My family loves baked goods so we have been trying all kinds of recipes and figuring out ways to make them a more regular part of our lives. This recipe is one of our favorites! I usually use blueberries but all I had on hand was blackberries and it was so yummy! I can't say which I like better!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of almond milk
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour ( or your preference)
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup  plus 2 Tablespoons  of sugar
1 cup blueberries, blackberries or your choice of fruit


Preheat oven to 350 F and grease loaf pan with olive oil spray. Whisk today the first four ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients but the fruit and stir well. Pour wet into dry and stir until just combined.  If batter seems to thick add milk one Tablespoon at a time until the batter is the right consistency. Add fruit and sir just once, very lightly, as not to break the berries. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 15-18 minutesor until the berries are bubbling and the loaf feels firm.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy!
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Do you know the percentage of people that actually complete their New Years resolutions? 8%. Almost immeditately that number makes you want to throw in the towel, however, its not that hard to be in that 8%! It's not a matter of will power but understanding the steps you need to take to succeed! So I am going to share them with you!

1. You can't exercise your way out of bad nutrition. We have been told that the way to lose weight is to burn more calories than we eat and that makes sense, right? However, the kind of calories that you eat MATTER! You can't eat 900 calories of processed foods, hardly any vegetables, and drink sugar free soda and expect to lose weight, but that's exactly what marketing has told us. So we work our butts off for hours in the gym everyday for a month and the scale barely moves. It doesn't seem worth the work and we quit. I highly recommend watching Fed Up on Netflix if you get the oppurtunity! It will walk you through the obesity epidemic and why its happening. I also offer free Sugar Detox groups throughout the year and I would love to have you join us for one if you struggle with cravings and you feel like you can't get your nutrition together!

I also share our nutrition plan here on our challenge group website and I highly encourage you to check it out and learn how to meal plan for succeess! Nutrition is 80% of the work, if you get that dialed in, you can work out 30 minutes three times a week and still get results! Being fit doesn't have to be the struggle we have experienced in the past. When you have your nutrition in order, it all falls into place.

2. Drink a lot of water! I know that we all know that but if you drink 12 oz of water half an hour before you eat, you will feel less hungry, make better choices, and help flush your body of toxins. Make the change to drink 8 cups of water a day and you will see huge changes in your health and your appearance! You want clear skin and healthy shiny hair? skip the sweet drinks and have water!

3. Plan out your cheats. Saturday morning is my families cheat meal. My hubby loves sweet breakfasts and we treat ourselves to cinnamon rolls or donuts or crepes. Knowing when the next treat you love is coming makes the disciplined lifestyle easier to stick to.  Consistency is what is key here. What do MOST is what will count. If you cheat once a week it may slow down your progress a little but you will get farther than 3 weeks of discipline followed by a week of cheating. A healthy life style is another version of the tortiose and the hare! Progress is better than perfection!

4.Personal Development! Read books that will pump truth into you! I highly recommend The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, or You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero. Our thoughts often lead us down negative paths when we get discouraged or rationalize things that lead us away from our goals. If you want to stay motivated, fill your mind with truth and positivity. This will also help you fight shame. Shame is almost always the trigger that leads us to quit or in the other direction and creates eating disorders. We want to rid that from our lives. We focus a lot on breaking down shame in our challenge groups!

5. Find a form of exercise you love, or at least like! Just because your friend like Yoga doesn't mean that its something that YOU can live with longterm! ( I barely get through my one day of yoga on the 21 Day FIx! I just don't like it!) If you find you are doing something you are dreading switch it up! I LOVE weightlifting but I usually choose programs that mix up the work outs so I don't get bored. I like doing upper body on Tuesday, lower body on Wednesday, Pilates on Thursday, and cardio on Friday etc.  Some of my challengers LOVE dancing and they can stick to a program where they get to shake their booty everyday! Last month we did Core De Force and kick boxed our way to fit.  Ive learned that finding a 30 minute work out is my sweet spot. I can squeeze in 30 minutes no problem and it helps me to stay consistent. 

I have been the gym rat that worked out every day for an hour and drank red bulll on the way home. I have done yoga classes and dance classes. Ive worked out with a full time job, and as a stay at home mom and what finally put me in the 8% was Beachbody. They gave me the roadmap for success, showed me how to plan out my food, how to understand what my body needed, and they provided me with a plethora of workouts that helped me figure out what made me excited to live a healthy lifestyle!

Today, they are at it again! They have created a challenge pack that is designed to give you the freedom to find the workouts that speak to YOU! The All Access Challenge pack includes:

-ALL programs Beachbody has EVER made
-ANY new program released in 2017
-Access to EVERYTHING on BOD for 1 YEAR
-FULL month of Shakeology
-Portion Fix (containers, shakeo bottle, nutrition guide)
-And ME! Your free coach!

This means you get to experience ALL the programs, mix it up, figure out what you enjoy without having to order multiple programs! You can access them from your laptop, tablet, or phone. You can download up to seven workouts that you can use offline! If you are planning on joining our January challenge group, THIS is the challenge pack to get! Set yourself up for the YEAR! The average gym membership cost is $39 a month or $468 year and that is will no nutrition help. The average yoga or barre class can run to $200 a month or $2400 a year!  The All Access challenge pack is only $199 for the entire year or $16.58 a month if you break it down, AND its completely refundable for 30 days! What gym  or class will offer you that?? It's also a great value if you have multiple people in your house wanting to get healthy because you have access to ALL the programs!

Also, starting in January, Beachbody is having its Health Bet! They put one million dollars in the prize pool and than an additionl $5 for every challenge pack sold this month! You can actually earn money working out three days a week! They reward you for your consistency so that you see results!

Here is the link to orders yours and join us for an amazing January!!

https://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/DigitalAllInCP?referringRepId=664971

At 37, I can tell you time marches on. That 4 year degree that seems so far off, the instrument you want to learn to play, the weight you want to lose, the goals might seem out of reach but the time passes anyway! (And it passes quickly 😳)
The small daily disciplines, studying, practicing, working out 30 minutes a day are the seemingly small steps that lead to our success. That goal that looms over isn't as hard as it seems but you do have to keep moving forward!
January 1st the gym is going to be wall to wall with people trying to start their New Years Resolutions. It happens every year and only 8% of them will meet their goal. So how do you become one of that 8%? First, don't tie it to a number on the scale. Weight loss is a byproduct of healthy decisions, so make the goal working out at least three times a week and following a meal plan. You can't exercise your way out of bad nutrition!
Nutrition is where most people go wrong. I thought I ate pretty well until I started the 21 Day Fix and realized I was eating healthy food but not in the right quantities. That program changed my life and my waistline!
Finally, get accountability. The only reason I'm still doing this two years later is because I have a community of women waiting to hear from me everyday. Whether I work out or not, whether I stick to my meal plan or cheat, they know what's happening. I might get tripped up every now and then but I don't fall off the wagon because I have support.
This January, Beachbody is offering us something amazing!! EVERY program is available to us through Beachbody on Demand ( think Netflix for workouts ) for the price of a challenge pack. 
ALL programs Beachbody has EVER made
-ANY new program released in 2017
-Access to EVERYTHING on BOD for 1 YEAR
-FULL month of Shakeology
-Portion Fix (containers, shakeo bottle, nutrition guide)
-And ME! Your free coach!
And, as always, you have 30 days to return any Beachbody product for a full refund. What gym will offer you that?? A year from now, where will you be? What will you have achieved? Make sure you say you chose that life, you didn't settle for it! I can promise you, it's worth it! Message me for more info or comment below with your email address!

I had heard of the Ultimate Reset. I had seen before and afters but I had never considered doing it myself. WHy? Its 21 days! lol  I'm also a TERRIBLE cook and the thought of making someone elses recipes for three weeks scared me a little bit. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

I got inspired by my friend Tina! She did the Ultimate Reset in October and though her trasformation was INCREDIBLE, it was her success with overcoming nutrition obstacles that spoke to me. I have been struggling! We moved to Colorado in July and though I love it here, Ive been homesick. Ive been struggling with old habits that I thought were long gone and though Ive fought against it, I was just tired of feeling the constant pull. After hearing her story, I was all in!

What IS the Ultimate Reset? It's a full body reboot! Even though the body is extremely resilient, our bodies have been pushed to the limit by pollution, pesticides, preservatives, and chemicals contained in nearly every item that makes up our modern world. These harmful items can disrupt the normal function of our bodies, which, in turn, can result in reduced energy, weight gain, and a weaker immune system. The Ultimate Reset eill improve energy, improve digestion, improve sleep, improve mood, and help you lose weight!

The kit comes with 6 supplements: Optimize, Soothe, Revitalize, Power Greens, Detox, and Mineralize and a detailed book that contains each step of the detox inclusing recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the entire 21 days!

I was nervous, like I said, especially since my hubby decided to join me! The man loves meat and sugar and I knew this would be a challenge for him so I wanted to prepare the food well. However, for the most part, the recipes were delicious! Seriously! We had added more than a few to our regular rotation! It was fun to learn how to prepare vegetables in different ways and it also challenged me to think outside the box with meals as well. 

The first week wasn't very hard, it was actually more food than we were used to eating and the first two days we had proteins. The second week was pretty easy because it was a lot of HUGE salads and we were still eating grains. The last week was the hardest week for both of us. It was less food and so many veggies, but it was never really HARD. We would have just preferred to have more variety of foods.

Surprisingly, I didn't struggle with my cravings. I felt empowered. The NEED for some of the things I fall captive to just went away. I became aware of emotional triggers, both those I knew existed and some that shocked me. It ended up being a physical, emotional, and even spiritual cleansing. I think EVERYONE should do this at some point. If you struggle with getting your nutrition under control or if you struggle with emotional eating this will change your life!

We actually got the flu two days in and I thought for sure it would do us in, but we stuck with it and I am so glad! I feel like we are headed into 2017 with a completely different mindset on how we treat our bodies and what we are capable of! Because of the illness, I wasn't able to exercise much. Light exercise is all that is allowed but my plan was to do Tai Cheng the entire time and for the most part I only walked daily. I did lose a little muscle mass but I feel so freed up that I don't even mind! I am ready to dive right in and get started again! If you are interested in doing the Ultimate Reset  you can find more information here.  If you would like accountability and help with the Reset or with your fitness journey please feel free to message me! We have an amazing community of women that lift one another up and help each other succeed. My journey would not be as successful without them!

I started the Monday after Thansgiving so I had a little more weight on me than I susually do so it was a good time to start! I lost 9.5 pounds ( My hubby lost 14 pounds!) on the Ultimate Reset and gained a world of freedom! I have no regrets and would ABSOLUTELY do it again!

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I avoided being part of a challenge group when I first started the 21 Day Fix. I told myself I didn't need it. I'm self motivated and that's true. I don't need people to make sure I work out but I did need people! I needed people to open up to, to share my insecurities and struggles. I needed to be part of a group that reminded me to have grace for myself and to make sure I was doing this for the right reasons.
Through challenge groups, I've learned that my motivation was from shame and fear. I was trying to make myself worthy through perfectionism which is a fools errand. It wasn't until I was surrounded by other woman who were doing this BECAUSE they saw their worth and were actually caring for themselves that I began to heal.

Much more than weight lost, muscle gained, or healthy eating habits, I needed emotional healing. Most of us do and yet we don't get it because we aren't willing to read the painful chapters out loud.
Challenge groups are so much more than accountability for workouts and nutrition, it's a safe place to get to root of the problem and to heal. We are all in the same place dealing with our own chapters and reading them out loud to people that understand and celebrate the victories with us.
If you haven't been successful in your health journey or you've been in a cycle of progress and falling off the wagon, I invite you to join our January challenge group.

I know it's scary to let people in, to feel vulnerable, but it's also scary to live in fear and shame. Stepping out into the light is both freeing and healing! Join us! Message me for more details on our January group!