating Challenge

If you are my friend on FB, you probably saw my post about this on Saturday. Since my hubby and I have a special 13th anniversary vacation coming up soon to Cancun, Mexico, we have decided to do a 20-day "challenge" to see if we can get the "ripped" bodies we really want to have while we are there. For me, that means being able to put on a bathing suit and feel totally confident in it (not just while standing....but while sitting and bending over too! ha ha) You ladies know what I'm talking about!!
For Matt, that means taking his shirt off and and feeling good about the way his chest, back, arms and abs look. No more love handles!!
I am SO excited about this because for once, I am attempting something that I believe is do-able and realistic. Trying to cut out sweets entirely or lose 20 pounds is just too "big" for me...but deciding to "eat clean" for 20 days is something I can handle.
And so far...it's been going AWESOME!
I took before pictures and my before weight Saturday morning and if I can figure out how to get them off my phone, I will post them. My starting weight is 136. I don't have a goal...I just want to see whats the best I can do in these 20 days.

What "Eating Clean" means to me:
1. No junk food (chips, cookies, soda, fried foods, etc.)
2. No fast food (burgers and fries, etc.)
3. No Sweets (cakes, pies, ice cream, brownies, cookies)
**EXCLUSION: is yogurt and fruit. I definitely have a serious sweet tooth and I am not banning yogurt or fruit from the "sweets" category. :)

In addition to this, I am committing to working out 6 days a week. (which isn't hard because I do that already). Sunday's are my rest day and sometimes I end up doing Turbo on Sunday just because I love it so much I can't stand to not do it! ha ha

So, I'm thrilled that so many have decided to join me! Keep checking back for regular updates and please leave a comment on how you are doing!!

Pictures...:(

Okay so it's been a realllly long time since I've posted any new pictures to my blog. And it is NOT because I don't want to! I do, I do! I just have the worlds WEIRDEST computer. It works perfectly fine about 98% of the time...but for some reason, for the past couple of years, it won't let me click on certain things. I mean...I can click on it..but it doesn't "take" or work. One of those things is the "add image" button on my blog. I can click it 100 times and nothing happens. But if I scoot over just one icon to the "add video" icon...it works fine. (I just don't know how to make a video).
And ALL of my pictures are downloaded to this computer (and not my laptop).......but.........if I can email myself my pictures and upload them to my laptop THEN I could probably post some new ones on here. But see how much work that would be?? and seriously, I don't know when I'll ever find time for that. BLAH! Okay, that was 2 whole paragraphs of boring reading and me whining. What I really wanted to say was I'm going to try to post some new pictures soon! Goodness knows I've got at least a years worth I want to share with you!

I heart Diamond!

Many of you know I am a coach for Beachbody...but what you probably DON'T know...is that it is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done and YOU can be a part of it! Whether you allow me to be YOUR free coach or you join me as a COACH YOURSELF on my team ....I want you to be a part of my amazing journey...all the way up to DIAMOND. I know you have no idea what I'm talking about right? Well...speaking in terms of do$$ar signs...Diamond is where the big bucks start rolling in...but that has never been my top priority (although I ain't gonna lie...it certainly makes my love for shopping less guilt-filled!)
BUT...Speaking in terms of HELPING PEOPLE which is where my heart is and why I'm so passionate about this...it means that I will have accumulated a fantastic team of coaches to work with me AND have a large amount of people that have signed up to let me help them!
The reason I am talking about this today is because I WANT YOU! If you've been reading my blog for very long, you obviously have a passion for health and fitness, you probably workout regularly, try to eat healthy and I've never met a person who doesn't want more money. You've either done a Beachbody workout program or you're thinking about doing one. Unless you aren't into helping others succeed, YOU are a perfect candidate for becoming a coach!
And if you've EVER thought about it, even for just a second, I'll tell you why RIGHT NOW is the time to do it. Because I just started my engine and my foot is on the gas. I have an AMAZING leader right in front of me that is leading the way and all I have to do is follow. You don't want to be left behind. If you get in this caravan with us, we will clear the path for you and guaranteed success is right down the road that we're traveling. PLEASE come for the ride!

Cheat with a BANG!

Okay, so I feel ashamed just POSTING this recipe on this blog because this is SO FAR from Michi's Ladder or P90X food....it's gotta be a sin.........BUT...........we all know we have cheat days every now and again and IF you're gonna cheat, you want it to be something that is VERY WORTH IT right?
Well...here you go.
That is the ONLY reason I share this recipe. For a special cheat day. Do not...I repeat DO NOT make this recipe more than once every 4 months. Understood? :) oh and don't hog it...share some with your family! :)

Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill manager

1 bag of Baby Greens or Spring Mix

16-18 Medium Shrimp, cleaned & put aside

Spicy Sauce:

1/2 C mayo

4 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (Sambal)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp rice vinegar

Mix well & set aside

1 beaten egg

1 C milk

Mix well & put in shallow bowl

3/4 C flour

1/2 C Panko crumbs

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 ground sage

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried basil

Mix well & put in a shallow bowl

Dip Shrimp in breading mix, then in egg/milk mix & back in breading mix....

Put on a tray & refrigerate for 20 min.....

Heat 6-10 Cup's of Oil...Fry shrimp a few at a time until golden.....Drain on paper towels.When all shrimp are fried, put them in a large bowl.....Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 of the sauce on shrimp & toss to coat....

Stack on baby greens.....I put the extra sauce on the side...

______________________________________________________________________

Okay.......that's the recipe. Now, let me tell you some changes I made. First of all, I couldn't find that exact chili garlic sauce...so I just bought a brand called 'Roland' which was next to the oriental foods in the grocery store. (Walmart didn't carry ANY kind of it..so I had to go to Reasors)

Also, I didn't have the ground sage and I didn't want to pay $3.19 to buy some just to use 1/2 of a tsp so I just didn't use any. I also didn't have onion powder...but I did have onion flakes....so I substituted that.

The shrimp I bought were raw, peeled, tail off and came 50 to a bag. I was able to bread ALL 50 of them with the mixtures from above!!! And...I only used that one bowl of sauce mix for all 50 (which means they were VERY lightly coated in sauce).

Other than that, I stuck to the recipe. It was a little time consuming--dipping each individual shrimp into the flour mixture, then the egg, then the flour....but it really was THAT GOOD that I will do it again sometime (probably if we are having company or something).

Time Out/Bootcamp Insanity

Hey guys! :) It's 9:39 pm and I'm up at my computer late because I am trying to get some work done for the doctors office. Of course, after about 15 minutes of typing, my mind started drifting and I was thinking about how I'd like to blog right now. So..here I am. Since I don't have a lot of time, I'm going to just let my thoughts spill out onto my keyboard and what you're reading is the result. :)
So, last week was tough. I had some crazy moments where I was trying to do stuff like drink my soup through a straw so I can type while I "eat", tie my shoes while driving down the road, etc. I realized that I am doing TOO MUCH all. the. time. If I wasn't doing at LEAST 2 things at once, I felt like I was being unproductive. All these classes and coaching and typing and ballgames and cooking and cleaning and emails..it was all just more than I could take. Finally after surveying everyone in my life, I turned to GOD about it (again!) He clearly spoke the same message to me through about 6 different sources...and I knew what I needed to do.
#1: Put top priority on spending QUALITY time with God every day. I realized that I spend time with God about like how I spend time with my kids. They're always there. I can hear them in the back ground. I see evidence of what they've done/where they've been..but RARELY do I actually stop what I'm doing and give them undivided attention. Rarely do I actually LISTEN to them, LOOK at them or BE WITH them. It's the same with God. He's always there and I'm aware of His presence. I listen to praise and worship all day long and put on Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer or Andrew Wommack every time I wash dishes, fold laundry, put on my make up, etc. I am constantly in contact with my Father...throwing up quick prayers left and right all throughout the day. And while that is all VERY GOOD...there still HAS to be a chunk of time where I stop everything else and give HIM my undivided attention. This is the first thing I'm setting out to change!
#2: Lessening the Load. I've decided to cancel my Friday night fitness class. It was a hard decision because I LOVE those girls and they are SO DEDICATED....but I realized that by teaching a class on Friday evening and then again first thing Saturday morning was really making any kind of weekend plans very difficult as well as not giving my body ample time to rest between extreme workouts. Even though that is only 1 class a week less, I really anticipate this taking some pressure off my week.
Also under the same thought....I am also putting my Beachbody coaching career in a "time out". I am still coaching and am fully available to my customers present and future...BUT...I am not going to put forth as much effort in recruiting new customers or coaches for a while. It's such a great opportunity, but I'm not much of a salesman and I don't want to be either. If people see my success, read my testimony and want to coach under me or buy a program that I've done--AWESOME! I would LOVE to be their coach. But as for going out and practically begging people to try Shakeology or order TurboFire....I'm just not gonna do it. I'm here for ya when you need me.

I'm excited about my upcoming 14 week Bootcamp that starts Tues. May 31st. Not only do I have an AMAZING set of routines already lined up...BUT...I am excited about what great shape I and all the other ladies are going to be in when this summer is over!! Also, I am taking a nice long break at the end of it and hopefully going on a vacation!! WOOHOO!

Insanity is in the books for my summer workouts and I'm stoked! I've been working out 6 days a week since February 8th and I think my body is in tip-top shape and TOTALLY ready to take on Insanity again. Then if I survive, maybe I'll look into the Asylum this fall....eeek!

We took the cover off the pool today! The water was really clear and after taking a sample into the pool place, it looks like we'll be ready to swim by this (Memorial Day) weekend!

Friday night Brooklyn and I are hosting a big sleepover for 6 of her girlfriends! We are doing a Secret Keeper Girl date about Friendship and there are going to be some FUN games and crafts going on! Yippee! I love being the mom I always dreamt I would be! :)

This weekend we noticed that my new Navigator was looking QUITE lopsided. It turns out that the air suspension sensor went out and apparently the left side of the car was WAY jacked up (like 14 inches) higher than the right side!!! What a funny looking ride that was!! Thankfully we got it fixed today and were only (HA!) out $180. It would have been $492 but we have a warranty and that covered a lot of it.

Well....that is about all I had going on in my head right now and I really need to get back to work so that I can get done and then get to bed. Thanks for reading my rambling! Love y'all and happy sweating! :)

I'm happy and I know it! (((clapping hands)))

THANK YOU for affirming the fact that I am NOT a depressed person! I knew that...but I just wanted to be sure "my face surely shows it" too, ya know!?!
Anyway, I sincerely appreciate all your kind words and I am going to be more aware of how much I complain because honestly, I LOVE my life and if I'm complaining, I shouldn't be. I am blessed beyond measure. God has given me over and above all that I could think or ask and I know He's not done!!! THAT is something worth smiling about! :)

I know that people think they should THANK ME for encouragement and coaching...but I am honestly so grateful and thankful for each one of you! Without people to come to my classes, it wouldn't matter how terrific an instructor I am. Without people to coach, I couldn't BE a coach. Each one of you enriches my life and I never want to take you for granted!

Do you feel the love? :) You should!!! :)
And just for extra measure: :) :-) :0) :P :o) :~)

Gotta get it off my chest and FB isn't the place...

Okay...this is BUGGING the CRUD out of me and while I run the risk of sounding like I'm whining again...I've decided to do it anyway. I mean..this IS my blog where I can say whatever I want, right? :)
So...today someone made a comment about me that is realllllly bothering me. I mean....MAJORLY. I know she didn't mean it in a bad way (or at least I don't think she did) and I'm sure she has no idea what a big deal to me it was. Here's the deal:

At class today I mentioned that I came in feeling a bit discouraged and exhausted...BUT...now, AFTER the great workout we just did...that I felt totally encouraged and great and energetic!!!
But.......before I got the "BUT" part out...she said "Jennifer, you are ALWAYS down and discouraged."

It took me by such surprise that I hesitated in the middle of my sentence and then said the rest to try to prove my point in WHY I even said it in the first place (which is that exercise is such a great way to turn lethargy into energy).

Of course, as the devil would have us to do...and as our brains like to do...I have (seemingly) forgotten all the thousands of wonderful comments and great things people have said about me and I'm magnifying this one comment way more than I should be. I just keep thinking, "REALLY????? Seriously? OMG! Do I come across that way??-as a down and discouraged, sad and depressed person?"
SURELY not! How could that be possible when I am really SO SO SO SO HAPPY!?
I mean, sure...I'm human, I have my days of feeling a bit whah-whah every month. What woman doesn't?
(bunny trail here)
I remember when Matt and I first got engaged. We went to marriage counseling and we had to fill out a questionairre. One of the questions was "What is one personality trait that you despise?" Without a second thought, I wrote down "laziness".
If I were to take that quiz again today I would add the word "defeat".
Everybody gets discouraged sometimes.......but I HATE to see people walk around with their heads hung in defeat. Unless you're not a Christian. If you're not a believer.....then I completely understand why you'd feel that way. BUT ...if you know Jesus as your savior..then you NEVER EVER have an excuse to feel defeated. JESUS defeated the devil. He won the battle for you and while He didn't promise us a perfect life (in fact, He specifically said IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLES) ......BUT...the next part of that verse says BUT TAKE HEART!!! FOR I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!!!

Okay so back to what I was talking about....I hate the idea that ANYONE would ever see me that way. How disappointing!
I'm trying to figure out if it's just that one person and the vast majority of everyone else who knows me would disagree...or if I live in a unrealistic bubble and I don't see myself clearly. Maybe I shouldn't be so open and honest about when I'm having a tough day.?!!?.
Argh...I just need to get away from people and electronics and spend some QUALITY time with God. Just me and God and quiet. Yes...that would be HEAVENLY! :)

Inferno Plan--give myself a C-

Wow....so we started the 5-day Inferno Plan (through the TurboFire program) on Monday. We went out Sunday and bought all the groceries and were TOTALLY prepared. I even read through my TurboTracker and was all ready to write down every thing that entered my mouth.
We started out "on fire" Monday...did great. Enjoyed the food, wrote it all down, resisted temptation. Hooray!

Tuesday-Enjoyed the recipes VERY much and was following the plan perfectly until we had to be at the baseball/softball fields all evening (5-9 pm) and I caved and ate a pickle or 2 and a tootsie-roll pop. (not that awful right!?!?)

Wednesday-Still loving the food on the plan...but feeling very unsatisfied. Starting to feel the fire we had on Monday start to fizzle. :( Even though we're eating everything on the plan, I'm popping jelly beans from the Easter candy bowl every time I pass by. :( I stopped writing in my TurboTracker. It's too depressing to write down all those jelly beans.

Thursday-Man! The food on this thing is delicious and lots of things we've never tried...but I'm really feeling weak with my resolve to finish this thing. I not only ate all my scheduled food but I also had RiceWorks chips with my lunch (instead of salad) and a small bowl of Blue-Bell Cookies-N-Cream icecream at lunch. Then, after dinner I ate a bowl of brown beans and rice (1/2 c. with 4 tortilla chips) and then an apple with PB. Ugh. I went to bed feeling stuffed. DARN!

Friday-It's a new day...and the last one THANK GOODNESS! :) So far I've stuck to "the plan" and I really hope to finish this thing out on a good note so I'm putting a dishtowel over the jelly beans. :) Out of sight-out of mind I hope.
I'm bummed out that I didn't do it more closely as it was outlined......BUT........I'm still TOTALLY acknowledging the fact that I ate MUCH healthier and more conscientious this week than I have been. I also have managed to keep my 6 pounds from the cleanse off...even though I haven't lost anymore. So overall, I'm happy! I think I will try to do this once a month. The food is SO GOOD! If I get some time, I'll post the recipes for you all!

I spoke (whined) too soon! :)

Well...I'm eating my whiny words! PRAISE THE LORD!
Last night's class was great (had 4 people plus me and Matt) and this morning I had 6 besides myself! AWESOME!
Tomorrow's class is forcasted to be really good too! (I know of at least 6 people who said they'd be there!) YAY!
I'm really sorry for that cry-baby post I did yesterday. Sometimes even us "toughgirls" have a weak moment! :)
A HUGE THANK YOU to my dear friend Kirsty who sent me the most wonderful comment to that post this morning. I asked her permission to post it here because she had SUCH wisdom that I just couldn't keep it all to myself! Here it is:

Jen,
That comment someone made is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. They must have some serious body image issues to say something so rude and ignorant. We all have different bodies and God made us all the way HE wanted us. We need to take care of the Temple (body) :) he gave us and feed it the right stuff and exercise it to keep it strong for His service but that's it, man! He doesn't call us to be ripped and have a 0% body fat. We know when we are healthy and living in God's will in that area or we are letting foods and vanity issues have control over us. It's all about having balance and the state of your heart in the matter, girl.

I have learned over the last 2 years that God has given me a passion for working out. I love it when I do it and I need it to keep me happy and sane. I do myself and my God a disservice when I make working out a means to an end. Like, for me personally (and it may or may not be this way for you) I know feel convicted when I make my workout about looking good. I try every time I workout to make it about making my body stronger and leaner to be healthier and more comfortable in my skin, because then I can be more useful as a believer.

Things really started to make sense to me when I figured this out.

About the people not coming to your class, don't stress. Just do your thing, be your sweet, bubbly self and let your passion for what you do be the honey that attracts people. Also, maybe start offering some packages, like 3 classes a week for $10 or something. Having a once a week or month $$ transaction would lessen the focus on the cost. Or you could have packages with certain amounts of classes and the more you buy, the cheaper it gets per class. You're still making good $$ that way in my opinion.

We most definitely struggle with a lot of the same insecurities and I know how you feel! You cannot let the enemy steal your joy over stuff like this. Keep conquering temptation over sweets and unhealthy foods and keep working out but remember to keep in mind what you have now. You are one gorgeous (thin!!) girl with curves and a super cute smile! Some people are super tiny with rock hard stomachs and have other body issues that they can't control or even think about changing. You have a naturally beautiful body and a gorgeous soul so rock it out and be thankful! :)

We all need a little encouragement every now and then but that doesn't mean it's easy to hear or easy to put into practice. You're awesome and you have lead me to places (and pant sizes) I never thought I'd go. I hope this helps you even a fraction of how you've helped me!! :)

♥

Kirsty

***Also thank you to Kate and Rene who are so loyal to always comment on my posts and who always have great advice too! I love you girls! :)

Shakeology Cleanse: Final Results and Inferno Plan begins!

Well, I got up Saturday morning and before I dove head-first into that strawberry cake sitting in my fridge (ha ha), I got on the scale one last time to see what my final results were from doing the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse. In all, I lost 6 pounds. I felt as light as air-popped popcorn and actually had a good amount of energy for having not eaten a real meal since Tuesday.
For those of you wanting to know the dirty details: I only pooped TWICE in the whole 3 days. That is a bit crazy to me. I mean...if I was getting "cleansed"...where did all the build-up go? How did it leave my body? I have to be honest, I am one of the few weird people who actually hoped I'd be stuck on the pot all day long. I mean..then I would have PROOF. Anyway...nevertheless, I'm Very happy with my results; Very happy I did the cleanse and I Very recommend it to anyone who needs a jump-start on weight loss or needs to de-clutter your intestines. :)

Now onto the "next great thing"....Today Matt and I started the 5-day Inferno Plan from the TurboFire nutrition guide. Basically it's a 5 day eating plan that is supposed to help you lose weight before you start the regular nutrition guide. We went grocery shopping yesterday for TWO FULL HOURS just to get the foods for this week M-F and ended up leaving without quinoa or alfalfa sprouts since I couldn't locate them ANYWHERE. I guess I'll just substitute brown rice for the quinoa and lettuce for the sprouts...!!??!!
I'm really not worried about doing everything 100% PERFECTLY. As long as we stick to it about 95%...I'm happy. :)

Currently my weight is at 134 and as you all know...my goal is 125. But...I like a comment someone left me on FB this past week that said "forget the #'s on the scale...pick a pair of pants you want to fit into and then aim for that".........and so I did. :) I have a really cute pair of Nike camo capris that I LOVE. They are a size small (4-6) and they've NEVER fit me comfortably. I actually wore them Saturday night and I was miserable. I had to unbutton them in order to breathe while sitting down. :( So...besides getting to 125, that is what I'm shooting for--to be able to wear these pants AND SIT IN THEM! :) I'll let you know when (not if) it happens!

In other news...can I vent a little bit?
If you don't want to hear me whine like a big baby...you can stop reading now.
okay, you've been warned!
WHAT is the DEAL with people? Everywhere I look there are overweight and obese people and yet, I'm LUCKY if I can get 5 people to show up to a fitness class these days. I know there are many factors that play into how many people come: such as time of the year, time of the class, day of the week, sport schedules, financial restraints, time constraints, etc. BUT REALLY? In my WHOLE TOWN......only 3-5 people?
I'm asking myself..."am I charging too much?" "am I a lousy instructor?" "are the classes to hard/easy?" "is everyone bored with it already?" "did I pick bad times of the day?" "do people want different types of classes?" "have I offended someone with my choice of music?"
I know with any new business, everything isn't always perfect. But this is confusing. I mean...people who started out coming strong and were super-motivated have just drifted away and actually seem to AVOID me now. Look, I am NOT JUST "Cross Training Fitness"...I am also Jennifer Jones, friend. :(
When I first started numbers were in the 3-5 people per class range...then they jumped up to 7-10 on average and things were going GREAT. Then suddenly without warning...back down to 3-5 IF I'M LUCKY. ?????????? I'm not giving up or quitting...but I just wish I knew what people wanted.
Many of the people who've stopped coming are the very ones who've poured their heart out to me about how BADLY they want to lose weight. So why have they stopped coming?

Then you've got me...falling back into the bad habit of comparing myself to fitness models thinking I will never look like that but feeling like I need to. A comment someone made about me one time that has really bothered me (for about a year now) was: "When I saw you were the instructor, I thought this class can't be very hard."
That particular day I was subbing a class for another instructor who looks like she belongs on the cover of Fitness Magazine. She's physically perfect and when people see her they worry about how CRAZY HARD the workout is going to be. So ....when people see me...I guess they think it's gonna be fairly easy because I am at least 20 pounds heavier than that girl and not NEARLY as ripped. :(
Blahhhhh..I am having a big whine fest, huh? See...a while back I created a separate blog JUST for this reason. A blog that NO ONE had access to so I could pour my heart out (no matter how goofed up it was) and no one would judge me. But then I decided that was dumb because then I was posting all the "negative stuff" on that blog and only the "positive stuff" on this blog...so I deleted it and now you guys are stuck hearing all this garbage. Sorry!

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day! :) I'm pretty sure the majority of this post didn't make much sense and probably didn't flow at all...but I just typed as the thoughts entered my head and now I am going to say "publish post" because I've gotta get up from here and get back to my housework!
Thank you so much to all my loyal readers! I really do love you all!

Hot Nacho

It's the morning of the 3rd day. I'm hungry. I want substance. However, this is the longest I've ever made it doing something like a fast or cleanse and I can't quit now! The end is SO NEAR! :)
I actually ran out of Shakeology with my last shake yesterday and was sort of fretting about what to do..and then I remembered that my mom has some samples that I gave her that she never did use, so I'm stealing them back from her and finishing out this thing. Which is why I'm SO HUNGRY right now. I'm not going over to her house to get the goods until after I take the kids to school, which means I have another hour to wait. I need to go make my green tea so I can at least have SOMETHING in my tummy.
I got on the scale this morning and it's down another 2 pounds! (5 total so far!) That's pretty amazing. If I lose even just ONE more pound, I will be down to the lowest weight I've seen in the past year. What's even more exciting is knowing that when I get done with this thing, I'm not going back to eating like Miss Piggy...but that I have a PLAN already. I am doing the TurboFire 5 day Inferno plan and planning out all our meals from the P90X, Insanity and TurboFire Nutrition Guides. Not only will that ensure that I don't gain...but I should be able to continue to lose and finally reach that elusive goal weight that I've been aiming at for nearly 7 years now.
But, to address the title of this post, I should admit that last night, after my 3rd shake-which I drank AT the ball field, I bought Brooklyn some cheese nachos. She asked me to hold them for her while she went to the bathroom. In a moment of impulse, I grabbed up the cheesiest chip and shoved it into my mouth. Blah. It wasn't NEARLY as yummy as it looked. Hooray! I'm actually kind of glad I did it...because if I hadn't, I would have been sitting there-mouth watering as I watched her eat them thinking about how I was missing out. Instead, I tasted and saw that they weren't even CLOSE to good enough for me to blow this for, and I was totally fine the rest of the time.
Of course...if it HAD been reallllly good...who knows what might have happened!?!?! :-/
Anyhow, I have to leave you with a cute story that also pertains to the title of this post.
When Grant was about 2, my uncle bought him a truck that had several buttons on it. If you pushed the red one right on the top, it played "Cotton Eyed Joe". We had that truck and listened to that song for probably a YEAR before I over-heard him singing "where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from HOT NACHO". HA HA HA He wasn't being funny either..he seriously thought those were the lyrics. Now anytime we hear that song, we all sing it that way. It's much more fun than cotton eyed joe anyway. :) Try it.

Still cleansing....

Man, it seems like it's been days since I typed that last post! It's been a long day I guess...and it's not even close to over. Grant has his 1st baseball game tonight starting at 7:45 and ending at 9:15 and it's in another town about 25 minutes from here! That is RIDICULOUS to have 1st graders out playing ball that late! He'll have to have a bath when he gets home, jammies, teeth brushed, story, prayer...by the time he gets to sleep it'll be 2 full hours past his bedtime. :(
Anyway, I feel victorious to say that I'm still hanging in there with the cleanse. I got scarily close to ditching it about an hour ago. The kids were snacking, I heated up dinner for Matt, caught a glimpse of the huge strawberry birthday cake sitting in the fridge. I took one tiny bite (a crumb really) of Brooklyn's pizza and then figuratively smacked myself in the head and said WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! :)
So, I made up my dinner salad which consisted of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cilantro, sliced almonds and light raspberry vinagarette dressing and practically inhaled it. I haven't had my 3rd shake of the day because I'm trying to wait until around 7:30 to drink it. Since I know we'll be out late and I always get the munchies-especially if we're at the ball field-I thought I better hold off. I'm pretty relieved that I still have a "meal" coming to me. I did eat my whole banana earlier (1/2 in my shake and 1/2 plain) and I had an apple mid-morning with a few almonds. I'm eating a little more than I probably should...BUT...I'm also working out much harder and more than I should too...so I think it'll even out.
I'll tell ya...one thing they don't tell you about this cleanse is that you'll be in the bathroom ALL THE TIME. Not to poop...no, I haven't even pooped once yet...but to PEE! Seriously, between 3 shakes, 2 cups of green tea and 2 LITERS of water..I pee at least every 30 minutes!! I feel like I have a straw in my mouth about 80% of the time!
Anyway, in all, I'm really glad I'm doing this. I feel lighter and flatter already. I also feel a sense of accomplishment. The fact that I am ignoring that cake in the fridge is nearly a miracle. If you know me...I capital L. O. V. E. dessert and especially cold, moist, iced cake. OMG! But...I haven't even as much as TOUCHED it. Woot Woot!
Tomorrow will be a challenge, I expect because I will be home all day long (more tempting for me to eat) and then I have a fitness class to teach at 4:30 pm. Nevertheless, I know I can do it and I WILL do it. Beginning Saturday, it's back to P90X food/eating. No more cheesy enchiladas with chips and queso, lasagna with garlic bread and puff pastry strawberry crap. :) I'm ready to feel better by eating better. If you watch that video that I posted, you'll see what I mean...but something I just recently learned is that our bodies crave proper nutrition. When they don't get it, we eat and eat and eat trying to satisfy that need. When we eat the correct foods (or Shakeology) that persistent urge to eat all the time leaves. Our body gets what it's longing for and it's content. That makes perfect sense to me. I am excited about putting the constant struggle of wanting but restraining behind me. If I don't crave all that junk, I won't have to refrain from it all the time. Sure, I'll still have cheats every now and again...but not every day like I've gotten (back) into the habit of doing. I'm excited about the future........ are you? :)

Staring at the wall...

Do you ever have the kind of day where you are really quiet and reflective and could just sit and stare at a blank wall for hours?
I've been feeling like this for about 24 hours now. Its kind of nice because for once I'm not moving around like the energizer bunny at all times...however, it's NOT good when you have lots of things that NEED to be done. I feel like I am being rebellious against my own self right now. For the past 30 minutes I've been sitting in my office, drinking my hot green tea and staring at the little dots of sunlight that are popping through the blinds on my window. I've had facebook on the screen of my computer but have only been about 1/2way into it.
I really need to get up and get moving. I have to get the kids to school in 30 minutes, I have a fitness class to teach right after that and the house is a WRECK...and I'm still sitting here in my nightgown and slippers.
Bahh...wish I could just ditch it all for one day. I love my life...but a day off sounds magical.
Anyway, back to reality...so I wanted to mention on here that I am doing a 3 day Shakeology Cleanse. Today is Day 2. I was supposed to have 3 shakes yesterday, but somehow, I only managed to get 2 down. VERY CRAZY because I was really freaking out that 3 shakes wasn't going to be NEARLY enough to satisfy me all day, BUT, I had such a crazy busy day yesterday that I actually didn't have time to make my middle of the day one....so I ended up just skipping it. I did have an apple mid-day and a few almonds mid-morning. I also had my evening salad with 4 oz. of tuna on top. I love it that this cleanse allows you to still eat with it. You get 2 pieces of fruit a day (optional) and a salad with 4 oz. of protien and very light or no dressing each evening...in addition to the 3 Shakeology shakes a day (and 2 cups of green tea).
Anyway, the scale shows I am down 3 full pounds since yesterday morning. I'm sure some of that is just water weight. I did do a pretty intense workout yesterday morning though so hopefully some of it is real weight. Tomorrow will really tell me and then the final result will be when I weigh on Saturday morning. Of course, I'm not doing this just to lose weight. Sure..dropping some pounds will be great...but I'm trying to get my body jump-started back to clean eating as well as clean pipes. :) I also ordered myself a TurboTracker so that I can start journaling my food intake/exercise output for a little while. I need to hold myself accountable. This is what worked for me back in the beginning and I know it will work for me now too, especially since I spent $15 on this notebook!!
Anyway, I'm sure you guys probably aren't interested in all that and I should seriously get up and get going. I will hopefully be back here again very soon! :) Happy Thursday Peeps!

You need to watch this!

If you wonder what's the big deal about this Shakeology stuff...just watch this. It won't take long.

Facebook Withdrawls?!?!

Happy Easter!
If you're a friend of mine on FB, you might have seen my post this past week that said I am committing to staying OFF of facebook on Sunday's from here on out. I figure one day a week I can give my family and God my FULL undivided attention and it's very doubtful that I am going to miss out on anything. Heck, I went a whole month without getting on facebook just a couple of months ago, so surely I can abstain one day a week, right?
But surprisingly (to me)...I'm itching to get on and check it. GRANTED...there are a few reasons why. For instance...I posted something on there for sale yesterday and I'd love to know if anyone is responding to that. Also, we had family pictures taken last week and I posted a couple of them yesterday and I'd like to see if anyone has commented on them. Besides the fact that it is Easter and people are probably posting wonderful happy statuses and pictures of their little ones in their Easter dresses and suits.
BUT...I refuse to go back on my word. So...here I am, in blog land instead, and I'm plenty happy. However, if I were going to post a status or two, they would've read something like this:

How is it that we hid 155 plastic eggs for the kids INSIDE our house and can only find 152 of them? We've looked for hours...and apparently 3 have gone AWOL.

I can't believe I will be married to a THIRTY FIVE YEAR OLD in 2 days. WOW! We aren't teenagers anymore, I guess. Happy Birthday on Tuesday Matthew Paul Jones! I love you!

Instead of giving the kids Easter baskets this year, we bought them each a gift. Brooklyn got the game Clue and Grant got a Pogo-stick. Best presents we've bought them in a long time. :)

I looked through the Power 90 nutrition guide this morning. Later: Went to my mom and dad's for Easter lunch and ate like it was The Last Supper. :(

My 15 year HS reunion is in exactly 2 months and 1 week. In those 9 weeks, I DEEPLY DESIRE to lose 12 pounds and FINALLY reach my goal weight, thus making my drivers license true again! :)

Participation in my fitness classes has dropped scarily low over the past 2 weeks. I'm not sure if people are losing interest or they've all achieved their goals already (yah right.) What is going on?


Okay...that's all the status updates I would post if I was on FB. I feel better getting them off my chest! ha ha Wow, now would anyone really have benefited from reading all that? NO. I am so goofy. I'm getting off here. Time to go play some Clue with my girlie-o!

It's Friday...that's my excuse

So, it's Friday morning, 9 am. I'm sitting here in my VS gray T-shirt with silver stars all over the front and the words I LOVE PINK across my back. I have on my black comfty PJ capris and slipper boots that come up to my knees with big pom-pom balls at the top. I have a hot mocha in my cute "fill-drink-wash-repeat" cup and I should be working. But you know what? I don't care. Nope, I don't. Because it's Friday. That's my excuse, valid or not and I've decided to be naughty for an hour or so.
So, while half of me really wants to go curl up on the couch with a big fuzzy blanket and drift in and out of consciousness while I watch re-runs of House Hunters, the other half of me is yearning to ramble on and on with a bunch of nonsense on this blog like I used to. Maybe I'll split my time up between the two and get my nap when I'm done talking to you. Yep, that sounds perfect.
So, I wonder...what've you been up to? The only person who reads this blog and that I actually keep up with regularly (that I know of) is Rene. The rest of you are becoming like fond memories in the recesses of my mind and heart. And that........is NOT cool. I miss you guys. I miss your feed back and your encouragement. Some of you have been my BEST and DEAREST friends for several years now (KATE!) or even for over a decade (KANDY!) and now it seems like we never talk. :-(
I know, I know....it's 99% my fault. I've gone AWOL from blog land for nearly a year now and while it's been necessary...it isn't how I imagined my life going...or how I've wanted it to be. Sometimes life has a way of making these choices for you, ya know!?!
Nevertheless, today, my attention is here. I wish this were a real conversation with all of you so that it wouldn't seem like me doing all the talking. It feels awfully self-centered right now.
But...I guess there is no way around that. So I will talk...and you can choose to read or not. :)

So...I realized just now that I really like to start every paragraph with "So". I wonder if that is what I do when I'm actually talking too???....hmmm.....

Anyway, (ha ha)...Since it's been so long since I've really taken more than 3 minutes to write, I feel like I have a MILLION things I want to say. Let me just give you a few major high-lights.

1) March 4th...one of the best days I've had in a while. Most of you know that on January 1st, 2009, I lost my 1.25 carat princess cut engagement ring along with the .5 carat wedding band that went with it. My heart was shattered and for over 2 years now, I've been without a diamond on my finger (although I did wear a plain gold band to signify my married status). All of my closest friends have heard me beg, plead and whine about wanting a new ring pretty much non-stop. Because I knew we were saving up for it, I knew the time was coming. Since March 28th is our anniversary (13 years!), I sort of expected that MAYBE that would be the day I would finally have a rock on my hand again. But...on a regular Friday morning (March 4th), I got up, threw on an old sweatshirt, baseball cap, jeans and raggedy tennis shoes and hopped in the car to go run some errands before my fitness class later on. To my surprise, Matt took off work and decided to go with me. That was unexpected...but NOTHING like when he pulled into the parking lot of Israel Diamond and said, "well babe, I got a bonus check at work and here is $X,XXX in cash and you can go pick out whatever ring you want right now!" O to the M to the G! I was in shock. Seriously, I didn't even know how to react. Long story short, I left with a beautiful round, vintage diamond and a gigantic smile! :)

2) March 28th...the actual anniversary date. Every year we try to take some kind of a trip on our anniversary-just the 2 of us-to reconnect as a couple. And when I say reconnect...I mean a LOT of serious CONNECT-ing. :) It's a special time for us that we look forward to every year because let's face it...with 2 kids, work, sports, church, family, etc....there just isn't a lot of time for THAT kind of intimacy at home. On these trips we spend ALL DAY LONG giving each other our undivided attention. We wake up when we feel like it, then we drink our coffee usually outside while we enjoy the sound of nature, read our Bibles and enjoy the uninterrupted presence of God and each other. We'll eat breakfast and then maybe take a nap. Spend the afternoon outdoors usually--walking leisurely through small boutiques or maybe down a trail to the lake while we throw a few lines in at the fish. We talk and dream and LISTEN. There are no distractions and after an early lunch/dinner, we settle in by the fireplace in our jammies and let the wonderful day we've just had culminate into a beautiful celebration of love that lasts hours longer than the average 7 minutes we spend on it at home.
As you can see...it is the reinforcing thread that hold our marriage together and preserves our sanity for the next year. To not have it...would be....dangerous. Sometimes this trip is big and exciting (like the year we took the 7 day Carribean cruise or the year we went to Big Cedar Lodge with the honeymoon package ) and some years it is extremely small (like the year we got a motel room in our OWN TOWN and pretended we were somewhere far away).
This year.....was a DUD. I won't go into detail because who really wants to hear negative stuff anyway right? But I will just say that what might have turned out to be a decent trip ended in cold, rainy days that couldn't be enjoyed outdoors, a gross hotel room that was moldy and didn't even have the fireplace we were promised online...and we were accompanied (unexpectedly-last minute change) by our 2 wonderful children who were bored out of their minds to be stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do. Pooooopy! That's all I can say about that. I am looking for some way, some how to save up enough cash to take a replacement trip sometime soon so we can have this time that we desperately need. Still...on March 28th, amidst whiny children, rain and mold, we celebrated our 13th anniversary and I couldn't be more in love with Matt Jones than if he were a buffet of my favorite foods. :) (that's saying a lot!)

3) On Friday, April 8th, I reached a personal goal of having over 30 people attend my fitness classes in a week. It's not anything I've talked publicly about really, but just a small goal I had, a stepping stone of proof that my business is growing. I actually had 36 people total...but some of them aren't paying customers (for example: my mom, Matt, Brooklyn and the owner of the building) so I don't count them in my #'s. Speaking of.....yes! Brooklyn has been attending my classes! I am so proud of her! She is doing GREAT!

4) I just finished reading "What Are You Waiting For? : The One Thing No One Ever Tells You About Sex" by author Dannah Gresh. It is for young women who aren't married yet. It was a page-turner though and answered a question I've had from the day I got married (13 years now). It's crazy that all this time I've thought my body was dysfunctional only to find out the problem was a result of something I did as a teenager! I highly recommend this book to all women. Even if you've been married for years....it will certainly shed a whole new light on what it really means to "lie with" your spouse!

Well, I think that is about it. I'd love to take a whole paragraph and tell you about how Brooklyn hit a homerun in her softball game the other night, but I understand that is not really THAT AWESOME unless you are her parent or her grandparent...so I won't go into it. I'll just say that it was an enormous deal for us. Brooklyn has never had a home run and quite frankly, I don't think she ever, in her wildest dreams, expected to. I shed tears of joy at watching her plow through those bases with such abandon and force. I knew it was going to be one of the best days of her childhood! A memory she would carry long into her adult years! :)

I guess before I end, I will touch on the subject of my health and fitness, since I AM doing this post on my P90X blog. I admit though, I'm leery of "going there" today. You know how it is...some days you just aren't "feeling it" and today....BLAH.
At the beginning of my fitness classes (Feb. 8th) I was at 140 pounds. Not great seeing as how just the month before I had won a weight loss challenge and lost down to 135. BUT...I did take a few weeks off (between when I got fired from the gym and when I started my classes) and I basically soothed the pain with junk food. (the oldest mistake in the book!)
After about 2-3 weeks of classes and I hadn't dropped any weight, I decided to start drinking Shakeology seriously. I figured if I am selling this stuff and telling people how great it is, I should really give it a try. So I did...and within about 3-4 weeks, I lost that 5 pounds. I've been sitting comfortably at 135 again now for a while...until I got on the scale yesterday and it said 137. {{BIG SIGH.....}} I'm so sick of chasing a number. My goal has been 125 for almost SEVEN years now. Do you know how exhausting it is to reach for something that is SO close for 7 years but never attain it?
Again, I'm split...half of me wants to say WTHECK...WHATEVER...WHO CARES! and the other half of me says NO! I CAN DO THIS! I WILL DO THIS! It is a war within and honestly the winning side switches about as often as the wind changes direction. :-/
I do know this much, I need to get to around 133, at least, if I want to be able to wear my summer shorts/capris without gasping for breath every time I sit down. I tried them on last week (when our temps reached 90!!) and it was not good. You know your pants are too tight when you take them off and there is a red line where every seam, button and thread was! :(
Thankfully, I have the tools and support I need to make these changes and get the results I want. :)

So....that's it. That's me today. I'd love to hear how you are. Leave me a big old long comment. It's cool. It would probably make my heart skip a beat to know that some of you haven't given up on me and my blog! :)
Have a great Friday and weekend! :)

I am seriously missing this blog. I have got to make some time to do it. I sure wish there was a way I could do it while I sit at softball practice for 1 1/2 hours twice a week....but no wifi. :(
Anyway, just wanted to say, I miss you all!

The Good Life :)

Well, it’s about TIME for an update, wouldn’t ya say?!? Yikes! I’m sure it goes without saying that I’ve been busy! But wow! WHAT FUN this has been!
First things first: My Cross Training Fitness classes at Impact are going great! I’ve had about 25 different people come, most of which have all become “regulars”. AWESOME! I still miss my girls from the gym a lot and it’s bittersweet when I realize that by teaching so many classes myself now, I probably will NEVER get to go back to my old classes….but I know I’m where I’m supposed to be. Hopefully they can come visit ME sometime!

Also, more exciting news is that with all the success the classes have had, we’ve decided to add MORE! My good friend, Jaime, started teaching a 6 am boot camp class this week on Monday’s and Wednesday’s and will eventually add Friday’s too! Today was her first class and she had 4 people! That is fantastic!! It’s going to be fun working with her and I’m excited to see where God is going to take Cross Training Fitness in the future!
Another thing I’m excited about, which leads me to my next topic, is….

I am finally breaking the plateau I’ve seemed to be stuck at for quite a while now! Between using Shakeology (almost) daily and doing hour-long workouts 6 days a week, my body is starting to respond and that is pretty exciting! And even MORE than that, is the success that people in my classes are having! It is so rewarding to hear people saying that they are losing weight, having more energy, feeling better about themselves and getting stronger!!! What a blessing!
As you can imagine, my workouts with TurboFire have been put on hold. As much as I love it and I really DO WANT to do it, I just can’t push my body any harder than I already am. I have taken a lot of what I learned in the first month of doing though and put those moves into my workouts. It’s so fun to have the variety, intensity and coreography from P90X, Insanity and TurboFire to use to make up my unique routines!

Another thing that is going great is Beachbody Coaching. At the beginning of this year I was at a “turning point” with that whole thing…and was pretty much like-I’m going to give this one last shot and if it doesn’t work out, I’m done. Well, it turns out that all it took was me to get serious about it and actually TRY at it a little and things started moving right along. Every week I experience more success and now my coach, Carla, is well on the road to catching up to me. We've started offering a 3-day Shakeology Cleanse for $45, which is a great chance to try Shakeology without spending a lot and people are LOVING this option. You get 9 individual packets and can either drink 3 per day for 3 days (as a cleanse) or you can drink 1 per day for 9 days and just see how Shakeology works on a daily basis.

I know some people probably think of this part of my life (coaching) just as something I do to make extra money and something that might be a nuisance (if you get tired of hearing about it)…but if you only understood how great it is to be able to help people (through coaching) from all over the US. Many times it also works into a ministry opportunity too, which is the ultimate blessing!

Anyway, that’s about it for me right now! I’m sorry I’ve been away from blogging for so long. Even though I don’t get a chance to write very often, I still thoroughly enjoy it and intend to keep blogging just as much as I can. Please let me know if there are ever any questions I can answer for you!
Love, Jen

The Whole Scoop

Okay, if you are one of my wonderful, regular readers that don't live in my town...this post will probably bore you.
BUT...if you are here because you are checking out "The Whole Scoop" on my Cross Training Fitness classes...then READ ON! :)

Here's the dealio:

Class Schedule:
Mondays 6:30-7:30 pm Intense Interval
Tuesdays 9:00-10:00 am Bikini Bootcamp
Wednesdays 9:00-10:00 am Hardbody Weightlifting
Thursdays 9:00-10:00 am Bikini Bootcamp
Fridays 4:30-5:30 pm Bootcamp/Hardbody Mix (**beginning 3/4)
Saturdays 9:00-10:00 Intense Interval
Sundays: REST! :)

Class Description:

Intense Interval: Rotate between lifting weights and cardio intervals. We will spend about 5 minutes on one muscle group (lifting) and then do a 1-2 minute cardio drill and then move onto the next muscle group (lifting) and so on.

Bikini Bootcamp: No bikini required! :) This is a full hour of cardio. Everything from squats, jumps, lunges, kicks, punches, planks, etc. Come and watch the fat MELT away!

Hardbody Weightlifting: No fast-paced cardio, we will focus on sculpting the major muscle groups of the body. (Chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings and core). Adding muscle speeds up the metabolism and gives your body SHAPE!

Bootcamp/Hardbody Mix: This class will use the first 30 minutes to get your body sweating with crazy cardio. Then the last 30 minutes we will max out each major muscle group in the body with weights. Plan to use heavier than normal weights here...we won't do many reps. (12-16 on average)

Important Information for all classes:
*SHOES: We are blessed to be using this wonderful facility that has amazing shock-absorbing mats on the floor. In order to maintain good care of the mats, we need to carefully check our shoes before we begin, making sure to clean out any dirt, gum, rocks, stickers, etc. The best thing would be to have special shoes you ONLY use for working out that you can just bring with you and change into.
ALSO---If you are using old, worn out tennis shoes to work out in, I HIGHLY suggest you invest in some good, supportive shoes. We do a lot of jumping and your feet and legs NEED proper support and shock-absorption. The brand of shoe isn't important, just make sure the fit is good.

*PRICE: All classes are $5.00. Everytime you attend a class, you get a punch in your punchcard and the 10th class is FREE. Also, bring a friend to class for the first time and you get DOUBLE PUNCHED! Also...

*COMING SOON: Pay-by-the-month option! Some people have asked about paying by the month and I think that is a fabulous idea. Beginning March 1st, I will offer a flat rate of $55/month. That is HALF-PRICE (a savings of $55) if you paid for each class individually.

*FOR SALE: I currently have P90X Recovery Drink single-serving packets as well as P90X Protein bars for sale. They will eventually be priced at $2 each, but right now they are only $1 each. This is a great price and a wonderful way for you to sample the products before you buy.

*HANDWEIGHTS: I am slowly buying more and more sets of handweights to keep up at the studio for you all to use. However, in the meantime, you will need to bring your own handweights to all classes except Bikini Bootcamp. Ideally everyone would have a "light" and "heavy" set of weights. "Light" is usually 3-5 pounds for girls and 5-10 pounds for guys. "Heavy" is usually 8-12 pounds for girls and 12-20 pounds for guys. Of course, everyone is at different levels, so listen to YOUR body! If any of you have a set of weights you don't want anymore, let me know, I want them! :)

*SPREAD THE WORD!: As of right now, I am relying solely on word-of-mouth getting the news about these classes out. I am working on a banner, flyers, etc. to post around town but anything you can do to help me get the word out, is highly appreciated! :)

*CHILDCARE: There is not supervised childcare. However, there is a small play area for kids in the back corner. On Saturdays and during evening classes, my daughter comes to help play with and entertain the kids. She is not disciplining or babysitting, but I do pay her a small amount to help keep the kids happy and busy.

*FEEDBACK: It is wonderful to hear your comments and suggestions regarding these classes. I am here for YOU. I want to serve you and do whatever I can to help you get in great shape and live a happy, healthy life. Please feel free to say anything to me that you think would make this program better!

*FITNESS LEVEL: It doesn't matter if you are very overweight, completely out of shape, extremely fit, a professional athlete, young or old, these classes ARE FOR YOU. I will always show multiple levels of intensity so that EVERYONE can workout at their own level. Please, please, PLEASE don't think that you can't do it. You CAN! Don't let the start stop you!

*Wanna do this AT HOME?: Everything we do in our classes comes from one of Beachbody's AMAZING fitness programs. P90X, Insanity and TurboFire are the main programs I use and have had phenomenal results with. (Just ask me to see mine and Matt's before pictures if you want to see the proof!!) I am a coach for Beachbody and I sell these programs. I love working out together in a group, that is why I am doing these classes, but for anytime you can't make it to the gym for class, don't want to, etc....you NEED one of these programs at home. Check out my Beachbody website for info on the products and how to order! www.beachbodycoach.com/onetoughgirl (you can also see my before and after pics there and read my testimony!)

*WHAT ABOUT NUTRITION?: I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. However, I DO know how to lose weight and eat healthy and I would LOVE to help you! I know what works because it has worked for me and my family and tons of my friends. I can help you with recipes and snack ideas as well as important supplements for boosting your health. Number one thing I will suggest for everyone is an AMAZING super-food shake called SHAKEOLOGY. I drink it every day and it makes me feel terrific. There are a million things I could say about it, but just ask me for more info or go to my SHAKEOLOGY website! One thing I will NOT do is ever make you feel pressured to buy anything! I am only here to help you find what you are looking for. I am not a salesman and hope I never come across that way.

*CANCELED CLASS?: If Coweta Public Schools are closed for inclement weather, class will be canceled. If you are ever unsure, you can always check my facebook page for the latest information. In the event that I am sick or unable to instruct, I do have a couple of wonderful substitute instructors to fill in. Again...that will be posted on facebook.

*CONTACT INFO: There are numerous ways for you to get in touch with me.
Impact Martial Arts Studio website is www.impacttkd.com
Friend me on Facebook: Jennifer Jones
My Beachbody Coach website: www.beachbodycoach.com/onetoughgirl
My fitness blog: www.p90xourjourney.blogspot.com
My email: jennimatt10@hotmail.com
My phone #: 918-697-6086
Impact Martial Arts phone #: 918-384-8393

Fitness Classes!!!

Hey Guys! Well....I am SO EXCITED to announce that I will be instructing fitness classes in my town beginning on Feb. 8th!
Here is the schedule:
Tue 9-10 am: Bootcamp
Wed 9-10 am: Pump
Thur 9-10 am: Bootcamp
Sat 9-10 am: Interval
This place has wonderful facility with mirrors, bathrooms, awesome flooring AND a play area for children with toys and a TV/DVD.
The owner said "You just wouldn't believe what perfect timing this is!" and I thought...OH YES I WOULD! God's timing is PERFECT!

If I have good reception with these classes, I also have the ability to add a Monday evening and Friday evening class. (6:30-7:30).

Anyone who attends the pump or interval class will need to bring their own set of hand weights. For girls I suggest 5, 8 or 10 pounds and for guys 12, 15 or 20 pounds. There is a weight-area where we can leave our weights if we want.

Classes are $5 each. I will be providing each person with a punchcard. After 10 punches, you get a free class.

Let me know if any of you have any questions or suggestions and also let me know if you plan on coming!! AND PLEASE PASS THE WORD AROUND TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!!

I am beyond excited at how God is working all of this out!

One last thing...I am trying to think of a creative name for my business...something that involves fitness and also lets people know I'm a Christian. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!
Love you all,
Jen

Bootcamp: Cardio class. (jumping, squats, push ups, lunges, jacks, punches, kicks)
Pump: Weightlifting. Will focus on all major muscle groups (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings and core/abs)
Interval: Alternating between weights and cardio. 5 minutes cardio/3 minutes weights.

Ps. If any of you are local and want to know where it's at...just message me! :) Husbands are welcome too! :)

Beachbody Bargains!

Just wanted to be sure I let all of you know about the sale that is going on at Beachbody right now! For a limited time you can order the P90X Results and Recovery Drink and the Peak Protien Bars for a great discounted price. I'm not sure of the exact (to the penny) cost...but I think the Recovery Drink is around $25 right now (instead of $50) and the Protien bars are around $15 instead of $23. So, if you've been thinking about ordering some or want to try it...this is the time! Be sure to order using this link : http://beachbodycoach.com/onetoughgirl (fyi: if you don't order using that above link, I will NOT get credit for your purchase, unless I am already currently your Beachbody coach. If I'm not your coach....I would love to be!)

Ps. fyi: The Recovery Drink is a orange-y tasting drink that you use after a workout to help relieve soreness and restore energy for the next workout.

Don't stop eating when you feel full...

STOP SOONER!

We all grew up thinking (or at least I did) that as long as we stop eating when we feel full, then we've done good. But something our elders failed to teach us, is that it takes a good 15-20 minutes for what you've eaten to register with your body....So by the time you start to think "Man, I feel full" you probably should've stopped 15 minutes ago! Yikes! (okay maybe not exactly...but you get what I'm saying!?!)
Surely I'm not the only one who, while sitting at a restaurant with friends, suddenly feels the need to be wheeled out in a wheelchair because I feel like I'm gonna be sick if I move. How many millions of times have I said to myself "WHY did you let yourself eat so much?" "I should've quit a LONG time ago!!" "Being a little bit hungry is a zillion times better than being over-full!" Ugh!

Well, now that I'm back to eating food for fuel rather than pleasure, and monitoring my portion sizes, I'm remembering what it's like to stop eating BEFORE I'm full. And its actually rather enjoyable. With this TurboFire nutrition plan, I never get that "FULL" feeling. Instead, I may actually leave the table still feeling like I want more. But that is your mind playing tricks on you!! Don't fall for it! Wait 15-20 minutes (or probably even as few as five minutes) and see how you feel. I almost ALWAYS feel satisfied. And THAT my friends, is what you're after!
And furthermore...are we really going to sit back and allow ourselves to be RULED by our feelings? EVEN IF I don't feel full OR satisfied, if I've just eaten an apple and 1 tbsp. of almond butter then I know I've had a very ample and nutritious snack and that is that. My feelings aren't going to dictate to me that I need more...and neither are my tastebuds. I'm the boss!! :)

Let's brainstorm some ideas of ways we can stop this over-eating phenomenon! Here are my top 10:

1) At home, ACTUALLY MEASURE your portion sizes. I know...you're dirtying up measuring cups that you'll have to wash. Boo! I agree. BUT...after a few times of doing this, you'll be able to eye-ball it and stay within recommended portion sizes. FYI: Your plate should be divided up into 3 parts. 1/2 is for veggies. 1/4 is for lean protien. 1/4 is for good carbs. If you're filling up your plate and thinking "this is never gonna be enough" that's okay. Just tell yourself that you'll eat this much to start with...then wait 5-10 minutes. If you're still hungry, you can refill the veggies half of your plate! :)

2) At a restaurant, split your entree with someone!

3) At a restaurant, ask the waiter to bring you a to-go box when he brings out your food and immediately put half in a container. Not only will you be getting 2 meals for the price of one, you will keep yourself from eating enough food for 2 people at one setting!

4) At home, eat off a smaller plate. It has been proven that we automatically FILL our plates. So it's pretty simple math that if you have a 10" diameter plate you'll fill it with less food than you would a 14" plate. I eat off the same plates my kids use a lot of the time.

5) Before any meal, drink a glass of water...and possibly even eat a snack. Especially when I know we are going out and I am probably going to be eating something not super-healthy, I will eat a banana before we leave or drink a large glass of ice water. You are taking up space with something healthy and therefore...you instantly have less room for chips and queso (or bread
and olive oil) or whatever your favorite appetizer food is!

6) At a restaurant: Seat yourself AWAY from the freebies. Or, move the freebies out of your reach. It is much less convenient to eat the free chips and salsa if you have to reach across the table everytime. When it's right in front of your nose, you will eat them mindlessly without ever noticing. You'd be AMAZED at how many tortilla chips ONE PERSON can put away when basket after basket are set down in front of you!!

7) Chew and chew and chew. Ideally, you will chew 20 times per bite. I've counted and tried this...and that is about 13 more chews than I normally do. Slow the heck down! Eat intentionally...and make sure your mind realizes what you're doing. I've actually been so busy some days that I had to mentally think and try to remember if I ate lunch or not!!!

8) Put your fork down! The majority of people load their fork for the next bite while they're still chewing the one they JUST put in their mouth. Watch around at restaurants. People everywhere will be chewing while they hold their fork a mere inch away from their mouth...just hovering there while they wait for the swallow and re-load. :) Put that fork down, drink your water, again...slow down. :)
.
9) At a restaurant: Sabatoge your dinner. I don't personally recommend or use this technique because I don't believe in wasting...but if you just have to....ruin your food. When you've eaten an adequate amount, dump salt or sugar or salsa or whatever is handy on your plate on the remainder of your food. It's childish, yes...but hey, sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do! At least you will guarantee yourself that you won't just keep sitting there and picking at it!

10) Don't order your favorite entree. I know that sounds crazy, but if you order something that is healthy but isn't your favorite...the chances of you going over-board stuffing yourself are MUCH LESS. Matt always says when I'm cooking super-healthy "well, at least we'll be guaranteed to lose weight. Not only is the food healthy...but it's not very tasty so we aren't tempted to over-eat!" I know that is NOT a compliment :)...but he's right. It's a lot easier to leave steamed broccoli on my plate than it is crispy french fries!

So, do you have any other suggestions we can add to the list? I'd love to hear them!