FU Mercury!

I don't know all of the mystical, astrological shit behind Mercury retrogrades. but I DO know that every time I feel nuts and Harper acts nuts I learn that Mercury is, in fact, in retrograde.

I've learned that since my sign, Cancer, rules feelings, I get emotionally crazy. Harps is a Gemini which rules communications. Basically he's screwed because Mercury in retrograde messes with ALL things related to communications. Poor dude.  Every time retrograde occurs, Harper gets a bit out of control. I'll find myself thinking...what did he EAT today? Did he go to bed late? Did he have too much screen time? NOPE! It's dang Mercury! That asshole of a planet!

Anyhow, this cycle ends 10/9.

I am planning a new challenge group beginning 10/19!

This one is gonna be special. All about renewal.

Renewal of mind, body and spirit.

We're going to do PiYo- a pilates/yoga hybrid workout. We're going to eat fresh, healthy meals. We're going to replenish our nutrients with a delicious daily shake. We're going to practice self care. We're going to dig deep into our souls with some personal development.

The perfect way to renew and refresh after a retrograde cycle.

Details to come!

If you want to be on the wait list, send me a message or drop your email below! Special deals this month for early-birds! xo

Back to school, Back to YOU

Hmmm....Thinking about hosting a 21 day health and fitness accountability group starting in the beginning of September.

Surely there have to be more mamas like myself who have been thrown off track by the hustle and bustle of the end of summer who also need a clean slate?

Doesn't a fresh start for your health and fitness goals to go along with a fresh start of this school year sound good?

Back in a routine, back in the flow of things...maybe with the kids back in school now there's a little more time for YOU to work on YOU?

You'll get an easy to follow nutrition plan with color coded containers that coincide with your food groups to make your meal prep easy, a super nutritious breakfast that takes 5 minutes to blend before you rush your kiddos off to school, and workouts to be done at home that are only 30 minutes long.

Super simple and super effective.

Did I mention that the plan includes a little wine and chocolate too? wink emoticon

I'm also thinking of making this group a good place to share healthy, packable kid's lunches, easy, meal plan approved crock pot dinners, and time saving tips and tricks to make the beginning of this school year the start of healthy new habits for your whole family.

I think this would be great for teachers too! I know I have a lot of teacher friends out there!

I'm thinking 9/7 will be a great day to start. It gives us a couple of weeks to settle into the new routine, but not TOO long after school starts to establish unhealthy routines.

Who's interested?

Please feel free to share with any parents (or teachers or anyone) that may be into something like this!

I *might* even get a little crazy and offer a free cookbook to the first 3 who register!

Message me for details!

Grounding

Have you heard of grounding? 

Humans are full of electricity. Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, insecticides, pesticides, trans fats, and radiation, just to name a few, continually deplete your body of electrons. Simply by getting outside, barefoot, touching the Earth, and allowing the excess charge in your body to discharge into the Earth, you can alleviate some of the stress continually put on your system. Walking barefoot can help neutralize the constant assault of electromagnetic fields and other types of radiation from cell phones, computers, and Wi-Fi.

We spent the past two days cooped up inside because of the heavy thunderstorms. Today we got out and had the most wonderful day at the beach.

I love connecting to nature. It invigorates me. It makes me feel so alive, yet so small and insignificant in the very best way. When I spend too much time inside, I start to feel stressed and unhealthy. I never realized that there was actual science behind this.

Well, today we connected to the earth wholeheartedly.

It was breezy and overcast when we arrived at the beach, and everyone was in a fantastic mood. We jumped in the waves, dug in the sand, had seaweed wars, chased the seagulls and dug in the sandy shoreline to discover the thousands of coquinas burying themselves there.

There were dark clouds above and we knew that the afternoon thunderstorms were looming, but we didn't pay it any mind. As the storm rolled in, we just threw our dry stuff in the car and had the most incredible time playing on the beach in the rain. We ran full speed down the beach laughing hysterically, the kids daring me to imitate their cool jumps, turns and tricks. We dug a little pool that Junie had the best time splashing around in. The kids and I lay on our bellies at the water's edge, letting the rain pour down on our backs while we dug our toes in the surf.

We had sand on our skin, rain on our backs, and we were surrounded by saltwater.

We were grounded.

Harper told me "This is my favoritest day out of all of the days except for my birthday and Christmas"
Me too, sweet kiddo. Me too.

OK. I realize that this looks kind of gross, haha. 

BUT

I figure if you're reading my "What Junie Eats" posts, you're probably a frazzled, busy mom of a toddler or preschooler, and you would probably appreciate a quick and easy and fairly healthy convenience meal idea, right? RIGHT?

Of course we would ALL love to make every meal from scratch, but that just doesn't happen in this household, and I'll make a bet that it doesn't happen in many of yours either.

It's nice to have some super easy options that still make you feel like you're providing a healthy meal for your kiddos SO, without further adieu, here we have....


- Trader Joe's Fish Nuggets- 

- Trader Joe's riced cauliflower cooked with a bit of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, scallions, garlic, salt and pepper.

- cukes with salt and pepper

- banana!

BOTH kiddos LOVED it and ate it up. Harper (our picky 6 year old) kept saying I LOVE THIS RICE! I didn't tell him he was gobbling up cauliflower. I hate to lie, but I was so afraid he'd change his mind! Did you know cauliflower has a host of health benefits?

Per one of my favorite sites, My New Roots,  Cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin K and a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids (in the form of alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA), cauliflower provides us with two powerful anti-inflammatory nutrients. Cauliflower is also jam-packed with phytonutrients (those are the super-charged healthy compounds found exclusively in plants), such as the familiar beta-carotene, as well as the lesser-known beta-cryptoxanthin, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol (there will be a quiz at the end of this post ;) This broad spectrum antioxidant support helps lower the risk of oxidative stress in our cells. By providing us with such a great array of antioxidant nutrients, cauliflower helps lower our cancer risk by helping us avoid chronic and unwanted oxidative stress.
Don't you love reading things like that after your kid gobbles it down? I do!

So, keep some riced cauliflower and fish nuggets in the freezer for one of those days when you are uninspired, or short on time, or you just don't freaking feel like cooking, and you can still feel good about giving your kids a decent meal.

Let's talk about FREEDOM

I was spending some time today going through my photos on my phone, because I needed to delete some to make room for more.

I loved reliving all of the recent memories while I scanned through the pictures..and was really happy to be reminded that WE DO A LOT OF FUN STUFF!

This picture was taken on a date with my son at Busch Gardens. I love the look of happiness on his face.

I love that, because of coaching, I have the freedom to make SO many memories with my children.

I was at a park yesterday with Junie, having a little picnic, and I got a bit teary. I remembered sitting at that SAME park when I was working at 911, watching other stay at home mamas living a carefree, fun life with their kiddos. Meanwhile, I was feeling hurried and rushed, anticipating my night shift at work that evening. I remember telling myself that something had to give. I knew there was an answer, but I didn't know what.

If you would have told me that the answer was in Network Marketing I would have laughed in your face and told you what a scam that garbage was. I'm a natural skeptic. It's not a good trait, but I've always had the mentality that if something seems too good to be true, there must be a catch.

I believe fate drew me here. Somehow, I decided to give it a chance. I was still VERY skeptical, and still believed that this probably wouldn't be the ticket to my freedom, but I couldn't deny that "WHY NOT ME?" feeling that I had. The only investment I had to make was for my OWN workout program/Shakeology. I'd researched the program enough to know that people were getting real results, and I desperately wanted to get back in shape. I figured, even if this coaching thing IS a scam, at least I might get in shape trying.

Well, as you can see I am still here. A successful, happy, confident, healthy, fit, coach, working at home, living a life of freedom, making memories with my family, living a life by design.

I DID get in shape. I lost 30 lbs, and have made fitness my lifestyle.
I DID leave my job. Only 4 months into my coaching career.
I HAVE FOUND MY PASSION AND PURPOSE
in helping others achieve their health and fitness goals, and helping my team..my beautiful, wonderful team, find their freedom too.

This opportunity that is Beachbody coaching is a gift. A crazy, wonderful gift that is transforming SO MANY LIVES.

I want to continue to build my tribe by sharing this gift with the right people. I want to find those others out there that are meant to be on my team, so that I can give them all of the tools to help them find the success that I have found and that is possible through coaching.

Here are a few things you need to know.

If you want to join my team, you will be required to start your OWN journey with a challenge pack. Why? Because you need to invest in your own health in order to inspire others.

You have to be willing to share your journey candidly. It's gonna be scary at first, but you will inspire others, and it will feel AMAZING.

You have to set aside time for personal development. You will continually grow as a person as a coach on my team. Frankly, this has been one of the greatest practices I have incorporated into my life, and I am grateful for this requirement.

If you think you can handle those 3 basic requirements, and feel a little spark from this post, let's chat.

I am not going to try to convince you to do this. I don't have any slick tactics, haha. If you need convincing, this won't work for you. I am looking for people that can decide for themselves, have a vision for their lives, and believe that this could be THE THING that can get them there. Then, after learning more about how this works, develop a PASSION and can't be stopped. I don't WANT to drag people along. I put a lot into helping my coaches, and am looking for people who want this so badly they can taste it...so you can rest assured that if you reach out to me with curiosity and questions, I will answer every single question you have, tell you everything you want to know, maybe ask you a few questions to see if you'd be good for my team, and then we can decide together if this is a good fit for you. If not? NO SWEAT! NO PRESSURE. NONE. If you don't want this, it won't work!

I have a challenge group starting 5/25 if you'd like to begin with your own journey to health. The last day to register is 5/19 (Tomorrow)

I'm glad to set aside some time Monday for anyone who'd like to chat with me about joining my team. If something in this post speaks to you, by all means, reach out to me!

I shudder to think about where I'd be if I didn't reach out to my coach a year and a half ago. Still stressed. Still out of shape. Still exhausted. Still working nights and holidays away from my beautiful children.

I had that gut feeling and chose to listen to it.

Message me if you're having one too.

Drink Your Water!

Hey folks! You all know how important it is to stay hydrated, but how much water do you need?

Here's a simple equation.  Divide your body weight by 2, and that is your amount, in ounces that you need to drink daily at a minimum!

For instance a 200 lb person needs 100 oz a day!

Drink up buttercup!