Baby Steps

Sometimes we just don't see the progress in the mirror and feel like giving up and saying FUCK THIS SHIT. I feel like I would have been so much closer to my goal but food is my problem. I love food!!! To cook it and eat it and try it. And I'm not perfect so of course though I try to stay strong I give into my belly at times. Then I think about why I started this journey in the first place and though I'm not at my goal, I do feel better and healthier than when I started. So through this is not a huge change. I'm super proud of the baby steps towards my goal. Nothing good happens over night , that's just not realistic thinking. 

I know as a coach I'm suppose to stay focused and on track but I guess that's what makes a coach relatable, you fall off and get right back up. It's human and real. 

I'm currently returning back to basics with 21 day fix Modified only moves. I figured I still be getting a great workout without overworking myself and so far so good. I'm still soar as hell. I am following the meal plan as well with the portion control containers. I'm at a point that even super slow progress is still progress and I'm grateful to be able to do it. 

I really hope my message helps someone get on track too. If you want to join me on my challenge and your ready for a change email me at nlopezfitness@gmail.com I would love if we can motivate each other.  

2016 Round 1 Almost Done!

Today is week 3 of my first round of 21 day fix extreme of the year. I still have to pause the workout to regroup and catch my breath. Plus I have been hungrier than ever! I been snacking on extra fruits and veggies just to keep me from eating things I shouldn't. This week is usually the hardest week to get through at least for me. Every time I start the 21 day fix in week three I really need to muster the energy and focus to follow through. I look forward to Sunday yoga at the end of this round. I will be waiting a week before I restart the program. I do feel slimmer and stronger though. During my week off I intend to still follow the meal plan, drink my shakeology and use my containers. The combination of the the three is what helped me lose my first 50 pounds. So why not continue? I will probably also do light cardio and some yoga within my rest week but nothing crazy. This mama needs a break. 2016 has just begun! So I will continue to be patient with myself and this journey. 

New Normal

So this is a post Holiday Blog Post. And for someone on a fitness journey I really went through some struggles this holiday season. Not only was my eating out of control but also even having the energy to workout was a challenge. I did workouts but I wasn’t as consistent as I usually am. I realized something as a mom and wife. The holidays are exhausting even when you’re not on a fitness journey. So the exhaustion doubled on one.

 I am Puerto Rican and we have traditional holiday food like most cultures but ours are riddled with sugar, fat and salt. I had family members coming over with Choco flan cakes, flan, rice pudding aka arroz con dulce, pasteles and more. Also my husband makes great coquito and sells it through the holiday so we constantly had it in our house. Coquito is a Puerto Rican holiday punch. There was no escaping the goodies. I really tried my best to stay focus but I’d be lying to you if I told you I kept strong through it all. I was not. I had to try all of it. Maybe not in large portions but even trying it all was not benefitting my waistline. I can slowly feel the weight coming back on and my pouch hanging over. Grrrr. I was seriously getting angry with my self. I thought I had so much control.

 

Holidays are that time of year when most people gain, and then January comes then they want to lose weight and it becomes this life cycle. So I got on the scale and I hate the scale lol, but I was pleased to see I didn’t gain, I didn’t lose but I stood exactly the same weight the last time I weighed my self. I was relived. SO I GOT BACK ON TRACK. I restarted my 21-day fix extreme workout from scratch, drank my Shakeology 1 time a day and portioned my food intake with the portion control containers. After week 1 of 2016 I finally felt back to normal.

Normal??!!!

All of a sudden after a complete year of eating clean and working out this felt more normal to me than my old normal indulgent ways. Who is the woman I become?

I started to think and reflect. I never worked out for a full year in my life. Lol I felt great, I was less bitchy during PMS, less sensitive, happier, no longer depressed. I became focused. I focused on my husband and kids more; we had better communication and relationships. Really?? Can working out and eating clean help with all that too??!! It sure did. So I decided to embrace this NEW NORMAL and let it take over because it has improved my life. So hey why not?

If you want to see different results, do things differently!

If you want to see different results do things differently.  

So it has almost been a year since I've last blogged but when I started this blog I started it with intentions to journal my journey. What wind up happening is I got so caught up in the journey that I didn't have time to focus on sharing it with the world. Now that I have everything kind of organized in my mind I am ready. Since I have started this journey I have lost over 53 pounds doing 21 day fix 21 day fix extreme and drinking shakeology every single day. Of course I had my ups and downs. This year they were moments of weakness moments where I just want to eat a big fat burger and some fries moments of binging moments of putting myself together and getting back on track moments of not feeling like working out moments of depression, and like everybody I had my highs and my lows. For the past couple of months I have been feeling amazing! I felt like wow I was able to fit into a size 12 jacket that I had not fit into in over nine years, that's two years before I had my son. I was able to fit into a suit that I hadn't worn since 2004. This made me feel great. Then I had a moment of realization. I went on a team retreat with my beachbody team lead well legacy, we had the most amazing time when I saw the pictures from that retreat I realized, I wasn't there yet. I know I wasn't at my goal yet at all. I'm just shy of 170 pounds and my goal is 140 but in my mind I just feel so much better than what I saw in those pictures. Reality set in for me and it gave me a big fat slap in the face. I realized I got work to do.

 Yeah I can fit into a size 12 jacket, yes I fit in my old suit but that is not my goal. I have ultimate goals that I want to reach and if I came this far I know I can get to my goal. With 2016 just around the corner I start this week with the new mindset. Loving myself at every level on the way to my goal, not being so hard on myself if I look extra bloated in a photo, and using those pictures and how I felt as motivation to keep going. You know how they say if you want different results you got to do something different. So starting today I woke up at 5 AM in the morning and I am not a morning person. That's what I used to say and now I am telling myself I am a morning person. I look forward to waking up each and every day to make my life everything I ever wanted it to be, everything I've ever dreamed of. I'm going to wake up every day and pray, meditate, exercise, goalsetting and even work my business for a couple of minutes. I know doing this will help me dramatically.  I have two children and a husband and as you all know life can get in the way. I was a person who woke up at 7 AM rushed my kids to school in time for breakfast. Came home worked my business, worked out played with my kids or if I got called into work the day rushed by even quicker.  I didn't get to do anything. Getting up at 5 AM I realize I can really really set up my day. I can do all those things I wanted to do for my kids like make breakfast in the morning, workout, go take a shower and blow out my hair, maybe even do my makeup, make time for God re-adjust-my vision board and so much more. Another thing that I will be doing differently is consistently blogging as a journal. I will blogg once to twice a week. One on Monday and possibly one on Fridays. So I can share my ups and downs and struggles with the hopes that it might inspire or help somebody else out there who can relate to what resistance and procrastination feel like. In the end I think we all want to feel a little bit amazing! Why not start first thing in the morning?

The decision!!!!

My first round of 21 Day fix kicked my butt; it was so worth it though. I started this program a year after I had my second child. I did try to lose weight right away after I had her but nothing was working, I jogged, I ate less carbs but the weight was coming off so slowly. I was beginning to get super depressed. I knew I had to do something different. I worked part time and so going to a gym was not an option. Not only because of time, but I honestly just couldn’t afford it. Then, one day I saw my friend posted her before and after and our babies are about the same age and WOW, I said I have to do what she is doing. I inboxed her about the details and she told me about a clean eating challenge group. I decided I wanted to be a part of this group. Through the group I learned more about clean eating, shakeology and the new and amazing work outs that Beachbody has. I agreed with my friend to give it a try. I was all in!!!! I took pictures of my body that literally made me cringe but I knew it was what I had to do. I needed to face the cold hard reality of what I looked like. I needed to decide if I was happy with that image and honestly I wasn’t.

So the challenge began… I started the 21 day fix challenge group and met so many amazing supportive people who had similar goals to mine. We kept each other completely accountable and that’s exactly what I needed. That push to go hard and be consistent. I realized a lot of time we convince ourselves we don’t need to push harder but we do. The workout kicked my butt; I was completely out of shape. By the end of the challenge I not only lost 13 pounds but was also was able to do a full burpee without modification. That alone blew me away. So you ask whats next?

What comes after the 21 days? Well I am doing it again and again until I need no modification, then I am moving on to Insanity Max 30!!!! Working out and drinking Shakeology has giving me a new energy I didn’t know I had. I didn’t need coffee or diet pills.

 Also what really helped me is what I learned from the clean eating challenge. I have cut out processed food and sugar and I also used the portion control containers from the 21 Day fix program. Weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise.

I am still on my way to my fitness goals but I posted my before and after picture to show people, If I can do it so can you. In the past I would have never shown a full body shot but I know with my determination, commitment and results I have no need to shamefully hide anymore.

Because of the great support I got from my coach and the challenge group, it has inspired me to do the same for other people. It can be difficult to make a choice about changing your lifestyle and exercising. Like I said before I know if I can do it so can you and I want to help you do it too!!! I want to help you stay focused, support you every moment and motivate you to stay on top of your goal. If you are interested in losing weight, getting fit, eating right and getting healthy please email me at nlopezfitness@gmail.com and I can recommend a exercise program and meal plan that meets your needs.

Team Beachbody is also starting a new challenge group starting January 5^th. All you have to do is create a free account at www.teambeachbody.com/nicolelopez01 and choose me as your coach. Submit your goals and a before picture and choose a work out (P90X, 21 Day Fix, Insanity, ect). If your not sure on what workout is right for you, please send me a message so I can help recommend a program that’s right for you. They have so many programs and supplements to chose from. Also they have the all amazing Shakeology that I love!!!!! I know part of my weight loss is due to this amazing shake. If you want to learn more about shakeology check out my site at www.shakeology.com/nicolelopez01