Hi my name is Amy and I am a recovering perfectionist with a fixed mindset.  After listening to a handful of different personal development books and not only being in denial of my perfectionism but also justifying it I am coming to grasp with how it is holding me back.  I used to wear “doing it all” as a badge of honor.  I heard everyone tell me that I’d get burnt out, but I didn’t want to listen.  I have super high expectations for myself and for everyone around me.  I have always been told I am smart.  I got so comfortable with the idea that I was smart that I stopped trying anything that might jeopardize this part of my identity.  I quit when things get hard.  Sometimes I lie to myself and tell myself that I could do something if I REALLY wanted to.  Of course, I never really try because I might ruin the illusion, I have of myself.  I also don’t try things unless I know I am going to succeed. Sometimes I will step out of my comfort zone with this. 

Recently I signed up to become a certified personal trainer.  I thought this would be a piece of cake since I was already passionate about health and fitness.  Holy shit was I wrong.  I am pretty sure I have failed every practice quiz, usually right after reading the material.  I still need to print a schedule to see how far (if at all) I am with my studying.  I have started to get my home gym set up with mats for my girls to play when I work out.  I’d love to host small classes down there, but the fear of people not wanting to show up is already setting in.  A few times I have debated about just giving up.  It’s safer to not try then to try and fail.

I am determined to break my pattern though.  I know how much I struggle with being perfect and judging my ability based on what I’ve done instead of my effort.  I try so hard not to reward my daughter’s accomplishments but instead to reward her efforts.  So far it sounds pretty awkward to say great job for trying.  I keep trying to find something that sounds more natural and I am sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

I still have high expectations and attempt to get it all done, but instead of beating myself up I am going to get better at letting things go.  The dishes might not get done every day, laundry will pile up and socks and underwear will never get put away, I am going to make mistakes, life is going to get in the way, but at the end of the day I am going to keep trying.  Any step forward is better than not taking a step at all.

PS – I debated not making this post public until I had time to edit it (and make it perfect)  You know what, screw it.  If you have any questions or want more information on perfectionism or a fixed vs growth mindset shoot me an email 😊

I have been stewing on this topic for awhile now.  I hate most diets.  Do they work? Yes.  Are they typically healthy and sustainable?  Nope.  I actually asked someone if the potential long-term consequences of their “diet” was worth the short-term benefit.  They said yes?!  Seriously?!  As someone who is passionate about health and fitness I am just floored by this response.  I am also a little sadden by it.  As a country we spend millions of dollars on diets that don’t last, while over half the population is either overweight or obese.  Something just doesn’t seem to make sense.

I had a little Ah Ha moment while listening to a book on minimalism yesterday.  As a society we care more about how we look then how we feel.  We care more about how we look to others at the expense of our mental and financial wellbeing.  One might make the argument that spending money on clothes, makeup, etc makes us feel better.  Does it really, though?  If it did, why do we continually feel the need to buy more and more?

Back to my rant on diets, I get the feeling that people care more about how they look verses being healthy.  The kicker is that if we are healthy we look good.  Seems simple enough right?  So why is it so hard to make the commitment to change?  Sometimes we make the commitment then the first time we “mess up” we decide the whole thing isn’t worth it so we just give up.  If you had a stack of one hundred $1 bills, would you throw them all away just because one got ripped? Hell no. 

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing.  For me living a healthy lifestyle means making choice to incorporate healthy things or activities into my life.  My meals typically are decided by which vegetable I want to eat, then what protein and healthy carbs do I want with it.  I love exercising too, but if I don’t get it in first thing in the morning it wouldn’t get done.  I still love eating pizza and burgers and I love wine.  Most of the time, when I decide to have these things, I opt for a veggie side and drink a big glass of water first.  I am not perfect by any means and still have some room for improvement.

The first thing most people think when they are on a diet is what they can’t have or how much they must exercise. It‘s almost like a punishment.  You go on a super restrictive diet, lose a bunch of weight, feel deprived, go off the diet, then gain all the weight back.  I am guilty of this at times too, but the difference for me is that by living a mostly healthy lifestyle, slipping up on occasion doesn’t totally throw me off track.

If you are a hard core dieter or have had easy, short term success in the past I doubt I’ll change your mind, but I would like you to consider the amazing benefits that living a healthy lifestyle has to offer.

See more information here. Losing Weight: Lifestyle Changes Trump Any Diet

This whole government shutdown got me thinking.  On one hand I feel bad for the folks effected by the decisions of politicians that have led to a standstill.  On the other hand, I feel like we are all responsible for the outcome of our own lives.  While we can’t always control the things that happen to us, we have the power to chose how we react to them and the outcome of the situation.

I was having a conversation about this topic and was forwarded an article about how most Americans couldn’t cover a $1000 emergency.  This totally blew my mind.  Unfortunately I believe that many people will use this as justification to continue to live the way they do instead of being the exception.

Less than ten years ago I was living paycheck to paycheck.  Actually, I wasn’t really even doing that well because my budget relied on an “extra” paycheck I got twice a month.  Even though a budget had been established we didn’t follow it.  This resulted in an over drawn checking account on more than one occasion and the feeling of complete hopelessness. I remember crying when the loan officer told me that I couldn’t consolidate my debt in order to lower my monthly payments.  I remember thinking on a few occasions that since I was already in thousands of dollars of debt what was an extra couple hundred dollars.  I really can’t remember the exact moment I decided I needed to turn my finances (and life) around.  I don’t think it even was an earth shattering, clouds parting moment.

I made some major life decisions that helped me move into the direction of financial freedom, but honestly most of them were small consistent things I did every day or month to get ahead.  I went without a lot of things like no new clothes or stretching out time in between haircuts.  I packed my own lunches and rarely went out for dinner (unless someone else was paying 😊) It took about 2 years, plus or minus a few months, before I really started to see a major change.  I was finally able to pay off one of the stupidest debts I had.  That came with both a financial sense of freedom and also a mentally freeing moment. 

Fast forward a few years and now, even though I complain about the stress of my job, I am essentially debt free.  I use the term essentially because my husband has some of his finances tied up in property assets.  For the most part there isn’t a mine and his, but he has his property thing and I have my health and fitness thing.  We still don’t go on many big vacations, something we are looking to change this year, but we often take day trips and I never have to worry and spending too much on tickets, food, or entertainment. 

Ultimate Reset Day 0

I consider myself a fairly good meal prepper, but it is really overwhelming to start out the week with a completely new meal plan.  Especially when it contains foods I don’t normally eat.  I spent a lot of time looking over the menu and thought I had things ready to go.  I had a little extra time so I went back through the menu like I was going to pack my lunch and realized I missed a few things.

Ultimate Reset Day 1

I did my yoga routine this morning.  Both the dog and my toddler had accidents before I was done.  We don’t have potable water at work?!  Seriously?  On the plus side I am going to easily get my steps in walking all the way to the nearest restroom.  The universe always tests me when I decide to make a change or start something new. It’s like “Are you sure you really want to make this change?  We like operating at this level so I’m really going to challenge your commitment.

So far, the food has been decent, and I think because I added extra veggies to my salad, more than I can eat.  I am going to make a tweak to move my breakfast a half hour earlier because I was starving by time I got a chance to eat.

I did cheat a little and have some green tea this morning.  I am not technically supposed to have any caffeine, but I figured dragging ass and having a headache on the first day back to work wasn’t a great idea.  I also believe in the power of a positive mindset.  If I felt like shit and resented this program I would have never finished.

Ultimate Reset Day 2

Huge shout out to my hubby last night for making dinner while the youngest was being extra difficult.  I was tired this morning.  I woke up a ton of times last night and once because I had a crazy dream that prevented me from just falling back asleep. 

I jumped on the scale this morning and was pretty happy with what I saw.  Normally what that means for me is I do really well for most of the second day then start “rewarding” myself with treats for doing a good job.  Not this time though.  I plan on using the scale regularly throughout this process along with a body composition scanner.

I am definitely more hungry today than I was yesterday.  I am not starving and don’t have low energy so I am working through it by keeping myself distract…hence the midday documentation of how I am feeling.

Ultimate Reset Day 6

I think one of the hardest things for me has been starting on a Wednesday.  I wasn’t able to do my normal shopping trip and meal prep because I don’t want to get too many fresh fruits and veggies just to have them go bad.  With that being said though I am getting better about looking ahead and getting stuff ready.  Luckily I had a long weekend and my hubby isn’t working early this week.

I haven’t been as hungry today as I have been on previous days.  I have been practicing eating more slowly and consciously chewing my food and experiencing the flavors of my meals.  Since the meals are so big it can, no joke, take me an hour to eat a meal.

The biggest unanticipated result I am experiencing right now is that my anxiety level has gone from like an 8 or 9 to a 3 or 4.  It feels amazing.  I almost felt like I was operating in slow motion this past weekend, but at the same time getting an amazing number of things done.  I am still struggling being 100% present in the moment.  I still get distracted by my phone.  We’ll see if that gets any better next week.

One anticipated but still surprising thing that has happened is that I no longer crave sweets.  I saw a doughnut this morning and looked at it and just shrugged my shoulders.  There were chocolate peanut butter balls on the counter and I picked up the bag and looked at them and said to myself, those look good, then I put them back down and just let it go.  Prior to my reset I would crave something sweet after lunch and now that is totally gone.  I do really miss my wine though.  I don’t obsess over it like I used too.  At the risk of sounding like I have a problem; I used to almost count down the hours until I could go home and unwind with a drink.  Now that my anxiety is essentially gone so are the strong cravings.

Ultimate Reset Day 8

I can’t believe how amazing I feel!!  I made it through the first phase too.  I took my measurements today and I am down almost 3 lbs.  I also had an InBody scan performed and none of that weight appears to be muscle or water weight.  I didn’t think I would ever say this but I am already trying to figure out how to incorporate being vegan into my normal routine.  I have a ton of great recipes to mix into my routine.

Ultimate Reset Day 9

Today is the first day I haven’t been excited about the food.  Breakfast seemed super small compared to the giant fruit plate.  This might be TMI but I am pretty sure it’s related to that time of the month.  Surprisingly breakfast held me over and I felt better as the day progressed.

Ultimate Reset Day 11 & 12

I have been planning trips out of the house around my eating schedule.  I feel like of lame for doing this but it makes life for me a lot easier.  On the plus side it’s a whole lot easier to get the girls out of the house in the afternoon than in the morning.  I really appreciate my fit friends too, that don’t mind me coming over with a lunch box and a half full of food because they’ve “been there and done that”

Ultimate Reset Day 13

I missed my yoga this morning.  I was actually starting to enjoy it but I slept in and the little one was being ridiculous this morning.  I modified the meal plan a little this morning for breakfast because we had some stuff that needed to get eaten up.  I am seriously debating sticking to a vegan meal plan going forward.  The only exception to that might be eggs…and cheese.  The more I think about it the more animal-based items I start to think of that might be exceptions.  I will most likely consider them treats instead of having them fulling incorporated.  I will definitely continue to up my veggie game. How can you say no to a salad that has almost 5 servings of veggies?  My unofficial Phase 2 results are that I am down another 3lbs.  That brings my grand total to 6lbs.  I am only about 3lbs shy of my goal weight now.  Phase 3 limits the amount of protein I am supposed to concern so I am a little nervous for muscle loss, but there is no doubt in my mind that it won’t quickly come back.

Ultimate Reset Day 14

I think I have officially decided that after the reset I am going to be mostly prescetarian.  That’s the most undecisive statement ever.  I want my diet after the reset to consist of primarily plant based products but I am not doing it for ethical reasons so I won’t beat myself up for having venison tacos every once and awhile.  I am honestly pretty anxious and excited to be finishing up Phase 2.  I really enjoyed all of the meals.  I am looking forward to having a glass of wine, or at least having the option to have a glass of wine at the end of the reset.  I am also looking forward to upgrading my meal plan for Transform 20 to a more plant based plan.

Ultimate Reset Day 15

Down 7lbs in only 2 weeks!  The InBody scan I took this morning said 1 of those pounds were muscle, but I am not too concerned.  My hubby, who is doing this with me, is down 11lbs.  I can honestly say he has had a much harder time with temptations than I have.  I have been able to avoid all lunch meetings, etc.  He, on the other hand, half missed out on his employee appreciation lunch.  He did have a few bites of steak and told the guys that his salad was better.  I watched one of my friends transform her life with one of our workout and fitness programs and always thought to myself that I could never do that.  I watched her energy level skyrocket and the weight just fall off.  I now know why she felt so amazing.  She’s the one that convinced me to do this program and I am forever grateful for it.  This weekend is going to be my biggest commitment test and I am a little nervous, but I’ll deal with it when it comes.

Ultimate Reset Day 17 and 18

This fruit for breakfast is going to be the end of me.  I really need something more substantial ie protein, to go along with it.  I have been breaking the rules a little and adding chia seeds.  My energy levels are super low in the mornings.  They pick up after lunch but I am really struggling right now.  Only a few more days to go

Ultimate Reset Day 19

I felt a lot better this morning.  The food for the day wasn’t enough though.  I knew I should have grabbed some extra veggie for lunch but I held strong.

Ultimate Reset Day 20

My unofficial weigh in has me down almost 10 lbs.  It’s probably bc I was starving yesterday.  Only 1 more day though. I am getting a little lazy with my meals and just eating veggies of any kind for dinner.  I am excited and nervous to migrate back toward my old eating habits.  I really want to incorporate these new recipes into my every day meal plans.  I am thinking that sticking to the same thing lead to a gradual weight gain.  Not because the food on my plan was bad, but because I was bored with eating the same thing almost every day so I would often not follow it.

Ultimate Reset Day 21

I was excited that this is the last day that I only get fruit for breakfast.  The end of the day turned out to be a mess.  I had an hour long meeting that overlapped my supplement time.  Then we got sent home from work early but since everyone was leaving at the same time it took over an hour to get out of the parking lot.  Tonight is the first night in awhile that I really just wanted to have a drink.  I told my husband (who is amazing for sticking to this program with me) that you can justify it either way.  I can either have one since the program is essentially done or I can suck it up for one more night.  I chose to suck it up 😊

Ultimate Reset Day 22

My official weigh in this morning had me down 9 ½ lbs.  I am so unbelievably excited.  I am back down to my goal weight.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance this morning to do an InBody scan so I don’t know how much of my weight loss is muscle.  You are supposed to slowly incorporate grains back into your diet, but I decided to add a handful of them back.  Seven grains to be exact, or at least that’s what the package of mixed whole grains said.  I only went with ¾ of a scoop of my pre-work drink this morning and I felt like I was bouncing off the walls.  I did have a half a scoop of my post workout protein, that has whey protein in it, because I knew I was going to feel my workout tomorrow if I didn’t.  I am going to shoot for sticking with a vegetarian diet this week the best I can.  I was planning on slowly easing back into my workout routine, but since the new program I am following is only 20 mins I just went all in.  Now I am debating trying to double up on workouts for a few days to keep my rest day on Sunday or just stick with a Tuesday rest day.

This past three weeks has been life changing for me.  Starting my health and fitness journey with Beachbody 4 years ago was life changing and now following the Ultimate Reset has jump started my passion for why I started doing this in the first place.  I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing I feel after just three weeks.  I watched another one of my fellow coaches do this program twice and another while she did it for the first time and I always thought that there was no way I could stick to something 100% for three weeks.  Even though I only stuck to the program about 99% it’s way better then the effort I put into any other program.  I am excited now to be more mindful about my meals and see some great results by adding my workouts back in.

If no one else tells you today, you are amazing and can do hard things!

Every year millions of American’s set resolutions only to fizzle out mid-January or maybe early February for the stronger willed.  There are a couple of reasons for this. The first reason is that many people quit after they face their first failure.  This can be cheating at a new diet or getting a refusal from a potential client.  For some reason we think if we don’t achieve our goals perfectly then we should just give up.  That sounds so stupid when you say it like that, but how many times have you said “Since I already had a doughnut for breakfast I might as well eat the cookie for lunch”  Or “Since I didn’t meet my monthly sales quota for this week I might as well just give up this month and try harder next month”

Another reason is that we rarely make our goals fun.  Maybe we do set a goal to go on a vacation or take a trip somewhere.  Those can be fun goals to have.  Typically though we want to change something in our lives, maybe lose weight or start a business.  When we make goals like this we tend to have the “No Pain No Gain” attitude.  If I am not hustling every day through all hours of the night on my business, then I am not working hard enough.  Sleep, who needs that?  Sleep is for the weak. If I am not starving and spending hours at the gym there is no way I’ll lose weight.

The final reason I am going to discuss is that resolutions or even goals are incredibly finite or way too generic.  We either set a goal to lose weight or to lose 20 lbs. I don’t know how to measure any kind of success with a goal to lose weight.  Is losing a pound considered a success?  What is you gain is back, are you a failure?  What happens when you lose 20lbs?  Do you keep going or go right back to your old habits?  What if you only lose 18lbs, does that mean you are a failure?  The question I want you to ask yourself is “What are my intentions behind this resolution?”  Is it really about the weight or do you want to have more energy or be healthier.  You can argue that these are also fairly generic, but I would challenge you to develop some sort of tracking mechanism.  Being healthier could include swapping out your unhealthy food choices with something more positive or drinking more water. If you don’t track your progress, you’ll never know how many times you made the better food decision or how much water you actually drank.  You can also measure things like cholesterol levels, etc.  Also if you encounter setbacks, LET THEM GO.  Not every day will be perfect, but life is a beautiful journey.  If you aren’t satisfied with the progress you are making it’s up to you to make the changes required for your definition of success. fffffffff