Clean Eating

What does a day of CLEAN EATING look like?

If you have been following me at all you know that I've been on my Journey for about 2 years now. It has been up and down, but the key to it is that .. 

"I Keep GOING & I Never Quit".

One of the key elements of getting fit is your eating. If you are anything like me when you eat you often feel guilty.  I would always say, "You so should not be eating that oatmeal right now"....or...."you should NOT be eating that bread. Oh boy, how my world has changed. 

If I told you that you could eat more if you just ate certain types of foods, 

would you try it?

I'm sure you have heard the whole buzz on CLEAN EATING. Honestly, it sounds a lot harder then it is. I will tell you that it takes a little while to really master this eating style and understand why you are eating this way as well. It is hard to break habits. My hardest challenge was learning that I can EAT CARBS. Oh my godness...are you kidding me? Nope....Friends, I'm here to tell you that you can eat carbs :)

Your food groups break down into Carbohydrates, Proteins & Healthy Fats. These are called Macro-nutrients. The balance of your Macros it what makes this all work. There are checks and balances in all of this and the more you workout the more you need to focus on the ratio to use, but for starters...just know these exist is what helped me. 

I want to share with you a day of eating a clean diet and what it looks like. Here is my food intake for yesterday :)

All day I drink - Water, Green Tea and Black Coffee. 

(The Black coffee is new for me, but I'm trying)

7:00 am - 1/2 c Rolled oat

 3/4 C Almond Milk

 Cinnamon to taste

 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 C blueberries

10:00 am - Think Thin Brownie Crunch Protein Bar

1 Low Fat Cheese Stick

12:45  - 2 slices of Whole Grain Bread (Natures Own)

4.5 oz Deli Turkey

Mustard to taste

1 Can of Beats

3:30 - 1 C Fage 0% Yogurt

Cinnamon to taste(I use a lot)

1/2 C Blueberries

5:00 - 8 Triskets

2 oz Deli Ham

Low Fat Cheese Stick

7:00 - 8 oz Boneless Pork Chops

1 sweet potato

9:00 - 1/2 C Fage 0% Greek Yogurt Plain

Cinnamon to taste

1/4 c blueberries

Total Calories 2,047

Carbohydrates-- 213 Grams 41% - Goal 40%

Fat 53 Grams 22% - Goal 25%

Protein 195 grams 37% - Goal 35%

There is a lot involved, but I thought it would be fun to share a really good day for me. Since giving up my glass of wine at night and coffee cream, my macros and calories have been right on target. This is only about 1 week in for me being this strict, but hopefully I will start to see results soon. 

If you want to get started, check out the My Fitness Pal App. That is what I use and it is a great starting point. Check it out! I will post more on the type of foods to eat at a later date, but for now...just start logging your calories to see where you stand! 

Best of Luck! You got this!   -Carrie

Follow my Facebook Page 

Here ---> "Making Healthy Happen"

My New Adventure into the Land of CrossFit

I have not posted in a while as I have kind of been at a stand still. Working out, but feeling stagnant. Yuck. About a month ago I drove past a CrossFit Location in our local town that I had no idea was there. Of course...a light bulb went off in my head :) I started investigating and watching videos on Facebook and yup....I signed up with my son. 

So, I want to share a little bit of my JOURNEY with you on our new Adventure to the new land of CrossFit. Tuesday was my first day with my son. It started off slow as expected. We are learning about the equipment and technique. I learned so many things about my form that I had no idea about. We used the rowing machine which we both loved!! Got my heart rate up quick. We learned a few stretches and at the end we did our first "WOD" (Workout of the day). We had 6 minutes to do 50 Air squats, 40 sit ups and 30 pushups 😁. I was excited.hahaha. My son says...you are way too excited. Hahaa

Here is were the magic happened. When you focused on the full range of motion everything is harder. Who would think 50 air squats, without weights, would be hard?? Yup...struggled at the end. I had a flash back of being in middle school doing our sit-ups for time and struggling on the last 10? Yup..I was struggling. Then Pushups.. Oh my..I have been doing them all wrong. They taught us modifications and I had to modify for all my pushups. My arms were shaking...its insane, but I was enjoying the struggle because I know now I'm going to get so much stronger. So we had 6 minutes..the coach was counting down and I missed finishing by 3 pushups😣 but its OK. I can tell that by doing the pushups correctly my muscles were worked differerntly. The front portion of my shoulders are killing me still! 

To finish this off...in 6 minutes my body was dripping sweat..lol. I could not believe in 6 minutes..I was exhausted and sweatting...I was completely shocked. So day one down and I'm super excited to share my new journey with struggles and accomplishments!!!

Tonight is Day 2! I believe we are going to step into Olympic Weight Lifting :) This is what my son is excited for!!! 

Just remember....Never ever be afraid to try something new!!! Step out of your comfort zone if you want to see results. It is going to take time, but the key is to NEVER STOP! Just keep going!

I started my fitness journey 2 years ago and I still have not reached my goal. I'm going to keep pushing, try new things and I will get there. I know I will!

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Accountability Tip!

I wanted to share this little 

ACCOUNTABILITY Tip with you all :)

Click Here - Check out my Accountibility tip on YOUTUBE

 I never really kept track of what I did for workouts during the week, month or 17 months of my journey. I decided I wanted to keep track of what I was doing so I could see a track record of what I did. 

I love this!

I wrote down every workout that I did for the last two months and it feel so good to look at the calendar and see what you did for the whole month! It is very rewarding!

This is a good way to feel good with yourself if you did your workouts and see that you really are working hard, or maybe to say to yourself...I'm not getting results and it may be due to not being as accountable and committed as I should be. 

SEPTEMBER is just starting out! Get your calendar..get some fun markers and start coloring in that calander with all of your progress! 

You got this!

Self Control

We are in control! Yes..we are! You may feel at times that you are not in control...in many areas of our lives, but we are. Last night was Derek's 15th Birthday... my baby boy is growing up :( We had a little cake. I was on track all day and I was not going to let cake stop me, but I wanted a bite! Is one bite going to kill me? No! So I cut a really small piece and ate 1/2 of it. It was enough for me to join in on the fun, get a taste and not feel guilty. Now...you may not be there yet! That being said there are times when everyone is eating cookies and I say nope...because one is not enough! We have all been there. Get stubborn. Sometimes you need to just not take a bite because you know in your heart that you are going to want more and not tasting it makes it a lot easier on you. It is hard to not take that bite, but harder to not take another! So...special night last night...I took that bite :)

I just wanted to share this because we all go through this and one thing that has helped me on my journey is that I don't eat the things I'm not supposed to. I go get some peanuts or something.... 

Hope that helps!

Have a great day guys!

Ok Guys...who is still in the game? Who is feeling discouraged? I'm gonna share my morning...pressed snooze...whined....got up .....laid on the couch...looked at facebook....and said....CARRIE...you are up....stop being a baby and get this shit done! It was hard to push that play button but I did it! Remember.....YOU GOT THIS!

What are your struggles... Are you just not feeling motivated? How can I help? How can we help each other? We must refuse to be the 70%...got it? <3

If you need help getting there...message me!

I love this quote from Sagi Kalev...my Body Beast and Master's Hammer and Chisel Idol! 

My husband and I love this guy and he nailed it right here....it is mind over matter. 

You have to smash that little voice in your head all the time. Even these fitness trainers like 

Sagi Kalev, Tony Horton, Chalene Johnson and Autumn Calabrese that are in 

AMAZING Shape have to battle that little voice! 

We all do! You can too!

Progress feels SO GOOD!

So I have been on my journey for 16 months now and each little step of progress feels so AMAZING!!! Every step of the way has had bumps, but when you notice the PROGRESS it is Awesome!

Yesterday my daughter Brooke and son Derek came to the store with me shopping. We went to Old Navy...love that store! I wanted a few things...a sweat shirt, some jogging pants and maybe a tank top or two :) 

Anyone who has been over weight knows the dressing room battle. You take your clothes off and instantly are depressed. Then you try things on, get more depressed and put everything back and go home almost in tears. I am so happy to say, even thought I still have weight to lose, this battle is slowly coming to an end for me. Women will always have that struggle of clothes not fitting right? BUT.. putting clothes back because they fit weird is not the same as putting clothes back because you can't get them on....who is with me on this?

So, I grabbed the clothes that I'm looking for in a 1X and LG as I want to try them both on to be sure I get the right size and save myself a trip back to the shelf :) LOL.  It is very weird for me to say that everything I bought yesterday was a LARGE. Oh my...I was so excited! I told me daughter..it is very weird to see your reflection in a mirror or window and not say, "God you are so FAT"...now I say...You know what Carrie....you look like an average person now! We will always see flaws in ourselves, but to feel confident again is amazing!

Moral to this story!

Please...don't ever think weight loss and fitness is impossible! It is not. Beachbody has given me the tools I needed for success and it is the first program that I have ever done that gives you EVERYTHING you need to SUCCEED!

-Workout programs that WORK!

-Nutrition plan for success!

-Shakeology-Dense superfood AMAZING Shake!

- Challenge Groups

AND MORE....

These tools will help you SUCCEED! I am telling you.... If you do the work and realize that these changes for health and fitness are a life change, you realize that you are not going to reach these goals in 21 days....it is a life change! The 21 Days gets you into your HEALTHY HABIT!!!  It is going to take time. Then is when you will really be able to succeed! 

Join my Challenge group. We are 21 Days in today and I see some awesome challengers really starting to feel that healthy habit! There are bumps in the road, but we are there to support each other and that is what matters most! 

Thank you Jammin' in July Challengers for all your support

and Determination in our group!!! 

Here is a workout clip :) Have a great Sunday!!!!