Stripping Down a Plan

Stripping Down a Plan

I know everyone is sooooo excited about the 28 Day Challenge!!!  I know I am!   I will be publishing notes and posting them to the team.  To make sure that everyone has access to them, I will post them to Fabulous Fitness Facebook page and on my personal page.  I will also put these notes into my blogs on blogspot.com and Sparkpeople.com.  Additionally I will put links to those blogs on the Facebook pages and chat groups that I lead.
I’m sure you would like to know what you will be eating and some of you are new to clean eating.  In a nutshell, clean eating is eating foods that have not been processed.  As you clean up your nutrition you will be eliminating sugar, sugar substitutes, preservatives, additives and excess sodium.  Sea salt is totally clean, just watch your intake.
During the 28 Days, you will have to employ your best focus on your future goals to avoid the desire for immediate gratification.  Question every bite you take.  Is this a living whole food?  You should be able to answer yes to these questions . . .

1.  Did it grow on a plant (tree, vine, bush, root, etc)?
2. Did it walk, run, swim or fly?
3. If I read this label out loud to a four year old, could I pronounce the words and explain what they are in nature?  For instance:  Peanut Butter.  If it is a clean peanut butter it will say the ingredients are PEANUTS!  No sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no additives.
4. If it comes in a box and has a barcode, it could still be clean if the ingredients say things like oats, flax, corn, wheat, water, etc.  There are a few bread items and crackers that are clean, just read the label.  If you can’t pronounce it, your body does not know what to do with it.

I’m not here to write a specialized plan for each of you.  I am here to teach you how to use these tools to meet your goals.  Each of these notes will discuss different aspects of how I use these programs to reach my goals.  We will be using Eat Clean Diet Recharged Cooler 1 and Cooler 2 plans.  The Eat Clean Recharged Family Meal Plan and The Gluten Free Plan will be used (all in the recharged book).  We will also be using the Eat Clean Diet Stripped menu plans.
I have been asked how the plans are different.  Here is the short answer and I will go into more detail in the next note.
Stripped = Purpose:  28 day plan to eliminate inflammation & bloating caused by dairy  and to help you drop those last 10 lbs.   No dairy, no bread or processed grains of any sort.  Lots of lean meats, green veggies, fresh fruit, berries, nuts and seeds and healthy fats.  Fabulous menu plans and recipes.
Recharged Cooler 1 = This plan is a two week plan to help get you ‘picture ready’ and to make your jeans fit a little looser in a short period.  This is the plan I use when I am travelling because the foods are simplistic and repetitive making it easy to batch cook and use leftovers up.  It is your no frills plan.  There are not ‘recipes’ on cooler one . . .it is Chicken breast, ½  sweet potato, green beans type menu plan.
Recharged Cooler 2 = This is a maintenance plan.  You will get some dairy and some bread products on the days we take menus from this plan.  Clean breads are either fresh baked breads that have all whole ingredients in them or you can purchase Ezekiel bread.  Ezekiel bread is found in the freezer section in the grocery store.
Recharged Family Meal Plan = Also a maintenance plan.  It has some family friendly recipes that follow all the clean eating guidelines.
Recharged Gluten-Free Meal Plan = Also a maintenance plan.  The menus look very similar to the menus in the stripped plan, except it does have dairy.
I hope this answers some questions you may have about the meal plans.  If you want to start doing some shopping to build your pantry and stock your freezer for next week, here is a list of things you may want to get.  (Organic is best, when you can afford it.  Grass fed beef it best, when you can afford it.  When you can’t afford it, just get the leanest best quality foods your money can buy.  Quality is important, but feeding you family is vital)

Lean Ground Beef
Flank Steak
Tuna (canned in water or in a pouch)
White Fish
Salmon
Chicken Breast
Bison (ground, steaks)
Eggs
Almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, pumpkin seeds (nuts and seeds should be RAW, not roasted)
Greek Yogurt 0% Fat Plain
Almond milk (plain, unsweetened) Do Not get rice milk, it is nutritionally different than almond milk
Rolled Oats
10 Grain Whole Wheat Cereals Blends  (I like Bob’s Red Mill brand)
Quinoa
Brown Rice and/or Farro
Flaxseeds
Lemon
Sweet Potatoes
Natural Peanut Butter
Nonfat cottage cheese
Veggies I always have on hand: zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, kale, raw spinach
Fruits:  apples, pears, strawberries, mango, blueberries, bananas

In the next note or two I will give you the menu ‘schedule’ so you will know what specific fruits and veggies you will need for the first week or two.  I really like repeating the same menu two weeks in a row, it helps me use up leftovers and veggies before they go bad.
I hope you find this useful!  We are here to help you reach your goals!

Blessings,
Carolyn

Stripped to the Finish!

Super quick blog so I can head to the gym and get my Boom Boom Pow workout in tonight before dinner!!!

Starting Weight: 161.4
Current Weight: 153.0
Weight lost: 8.4 lbs.
Bra Band: 33 (32) -1 inch
Bicep: 11.5 (11.0) - .5 inch
Natural Waist: 32 (29.25) - 2.75 inches
Hip: 40.5 (38.25) - 2.25 inches
Thigh: 20.75 (20.5) - .25
Calf: 15 (14.75) - .25
Looks like 7 inches lost! Good month!


Before Stripped Plan vs. 28 days later


This used to be my least favorite angle to be photographed in a bikini and I would cringe when Ruben asked to post them publicly. Now, I think this is my favorite.


I'm liking what I'm seeing here and it encourages me to continue to work towards my best body NOW!!!!


So, what now? This morning was my first meal off plan in 28 days. I had already pre-planned my day and packed my foods the night before. I had an Ezekiel English Muffin with scrambled egg whites, spinach and laughing cow cheese spread and one kiwi.

When my son (24) saw me eating breakfast
he said "I thought your 28 days were over today"

I said "they are"

He said "Then why the hell are you eating THAT"

I replied "because clean eating is my lifestyle, not a 28 day diet".

He just shook his head as he walked away mumbling "whatever". LOL!!!

I am just so pleased with how my body is looking and feeling and I have no desire to stop the momentum that I am feeling. Will I go off 'plan' . . . yes and no . . . I have planned an indulgence for tomorrow night with my hubby, which I PLAN to enjoy! The following day I will pack my cooler as PLANNED and enjoy my clean whole foods.

BTW . . . I was sooooo excited to be able to have some greek yogurt today. I packed some seeds, nuts, dried fruit and 1/2 an apple to chop up and toss in a couple tablespoons of my favorite greek yogurt. It actually did not taste as good to me as I thought it would. As a matter of fact I was thinking "this would taste much better without the yogurt. LOL!!!

Here is a peak of my one year progress, just to show you change can happen at any time and it's NEVER too late!!!



Live beautifully! Be YOU!

28 Day Stripper Graduate

Well, I don't want to jump the gun. Today is the last day of the plan. I do not 'officially' graduate until I have completed this day. But, if I have not gone off plan in 27 days, I don't think I will be tempted to do so today.

I have been reflecting back to see some of my favorite foods and lessons learned over 28 days. The plan isn't really all that different than what I had been doing, other than I couldn't have greek yogurt or my favorite granola. Breakfast was about 2/3 of what I would have usually eaten for breakfast and I didn't have sweet potatoes nearly as much as I usually do.

I will be doing my measurements in the a.m. and posting my before/after pictures for the 28 days, on Monday. Hubby is out of town so pictures will have to wait until my neighbor and friend, Carie (HOTLIKEHUBBY) can come down to take them for me. Funny how she is the only one I would consider allowing to take these pictures when I then post them for all of YOU to see! Something about being 'in person' and posing seems too personal.

What I have learned is that it is a good thing to try new recipes, even ones that you don't think you would like.  I would have been more likely to stick to the 'concept' of the menu without sticking to it exactly, had it not been for the fact that I wanted to give you guys a full fair and accurate report on the plan.   Although I did make a few minor substitutions, I did stick to the plan at each meal of each day . . . other than last Friday when I got stuck in Indy way late in the evening shopping and didn't have enough food on me. I was disappointed to not make it home in time for dinner because it was one of my favorites. . .

Salmon with Sweet and Tangy Pineapple Chutney, farro and sauteed kale!

I made the best substitution I could while driving. I got a tuna wrap from Trader Joe's that had albacore tuna, loads of spinach, tomatoes and egg in it. The wrap was not on my plan (no bread products on the 28 day plan), but it was whole wheat with flaxseed and I tore off all the excess so I only had enough to act as the carrier of the tuna salad. I also had two pineapple spears and a bottle of water.

The next day I was excited because, even though I had missed my favorite dinner, Saturday's lunch is leftovers from Friday night!!! BUT, a friend was in from out of town and wanted to go to lunch. I decided that I would just make the best choices I could with the menu. I ended up ordering two plates of food so I could combine them to get the meal I needed. I got a greek salad (hold the croutons) and a salmon burger platter, hold the potato chips. I used the salmon burger on my salad. The portion was larger than I should have eaten, but tasted delicious!

After these meals I employed a couple 'tricks' I know to help me to release extra fluids and to keep me from feeling puffy. For the next two days I drink lots of water with lemon. I make a big two quart pitcher of water with 1 lemon, 1 cucumber, fresh ginger and fresh mint leafs in it and loads of ice. I drink the whole pitcher in one day (it has to marinate for 4 - 5 hours before you drink it. Ginger and mint both have anti-inflammatory properties to them and help sooth your digestive tract after eating heavy foods. Lemon and cucumber both help with elimination. 'Nuf said.

Had I not been on the Stripped plan, there are a couple more 'tricks' I would employ. Such as eat more potassium the next day by eating almonds, salmon, dried fruits). Every cell in you body has a sodium/potassium gate on it to allow fluids in and out. When you are retaining too much fluids due to high sodium content of food, you need to increase the ratio of potassium to sodium to get the gates to open and release fluids.

During the past 28 days I also learned how very vital my support team is to my accountability and success. I have a core group of 6 (including me 7) who I chat with daily and am accountable to. We check in with each other to share what our workout of the day is, what our goals are for the day and to share our celebrations. It kinda feels like when you were a little kid and you got a gold star on your page and you couldn't wait to go home and show it to your mom. When something good is happening for me, I report to the core 6 first. They are like my sisters and celebrate with me. It also holds me accountable to them. If I tell that that Monday night is my Boom Boom Pow workout and they encourage me to go heavy and give it all I got . . . guess what, it is next to impossible to not what to exceed my goal for that day.

When I started the 28 day plan, I had a dual purpose. One was to prove to myself what could be done with focus. The other was to help Amy (Fitchick75) to have a plan to stay in the best shape possible during her recovery from surgery for an abdominal hernia. I had told her that nutrition was 80% of the equation to keep her body fat down and to keep her from losing muscle mass during her recovery. She could not exercise at all for a couple weeks and that could drive a fitness freak crazy. So, instead of focusing on what she can't do, I wanted her to focus on what she could do. We were accountable to each other every day. We both carried around that book like it was the bible. When I didn't have mine with me and was at the store, I would text Amy and she would give me a list of foods needed for a recipe. She always had the book handy, if I didn't.


We are Strippers!

If you choose to start a plan, whether it is training for something or a meal plan, I encourage you to find an accountability partner who will do THE SAME plan with you. You will be challenged, encouraged and motivated to continue knowing that someone else is doing the exact same thing.

I am working on writing up the plans for the next 28 day challenge and will be explaining how to 'strip down' a plan and make it work for you. Several have joined the challenge on Facebook. I am hoping that each of them will find someone on the team that they can relate to as we post daily what are plan is for the next day and then come back and talk about how we executed that plan. Use the group as a way to figure out what is working and what is not.

I will be posting the challenge information on the Spark Fabulous Fitness team as well. I encourage you to join in on the fun! The next 28 days could change your life!


Live beautifully! Be YOU!

Stripping in Style

Amazing day!!! It has been a bit of a rough week, but today was amazing. On Friday I could feel my body was trying to fight off something. I am very sensitive to what my body is telling me and have a funny relationship with it. It talks to me and I try to tune in and listen. I know, weird! But, mine was telling me it needed to be nourished and nurtured with special care on Friday. Since Friday is my day off, I spent most of the afternoon propped up in my bed drinking herbal tea and reading. I even got a nap.

Thankfully, I was able to sleep a full eight hours last night and woke up feeling better than I had in a couple days. As I turned on my computer, I realized that today is the third Saturday of the month . . . the indoor farmers market is open! I can get some locally raised, grass fed, organic meats and eggs! Once I made that realization, it was mission on! I got a warm bowl of oats with berries for breakfast.

I love the way sliced strawberries look like hearts!

I washed my face, pulled my hair back in a ponytail, pulled on my new yoga pants and flip flops and was heading out the door in no time flat to get started with my day.


Had to snap a pic because I felt lean this morning. The scale agreed! 156 this morning!

Just throwing on your clothes and running out the door might be normal for some folks, but I'm a hair and make up girl! But, I can waste too much time doing that on a Saturday and I needed to get some cardio in today as well.

I packed my snack, nuts and fruit to eat while I was shopping. I met the most amazing people there! I meet the local sheep farmers (2). And I found out I like sheep or I guess it's actually called lamb. I had a bite of ground lamb meatballs . . . delicious! I asked the lady for the recipe and she didn't have a copy of it, but showed me the recipe. I pulled out my cell phone and took pictures of the recipe page. I also bought two dozen eggs from her.

The next booth I went to, also had lamb! Their samples were italian sausage. Very delicious! I talked to them for a while. I asked each farmer about how they raised their animals, how they fed them, medicated, processed and handled their meats. I asked them if they had a website I could share or a Facebook Page I could friend and told them that I write blogs, recipes and reviews and would like to give them a mention. One of the ladies just kept staring at me the whole time I was talking about clean eating and why I needed to know everything about the meats. Then just out of the blue she said, "You are beautiful". Totally caught me off balance. I told her how I had used clean eating to lower my blood pressure and to transform my life and that I had lost 111 lbs. in less than 2 yrs. A customer standing nearby heard our conversation and just stopped and said "You are beautiful." Maybe I should go without doing my hair and make up more often! This is working for me! LOL!

After a few more moments of conversation, the lady making the sausage samples said "Do you have a website, phone number or business card. I'd like to talk to you more about what I could do to lose weight and get in the best shape of my life." Hello! I'm feeling like an evangelist here! Everywhere I go I talk about how clean eating has changed my life and it is a message that so many people are hungry to hear! They can't get enough of it.

I'm now feeling ON TOP OF WORLD! I look around to see it the herb lady is there so that I can get some fresh basil and rosemary plants, but she is not there this week. Skip all the bakers and muffin makers. I am heading out the door when I see this jewelry display that has the most unusual jewelry made of reclaimed pocket watches, buckles, charms, etc. I am drawn in! Love jewelry. My eye immediately goes to a necklace that is a pocket watch face that has been filled with gemstones and has lots of turquoise in it. I scan the rest of the jewelry and keep coming back to this piece. It is big, I wonder if it's heavy. I wonder if it would look gaudy? I put it on and look in the mirror, before I can say what I am thinking, another customer says to me . . . only you could pull that off, you are beautiful. Guess who bought a new necklace! LOL!

Out of the market and on to the mall to search out and purchase a cast iron skillet! Score! Two! Both on sale!!! Then to the grocery store to pick up the veggies and fish I needed for this week.

When I got home I put away all the cold stuff, started cooking up some grub in my new skillet!

This is turkey sausage, green peppers, onion, mushrooms and spinach. I added in some cooked farro. Tomorrow morning I will put about a cup of this mixture into a ramekin with 4 egg whites and one whole egg and bake it for my breakfast!

I grabbed a quick bite to eat and was back out the door to do some cardio at the gym.

1/4 cup of cooked farro, 1/2 a cucumber, 5 cherry tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of lemon. Yummo!

At the gym I realized I had forgotten my music. I am not a fan of long cardio sessions, but any cardio without music is like torture for me. But, I am a big girl, certainly I can discipline my mind to behave for 40 minutes. I have the new Athleta catalog with me and a clean eating magazine . . . I will just listen to house music and do my thing on the cross trainer. Folk music. Really? In a gym? Please. The most irritating folk music. I can do this. Or maybe not. I jump off the cross trainer before the first song is even half way through. I leave my water bottle and magazine on the trainer, grab my key and ID and run down the hallway, jump in my car and drive the three blocks home to get my iPod. Run back down the hallway and jump back onto the cross trainer. What can I say, I had a rare day that I felt inspired to get my cardio in and didn't want some guys choice in crappy music to blow it for me. 40 minutes on the cross trainer, 20 on the treadmill at a 7.0 incline, ended with some amazing yoga to stretch out my quads, hamstrings and calves.

I felt good! Ran a few more errand in town while I was up and 'running'. Came home to start my dinner and jump in the tub!!!! Checked into facebook to see how my friends were doing and found out that, thanks to some dedicated friends, I am at number 5 in the polls! There are 13 more days in the contest. It is feeling more and more like this is going to happen.

I have been working on some ideas and writing some plans that would help me to reach more people with the good news about clean eating and how we each have the power to make positive change in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. After the trip to the farmers market, I had several lightbulbs flashing off all at once, like paparazzi cameras. What if I put my testimony, before and after pictures, recipes and meal plans into a small spiral bound 'book' (that part I have been working on) . . . but, what if I teamed up with the local growers and sold this book at the farmers market? Do you think people would be interested? I'm getting to be know as the clean eating girl in town. I could think of worse titles!!! LOL!

Give me some feed back. Help me brainstorm this.

The Year

2009 I started my weight loss journey, weighing 267 lbs.




By December I had lost 60 lbs.


2010 I was training for my first half marathon

I learned a lot about myself, commitment, dedication and the role diet plays in performance while I was training. The training is the experience you don't want to miss.


Yea, well, don't even ask! LOL!!! I thought you would be able to see some muscles because I could feel them! LOL!!!


Then, in a moment when I was feeling really good about my progress, I took these pictures. I had been working hard for a year, had lost 80 lbs. And I still had so far to go. I am grateful for these pictures though. Because at this point it could have been easy to just be complacent with the progress I had made. I had gone from barely able to exercise with the Wii Fit for 10 minutes a day, to running a half marathon, riding my bike 23 miles on Saturdays and was enjoying a very active life. I was happier and healthier than I had been in years. And 80 lbs. in a year is amazing progress and even though my body is far from idea, it was a heck of a lot better than it had been and I looked 'normal' in clothes.

Then I started feeling a little desperation and felt tempted by all the quick fix headlines on the magazine rack. Lost 10 lbs. by Sunday. Drop a dress size in a week. Eat your favorite foods and lose weight. Lose weight without exercise, etc.

I had been following the clean eating principles in Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Recharged since January 2009. I felt great and was making tremendous progress. I delved back into the books certain that I had missed something that would help me get to the next level. Was there a 'next level' for me? Or was I there? I wasn't sure, but I wanted to find out.

A couple gals that inspired me from Spark were Nancy and Tia. They had amazing physiques and were close to my age. I believe I meet both of them on a clean eating team. I asked both of them TONS of questions and started to believe that maybe, just maybe I, too could have that kind of transformation, with the right information. So, I enlisted the help of Ruben (Flexchef) who had coached Tia and Nancy. Ruben taught me how to lose fat and gain muscle using the clean eating principles I was already enjoying. He introduced me to food combinations I would not have thought of and he taught me that is it never okay to deprive myself of food or skip a meal. This was a huge thing for a girl who had battled with bulimia for over 25 yrs.

In June 2010 (one year after starting my journey), I took this picture as my 'before' picture as I started the next chapter working with Ruben.

Ugh! Really hated having to put on a bikini. I bought the largest and cheapest one I could find. This was not a pleasurable experience, putting on a bikini and allowing a picture to be taken as evidence of my apparent over abundance.

But, each week I got a little more confident in front of the camera as the changes started happening in my physique and how I was feeling.



I was feeling so fabulous! After three months of working with Ruben, I had lost 10 lbs. gained some muscle and confidence, gone from wearing a loose size 14 to a size 10. I also got a thrill out of buying my first size 8 dress and crying in the dressing room because it looked so dang good.


I am grateful to Ruben for the tools that he shared with me for three months that I will continue to use for a lifetime. After three months it was time for me to move on. My goals had changed a little for that time. I was now training for marathon.

November 2010 I ran a full marathon. Man, training discipline and focus! I love the woman I became in the training. Those long runs taught me a lot about perseverance, commitment and focus. Awesome experience. I can't find the photo right now, I will try to come back and add it later.

2011. After the marathon, I noticed some changes in my body composition that I was not pleased with. My body was storing more fat and felt fluffy. I upped my lower body weight training and time in the gym. I started running sprint intervals on the indoor track and using the Cross Trainer for HiiT sessions a couple times a week. Immediately following the marathon I started cutting back carbs and calories since I would not be continuing to run 35 miles a week. Now I needed to get back on plan, the plan I had been using with Ruben that worked so well for me.

I used the principles of clean eating and what I learned from Ruben to start making my own recipes and writing my own meal plans. The results have been amazing! I feel more incredible than ever.

The big kick I needed came with I had the opportunity to meet Tosca Reno at The Arnold Festival in Ohio the beginning of March.

The two weeks leading up to the festival I went on the Cooler 1 plan from the Recharged book. I am so glad I did. It was so easy to follow and worked great with my travel plans (easy to pack foods). I was able to meet someone who had had a major impact on my life. I felt confident, poised and strong.

At the festival I met some amazing role models and I got a signed copy of Eat Clean Diet Stripped. I am currently on day 26 of the 28 day plan! I love, love, love the foods and the variety that I have been introduced to here. It has opened up yet another world to me. I will definitely be continuing some of these recipes! Oh, here is my before and 3 week progress picture for Stripped.



So, I am already planning the next chapter! On April 26, the day after Easter, I will be starting the Oxygen Bikini Ready in 28 Days plan, using the exercises and recipes in it, in combination with menus from Recharged Cooler 1, Recharged Cooler 2 and Stripped. My Facebook Fabulous Fitness team page has an Event set up for those who would like to join and I will be posting the event here on Spark in my Fabulous Fitness team for those who would like to join. The accountability is awesome and you gain momentum from hearing what others are doing. Join it! What do you have to lose.

Oh, THE year . . . 2011 . . . this is the year I claim to be smokin' hot before my 46th birthday in December!

Emotionally Stripped

Okay, warning . . . I am in a super silly mood tonight. So, I never know what path things might head down when I start out this way! LOL!!! But, here we go! Hang on girls!

I'll just speak from my heart about what has been going on in my head and see what flows here. I have been a bit distracted lately with thoughts (concerns) about my mother and waiting for test results. We are still waiting. She had a lung biopsy done yesterday. I called her before her appointment and she shared with me that she was afraid. Afraid of the potential pain and the potential outcome. I told her what she could expect it to feel like to help her be prepared.

During the time I was waiting for her to call me back after the procedure . . . I was obsessed with some of the words she had said. Like, I just want to know so we can start doing what needs to be done for the best outcome. We. We. Do you see that. We. That is powerful. My mom is a do it yourself kinda girl and hates to depend on anyone. These past couple (6mth) months of so my mom has been asking me more and more for guidance to help her eat clean and make good food choices. Mom is an awesome cook and has always cooked healthy for the most part, but she has a fierce sweet tooth and had trouble separating from her sugar. But she has done it! She now calls me talking about what grain she tried, and what recipe I sent her that she loves.

So, I'm obsessing . . . how do I reach more women (families) with the life changing health transforming story of clean eating? How will God use me to empower women to know that they have the power to make amazing change in their health. I need a bigger platform! I need to hit a broader group. I need a freakin' megaphone! No. I need my life. I bigger platform to share my story of how eating clean, moving more and healing my body, mind and spirit from the inside out has transformed not only my physique, but my internal health, my relationship with food, my relationship with myself, with my husband and with my God.

At that moment I remember the Performing Beautifully Contest that I had entered and it became evident to me that THAT was the platform I need . . . to start. I need to win that contest. I need that platform. I had totally forgotten about it for two or three days. I, myself had forgotten to vote for me daily. My hubby was still faithfully voting and posting the link daily, but I was not. I went on the website to vote and was surprised to learn that I was in the number 10 position. I was so excited! New hope surged up! I asked friends to remember to vote and they posted the link on their FB pages and asked their friends to vote. In just a couple hours those votes bumped me to number 9! Momentum! Support! Encouragement! Wind beneath my wings! I felt like I could soar and that a huge prayer was being answered while I was waiting to hear back from my mother.

When mom called me I could tell immediately that she was in a lot of pain. She sounded drained. She said she hurt really bad like she had been hit in the chest and the back. It saddened me then and makes my eyes well up now as I think about my sweet mom being in pain, being afraid and not having a hand to hold. I will be there the next time. I cannot leave a woman I love so dearly to walk that path alone. I wanted to be there to drive her home, put her down for a nap and make her a yummy soup and some roasted veggies. Snuggle up in our jammies and watch some sappy chick flick together.

The power of women, strong women, united in support of each other. Like this community here, where we encourage, support, inspire, motivate, pray for, cry with and cheer on to greatness. Here where the synergistic power is so amazing that I am drawn back time and time again . . . no matter how busy or chaotic my life is at times. I've made some of my best friends here. I cherish your friendship and am honored when you share your dreams, wishes, prayer requests, questions and concerns with me as well as your celebrations, triumphs and transformations. You are amazing. Collectively we move mountains daily.

I had not intended to share any of that. This is suppose to be day 24 of the 28 day Stripped program blog! LOL!!! I haven't shown you much food lately. Sorry. This week is a repeat of the recipes from week two. I will end with a few food pics that I have taken over the past couple days. AND a side by side comparison photo Amy made for me. UGH!


Grilled Sweet Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts. I cut them into cubes, drizzled a little macadamia oil on them, dried rosemary and cinnamon.


Spinach Salad with Chopped Chicken, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Black Beans


Salad with left over bison burger from the night before and strawberries


Tonight's dinner! Grilled Chicken Breast, Farro, Sauteed Zucchini, Mushrooms, Onion w/garlic and asian spice mix.

And the humbling picture.

Notice the 'just get it over with' face on the left! LOL!!! On the left is May 2010, approximately size 14 weighing 180 ish. On the right is April 11, 2011 wearing a size 8 weighing 156. What a difference a year makes! Do the math girls. That is only 24 pounds difference. Average of 2 lbs. a month. Does losing a 2 pounds a month seem worth it? It adds up! or Strips down!

Live beautifully! Be the woman you were created to be and empower others to do the same!

apps.facebook.com/perfor
mbeautifully/contests/9939
8/voteable_entries/1940884
7?ogn=facebook

If you have a facebook account and would like to help hoist me up onto that higher platform, I would appreciate it.

Stripped Week 3 Progress

Wow! What a busy weekend! I got a lot accomplished and actually had some leisure time!

I'm kinda liking that things got scaled back with my client list. I'm down to just a few quality clients that I can focus on more with my current work schedule. I didn't realize how much I had taken on and how busy it would keep me until I was well in over my head. Even though it was tough losing some clients, others were ready to move on. Two - three months is initially the idea that I thought I would work with each client and that seems to be the average. One of two things happens, either in two - three months I can teach them the tools they need to continue on their own, or they change goals or lose focus and aren't able to see the results they want to be seeing.

Which brings me to lessons learned. With almost every client, I allowed them to change the menu and listened to their input about what they 'wanted' in the plan. What happens is they then aren't seeing the results they should be seeing and they get frustrated and think 'this doesn't work' and they quit. With my newer clients, I listen to what they are saying and then I say "No, we cannot add that in at this time." I then tell them why. There is a reason behind the progression of menus, calories/carbs/proteins/fats/exercise and they all work together to keep you from hitting a plateau. It works, I know it works and I know how it works. I need my clients to trust me and to trust the process. Another reason I start clients on a specific type of menu is to get them to start looking at food as fuel. Yes, food should be enjoyable, but so much of what we eat is just driven by taste and habit. I want them to start thinking about what they are eating, why they are eating it and how it helps them or hinders them in reaching their goals. These aren't MY goals, they have identified THEIR goals to me and it is my job to give them the tools to reach those goals. I love what I do. I don't love it when my client/friend is not satisfied with the results, and that happens when either I haven't understood fully what their expectations are or they haven't stuck to the training goal. So, great learning experience for me. Just like a parent has to use tough love, I need to be firm and say "no, we aren't going to do that at this time and here is why".

Let's look at some stats for this Eat Clean Diet Stripped 28 Day plan.

Starting Weight: 161.4
Week 1: 158.0
Week 2: 156.8
Week 3: 159.2
Total Weight Lost: 2.2 lbs.

Bra Band Measurement:
Starting: 33
Week 1: 32.75
Week 2: 32.5
Week 3: 32
Total Inches Lost: 1 inch

Natural Waist Measurements:
Starting: 32
Week 1: 31.5
Week 2: 29.75
Week 3: 29.25
Total Inches Lost: 2.75 inches

Hip Measurement:
Starting: 40.5
Week 1: 39.75
Week 2: 38.75
Week 3: 39.0
Total inches lost: 1.5 inches

Thigh Measurements:
Starting: 20.75
Week 1: 20.5
Week 2: 20.5
Week 3: 21
Total inches lost: +.25

That my weight is up today and my thigh and hip are up tells me that I must be retaining fluid probably due to ovulation. I had a partial hysterectomy so am never sure of my 'time' but, my complexion, the scale and the measurements all indicate that may be the case. At any rate, I feel amazing. My clothes are looser than ever. My pants are practically falling off of me. My waist line is slimming and is moving lower. Oh, here, lets just look at the pictures so you can see for yourself.


My legs are definitely slimming down.

High inner thigh and hip flexor area getting leaner. Waist is lower and tighter.

Sorry about the lighting here and the angle and proximity are different. But my hiney is getting higher and tighter. My bottoms don't hug in as tight, they just kinda sit on my hips now. My lower back is getting leaner and tighter.

There you go! The scale doesn't say much, but the inches and the pictures don't lie. Keep in mind, it has only been three weeks. Three weeks to have your pants fit better and to feel amazing! Worth it!