Bring the Joy inMay
Last letter I promised I’d give a good recount of the Ultimate Reset I just finished. I’ve been looking for the right words for the experience and have been struggling to find them. It was amazing and truly eye opening!
There’s a saying “abs are made in the workout, but show up in the kitchen.” Well, I didn’t get defined abs…yet…but that truthfully wasn’t my goal. I did however lose a lot of anxiety, self doubt, and gained more defined arms, and back muscles, confidence, and a heck of a better relationship with my food in just 21 days.
I’ve been living in an awful plateau for over a year now. As well as having so many energy and exhaustion issues amongst other symptoms. Back in December I really started fighting to find out what could be the cause of this. And after a few rounds of blood work and doctors appointments March brought me the diagnosis of hypothyroidism. And at that point, much like how all my GI issues had brought me to living a healthier lifestyle, becoming a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, as well as a beachbody coach almost 4 years ago. I wanted to jump into this new hurdle and life long challenge with helping my body as much as possible. Enter….the Ultimate Reset. The first week was very similar to my normal eating plan… just upping those veggie servings. Week two meant no dairy or meat/animal proteins and was fully Vegan. Then week three was similar to week two, but my beans and grains went away and the veggie count went up again.
This reset was co-created by Darin Olien, Author of Superlife, co-creator of Shakeology, co-host of Down to Earth on Netflix with Zac Efron, and Superfood hunter extraordinaire! Let’s just say he is a source and knowledge base I trust completely and he backs all of it with science! It’s truly about living healthy from the inside-out and that’s the life I want!
A few things I learned:
- My body doesn’t actually need animal protein to be sufficient in protein. Yes, I am still eating meat proteins, but not daily or multiple times a day like I was prior to the reset. I’m also not “fearful” of carbs and have a much better understanding of how they react to my body and which ones I can eat more of and fuel my body well with.
- I enjoy a lot more veggies than I thought I did and just needed to be shown how to make them taste good (I got a full recipe book for every meal for this 3 weeks).
- The more I eat like this the less sugar, sweets, salts, etc. cravings I have.
- I did this reset over Easter, and while having a game night with friends… You are stronger than the excuses and temptations when you are fully satisfied inside your body. It’s literally never the “right time” in life to change something or do more to help yourself live a better life. So why wait and wait for that perfect moment. Just jump in and keep moving forward!
- Confidence is truly a state of mind! And feeling effing amazing on the inside from restoring you body “back to factory settings” will boost your joy, happiness, and confidence! I truthfully cannot put into words how good I feel! How well my clothes fit. It’s super weird…but I’m choosing to wear jeans most days of the week because they are comfy again! (Who am I?!?)
- I was NEVER hungry. This was not about limiting caloric intake or juicing all your food. It was a whole food nutrition reset! I ate SO MUCH FOOD! Peep my Instagram highlights for all the food pictures. So yummy! So much in quantity! So satisfying!
Food isn’t the enemy… I believe it’s our emotional tie that we have to food that sets us up for challenges and bad relationships with our food. Life is meant to be LIVED and ENJOYED! And having a cookie or ice cream isn’t going to make you “unhealthy”, what we have to focus on is mental health, our mindset, and how we feel. Fueling our bodies for success will look different for everyone, it truly will! But many people will benefit from the same program or tips and tricks because many of our bodies are nutrient deficient. My macro-nutrient count has changed with the reset and I’m keeping that change for now. I eat more “carbs” but my carbs are coming from fruits, veggies, grains, and beans. Not from bread daily, or starchy carbohydrates, or sugar, or sweet treats daily. Therefore I can eat more of that category and have my body feel so much better than it was before with daily toast, noodles, and a cookie. This reset has changed they way I view my carbohydrates and my food intake. I have a better relationship with it because eating isn’t emotional for me, even a treat. It’s enjoying life and eating what I want, while keeping how I feel inside my skin and body as the priority. If I don’t feel well internally, I don’t feel as confident, sleep well, or overflow joy from my heart. When I do feel well, I can be a better me, better mom, better wife, better coach, and overflow that good feeling out to others around me. That’s my goal always!
I urge you to consider really tracking how you feel with your daily choices. How one can effect your mood, or confidence. How eating healthier 80% of the time can make you feel like you are running the world while still enjoying all the world has to offer that other 20%. You don’t have to eliminate a bunch of things or be crazy strict with a crash diet. It won’t last, it’s not sustainable. But a few small changes over time done consistently will set you up for lasting, incredible success in your health! It will change the way you feel on the inside and allow you to live a more free and joy-filled life outwardly to others. And isn’t that what our world needs some more of? More joy! More life enjoyment! More feeling amazing in our own bodies!
Reading: The Energy Bus. Our team did a book club last month and I just finished this book with them. It was so good! Fast, easy read. Read like a novel, but it’s personal development. Check it out! It’s by John Gordon.
Another great read is an article from a blog I do visit frequently (there’s only two I will actually read. And this is one of them). It’s about fostering body positivity for yourself. As you read above. I truly believe in my heart and mind that life should be LIVED and ENJOYED! This is done through treating our bodies well, with respect, loving them for all that they do, and in turn doing good for our body. We are only given one life, and we should cherish it! I workout and eat well because of what it allows my body to do for me in life and allows for me to get more out of life.
Article: How to Foster Body Positivity
Eating: Still rocking my Ultimate reset meals. I am in love with the recipes I had for those three weeks. I eat a GIANT salad at lunch filled with 2-3 cups of cut romaine lettuce, 1/2 of a cucumber, and 1/2 of a tomato, topped with some pine nuts or pumpkin seeds, and 2 Tbsp. of creamy garlic dressing I make in my blender in less than 5 minutes.
Here are two of my favorite recipes from the Reset for you to try at home:
1. Sweet Potato and Roasted Red Pepper Bisque.
2. Creamy Garlic Dressing.
They are amazing!
Workouts: Starting TODAY! (Monday, May 3rd) My whole team has a group of over 50 women and men participating in our newest program “Let’s Get Up!”. Created by Shaun T; who is my favorite super trainer and person to follow on Instagram currently. He’s real, authentic, lives for himself and his family, doesn’t care what others think, and will be bringing ALL THE JOY to your living room for the month and more! Check out the sample workout and if you do want in on this program… or over 80 other programs and over 1,500 workouts for less than 27 cents a day send me an email and we will hook you up! Plus then you also get FREE access to our virtual studio and our team of coaches, support, tips, and more 24/7! (Okay shameless plug over!… but seriously check out the sample and if it’s your thing…tag me if you post it to social media.)
Doing: We are all still locked down over here with stores and restaurants closed, but we’ve been enjoying playing outside in the yard with our daughter. She’s in soccer once a week which is simply organized chaos of 2-4 year old kids running around dribbling soccer balls and 45 minutes of pure joy in them all. It’s fun to watch. She also will start pre-ballet next month and she’s excited to dance (que a 2 year old shaking her hips-that’s what happens each time I ask if she wants to do dance classes).
We also have been enjoying local hikes and seeing more castle ruins in our area. The spring weather means I can golf! It’s the first time is 3 years because of mom life and being way to large to swing a club while I was pregnant! I got out twice last week and it was so so relaxing and fun! And biking! Oh my LOVE for biking! Moral of this section…. get outside and enjoy that sunshine!
This is the first month of the main newsletter, so all you’ve missed is the welcome from last month to the new platform and newsletter. The best way to see this welcome is to subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss anything in the future. The Letter will be monthly… meaning you won’t have any spam or email floods that are just annoying! I hate them so I won’t send any of those to you, PROMISE!
May is about bringing Joy back to life…in June we will carry on to what summer will bring and ideas of food and activities for the warmer weather. Family fun and ways to cut through the busyness of life and enjoy being present and intentional.
If you have enjoyed this share it! I’d love to help others I wouldn’t be able to reach on my own!
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To my mother-in-law Barbara Mans: She is a wonderful photographer and has done the images of me for this newsletter and for the branding of my business. She also specializes in senior photoshoots and family photoshoots. Currently her studio is operating out of Mons, Belgium; but for my Germany friends; she is close and is willing to travel.
