My Ultimate Reset: Week 3!

Ok! The results are in! The wait is over! My husband and I have completed all 21 Days of the Ultimate Reset. This was a whole-body makeover...a detox/cleanse that allowed us to eat whole foods and not be hungry. It helped us kick bad habits that were forming- I am no longer drinking coffee in the mornings and my husband has been waking up BEFORE his alarm! If you know him, this is UNHEARD of behavior! Our favorite recipes from this last week have definitely been these two paired with the Mediterranean Roasted Beets that I shared from week 2! It's a delicious dinner that we will be eating often in our home.

And now for the good stuff! I'm sure you want to see our results, right?! You're thinking...enough about the FOOD! How did you do?! How many inches did you lose? Where did you lose those inches? Well, here are our results, folks. I hope they inspire you to try this at least once in your life. It's definitely worth it. And now, I am holding myself accountable to my nutrition and fitness goals from here on out...because I had to work hard to get back to a place I had already come close to before (and with moving I'd let that slip away...) but I am fully committed now to keep going. Brian lost a total of 16.75 inches and 17 pounds! Here are his details:

I lost a total of 5 inches and 10 pounds! Here are my detailed results:

Simply put, the challenge group model held me accountable, having my husband as an accountability partner solidified my success and I am happy with my results and cannot wait to do this again in the spring!!!

My Ultimate Reset Week 2

At the end of week 2 of the Ultimate Reset, I ended up down 8 pounds total! I am super excited because I did have a couple slip-ups (I may have acted in a moment of weakness and stolen a few bites of my daughter's macaroni and cheese). However, overall I have been feeling really great and have thoroughly enjoyed my meals this week. My favorite recipes from this week:

Sweet Potato and Roasted Red Pepper Bisque  Ingredients: 
1 sweet potato (aka garnet yam)
¼ red bell pepper
1 cup vegetable broth or water
1 tsp. finely grated peeled ginger root
1½ tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. miso paste, diluted in 1 tsp. hot water
Tamari or Bragg® Liquid Aminos
Himalayan salt
herbal seasoning (to taste)
Directions: 
Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Cook in boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, roast a whole red bell pepper on gas stovetop or grill, turning frequently until evenly charred on the outside OR in your oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or until skin is charred. Put pepper in bowl and cover with towel for 10 minutes to steam. Clean off skin and seeds by running under cool water. Remove seeds, cut in quarters, and chop one quarter into ½-inch cubes. (Set remainder of pepper aside for another use.) Place sweet potato, pepper, broth or water, ginger, oil, and miso in blender. (If you want chunky soup, set aside some chunks of pepper.) Blend thoroughly, adding more liquid to achieve desired soup consistency. Transfer to a pot and gently heat on low until hot. Add tamari or aminos, salt, and seasoning as desired. Serves 1.
 Nutrition 220 calories 7 g fat 1 g saturated fat 0 mg cholesterol 530 mg sodium 35 g carbohydrate 6 g fiber 3 g protein 509 mg potassium And of course...beets! I knew I liked them, but now I LOVE them!

As always, I hope this has been helpful. My journey hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it!!! I cannot wait to share with you my results and fav. recipes from week 3! If you'd like to order the Ultimate Reset, check it out HERE!

My Ultimate Reset: Week 1

Week one of the Ultimate Reset has been great! I have been on this journey with my husband and today is day 7. I must confess, my husband is doing the full-on reset and I am doing a modified version. Since I am still breastfeeding, I cannot take the supplements. Detoxing will release toxins into my breastmilk (yuck) and so I can’t nurse Sophia AND take the pills. I will do the reset WITH supplements once she is done nursing. For now, I am sticking to the exact schedule as far as food and water intake and following all other instructions. I believe it is still working to rid my body of the junk that has been building up and I am leaving behind bad habits, which is my ultimate goal. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ***Let’s talk SCHEDULE: The Ultimate Reset is demanding! Plain and simple- you need time each night (or a whole day on Sunday) to prep your meals for the week. The recipes are easy, but they are complicated because they require multiple steps and a lot of chopping veggies and fruits and measuring things. You have to be precise on the reset and you can’t “eyeball” your measurements. This is a change for me since I’m so used to just dumping stuff in and then tasting as I go when I cook. In addition to the food prep, you need to be able to set yourself up for success. My husband and I set our phone alarms to go off when we need to drink water (and he needs to take the supplements). These are precise times because certain supplements need to be taken a half hour before a meal, two hours after a meal, etc. You also need to make sure you are getting in enough water each day- about a gallon for me a day! And, the water needs to be DISTILLED water! I found gallons of distilled water at Target for 88 cents a piece, so that’s not bad since I need 21 of them and my hubby needs more PLUS we need some for cooking! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ***Let’s talk FOOD: You will eat strange foods. Period. You may or may not have heard of all of the foods on the grocery list they provide- but be open-minded and give them a shot! I am now a fan of so many new foods and I now have an arsenal of recipes that I plan to make regularly even after our reset is over. My husband, who grew up a meat-and-potatoes guy, is also surprised at how many of the recipes he likes. I am now a huge fan of tempeh and plan to incorporate it into my dishes beyond the reset. I will also be adding in a “meatless Monday” to my life after the reset because that will give me a chance to eat my favorite dishes from this program regularly. Here’s a pic of some of the food I’ve been eating this week:

I also want to share my favorite dressing recipe and my favorite recipe from week 1. Check them out!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ***Let’s talk MOTIVATION: Believe you can and you will! You CAN do this and you can be successful. If my husband can stick to this, without cheating (even on his BIRTHDAY!), then so can you! No excuses. This is going to be so great for our health, we already feel so AMAZING, I am going to be raving about this for a while. That is motivation enough! Trust me ;) However, if that’s not enough, Beachbody provides an Ultimate Reset private Facebook group for all participants to help each other with questions and encouragement. You also can sign up for daily emails explaining information about the phase you are in and get support through the online portal they’ve created. It’s literally AMAZING support! PLUS, there are plenty of YouTube videos to help with questions, reset cooking tips, etc. These are GOLD! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Let’s talk CONFESSION: Bless and release. It’s a good motto to have...and during the reset you need to let go of any anxiety and negative feelings you are holding onto towards yourself and others. Also, if you slip up (it happens- I slipped and had a bite of a cookie and a sliver of birthday cake), you can’t freak out and beat yourself up about it. I felt bad, but I realized that what’s done is done and I need to move forward. I am pledging to no more slip-ups from here on out and I KNOW I will succeed because of the support I’m getting and the determination I have. Also, I have to say, I have lost my taste for those treats anyway. When I ate the sliver of cake, the aftertaste was HORRIBLE. It tasted like CHEMICALS! I could immediately tell it was highly processed and full of preservatives and toxins and I DO NOT want that going into my body ever again. In fact, after the reset I will probably be making my own desserts from here on out and only using clean ingredients (the blog Chocolate-Covered Katie has some great recipes for this if you want to check it out!) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Let’s talk about YOU! If you think this is something you want to try because you want to experience these benefits, feel free to find me on Facebook and shoot me a message, or email me, or just order now HERE! I would love to help you through this amazing experience!

Food Addiction

Recently, I’ve been working with some challengers who struggle with food addiction. I, myself, definitely struggle with an addiction to sugar, so immediately, my heart goes out to them. Food addiction is definitely REAL and is being recognized by the scientific community as a real addiction that needs treatment, in some cases. Many people who struggle with food addiction fall victim due to the sugar, salt, and fat in the foods they like to eat. Of course, this makes sense, since sugar, salt, and fat = taste! A WebMD article on “How to Break Food Addictions” explains why this addiction is real. "Barnard, the author of Breaking the Food Seduction and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that these foods contain chemical compounds that stimulate the brain's secretion of opiate-like, 'feel-good' chemicals like dopamine, which drive our cravings for them.” ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WebMD explains one way we can help ourselves if we are food-addicted: "How to break the cycle? First you have to pinpoint which feelings trigger overeating. To figure this out, create an 'emotional eating record,' suggests Edward Abramson, Ph.D., author of Body Intelligence. Take a three-by-five index card and write down four headings: TIME; LOCATION; FOOD; EMOTION OR THOUGHT. Put the card in your pocket so you can keep track of any unplanned snacks. After a few days, you'll be able to decipher which emotions and situations triggered eating binges.” <--of course, once you know this, it will make it easier for you to avoid the emotions/situations that trigger you! Don’t be fooled, either, by thinking it’s only when you are sad/depressed that you overeat. Many people overeat in happy situations or reward themselves with food (a very, very dangerous habit). ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Peeke explains in her article, “6 Ways to Beat Your Food Addiction,” that this is powerful stuff! "But wait, there’s more: At the same time your reward center is being hijacked, the brain’s CEO, the prefrontal cortex (tap your forehead and that’s where the PFC is located), is becoming damaged and impaired. The PFC can no longer help you rein in impulses or stay focused and vigilant. That’s why, when someone is in full-on addictive mode, moderation is a moot point. Revolutionary and groundbreaking new studies funded by the National Institutes of Health funded have shown that the brain scans of food addicts show the same changes and damage as those of a cocaine user. And, for your information, research also shows that table sugar (sucrose) is more addictive than cocaine.” See the full article HERE! She also explains ways to kick the addiction for good! It’s definitely worth the read. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Something else you can do if you also struggle? Find a community of others who feel the same way, and support each other. A challenge group can do that for you, or you can form your own Facebook group or find one to join. Whatever option you choose, make sure that your loved ones know about your efforts so that they can support you as well. Some of my other recommendations- in addition to what’s above- (I am not a doctor, this is just my personal opinion based on research I’ve done on my own: Replace your “bad” habits with good ones. Instead of rewarding yourself with food, reward yourself with a shopping spree or a date with a friend to go see a movie. If you need to talk, or want to know more about what I’ve researched, please don’t hesitate to ask. On my reading list this week: The Hunger Fix: The Three-Stage Detox and Recovery Plan for Overeating and Food Addiction, Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings---And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally, and Food Addiction: A Proven Plan to Overcome Food Addiction for Life. I’m also going to be ordering Made to Crave and the workbook to go along with it. I will be starting an online book study (in a private Facebook group) for anyone that’s interested. Let me know!