Oven Fried Fish

Its that time of year when people are eating fish on Friday! Here is an easy recipe that would go great with some oven roasted asparagus (make while baking fish) and a side salad. Or if you're not watching carbs, some wild rice pilaf or baked sweet potato.

Oven-Fried Fish

From Team Beachbody - Eat Smart



Recommended by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

2 lbs. fish fillets

1 Tbsp. lemon juice, fresh

1/4 cup skim milk or 1% buttermilk

2 drops hot pepper sauce

1 tsp. fresh garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. white pepper, ground

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/2 cup cornflakes, crumbled, or regular bread crumbs

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 fresh lemon, cut in wedges

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Wipe fillets with lemon juice and pat dry. Combine milk, hot pepper sauce, and garlic. Combine pepper, salt, and onion powder with cornflake crumbs and place on a plate. Let fillets sit briefly in milk. Remove and coat fillets on both sides with seasoned crumbs. Let stand briefly until coating sticks to each side of fish. Arrange on lightly oiled shallow baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes on middle rack without turning. Cut into 6 pieces. Serve with fresh lemon. Makes 6 servings.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Nutritional Information: (per serving)

Calories: 183  Protein: 30 g  Fiber: 1 g  Carbs: 10 g  Fat Total: 2 g  Saturated Fat: < 1 g

Keep that Kitchen Clean (Naturally)

I love to use natural ingredients to clean my kitchen such as lemon, orange, white vinegar... Its so much better than using harsh chemical, especially on surfaces where you prepare foods.  Below is an article that can help you get started on cleaning up the inside of your fridge to the countertops.

6 Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Kitchen


By Joe Wilkes

It's almost springtime, which for a lot of us means it's time to do a deep-clean of our homes—throwing out the old, organizing the new, storing the winter clothes, and getting ready for warmer weather and a fresh start. For others, it's the beginning of another season of denial about how squalid our living conditions have become. Even more than New Year's, spring is a good time to make some new resolutions and create an environment that'll make us want to keep them. Here are some ideas for getting your kitchen into shape.

1.Out with the old. I like to think of my refrigerator as a cabinet of hope. Most times, it's full of fruits and vegetables, purchased in a fit of confidence that I would steam and stir-fry my way to a slimmer me. Then I end up going out to restaurants with friends, and my Sunday produce ends up looking pretty bad by week's end. Yet, unbelievably, I leave it all in my refrigerator with the hope that it'll somehow return to a state of edibility. Similarly, expired dairy products and aging condiment bottles litter my shelves, the result of my misguided optimism that they too will come back in fashion—like my '80s wardrobe will, if I just wait long enough. I'm here to tell you, however, that there's been no grocery miracle in my refrigerator these many years. And now, it's time to give the expired residents of this frosty food hinterland a proper burial.

First thing to do: Get rid of everything that even looks old. Be merciless. If it's past the expiration date, throw it out. If it doesn't have an expiration date, throw it out. Another scourge in my fridge is the many plastic containers filled with leftovers. I don't remember exactly what meal they are left over from, but I can't recall anything that included frizzy mold as an ingredient. Much of the reason the containers languish in the back of the fridge is because I'm avoiding the horror of having to wash out the science experiment they've become. This year, I'm going to throw money at the problem, and throw out the leftovers in their containers without ever lifting the lid. Then, I will treat myself to shiny, new plastic containers as a reward for my new hygienic lifestyle. Additionally, if my plastic cutting boards are beyond bleaching, it's a good annual tradition to replace them.

2.Out with the bad. While I'm gripped in the mania of throwing away all the food that has literally turned to garbage, I'm also going to throw away the food that's metaphorically garbage. All the unhealthy snack foods that lure me away from my healthy eating plan are going to have to go. I'm evicting the half-full bags of tortilla and potato chips from my cupboards. Ben and Jerry's® are moving from the freezer to the dumpster. Any empty-calorie snacks I can steal a spoonful or handful of and pretend they don't count have to hit the road. Once I clear the cupboards and refrigerator, I can go to the store and load up on healthy staples, whose temptations I won't have to resist.

3.In with the new. Now that the refrigerator's clean and the cupboards are bare, it's time to shop. Stock up the larder with delicious, healthy foods from the first two tiers of Michi's Ladder. And make sure to get lots of easy-to-prepare snacks to keep within easy reach when hunger pangs hit. Great snacks include cottage cheese, nonfat yogurt, hummus, salsa, and raisins. Instant oatmeal, whole-grain cereals, and egg whites are good to have on hand for breakfast. And foods like brown rice, dried beans, canned broths, water-packed tuna, and frozen fruits and vegetables are good staples to always keep in supply for mealtime. Of course, you should also try eating plenty of fresh produce, seafood, and lean meats. Just don't be like me and go crazy at the Sunday farmers' market only to have to throw food away at the end of the week. Buy enough perishable items to last a couple of days, then make short trips to the supermarket or farmers' market during the week. Your food will taste better and fresher, and you won't have a CSI episode in the crisper drawer at the end of the week.

4.When life gives you lemons . . . I know I've talked a lot about throwing all your produce away. But some of it can do a little cleaning work for you before it hits the compost bin. Lemons are very acidic, and their juice is naturally antibacterial and antiseptic. You can use lemon juice to bleach countertopost bin. Lemons are very acidic, and their juice is naturally antibacterial and antiseptic. You can use lemon juice to bleach countertop stains and shine up metal. And it makes your kitchen smell lemony fresh to boot! Instead of throwing those lemons in the trash, throw one or two in the garbage disposal and grind away. It'll help get rid of food dried onto the blades while filling your kitchen with the smell of lemons. (If the lemons are really old and the rinds have turned hard and leathery, don't try this. The disposal blades might not be able to chop them, and they'll just rattle around in your disposal forever. Trust me, I know.) Another great tip a friend gave me is to cut a bunch of lemons in half and put them in a big microwave-safe bowl filled with water. Then microwave the bowl of lemons on high for a few minutes, until the water steams. Keep the microwave closed. The lemon-juice-infused steam will permeate all the stuff cooked onto the microwave walls from various exploding culinary attempts. The crud will wipe off easily and your microwave will smell great. Best of all, no toxic cleaners will accidentally find their way into your meals!

5.Vinegar—not just for salad. While you're cleaning and staying nontoxic, try using the Michi's Ladder top-tier favorite vinegar to spruce up your kitchen. Diluted with water, white vinegar can be used to clean windows, wash floors, and wipe countertops. It cuts grease and removes stains from cookware, and if you run a pot full of the vinegar and water solution through your coffeemaker, you'll be amazed at the kind of hard-water deposits it removes. It's also good for removing hard-water stains on your glassware. It even cuts soap scum and kills mildew, so you might give good, old-fashioned, cheap white vinegar a try before investing in expensive cleaners that can introduce toxins into your kitchen.

6.Baking soda—not just for baking. Here's a fun fact. Did you know that baking soda mixed with grease makes soap? It's true. It's a great, cheap, nontoxic way to wipe off your stovetop and the surrounding areas that have been spattered by a season's worth of stir-fries. An open box can absorb odors in the refrigerator, and a little sprinkled in your garbage can will do likewise. If you have a grease fire, you can put it out with baking soda. If you have pots with burned-on food, let them soak in baking soda and water overnight. Also, if you have plastic storage containers that are a bit stinky from their previous occupants, try soaking them overnight in baking soda and water. You can make a baking soda paste with water and polish your silver. It's a miracle product—nontoxic and cheap!

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment below and share any other ideas you have about keeping your kitchen safe, healthy and clean.

Ed Z. - What a difference a year makes...

Back in December, I featured Ed Z. in my blog. He amazed his doctor, himself and me on how he took the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and turned it all around.  Today is his one year anniversary of being diagnosed.  Ed was gracious enough to send me this email.  He's so sweet that he thanked me, but Ed has done all of this on his own. As Ed's Team Beachbody Coach, I offered him support and answered a few questions for him every now and then.  But Ed did all the work, no doubt about it. Read Ed's email below:

"Just thought I would share with you that today is my 1 year anniversary of being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I was originally put on 3 different medications, and things did not look good for me at the time.


I mourned my situation, and gave it it's due. Then, I set about getting my mind right, setting a goal, and formulating my plan. Today, I stand before you a new man. I went from a 4X to medium, size 50 pants to size 33s, 140 pounds lighter, and no medication whatsoever!!! What a difference a year makes!!!

With faith, hard work, and dedication, we can achieve anything we set our minds to!!!

I'm a week away from finishing my second round of P90X. Now, I'm a two time graduate of the program!!!

I'm going take it up a notch and I'm ordering INSANITY!!! According to the reviews they say it makes P90X look easy!!!

I'm so fired up for the challenge, you just don't know!!!!

I know I've said it, before, but thank you again for all your help and advice.

Words will never be able to express how much I appreciate all you have done for me. : )

Ed"

What an awesome email to get! This totally made my day! Again, Ed did all the hard work.  He's an amazing example of how we can take charge of our health and change our life.

Please feel free to leave a comment below, or if you have a private question, email me at fitwithjessica@live.com  If you'd like to have me as your free Team Beachbody Coach, click here.

A day in the life of my eating plan

Everyday someone wants me to make up a meal plan for them.  I used to do this for my personal clients for free. But honestly I stopped because it was time consuming and I wasn't getting paid for it. 

Don't get me wrong, I do love to offer free help and advice, but sometimes you have to put limits on what you do for free and what is a service that should be paid for.  Since I'm not a registered nutritionist, I feel funny charging people for meal plans that I do create. So that's why I stopped.  When I became a Team Beachbody Coach I found a great alternative and problem solver is the Team Beachbody Custom Meal Plan Wizard that comes with the upgraded Club membership.

What I've also found to be a great tool for planning my meals is the nutrition guide books that come with almost every Beachbody workout program.  P90X, Insanity and Brazil Butt Lift are the 3 programs in my library. Each one of those came with a nutrition plan that's easy to follow and if you like to cook, you can totally modify the recipes to suit your taste buds.

So here is a sample day for me from yesterday.  I'm in Phase 1 of the P90X Nutrition Plan.  Phase 1 is a lower carb phase, meaning 50% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat.  I'm taking in about 1800-2000 calories per day, eating 5-6 small meals.  These meals are inspired by or taken from the P90X Nutrition Guide.

Post workout snack

small recovery drink and a cup of non-fat yogurt

Breakfast

Spinach & mushroom omelet with 8 oz milk, 1/2 a grapefruit and a cup of green tea

Snack

P90X Peak Performance Bar (wildberry yogurt)

Lunch

Grilled chicken over baby spinach with tomatoes, celery, baby carrots, avocado and balsamic/rice vinegar. And 1 TBS of vanilla whey protein powder mixed with water.

Snack

Chocolate Shakeolgy mixed with 4 oz chilled coffee, 4 oz milk and 4 oz water, and a dash of cinnamon

Dinner

Roasted chicken breast with oven roasted veggies, spinach salad and one slice of whole wheat bread.

If you're really serious about changing your ways in order to lose weight, burn fat and gain muscle, or just feel better, you need to get serious about your eating habits too.  But getting serious doesn't mean it doesn't taste good or your starving yourself.  As you can see I had a lot of food yesterday.  My big treat was my Shakeology:)

For those of you who think its too expensive to buy a workout system like P90X or do the Custom Meal Plan Wizard, I say divide the cost by number of days in a month.  For instance the Meal Plan Wizard comes out to about 50 cents per day.  Considering what kind of junk we buy through out the day that costs more than that, I think the Custom Meal Plan Wizard is a bargain.

I'd love to hear from you.  Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

A girl can change her mind, right?

Okay, I know my original plan was to do 4 more weeks of Brazil Butt Lift, trust me I loved the results (click here to read about them and see pictures).  But I had this overwhelming desire to do another round of P90X (this is round 3 for me).  It was like this nagging voice in my head kept saying "go back to Tony..."

I guess we sometimes return to our first love.  And I do love P90X! I loved Brazil Butt Lift too, and I liked (not loved) Insanity, but there's just something that really draws me to P90X. 

Maybe its the fact that I can eat around 1800-2000 calories while doing P90X.  I do love to eat!!!  And that's one of the reasons I exercise as much as I do.  I'm not a kid anymore where I can eat all I want and not gain weight like I used to.  Now it has consequences.

So this morning I popped in my Chest & Back dvd and did my push ups and pull ups (I'm going to be sore as heck tomorrow) and then I did my Ab Ripper X. And it was like being with old friends :-)

Well, I'll keep you posted on this journey too. I hope it inspires you to get up and get moving. 

I'd love to hear from you, feel free to leave a comment below.  Or you can send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com

As a Team Beachbody Coach, I can help you achieve your health and fitness goals.  Why not sign up for a free account by clicking here.

Things that made my life better in 2010

I wanted to share some of the things that made 2010 a little better than 2009.  I plan on using all of them in 2011 too.  Some of them are fitness, others are nutrition, some beauty/health, and others are just stuff to help you get things done or get better organized.  So here is my list in no particular order:

• P90X - this really changed my life in 2010.  I was starting to pack on some pounds, the long winter also made me feel really down. P90X helped me get back into exercising in an organized way.  Before that I would just teach my classes here and there, or just do what I felt like.  But having an organized approach really makes all the difference.  Plus there is also an great nutrition guide to help you get that part organized too.  Its like getting a personal trainer and nutritionist for $119.
• Fly lady - Okay, this is like having a coach to help you get your home clean and organized.  You get emails everyday (I warn you a lot), and you are given assignments/missions to complete. The whole concept is to not spend a lot of time being a perfectionist.  Just set your timer for 15 min and FLY!! Its really helped me get the clutter under control and have a house that's ready for visitors anytime.
• Team Beachbody - whether you decide to join for free, as a club member or a coach, you get online tools to track your workouts, you get an online coach to help you reach your fitness goals, and you also make a lot of new like-minded friends who want to see you succeed.  I've made a lot of new, cool friends, have helped a lot of cool people, and have also built a nice online business doing something that I'm really passionate about.  And I don't have to hire a sitter to watch my kids.  What's better than that?
• Burt's Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm - I love this stuff.  I don't wear a lot of makeup, but this is a must for me.  Smells nice, gives a slight hint of color and helps keep my lips soft.
• Avon's Moisture Effective Eye Makeup Remover - You really need to email my friend Cheryl Ann and order this.  Its awesome stuff.  Super gentle, takes off all mascara, even water-proof.  It won't cause eyelash breakage either.  Good stuff.  Her email is cagavon@hotmail.com.
• Shark Steam Mop - I totally love my Shark.  It makes mopping floors super fast and super easy.  Nuff said.
• Brazil Butt Lift - I started this almost 4 weeks ago, and I just love the results I'm getting from it.  Its a fun workout that will tone and strengthen your whole body, with emphasis on your bum bum (pronounced boom boom).  Plus the nutrition guide that comes with it has some yummy, easy recipes:)
• Using a meal plan - If you don't use a meal plan, you really need to start.  I scoffed at the idea in 2009, but now I love it.  I use the Beachbody Custom Meal Planner as well as the nutrition guides that come with P90X, Insanity and Brazil Butt Lift.  You can make your own meal planner, but if you need healthy ideas, I suggest check out the Beachbody one. Meal planning helps you save money, have less food waste, and takes the stress out of what you will have for dinner.  My kids love knowing in advance what I'm making.  And I have them help me pick the meals for the week.
• Shakeology - This stuff is great! Its all natural and so yummy.  I was very skeptical about trying it, but I'm hooked (so is my husband).  I use this mostly as lunch.  I don't have time to prepare lunch some days, and I don't want to grab a frozen dinner, or fast food lunch.  Shakeology is less expensive than a Starbuck's coffee and has all the nutrition you need.  Its rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and flavor.  I even brought it with me on vacation.  You really need to try the chocolate.
• Online grocery shopping - I actually started using this in 2007, but continue to use it.  If your grocer offers online shopping, you really need to take advantage of it.  You save time, money and aggravation.  I love it. I place my order online and pick it up later.  Very simple.

Well, there you have my list of things that made my life a little better in 2010.  As I find new things that help me out, I will share them with you.

I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

Tis the season for a better booty - fa la la la la...

Yep, you heard me! Tis the season for a better booty. And while we're at it, better legs, abs and arms too.  I started Brazil Butt Lift this week,and let me tell you I was quite surprised!  I thought this was going to be an easy workout, but its TOUGH!

Yes, its really fun and the titles of the workouts are pretty funny (Bum Bum, High and Tight, Bum Bum Rapido...), but don't let that fool you. 

What I like about Brazil Butt Lift is that it combines dance, Pilates, and sculpting (resistance training).  The dance moves remind me of my dancing days.  Lots of hip action which totally works your abs without you knowing it. I also like the fact that modifications are included for those who need them.  And instead of labeling it beginner, advanced, etc.., its labeled level 1, level 2 and level 3.  I remember when I was getting my Pilates certification, the instructor stressed the importance of not saying "beginner." Nobody wants to admit they are a "beginner" and most people will skip to the advanced exercises before they're ready so they're not labelled a "beginner."

When you order the workout, you get everything you need to start.  You get a nutrition guide, plus a 6-Day Supermodel Slim Down (warning very low cal, but only for 6 days and optional), tape measure, workouts, booty band and the pencil for the pencil test.  Yes, the pencil test is something you need to experience yourself.

I'm hoping by January 8th I will see some changes in the measurements I took this week.  I will post those later.

So here's to a better booty and total body for the New Year. 

I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment below or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

Ed Reverses his Type 2 Diabetes

Ed Z. absolutely inspired me recently with his story.  I have the privilege of coaching him, but one thing I want to make clear is that he did all of this hard work by himself.  I'm just there for support and answering questions from time to time.  But all of his hard work and determination are his alone.  Ed recently sent me a message with really awesome news and I wanted to share some of it with you.  What I love the most about what he wrote is that when he was first diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, all of his research could have left him feeling defeated, but he refused to give up and I'm so happy and proud of him that he didn't.

Ed works full time as a teacher, is a dad to a really cute kid and brings it with  P90X and running to reach his goals.

"In 9 months I have lost 93 pounds. My A1C, was originally 11.8, IN MARCH OF this year, and now it is 5.6. NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!! The doctor took me off my medication and my Diabetes is in remission. Can you believe it!!!!!! As long as I continue to eat healthy, maintain my weight, and exercise regularly. I should be fine. I told him that I had no plans to stop, and I am even more motivated to get down to my goal weight of 160. I had a goal, to get off meds when this all began, and I did it Jess!!!!!"

"I've been working out daily, and I plan to begin my second round of P90X, soon. Damn, the doctor was so taken with my results he said he wished I could go in and speak to some of his patients to light a fire under them. Amazing, huh?!?!?!"


"You know, when I was first diagnosed I did a ton of research to see if I could get off the meds, eventually, and at the time there were no posts that I could find about it. In fact, most info I found was just the opposite and so bleak. I suppose that's why so many people assume that once you are diagnosed, it's a death sentence. I had faith that I could reach this point despite the nay sayers, and I can't believe I did it. Having faith and willingness to put forth the effort can bring about miracles. It's not a fallacy. You can get off meds, you can manage your diabetes, and live a long and healthy life. Now I'm under the gun to keep it up and work even harder to stay off the meds. Diabetes is a progressive disease, and there is no guarantee that I'll never need to be on meds again, but I'm going to do my best to ride this wave as long as I can. I'm up for the challenge, and it's going to keep me on the straight and narrow."

If hope you found Ed's story as inspiring as I did.  When and if you're faced with something that seems to big to handle, remember to have faith, surround yourself with a good support system and try to be positive.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment below or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com

To lose weight, you need to eat more!

If I had a dollar every time someone (especially women) told me they don't eat or won't eat to control their weight, I'd have a nice little nest egg saved up.  Or give me a dollar whenever someone asks me how many calories they should be eating, and they say "That's too much," then I'd be even richer. 

People, you need to let go of the notion that not eating, or not eating enough is helpful.  Its more harmful than good.  Please read Beachbody's, Justine Holberg's article below:

Eat More, Lose More. (Really?)


By Justine Holberg

You work out practically every day and you're feeling good because you've lost some weight. Until a week or so passes and you can't get the scale to budge. It's like an invisible wrench has been thrown into the works. Now what?

You start second-guessing everything you're doing:

Maybe I'm eating too much?

Should I work out harder?

Do I have to live on parsley and hot water?

So you restrategize. You slash calories and step up the intensity of your workouts. Unfortunately, after another week, you're still not losing. Now you want to give up altogether. But before you throw in the towel, ask yourself this:

Am I eating enough?

Contrary to popular belief, sometimes you have to eat more to lose weight. While that may sound counterintuitive, it often does the trick. Here's why:

1.Metabolism is the key to weight loss. If you don't eat enough, or often enough, your metabolism slows to a crawl and weight loss becomes more difficult, especially when you're exercising. That's why skipping meals isn't a good idea if the goal is to shed pounds.

Tip: Always eat breakfast to kick-start metabolism and try eating mini-meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism fired up.

2.To keep your metabolism up, you MUST eat. Conventional wisdom dictates that when you first start dieting, the less you eat, the better. While it's true that you often should eat less, eating too little can backfire over time. As your body composition changes, your body will think it's starving, which can make it hold on to fat. (The process actually has to do with excessive release of a hormone called cortisol, but you don't need to know the details, so we'll just call it fat.) To avoid this, most experts agree that over time, you shouldn't eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day for women, 1,500 for men. If your daily diet consists of fewer calories than that, consider eating more.

Tip: Keep a food diary to track calories.

3.You need more calories when you work out. If you're exercising while following a low-calorie eating plan, you'll need to take into account the calories you're burning. That's because it's now easier to enter starvation mode. Let's say you're burning 400 calories and only eating 1,200 to 1,300 calories per day. This means you're really only taking in 800 to 900 calories per day before you begin to calculate how your body composition is changing. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does, so as your body changes, you need to eat more to keep the weight loss coming.

Tip: Drink an after-workout recovery drink like P90X Results and Recovery Formula®. After hard workouts, its calories are utilized so quickly by your body, some people refer to them as "free calories." They really aren't, but those calories will ensure that your muscles (and metabolism) recover quickly.

And remember this:

Figuring out to what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat isn't easy. That's why people often refer to losing weight as a journey. It takes a few different paths to get there. Sometimes you have to adjust your ratio of protein, fat, and carbs to start losing again. Or adjust your calorie level, which can include eating more to lose weight.

Tip: Use the Team Beachbody® Meal Planner. It can make figuring out your calories much, much easier. You can personalize an eating plan that takes your workouts into consideration.

Finally, if you're still on the fence about needing to eat more to lose weight: You might be thinking, "How come I know some really skinny people who barely eat?"

The answer is this: You can eventually lose weight by not eating. It's called starving. Reduce calories enough and your body will start breaking down its muscle tissue, and this will result in weight loss. However, it makes your body increase its emergency hormonal responses, which also causes your body to be stressed and hang onto fat, making it.very easy to gain the weight back again.

So I hope you take this thought away with you today: The idea is to keep your metabolism revving and running. This will help you get healthy and stay strong. Eat the right amount of food to help your body continuously burn calories, and you're more likely to shed those unwanted pounds.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

I just want a big, juicy cheeseburger!

I know it sounds awful for me to say this, but all I really want is a big, fat, juicy cheeseburger right now.  My favorite place to get one is PJ Whelihan's Pub.  The Black Jack Burger! So why am I craving something that's really not that good for you?  I've had a stupid stomach bug that's been possessing my body since Thursday night/early Friday morning. 

So its been almost 6 days with nothing but tea, toast, bananas, chicken broth, crackers... I've lost about 4 lbs, but it sucks losing it this way.

I've been in a constant state of nausea and other complications.  It sort of reminds me of the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.  Nothing appeals to you, except...

With all 4 of my pregnancies, I had really bad morning sickness.  Tired and nauseous all the time.  I can only remember one pregnancy where the thought of a salad or fruit was the only thing appealing.  My other 3 pregnancies, in the early weeks, all that I could see myself eating (without feeling sick) was bad stuff.  Pizza, cheeseburgers, calzones. Anything with melted cheese and my body (and baby) wanted it. Luckily that only lasted the first 13 weeks, and I did practice lots self-control, otherwise I would have gained mucho pounds. And it was a good thing I worked out with all my pregnancies.

Well, as soon as I'm feeling 100% I'm going out with my husband (and kids too) and get that cheeseburger. Then the very next day it will be back to clean eating and working out with Brazil Butt Lift:)

I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment here, or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

This is how I roll.

Having 4 kids and running my own successful online fitness business has generated a lot of comments and questions from so many people.  I get people who feel the need to give me blessings, (which I appreciate), but I do sense sarcasm in some of these.  I also get people who think I'm crazy (not sure why, I'm not doing anything that weird, like base jumping).  Then I get the people who ask if I'm going to have more kids (um, no), or the people who say having all those kids is what keeps me in shape (um, I wish, but no again on that one). Or that I must be super organized (well,I wasn't a born organizer, but am working on that), or that I don't get any down time (hmm, I think I get more downtime than most people :))) )

So, I thought I'd share a little bit of what helps me and what doesn't.

Okay, for starters, if you don't know me by now, I'll get you up to speed.  I've been in the fitness industry since 2003.  I started out with 2 boys (11 months apart), teaching 12 classes per week and training private clients 10 times per week.  In 2005, we added another boy to our family.  Then in 2008 we added a little girl.  My husband is helpful with the kids, but he works outside of the home.

So, as I stated earlier, I wasn't born organized. Its still a work in progress for  me.  But now more than ever I see the importance of staying focused, but being flexible.  When I decided to take my fitness career to a new place (my online business), I definitely saw the need to having a plan in place. In the beginning it was very easy to get lost and put chores off.  Although my house wasn't horrible, I noticed the dust starting to accumulate, clutter was threatening in the rooms, and when I was forgetting to pick something up from the store or run an errand.

Enter my "TO DO LIST." Yes, I wrote it in caps because its very important to me.  I can't live without it.  I used to think lists were for organized people and that I was to unorganized to keep a list.  Oh boy, how warped is that thinking? How do you think people who appear organized stay organized? A LIST!!!

It doesn't need to be a fancy Daytimer, I just picked up a cute spiral notebook with lots of paper in it.  Every night, I make up my list for the next day.  I include exercise, my time to read 10 minutes of something inspirational, and then I list my daily chores to do, errands to run and if something unexpected pops up, I add that too.  I checkoff each item I complete, and if it was a last minute add, I check it off so I don't feel bad when something else might not have gotten done.  If it didn't get done, I move it to the next day.

At the end of the day, at the bottom of my page, I write down at least 5 things I was grateful for on that day.  This way I always end on a positive note.

Now as far as my family goes, we're pretty simple.  We only enroll our kids in one (max 2) sports per season.  And they usually take the summer and winter off.  I'm lucky because my older boys just like baseball right now.  So this save time and there is less chaos for the entire family. Too many people run their kids around to all sorts of activities, and then there is no downtime for their children.  Kids need downtime!!

Maybe it helps that my husband and I are loners.  We used to have a busy social life, but that gets exhausting. Ever since our last move, our social calendar has slowed down a lot.  But I like it like that.  So instead of going to holiday gatherings every weekend from November until January 1st, we have a lot of weekends where we get to stay home by the fire, watch movies, go on hikes, do projects around the house and just enjoy our family.  I love not having to worry about packing up the kids or finding a sitter every weekend.  I know this sounds mean, but my parents live in FL, so during the holidays we only have to worry about visiting with one set of parents. Yes, I do miss my parents but we go visit them during a less stressful time of year.

Now all of this helps, but I still needed something to keep me on track with keeping the house tidy.  In a perfect world, I'd have the motivation and desire to do this, but housework was never my favorite thing to do.

I don't have the luxury of doing my cleaning while my little one naps.  She needs me to lay down with her (trust me I love this!).  And I really want to get my daily exercise in too. Well, enter http://www.flylady.net/.

I used to use the Fly Lady when we lived in our last house.  It came in handy when we had Realtors coming daily to show the home.  Everyone who saw my house couldn't believe how clean it was for having 3 kids (one of which was a baby).  Somehow I got off track when we moved in to our current home and then got pregnant again, but I have rediscovered her system and found that it has really simplified my life.

I know this sounds nuts, but I wake at 5 am every morning to do my exercise (almost always a Beachbody one).  Then while my husband is showering I do a quick "swish and swipe" of the kids' bathroom. Then I shower, clean our bathroom and get ready to start the day.

The Fly Lady sends you missions that take 15 min to do.  I can't explain it all, so you need to check her out yourself.

Okay, so my next time saver is menu planning.  I love to cook, but used to just cook by mood.  Not good when you have 4 kids and you might need to run to the store.  I've found that the Beachbody Custom Meal Plan Wizard has really been a useful tool in planning the weekly dinner menu.  It also gives you breakfasts, snack and lunches. It's really helped me save money and have less food waste.

Well, there you have it. Those are some of my secrets to appearing to be organized and in control.  I love my days with my family and they're a lot less stressful now.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com

The biggest excuse for not working out...TIME

One of the biggest excuses I hear for people not exercising is time, or lack of.  Look, I know we all have busy lives, with work, school, holidays, kids, spouses, friends, church, you name it. But taking care of your body is not a luxury, its a necessity.  If you don't take the little steps now, you will regret it later on in life.  The good news is that you can just pick up now, don't feel like you need to make up for lost time.

Here is an article by Beachbody's Monica Ciociola on how to find more time to squeeze in that work out during the holidays.

No Time to Work Out? 7 Ways to Find the Time


Monica Ciociola

The perceived lack of time is one of the main reasons people on the Message Boards give for not exercising regularly. Even those of you who have discovered the wonders of in-home fitness still find it difficult to juggle work, family, and fitness—especially during the holiday season. We hear you asking for help, and here are 7 smart ways to find more time for your workouts.

Shop online. Now that you can basically order anything and everything over the Internet and have it delivered, consider doing your holiday shopping this way. Most major retailers have online stores, and provide gift-wrapping services along with shipping options. So there's no need to go to the mall or the post office.

Farm out some chores. Try dropping off your laundry—especially if you're already going to the laundromat. You'll find that it doesn't cost that much more.

Wake up 30 minutes earlier. Work out before heading to the office. A little trick for waking up faster is to touch your toes as soon as you open your eyes, bringing blood to you head so you feel alert more quickly. After your workout, you'll be more energized for the day ahead and hardly notice the lost sleep. Working out in the morning as opposed to midday or at night also saves you the double cost of showering, getting dressed, and making yourself beautiful.

Make it a family affair. Mike Y. and his wife Christine and daughter Samantha made shedding pounds with the Power 90® program a family activity. By working out together at 5:30 AM each day, before getting ready for work and school, they managed to get in both some family time and exercise. They became Success Stories and were invited to Hawaii to star in the Power 90 TV show. It may be a little more difficult for you right now, with everyone's schedule crammed with holiday events, but working out together as a family ensures a built-in support system, and that support is crucial when you're trying to keep your fitness goals on track.

Prepare meals in advance. Try to get most of your meal preparation for the week done over the weekend. That means washing all your lettuce, veggies, herbs, fish, and poultry up front, and stocking complete salads-in-a-bag to take to work. You can also prepare individual slices of poultry and fish and a variety of veggies for dinner. Also make vats of soup, pasta, and brown rice that you'll be able to microwave throughout the week. Filling up on healthy meals and having low-fat, good-for-you snacks readily available at work will reduce the temptation to sample the goodies at the office—the gingerbread cookies, chocolates, and inevitable fruitcakes.

Take your DVDs with you. If you're traveling over the holidays, make sure you pack your favorite fitness DVDs along with your laptop so you can work out wherever you are, whether it's at your in-laws', your friend's house, or in a hotel room.

Pop in a 20-minute workout. Beachbody® makes some superfast and effective workouts for when you're seriously short on time. Try the Turbo Jam® 20-Minute Workout for an excellent calorie-blasting session and the Great Body Guaranteed!™ collection to focus on specific trouble areas in even less than 10 minutes. Look out for Tony Horton's all-new 10-Minute Trainer program launching in January—just give Tony 10 minutes and he'll give you incredible results! No more excuses—now you can always find the time to squeeze in a 10-minute workout . . . And the rewards stretch far beyond that to stronger bones and muscles, a sharper mind, and a lower risk of cancer and diabetes. And remember, working out reduces stress. You'll enjoy the holidays much more if you're healthy and energized.
 
If you're having a hard time getting started, that's what I'm here for.  As a Team Beachbody Coach, I can help keep you motivated and reach your goals.  Its hard to try and figure it all out on your own, but you have me here to help you.  You can sign up for free or get a club membership with custom meal plans and recipes.  Click here to sign up.
 
I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment here, or send an email to fitwithjessica@live.com.

You don't need to be a superstar.

You don't need to be a superstar.  Its what I tell my kids all the time.  I don't care if they don't become the baseball superstar, or musical prodigy, I just want them to be good, healthy kids.

I think we focus too much on our kids becoming the next prodigy.  We pay all this money to get our kids private lessons to be better for baseball, football, you name it.  But we forget to just raise happy, healthy kids that are kind and not spoiled.

Its kind of the same thing with fitness.  You don't need to look like you're getting ready for a Sport Illustrated Swimsuit cover, or Men's Health magazine.  You're primary focus should be getting healthy from the inside out. Don't worry if you still might not be able to wear a bikini or have a 30 inch waist for a guy. What really matters is having a healthy heart, a healthy body.

Hey, if you really want to set the goal of entering a bikini contest or guys if you want to get a washboard abs, that's fine.  But don't forget what really matters in the end, and that's just being healthy. Being healthy enough to walk up a flight of stairs, or play with your kids or to prevent that stroke.

As a Team  Beachbody Coach, I can help you reach your healthy weight. Let me know if you need help setting realistic goals.  You can email me at fitwithjessica@live.com or you can sign up for free online coaching with me by clicking here.

I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment:)

Lesson learned.

On Friday morning I was schooled with my own advice.  As a Team Beachbody Coach, I often tell people that they need to prepare for their journey of eating right and exercise. You need to make sure you eat 5 small meals per day.  You need to stock the house with healthy foods, prepare snacks to take with you, etc...

Well, this past Friday I really annoyed myself by not following my own advice. I had gotten out of the habit of packing a mid-morning snack for myself when the weather turned cooler. Park trips with the kids were dwindling down and any errands I had to do were short and sweet.  I always made it back in time for my snack.  But this day I my husband took off from work and wanted me to visit Home Depot with him.  Well our Home Depot is about 20 min away, but I still thought we'd make it back in time, so I just packed snacks for the kids.  After looking at all the mirrors, toilets, lighting (were giving our powder room a makeover) the quick trip was extended. Then my husband had an idea to take the kids to the park afterwards.  At first it seemed like a good idea, but as each minute ticked by my stomach was growling and the smoothie I had for breakfast was wearing thin.  I really wanted to do the park and be happy about it, but I was starving! I should have insisted that we stop home first so I can grab and apple and a handful of almonds, but I didn't want to delay us.  What a mistake that was.  By the time we reached the park, I was hungry, chilly, grumpy, you name it.  I was annoyed with myself for not being prepared.  I teach people to prepare themselves and I didn't do it.

Well, I reached the point of being famished by the time we left, and now I had a cranky 2 year old to deal with too.  Luckily, I still had some Shakeology left (was waiting for a new shipment), and I was able to blend up a fast lunch for myself.  I don't think anything has ever been so welcomed before.

So my valuable lesson that I learned that day was to get back in the habit of being prepared with snacks.  You never know what the day will bring and if you may get delayed.  I didn't  want to be tempted with stopping at Dunkin Donuts or McDonald's because I knew that I was so hungry I wouldn't make good choices.  Did you ever get like that?

I'm going to make sure that I keep one or two protein bars in my glove compartment. I'm also going to make a snack to-go like I do for my kids.  What's worked for me in the past is something like an apple or pear with 1/4 cup of nuts, or instead of nuts a Kraft low-fat cheese stick.  Even a half of a peanut butter & all fruit spread on whole wheat bread would be a good choice.

It just goes to show you that even the "pros" mess up sometimes, but mistakes are a necessary tool for learning.

I'd love to hear from you:) Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

Is it hard or is it easy? Only we can determine that

Why does it seem like its easier for some people to stick with an exercise or nutrition program? Why is it that some people can find the time to workout and make the most of it? Why do some people struggle with all of this? 

I know many of you who do struggle with this will quickly come up with defensive answers like "I'm too old" or "I don't have enough time." "I'm just meant to be this weight." "I can't control myself." "Its genetic." "I hate exercise." "Diets are too restrictive." "It will take too long." "Its too hard!" Trust me, I've heard them all and may have used one or two myself.  Nobody is perfect. If I don't watch what I eat and how much I exercise I can easily put on 15 lbs.  I know, I've been there.

But getting in shape or back in shape doesn't have to be hard at all.  Its really quite an easy formula. If you need to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Its that simple and easy.  No weird science behind it.  The deficit in calories can be from adding exercise into your day or reducing calories, or a combo of both.

Its really scary because the US government estimates that over 2/3 of the adult US population is overweight or obese.  That means a lot of people out there either find it way too hard to do the right thing, or they've just totally given up hope.  What would make someone give up hope to jeopardize their health that way? Don't you think you're worth more than settling for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, joint problems? If you are one of the majority of people who believes that there is a God or Creator, do you really think this is what he had in mind when He created you?  I don't think so. I think you definitely deserve better than to settle on the new "average" in the US. 

So let's quickly take a look on how easy it can be to lose 1 pound per week. If you lost 1 pound per week, that would be 52 lbs in one year! That's amazing!! And its easy to do. You just need to train your brain to 1) appreciate you and love yourself enough to take better care of yourself, 2) be positive about this, don't worry if you mess up, its not a race 3) realize that even the smallest changes you make will result in huge long term health gains.

By cutting your calories by approximately 500 calories per day you can lose 1lb per week.  The cool part is, if you exercise, you don't have to cut 500, it can be less than 500 (or even 0) depending on how much exercise you do!

But let's just tackle eating for now.  Here are some ideas on how to cut out those 500 calories.  I don't want you to cut the good stuff out like veggies, or high quality lean protein, we're talking the stuff your body really doesn't need:

3 homemade choc. chip cookies = 500 cals (approx)
2 beers, + 2 oz of chips = 500 cals (approx)
1-1/2 cups of ice cream = 500 cals (approx)
2 12 oz glasses of soda, + 1 cup of pretzles + 500 cals (approx)
1 tall mocha Frappucino + 1 plain bagel 500 cals (approx)

Now I don't want you skipping meals to cut out those calories. Skipping breakfast and lunch is probably the worst thing you can do because you'll be famished before dinner and on a rampage in the kitchen.  The above is just some of the extras we may include in our day that could be cut out if you really wanted to cut some pounds.

Hard or easy? Its really depends on how you look at it and how badly you want to improve your health before a doctor orders you too.

I would love to help you with healthy meal ideas and custom meal plans.  Having a meal plan will make losing weight and your life so much easier.  I love using my meal planner,it helps save me time and guessing what to make.  Click here if you'd like to take a 30-day trial of the meal plan I have to offer.  If you don't like it within the 30-days you get a full refund. 

Please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

The joy of yoga

Anyone who knows me knows that I love yoga.  Even though I'm a Pilates instructor, I think I like yoga just a tiny bit better.  I used to practice yoga almost 7 days per week, but once I started doing P90X my yoga practice dwindled to once a week.  I didn't mind though it was a nice change and challenge.  I did two rounds of P90X, and 4 weeks of Insanity in between. 

Fellow Team Beachbody Coach, Mike French posted a 30-day/3 times per week Yoga Challenge on Facebook. This sparked my interest because I know he and his wife Tami, train really hard. Way harder than me.  Since I was done with P90X for the time being, I wanted to take it down a notch and refresh my body.  This seemed like the perfect answer. 

Let me tell you that yoga is by no means a walk in the park.  I've been doing power yoga with P90X's Yoga X as well as other power yoga programs designed to burn calories, torch fat, sculpt you abs, arms and legs.

My body responded right away to the change.  The next day after my first time back with yoga, I was sore all over.  My abs hadn't felt this sore in a very long time.  This soreness then carried over into the next day too.  When it was time for my second day, I worked through the soreness but had to do a lot of grunting and deep breathing to get through the positions.

When I was finished, I was sweating, breathing heavy and feeling like I had an awesome workout completed and under my belt.

I know most people cringe when they hear the words yoga, stretching or flexibility exercises. Trust me, if you stick with it, you will really look forward to these workouts and gain a brand new body.  You may also gain a whole new perspective on life too.  Yoga teaches patience, practice, not taking things too seriously, and being able to laugh at ourselves when you tumble out of a pose.  It teaches you to relax into a pose instead of fighting to get there.  You learn to breathe deeply, feeding your muscles the oxygen they need.  And you get an awesome sense of accomplishment when you can finally get into a pose near perfectly.

I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com

Two More Shakeology Success Stories

I promised this news last week, but things got so busy. Better late than never though!

I got some great news last week.  Two people that I'm coaching decided to jump start that nutrition and fitness goals by doing the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse.  First Jon from VA started on Monday, October 18th.  His fiancee decided to do it with him for moral support.  Jon lost 9 pounds and his fiancee lost 4.5 pounds.  Jon is feeling great now and excited to get started with his fitness and nutrition goals.

Next my friend Lisa decided she needed a boost to help her get motivated.  She had all the tools, but just needed a push.  Lisa started the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse on Tuesday, October 19th.  She lost an amazing 12 pounds! Lisa was so psyched and she's ready to start Insanity and get back into shape.

There you have it.  Two more success stories with Shakeology.  The chocolate is so awesome.  I feel like I'm having a dessert.  I look forward to my daily shake everyday. 

If you want more information on Shakeology and its benefits, send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com.  Or you can click here for more infomration on the 3-Day Cleanse . I love hearing comments, feel free to leave one here.

Could Those Extra Pounds Be Water Weight? Lose 'Em Fast!

In this article Debra Pivko of Beachbody explains how to get rid of water weight.  Some people actually believe not drinking water will help. This is the farthest thing from the truth.  I even had one person ask me if swimming in a pool contributes to water weight. Again, not true.  Exercise is the best way to sweat out the excess water and that can include swimming in a heated pool during the cold months.

By Debra Pivko

Ever wonder how you gained 5 pounds overnight—even when you're cutting calories? The usual culprit is water weight.

If your stomach feels bloated, your face looks puffy, or your hands and feet swell, it's likely that your body is retaining water. And this may show up on the scale as a few extra pounds. Not fun.

Here's why it happens. Your body is constantly trying to rid itself of the salt you consume. When it can't purge all the extra salt, your tissues react by holding on to water, so the ratio of salt to water is always at a safe level.

But if you want to determine your real weight, see how close you are to your fitness goals, and button up those old jeans with ease, follow these quick tips to lose the extra water weight—fast.

Drink more water.

It may seem counterintuitive, but not drinking enough water every day can actually make you retain more water! Dehydration causes your body to go into panic mode, and it'll hold on to water the next time you take a drink. Diuretics like alcohol, tea, and caffeinated soda can actually have a dehydrating effect on your body since they flush water out of your system.

What to do? Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water each day so your body will maintain its fluid balance, and you won't gain those extra pounds. Water is the best diuretic you can give your body and it's all natural, and usually free! If looking thinner and feeling less bloated isn't enough motivation, here's some more. Drinking water before each meal has been shown to help promote weight loss and even to help keep your skin healthy, which is particularly useful if you don't want your skin to sag once you lose weight.

So keep a water bottle at your desk, send yourself "drink water" reminders if you have to, track your water intake for motivation, or do whatever it takes to remember to drink enough water. The extra hydration will prevent those false pounds from showing up on the scale.

Sweat it out with exercise.

When you sit in one place for a long period of time, your circulation slows down and your body can begin to swell. Exercise promotes blood flow and circulation (not to mention sweating). So when you get in some serious cardio, you'll literally sweat out excess fluids and pounds. Make sure to get your daily exercise to help rid your body of water weight.

The exercise program that leaves my workout clothes most drenched in sweat would have to be Chalene Johnson's TurboFire®. When I eat too much salt or just too much food and feel extra bloated, Chalene's latest program is my savior that helps me get my stomach looking flat, fast. I just pop one of the high-intensity interval training or cardio kickboxing discs in the DVD player to work up a serious sweat and burn major calories. I think it's the awesome music remixes that keep me going through the intense cardio conditioning. After big holiday meals, like the annual Thanksgiving feast for example, I can expect to find my coworkers ready for some TurboFire to fire up our weight loss and sweat it all out.

Limit the sodium in your diet.

To give your body a break from retaining water and working hard to eliminate sodium in the first place, try to keep your sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day and avoid adding salt to foods.

Watch out for sneaky salt in boxed or packaged foods by reading nutrition labels carefully. Some of the foods where sodium is often hidden are canned soups, fast foods, pickled foods, processed/deli meats, cheeses, frozen meals, and soy sauce. Make sure to look for labels that say "reduced sodium" or "sodium free." You may also want to choose fresh vegetables over canned. While canned veggies can be a handy substitute for fresh, they're typically laden with preservatives or sauces and seasonings that add extra sodium. A cup of canned cream-style corn, for example, contains 730 milligrams of sodium.

Also, food at restaurants and fast food establishments often contains high amounts of sodium. Eliminate all table salt and try using pepper or other spices on your food instead. Or, maybe try nothing and remind yourself what the food actually tastes like.

Another great way to keep track of your sodium intake is by getting your own customized nutrition plan with Team Beachbody's My Meal Planner. It's an awesome new benefit of the Team Beachbody® Club membership. You'll get a week's worth of recipes that include low-sodium options, or you can modify and make substitutions to the recipes for even lower sodium options. I use it to track my progress throughout the week so I know all my nutrition stats. You can even use the food analyzer to search any food and get the nutrition information for it. I'm obsessed.

Eat more protein.

Deficiencies in protein, along with vitamins B1, B5, and B6, can lead to water retention as these nutrients assist with fluid balance functioning. Some good sources of these nutrients include lean beef, legumes, and low-fat dairy products. You should try to eat two to three appropriate portions of lean protein per day.

Don't starve yourself.

Undereating can also cause you to gain water weight. Eating fewer than 1,200 calories a day may cause your body to retain water and, ironically enough, cause you to gain more weight.

Limit your sugar intake.

Having too much sugar in your body can cause your insulin levels to rise. High levels of insulin may make it harder for your body to get rid of sodium, which in turn causes water weight gain.

Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Fresh fruits and vegetables—especially those naturally rich in water, such as watermelon, onions, celery, and cucumbers—can make you urinate more frequently, reducing water retention. Fruits and vegetables also provide ample sources of potassium, which assists with fluid balance within body cells. I love going to the farmers' market on Sundays and picking up fresh fruits and veggies, but let's face it—making constant trips to buy fresh produce doesn't always fit into my lifestyle. Thank goodness for Shakeology®. It's an easy way to get my fruits and veggies without having to set up shop in the produce section of the market. And that way, my veggies come in the form of a delicious chocolate-flavored treat. I sometimes toss a mini banana into my shake for some extra potassium, which also helps discourage water retention and keeps my muscles from cramping up during workouts

I'd love to hear from you. If you need help losing those last few pound or have more than 5 to lose, let me help you.  You can leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com.

My favorite shake and the results I'm seeing

You've heard me talk about Shakeology and why I love it. I'm a very frugal and skeptical person by nature.  I didn't want to spend the money on it.  Plus I've been around long enough to see products come out filled with empty promises.  But because I get so many people asking me, "what should I do to lose weight?" or "what supplements do you recommend?" I had to give it a try to form an honest opinion about it. I figured if I didn't like it or it turned out to be bogus, I'd send it back for a full refund.  Nothing to lose at all.

Well that was back in March, and I have been using it daily since then.  Not only am I using it and loving it, but my husband who is even more skeptical than me is using it too.

I think most of you who know me, know that I am honest about what I believe works and what doesn't.  If I try something and don't like it, I tell you.  And for my husband to tell people at work about it speaks volumes.

I've gotten so many people who I coach emailing me telling me how much they love using it too.  Its really that good.

I have it everyday for lunch.  My schedule is busy with being a stay at home mom of 4 kids.  I also run my own online fitness business and have a house to take care of.  Besides doing all of this, I work out everyday and eat about 5 meals per day.  I need to eat every 2-3 hours or I get cranky, jittery and ready to pig out on anything. So its very important for me to fuel my body with good, healthy nutrition in order to keep going.

Here is a picture that compares the cost and nutrition of Shakeology vs. a fast food lunch (which would be just as easy):

Seeing a comparison like that really helped to justify the cost for me.  I could even buy frozen dinners to keep on hand and its still going to be around $4 per serving and really high in sodium and artificial ingredients. I get it for less than $3 per serving with my discount and free shipping (you can ask me how you can do that).

What made Shakeology even more attractive to me was the fact that I'm doing something healthy for my body beside stuffing food in my mouth.  Since using Shakeology, I've noticed:

• My nails seem stronger and look better (even on my toes LOL). 
• I don't crave sweets anymore (I used to indulge in a bowl of ice cream every night). 
• I don't feel as sore after hard workouts
• I manage to keep my weight right on target even if I miss a few days of working out
• I don't get monthly cramps anymore (sorry had to throw that in because this was something that really bothered me every month and left me unable to workout)
• I'm able to feel satisfied and not too full during my afternoon workouts

Below is a video to show you what doctors are also saying about Shakeology.




Listen, I'd love to hear from you and get your feedback.  Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

If you have any questions or need help with working out and eating right, please feel free to contact me.

Obesity is the in thing, an eye opener at Disney

You know how you hear about something on the news or on the Internet, but it really doesn't hit home with you? Well, I always knew there was an obesity problem in the US, but I don't go out a lot so I really don't see too many people. I mean I do go to the playground with the kids, I go to the library with them and I will go food shopping, but most of the time I place an order online and pick it up without having to leave my car.  So my day consists of very little face to face action.

When I was doing more personal training, my clients weren't in bad shape. They might have had 15 or 20 pounds to lose, but nothing that I would say fell under the definition of obesity.  Even while teaching classes at the gym, most of the people who took my classes were in shape.  I guess a lot of people who are obese feel self conscious about the whole gym environment.  It can be intimidating with all of those mirrors and people walking around with just a workout bra and shorts.

During our very recent vacation, I was shocked to see the amount of obese people and families at the resort we stayed at.  I'd have to say that I counted only 6-10 adults that seemed to be within a healthy weight range at the pool.  These in shape people were some of the same people I would see at the fitness center every morning.  And let me tell you, the most people at the fitness center when I was there was 3 including me.

It was pretty sad to see people riding scooters to go down the corridors of the resort because they were suffering complications from obesity. Then when we went to Magic Kingdom, the numbers of obese people increased even more.  I'd have to say that obesity was the majority there.  Did you know they say the average size American woman is a size 14?

I find it sad that most Americans know what is good and bad for them, but they still continue to make bad choices because its easier than making good choices.  I'm not talking about making a bad food choice on occasion, we all like to indulge a little bit now and then.  But more and more Americans are eating foods that used to be an occasional treat every day, every meal.  More and more Americans are choosing not to exercise at all. They'd rather sit in front of the computer or TV.  Hey, its okay to relax. Relaxation is very good, but you need to burn more calories than you eat. So if your day consists of a lot of sitting and driving around, you need to adjust your calories accordingly. 

What's the point of me writing all of this? Well, it renewed my passion to reach out and help people stay in shape or get in shape.  I'm not suggesting that everyone get washboard abs, or super skinny, but just get to a healthy weight. Its not easy to change habits.  Its especially hard when you seem to have the whole nation pushing for you to become super-sized.  You need to have the desire to change.  You need a good support system and have a plan.

I know this might seem overwhelming, but there is hope.  You have me and a whole community at Team Beachbody to offer help for free.  If you or someone you know is having a hard time sticking to a plan, let me know.  I would love to help you.

I'd also love to hear from you.  Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com