You can have a Healthy, Happy, Fit and Fun Holiday Season Beginning with Thanksgiving!

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About a year ago I embarked on a fitness journey like no other I've been on before. Yes, right before Thanksgiving. Crazy, right? Not really. It actually made perfect sense. What better time to prove to myself that I had the discipline and the will power to meet my fitness goals? I'd also been down this road before during the holiday season and knew that with the knowledge I had gained previously, the awesome group of women in an online accountability group, and the structured program with so many tools available to me that I would be successful without feeling deprived.

A year later, I have a very keen interest in health, fitness & nutrition. I want to share that with others.  So much so that I am studying to get a certification as Personal Trainer, not as new career, but to aid in my confidence in helping others.  

So how did all of this start?

A year after my daughter was born, I was still at my post-birth weight and very much in denial about it. I rarely got on the scale but knew my clothes fit differently-I figured things had just shifted a little, I'm a mom now, it's normal. When I went to my annual doctor visit she gently noted my weight being the same and recommended that I join her at a weight loss group meeting the following week. I went and loved it! I was very successful on the program, including through the holiday season, continuing my 2 lb per week average weight loss.

Through the years, like most, I've gained back some weight here and there, then lost it again.
I've had some very successful holiday seasons with maintaining my weight, some years gaining and even some other years where I've actually lost weight!

In those years where I've maintained or even lost weight, I never felt deprived. Believe me. I've eaten it all-cookies, pies, mashed potatoes, cheesy casseroles, chocolate desserts, candy, and discovered some fabulous new treats along the way!

I've created two downloads specifically for this Thanksgiving and Black Friday that share a few of my favorite survival tips for these two days.

You can sign up below to receive these as well as links to some of my other favorite thanksgiving strategies and recipes.

I also invite you to join me starting Monday November 28 for a five week holiday High Five challenge. More information on this, including how to join us, will be sent to you with your free Thanksgiving and Black Friday tips!

Join Us by Clicking Here!

3 Day Refresh® Day 2 recap

Today was both harder and easier in many ways.   I was at work, with a fairly light client and meeting schedule, and I knew by mid-day I was half-way through the 3 days!   Scheduling my meals, snacks and drinks was a bit easier, however because I was able to put a little more time than the minimum hour between "feedings" I did feel a bit hungry here and there.  I also attribute this to the choices I made from the lists. I started my day with black coffee again-I just can't give it up!   For breakfast I had chocolate Shakeology®  and my fruit portion choice was half a banana, which I ate "ala carte" as I'm not a fan of bananas blended in to anything. Half a banana is not a lot of food, but I should not complain too much as I generally only have the Shakeology® for breakfast, adding blueberries just a few days a week.  

Lunch, which I neglected to snap a pic of, was a veggie portion of green beans, (12) which I sauteed in a healthy fat portion (1 tsp) of olive oil and seasoned with fresh garlic.  My fruit portion was a half cup of grapes.  12 green beans and a half cup of grapes pales in comparison to yesterday's 3 cups of romaine and 12 strawberries-and I was feeling it!  Of course this made drinking my water easy as I needed something to fill me up! 

After work I took a 2.5 mile walk--I would normally do this same route in 5 minute running intervals, but heeded the plan's advice and opted not to do anything too strenuous.  Although I was not feeling the extreme fatigue that I have read many who do the 3 Day Refresh® experience, my walking speed was slower than usual, and no matter how much I tried, I simply could not pick up the pace! This also replaced the 21 Day Fix® Total Body Cardio workout that I would normally do on Monday. 

Afternoon snack (which I had as we were prepping dinner) was hummus with a half-portion of red peppers and a half-portion of cucumbers- hummus with veggies is a snack that regularly appears on my meal plans, as does yesterday's guacamole, and generally as part of meal prep. 

Dinner was "Kale with Pine Nuts" from the Dinner Recipes and a cup of broth with basil and parsley. Kale is also a regular menu item for us so we didn't have to cook two separate meals once again-the only difference was in the final prep of my portion of the kale-and the pine nuts were a great treat!  

I went to bed satisfied, yet not stuffed, and have been sleeping rather soundly.  Two down, one to go!

  

3 Day Refresh® Day 1 recap

Being a rainy Sunday, I got a bit of a late start.  I did have black coffee as I had not "weened" myself in the days leading up to my start.  Plus, it was a rainy Sunday and one of my favorite parts of Sunday (or any day ;-)) is lounging in bed with my first cup.  Anyway, enough about coffee! 

Because of my late, lazy morning, I had a bit of trouble fitting in all the meals and snacks and drinks at the appropriate times, which lead to me feeling especially full, which I guess is a good thing!  

Lunch

Breakfast was one of my fav BeachBody® combos-strawberry Shakeology® with my morning 3 Day Refresh® fruit portion of frozen blueberries blended in.  

Lunch was an amazing salad with romaine and strawberries.   I tossed the lettuce in the "healthy fat" portion of olive oil along with red wine vinegar, a little water, basil and few other spices and herbs from the "Guilt-Free Flavorings" section of the plan. I opted to toss the lettuce rather than pour/drizzle the dressing on as 3 cups of lettuce to 1 tsp of olive oil, even when mixed with other ingredients, is not much. It coated the lettuce very  nicely. 

Dinner

Afternoon snack was celery with mashed avocado that I seasoned to be much more like my beloved guacamole. 

Dinner was the fabulous dinner recipe of "Roasted Asparagus with Almonds" with a cup of veggie broth seasoned with basil and parsley. 

Overall, 1 day in, it is not difficult to follow and so far, I am not feeling deprived as I am very motivated, plus the portions are fairly ample--The meal plans are not much different from what and how I usually eat, with the exception of not adding lean proteins to my meals as well as the regimented meal and snack spacing through the day.  

Now for the starting "stats" and "before" pic (here is where it gets real!):
Weight: 136.6
Body Fat: 29.1
Body Water: 51.7
Bone Density: 5.3
BMI: 25.1
Measurements:
Waist: 33
Hips: 38.5
Chest: 36
Right Arm: 11
Left Arm: 11
Right Thigh: 21
Left Thigh: 21

Please check out the latest post on my "main blog" if you are interested in learning more about my "why"!  

http://theprimadonnaprincess.blogspot.com/2016/06/this-is-it-it-stops-now.html

Welcome!

Welcome to my "other" blog!  The focus here is specifically on health and fitness as part of personal style.  

It's not about fitting into that size 0 or 2- it's about being healthy overall as well as looking and feeling your best, no matter your size or age.  

For the next few weeks, I'm going to get a little self-indulgent while I focus on my journey getting back to good health.   I need the accountability and hopefully I may inspire others to join me.  

My goal for now will be daily posts of my fitness activities and nutrition, along with even including my weight, measurements and  other "metrics". Eek Ghads!  Yes! I really am going to share THAT much!  I'll even be including pics!  YES, I DO need THAT kind of accountability!  

For a little "background" on my "why", I invite you to read my latest post on my "main" blog: http://theprimadonnaprincess.blogspot.com/2016/06/this-is-it-it-stops-now.html?m=1