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Becoming IntentionallyFit through Healthy Habits:

The Intentional Habit of Creating Goals

Welcome to the first week of our Habits of the IntentionallyFit series! I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what it takes to become healthy and fit. In fact I’ve been working at it for over eleven years! So, I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of the things I have learned over the years. Over the next ten weeks we will explore the habits or fundamental activities that successfully healthy people incorporate into their lives. Please do not think of this list as an exhaustive blueprint, but more of a helpful guideline.

The first Habit of the IntentionallyFit is to create measureable goals to challenge yourself and create a plan for the life you want to live. Goals give you a road map to help make decisions about what is valuable and important to you and those you love.

Goals should have a time limit on them. I once heard someone say that goals without a completion date are just wishes. Break them down into “Long Range Goals” and “Short Range Goals.”

Jim Rohn gives the following questions in his book 7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness, as a way to start figuring out what you want.

  • What do I want to do?
  • What do I want to be?
  • What do I want to see?
  • What do I want to have?
  • Where do I want to go?
  • What would I like to share?

All these lead into the primary question he states is, “What do I want within the next one to ten years?”

Have you thought about that question? Chances are somewhere at sometime you played around with the idea, but did you really dig in and think it through? Honestly, I had not until I read this and I’m still weeding through the possibilities, but can you see where this could create a habit of success? If you know what you want to do or experience within the next ten years you can devise a roadmap to follow straight towards achieving those specific things!

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Core de Force Results

My Total Results: 60 days of Core de Force and the 3 Day Refresh

BeforeAfter
Hips36"34"
Waist34"30.5"
Right Arm11.25"12"
Left Arm11"11.5"

 

The picture above is 30 days. The left side picture was taken after the 3 Day Refresh and is at 125 pounds. The picture on the right side is me 35 days later, but also at 125 pounds! See, the scale doesn’t always tell the whole story.

I would love to help you have your own transformation! Our challenge group will provide recipes, tips, how to set yourself up for meal prep success, accountability, motivation, and daily support. We all do better when we have people cheering us on, let me be your personal cheerleader!

Let’s do this together!

Sign up for the 30 Day Accountability Group

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Transformation Tuesday: The Purpose of IntentionallyFit

First, I want to say thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your health and fitness journey, allowing me to speak into your life, and pushing me to become a better coach. I am honored that you are here.

I want to share a little bit of the how and why behind IntentionallyFit. To do this, I will need to travel back a bit and share some of my story with you.

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This is me on my 30th birthday. It’s the best picture, really. I had a three year old son and a 1 month old daughter. I look back on this picture with mixed emotions. I LOVED becoming a mom. I loved having a family (still do, in fact!), but I was so unhappy with me. Fear, insecurity, and an overall sense of shame for WHO I had become, or let myself become plagued me. I was depressed and really unhappy. This all came to a head in the most inconvenient of places, a dressing room at Target.

The summer after I turned thirty my little brother got married. I was in his wedding. The dress was a size 16. If this wasn’t enough, I had absolutely no shorts to wear, in public anyhow. I took my babies with me to Target and proceeded to try things on. The only pair of shorts I could squeeeeeeeeze into were size 15, and that was with the lay down, hop around, stuff myself in dance. So, right then and there I fell apart, with my two kids just staring at me, trying to figure out what was wrong with Mommie.

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To make a long story short, I later found Beachbody in a hotel room on the way home from that wedding. I started Power90 at the beginning of January. I worked hard. Sometimes the logistics of exercising with a 4 year old and a nine month old required some creativity, but I did it. I didn’t know it then, but I was drastically changing my health and not just a diet, but a real lasting lifestyle change. During this time period I learned that health and fitness is not limited to just the physical aspect, but includes mental, emotional, and spiritual areas as well.

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I say all this to tell you. I know how hard it is to change your life. I know how hard it is when nobody is helping and people are criticizing instead of encouraging. I know how hard it is when the kids are begging for attention and all you want to do is sleep (well, after you stuff a big burger or enchilada down your throat). We didn’t have coaches then or challenge groups to help. I don’t tell you this to get pity, but so you know it can be done. You can do it. I know it, because if I could with nobody helping, then you DEFINITELY can because I will help you every step of the way. I will be here for you. I will encourage and not criticize. I will cheer you on, but you still have to do the work. I can’t do that part, but I know you can. Join one of our Challenge Groups and get started on your own journey!

 

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Core de Force is Here!

Are you someone who loves MMA or a good kick boxing workout? I am and I’m super excited to let you know about this new program that is available. I just got mine and will be offering two different challenge groups. One, small personal group of very determined people for my test group starting December 5th and another group for people of all fitness levels starting January 2nd.

What Is Core de Force?

It is a 30 Day MMA style workout program created by Beachbody Trainers Jericho Mathews and Joel Freeman. The workouts alternate boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai combinations, cardio spikes, and bodyweight training to define and sculpt your body without needing any equipment. The workouts are broken down into 3 minute rounds at a time for a total of between 27-47 minutes total. The moves are designed with something called 360-degree Core Training that works your core from every angle to really target that bulge and belly fat. Nutrition is what makes a big difference in any program so Core de Force includes an eating plan with recipes, food lists, and sample menus to help you stay on track.

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The workouts are challenging and are recommended for intermediate to advanced fitness levels. There is a modifier for each workout, so even if you are a beginner and an MMA style workout excites you, you can go for it! This program is not “dancy” or a set of choregraphed moves to music. If you are interested in that kind of program, something like TurboFire might be what you are looking for. This is good solid punches, kicks, blocks, and elbows in your own time for the allotted set count.

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What comes with the Core de Force Base Kit?

8 workouts on 3 DVDs

  • 4 MMA-inspired workouts, each with a step-by-step breakdown of all the moves
  • 2 bodyweight resistance workouts
  • 1 CORE DE FORCE Relief workout
  • 1 Active Recovery stretch workout

The CORE DE FORCE Eating Plan with food lists, recipes, sample menus, and more so that figuring out what to eat is never a battle.

A Quick-Start Guide with 3 simple steps for starting CORE DE FORCE strong.

A 30-Day Calendar includes your daily workout schedule.

PLUS 2 FREE BONUS WORKOUTS

  • 5 Min. Core on the Floor: 5 challenging plank movements to help burn the belly and define, flatten, and tone the tummy.
  • Core Kinetics: Strengthen your core with  moves designed to help carve flat abs and tight obliques.

You will get a FREE Bonus Workout—MMA Mashup. A mix of the best moves all in one workout!  A $19.95 USD value, you get it FREE when purchased from me as your Coach.

How much does CORE DE FORCE cost?

Base Kit: $59.85; Club member: $53.87
Deluxe Kit (Base + Deluxe): $119.70; Club member: $107.73

https://youtu.be/BQHjbItlwE8

CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology® Challenge Pack

The Challenge Pack contains the CORE DE FORCE Base Kit, your first 30-day supply of Shakeology, a 7-piece color-coded portion-control container set, a Shakeology shaker cup, and a 30-day trial to Beachbody On Demand so you can stream CORE DE FORCE and hundreds of additional Beachbody workouts.

Challenge Pack price: Normally $160, but on SALE now for $140 (which is like getting the entire program for only $10 with your Shakeology purchase!)

* NEW Digital CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology Challenge Pack

The Digital CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology Challenge Pack is great for  anyone who prefers to stream their workouts. It includes unlimited 90-day digital access to CORE DE FORCE on Beachbody On Demand, where you can also try some of Beachbody’s most popular programs. Your Digital Challenge Pack also includes your first 30 days of Shakeology* and Portion Fix (includes 7-piece portion control container set, Portion Fix recipe book, large blue container, and Shakeology Shaker Cup.) CORE DE FORCE DVDs are not included.

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What Is a Challenge Group and How Do I Join One?

A challenge group is a small group of people that I personally coach through a specific program or “challenge” like a clean eating group. We meet through a free app where we support and encourage each other in a private, judgement free, safe environment. I provide recipes, help with questions, motivational tips, and sometimes even prizes.

To participate in one of my challenge groups, you’ll need to:

*If you already have a Team Beachbody Coach please contact them first to see if they are providing a group for you.

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Should I Eat Before I Workout?

This question has been asked over and over and many times the answer is different. It has even been different at different times in my own health and fitness journey. Why? The quick answer is that this depends on you. Just as our goals change throughout our journey, so does the way we approach our fitness regimen.

 

Fasted Cardio

This is the concept that you perform a high intensity cardio workout after fasting, so not eating for an extended period of time. Typically this is an early morning workout completed prior to any consumption of food. It aids in quick fat loss and is good for those people with an excess of weight to lose or those trying to significantly lean out for some sort of competition or transformation goal.

I actually have lived for a long time doing this type of workout. I found that it was really important to have had a good solid meal chuck full of protein the night before though. If I hadn’t fueled well the night before my workout would tend to be lack luster and I even bonked! The intensity of your workout matters with this too. As I started doing higher level cardio work, like Insanity and Asylum, I found that I need something small to eat to keep my body functioning well.

 

Nutrient Timing

This is a fancy way of saying that you should plan when and what you eat around a special schedule designed for your goals. It has a bit of controversy surrounding it due to lack of true “evidence” to support the theory. Basically it says that you have a specific time frame prior to and after your workout in which your body is greedy and absorbs nutrients efficiently to support your specific goal. It has been popular with elite athletes, endurance athletes, and fitness/bodybuilding competitors.

 

But what about those of us who are just trying to make healthier choices, move our bodies more, and generally improve our health and fitness? The good news is that we’re all different! J So, there is no simple one shot answer. I hope you are starting to see that our health and fitness journeys are personal and specific to our own bodies. While that makes it a tad difficult to give out a basic statement about eating before working out, it also gives you a lot of freedom. If your body feels like it needs more fuel when you workout first thing in the morning, then eat about an hour before you do. If your body works really well, and the thought of eating before a workout makes you slightly nauseous, then I would avoid it and make sure to eat well after! Experiment with what and when you eat and see how your body responds the best, then choose that way of eating.