And boom!

See that? #sweatismyfatcrying

I always dread putting my tennis shoes on, grabbing my iPod and hitting the pavement... But damn it feels good afterwards! What is your favorite kind of workout? Or is your motivation with the benefits later on? I feel ya. Like seriously. I have to say, after putting day in it's place, I feel like bad-ass.

Take time to giggle

Life is short. Don't forget to stop and giggle. No one said you had to grow all the way up. #silly

Dream Team

What do us lovers of health and fitness do??

-share our own journeys
-hope to inspire someone to make a better choice with their eating and health
-give advice
-hold others accountable through support groups
-encourage others to find a happy healthy place that's good for them
-teach them how to eat better
-pair workout programs with their goals

Oh and we play on social media!

Here is all of me

Since we're on the honest, transparent train, I now see that to get better and move forward, I have to accept things as the way they are and that I am powerless over them. My career is health and fitness, so how do you explain to your followers that you aren't even following your own advice?! Yes I'm still getting most of my workouts in, but my eating disorder has taken over since November 2015. Something happened in my personal life that pushed me into this spiral. I am bulimic however I have recovered enough to no longer purge. Well that leaves binge eating... You've heard the saying, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym? It's very true.

Instead of turning to professional help, I sought food. A large pizza and chocolate milkshake make me feel good! Lol at least temporarily until it all finally hits your brain and you are disgusted with yourself. And then the awesome cycle of self-hate continues on. I am not trying to come across as negative nancy now! Social media has become something we call "social" when it's the exact opposite. It's more isolating now than ever. I "liked" your status about getting a new job or maybe that you're having a rough day. Did I pick up a phone to call? No. We feel like we did something by responding. I'm forever thankful for my best friend and soul sister Jennie Miles who has spent every day with me since Sunday. She's made sure I'm never alone, even when I wanted to be!

Yes I've gained almost 30 pounds, I feel horrible, I have zero energy and I feel like I've let down everyone who follows me. I'm a fake, a fraud. I've been holding in things that have had no business being held onto. I should have reached out sooner but I realize as women, mothers, nurses, coaches etc, we don't want to be seen as weak. Part of our job description is staying strong, holding it all together... That's fine until we stop taking care of ourselves. I thought I could get away with the bad habits, which we all can for awhile, but then it catches up with you. Your body can only take abuse for so long before its unable to give anymore. And Sunday my body gave out.

I screamed at Jennie and my family for cornering me. I hated them for even trying to help. I mean I didn't need help! Obviously life was going great <-- sarcasm. I was depressed, angry, and completely overwhelmed. After she refused to let go of me (several hours), I finally began to cry, to release the pain, to surrender. She spoke encouraging words over me, read quotes from the Bible, hasn't stopped loving on me. I am so undeserving of a friend this wonderful. I know it's through God's grace that she was perfectly placed in my life almost 13 years ago.

Now that I've spilled my insides, and accepted it, I will take responsibility for it to move forward. My body, spirit, soul need some major TLC. For the first time, I didn't beat myself up over taking a nap on a beautiful day yesterday. Yes I could have been outside playing with my family, but I was exhausted and I'm learning to listen more closely. You have to do what is right for yourself even if that means allowing people to love on you and see you at your worst.

I vowed to recommit my life to God, my family and most importantly, myself. I know I'm not going to just drop all this weight I picked back up but I'm certainly not going to beat myself up over getting fast food one night because I've had a very long day. I will continue to make the best choices possible for me at any moment. It's called falling in love with yourself.

I share because I want something good to come from my experiences and use this platform as a way to accomplish that mission. People make comments about over sharing your personal life on fb but what's the point if we only share funny or cute videos...? How is that bettering our lives?! Maybe this is my God-given mission field to serve? I really don't care what anyone thinks about me and if they do, that's what an unfollow button is for 😊.

So... Starting fresh Monday with a new challenge group and renewed energy. This will still be fitness/nutrition focused, but more self-love and personal development. If you'd like to join us, I'm not turning anyone away. You simply choose a workout program to do at home and your flavor of shakeology to drink. Then we're all going to do this together 🙌🏼😊 And because it's not about the money, if you order today I'll send you a $20 gift card to Target. I want us to change lives. Today is the best time to start. Love you all!! Thank you for supporting me on this crazy journey 😉💜

Butterfly kisses

Wanted to share a little clip from the other night. This is why I LOVE my job! I get to play at home with my girls and make my own rules, my own hours! Life is pretty darn good ;)

Get a FREE membership!

Join our fun fitness community all for women! Create a FREE account! No commitment! Just access to 24/7 fitness tips, recipes, and nutritional topics! This is a FREE online fitness community for you to join (for those of you who do not currently have a Beachbody coach). As many of you know, I run a monthly challenge group on the first Monday of every month. My coaching is complimentary and the only cost is the tools you will need (workouts, meal plan, shakeology, etc). These groups will continue – but I do find, they exclude a lot of people (can’t afford, international, don’t like home workouts, etc).

When I decided to sign up as a coach, I had ONE goal:

• I wanted to help women get healthy (physically, mentally and emotionally).
• I love my monthly challenge groups and have helped over 200 women get healthy – and I am ready to expand to help even more women.

This FREE group will be an online community where you can connect with me and other women who have one common goal: GETTING HEALTHY. Having you register allows me to create an account personalized for you! Then I can keep in touch and be available for you in the future!

If you are not currently working with a coach and would like to join, please register with the link below! Just choose your account type below!

FREE Club Membership

OR check out...

VIP Club Membership (Includes a 10% discount on all purchases + Beachbody On Demand! 24/7 online access to hundreds of workout programs to stream from anywhere, anytime! And it's only $2.99/week! Less than a Starbucks coffee!)

No one said it was easy

The reason most people never achieve their dreams is because they simply give up. Life was never meant to be easy – its a constant struggle, with extreme lows and extreme highs. Remember that the times when its most important to persevere are the times that you will be most tested. Motherhood is the hardest job out there. Sometimes it feels more like work than reward but we are creating and molding little human beings!

What example are we setting? They will imitate something. I want it to be me. It's the reason I push myself to workout with them everyday, even if for only 20 minutes. It's the reason I push myself to grow my business as a coach, showing them dreams are endless. I want them to know its okay to take risks, it's okay to break the norm and stigma of working a 9-5 job; living paycheck to paycheck. You can have your cake and eat it too (in moderation 😉😂). Point: you can have a career while being a stay at home mom, while getting in the best shape of your life and feel good about yourself! We as women are so strong, especially unified together! If you can't do it for yourself, do it for your children and our future generations of women. 😊🙌🏼💕

Zoe (9) & Mackenzie (3)

Being Gifted

BEING GIFTED

"It is one thing to be gifted and quite another thing to be worthy of one's own gift." ~Nadia Boulanger

Extraordinary talent doesn't, unfortunately, mean extraordinary character. If you are fortunate in life to stand out from the norm, we should acknowledge this as a gift, not entitlement. It all goes back to being grateful for what we have and have been given.

Today remember, you are fortunate to do something ONE THING better than most others. But I am not a better person than others simply because of my talents, skills or abilities. If each of us remembers this and makes a plan to share our gifts with others, the world will be a more positive place!!

Success starts with you

You are in control of your future, your destiny. Nothing will change until you make up your mind that you are not going to accept mediocrity. Take the limitations off of yourself. Break out of the box and try something new, tap into your seeds of greatness. There’s so much potential in you. Why don't you take the leap of faith and do something good for you!? 

What does a day of meals on the 21 day fix look like?

My first 21 day fix absolutely changed my life. Prior to starting the program, I thought I was doing a great job at eating healthy. I ate fruit and vegetables daily. I ate a lot of fresh, unprocessed foods. Tried to stick to brown rice and whole wheat bread and pastas and I was pretty limiting of my sugar intake. Sounds ok right? But I was still doing a lot of things WRONG!

I wasn’t eating NEAR enough veggies in my diet, way too many fats (like a whole avocado for example oooops!!) skipping meals all the time (mom life), and snacking on the wrong foods late at night! The fix uses this amazing color coded container system that teaches you how to measure your portions properly and get exactly the right amounts of each of the food groups in your diet. I couldn’t believe how simple and doable it was for my busy schedule, yet it helped me to make such drastic changes to my diet and kick those bad habits to the curb!

I hate diets. I hate feeling restricted and deprived. I had tried so many things in the past to get healthy and just got discouraged and quit. But to be honest (other than my starbucks withdrawal when I cut it out that first month :P) I never once felt hungry or deprived. I was actually eating MORE in a day than I was before I started the fix, just the right foods.

The changes and healthy eating habits I’ve adapted, have stuck with me as I go into month 12 (exactly 1 year) of this new lifestyle. It actually excites me to fuel my body with so many healthy foods because I know what it’s done for me so far (see my results here) and I know how amazing I feel at the end of the day.

So here’s what a day on the fix might look like (the options are totally endless and you can be as creative with your meal planning as you want to be!):

• Breakfast: greek yogurt + kiwi, banana, blueberries
• Snack: shakeology with berries
• Lunch: Ryvita with chicken and snap peas
• Snack: Celery, tomatoes and humus
• Dinner: Sweet potato, chicken strips and cauliflower!

Not so bad right?!

xoxo, Meredith

#goals

“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”

- Marissa Mayer

Craving something?! It could be disguised as water

How much water are you taking in everyday?

I used to think I was always getting "enough" in... Until I did the math!

Your weight / 2 = # of ounces of water you should be drinking daily.

Take that # and divide by 8 = the # of cups of water

Key: get a big water bottle and mark the sides with permanent marker. Pour in a cup of water at a time until you reach the top. Ideally it should hold ½ your day's intake. Then refill once and you're set!

12 Ways To Drink More Water Throughout The Day

You've heard it before and you'll hear it again — drinking water is good for you in a whole bunch of ways, including improving digestion and clearing up your skin. 

But for many people, getting enough water over the course of the day is a challenge. Maybe you're a slow drinker, or rarely get up from your desk — which you should do anyway! Perhaps you don't like the taste of water or just forget about drinking it until it's 11 p.m. and you're two cocktails in.
Take a look, and let us know if you have any clever strategies of your own.

• Make It A Morning Habit
  The trick to this is pouring yourself a glass of water before bed and then drinking it as soon as you get up. Even if the thought of pouring water down your throat right away feels overwhelming, try it for four days in a row and see if you don't start doing it automatically after that.
• Give Yourself Reminders
  There's are plenty of apps out there to keep track of your water intake, if you like that kind of reminder (Daily Water Free, picture here, is a favourite). But a another option is to set an alarm on your phone or calendar to remind you to drink every two hours or so.
• Drink Tea (Or Coffee)
  Yes, that's right — your caffeinated (or decaf, if you're so inclined) morning beverage also has plenty of water in it, so you can include that in your count. According to WebMD, their diuretic effects do not take away from also hydrating you.
• Buy A Nice Water Bottle
  There's no science here, just pure superficiality that somehow still works. If you have a nicer water bottle, you may just be more inclined to use it. We love this Lifefactory glass option that holds one-quarter of your daily water intake in one go!
• Eat Your Water
  There are plenty of fruits and veggies that contain a fair amount of water, including cucumbers, iceberg lettuce, watermelon (obviously), strawberries, grapefruit, zucchini, radish and celery. Plus, of course, the many other nutrients this produce contains.
• Keep A Lot Of Water Nearby
  When you're bogged down at work, even the 20-foot walk to the kitchen can feel too far, so set yourself up for the day with a big bottle — or even a pitcher — in the morning so you can dip into it all day.
• Put Fruit In It
  We know, you've heard enough about "infusing" your water to last you a lifetime. But it really does make it taste better — and has the bonus effect of even more water, if you use some of those hydrating foods we mentioned. Some other good options: kiwi, lemon, strawberries or grapes.
• Eat A (Homemade) Popsicle
  It's so easy to make ice pops at home — all you need is a mold, some water, and the fruit of your choice. That way, you get to control what goes in it (i.e. the sugar), eat a delicious snack, and you're upping your water intake at the same time. Check out these recipes for homemade popsicles at Real Simple.
  
  
  Go One For One
  No one's expecting you to give up other drinks entirely in lieu of water, either sugar-filled or alcoholic. Instead, make yourself a deal — for every "other" kind of drink you have, drink a glass of water. 
  
  
  Do It Post-Brush
  If you've gotten out of the habit of rinsing out your mouth after brushing your teeth, now's the time to start setting that glass by your sink again. A rinse, a refill, then a few gulps — and like that, you're hydrated before bed.
  
  
  
  
  Make A Marked Water Bottle To Gauge Your Intake
  
  
  
  
  Create A Challenge
  Whether it's on Instagram with #watergoals or with a pal in the office, a bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone.
  
  

Mommy Time-Out

Bubbles aren't just for kids.

Who said bubbles are just for kids?! Friday night after a long 13 hour shift at the hospital, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my two girls wanted to stay the night at Nana's house. And since hubby was at work as well, mommy had the entire house to herself!! At first I was going to spend the time cleaning up, doing dishes, knocking out some laundry... then I stopped and realized, that stuff can wait. It will all still be waiting for me the next day and right now, I needed to take care of me. So I filled our bathroom Jacuzzi tub (that one that I literally wasn't sure if the jets turned on or not!) and added a yummy bath bomb! It brought back so many childhood memories as the bubbles began to grow and grow and grow! So of course I had to snap a pic to send to my girls. I felt like a little kid again and it was wonderful. It didn't cost money, I didn't have to go somewhere special. I created "me time" right in my own bathroom! In case you were wondering, the jets did come on and felt great on my sore muscles!

What is something that you can do for yourself? As mothers, we are constantly thinking about everyone but ourselves. We go to the back burner. Problem is, if we aren't caring for our mind, body and spirit... we aren't able to be the best mother, wife, or friend! I used to think of a bubblebath as a waste of time, or some far off dream, until I made these little things a priority. Just as I brush my teeth everyday, I make time for my physical and emotional self.

How do you take care of you? How do you make your life a little more playful, a little less serious, have a little more fun? Have you laughed today? Have you read a personal development book? Exercised? Made healthy food choices? Sat in silence for just 10 minutes to meditate? Find something. It's not optional. If your hubby says something, tell him your life coach ordered it ;)

Share your ideas below! <3

#nevermissamonday

I dread working out. I like the "idea" of it but knowing that I'm going to get sweaty and it's going to take work... yea that sucks.  Just because someone is a fitness coach, that doesn't mean that it comes any easier for me. It means that I stop the excuses going through my head and put on my tennis shoes, even when I don't feel like it. The key is you cannot go by what you FEEL but by what you WANT, which is to feel good on the inside and out! I've never regretted a workout.

Tips:

- Never miss a Monday
- Never go more than 2 days without working out
- Workout at least 3 times a week

The longer you put it off, the harder it makes starting back. Every day will get easier. I promise. Don't give up. You are worth it!

* I was given a Fitbit Blaze from hubby for my birthday. So far I really like it! It's motivating to see the calories you're burning all day long based on your personal info, steps, and heart rate!

Coach Application

Apply to Join our Fit Fam Team!

Fitness & Accountability

30 Day Fitness Accountability group starting April 4th!

What you will get?

- 22 Minute Hard Corps
- Shakeology
- Portion Control Meal Plan
- Sandbag
- Support from other women
- Accountability
- Meal Ideas
- Coaching from me!

Available in the USA & Canada for those who are not working with a different coach already.

10 spots - first come, first serve!

If you would like to join me, comment below or send me a message!

My Tribe

Eight years ago, I would have told you I had no purpose in life. I was recently divorced, forced to file bankruptcy, had a baby with special needs, living with my mom, no job, my dreams of medical school were gone. I was deeply depressed, struggling with my new post-baby body image. I felt like my life was over... I had failed.

Fast forward... today, I'm not where I ultimately want to be, but I'm so much closer. I found God. I married my high school sweetheart who loves me unconditionally, I have two beautiful children, family close by, I own my home, have investments, have great stable fulfilling jobs, and I've found coaching.
I was begged to coach for over two years... So why didn't I? I had the misconception of what it was: It was a pyramid scheme, all sales, pushing people to buy something, all on my own, commercial, ingenuous. 

So why did I sign up? Because I wanted a discount on what I was already using on a daily basis. I mean why not save some money?! 

Okay, then what happened? I became a part of this family.... they welcomed me in. They didn't even know me! Felt too good to be true. Continued learning... I had a network, a team, a tribe of women that answered my questions, motivated me, inspired me.

Then I went through some personal struggles last year... I was desperate and shared with these women. They embraced me, comforted me, sent me cards, flowers, encouraging messages... checked in on me! WHY? Because that's what we do. Beachbody is a family. They understand that success doesn't just come from building your business. It's more than that because we as humans are more. We have families, we have lives, we struggle, we cry, we doubt. They realize that if they want a successful company, you must take care of your team and not just with business training. We need personal development, spiritual guidance, a virtual hug :)

I have struggled with depression and anxiety for over 10 years. I'm not afraid or ashamed to share. I want people to know because unless we talk about it, the problem will only worsen.

I'm also sharing because I want to give people hope. Do you need support? A community to just listen to you and build you up? Judgement-free. Then I want you. I want you in my fit family. Being a coach is so much more than "helping people lose weight." I help people find themselves, love themselves. I get to pass on the miracle that was given to me.

Here is my call to action, your sign. Comment below or message me if that is more comfortable for you. But please, reach out, just as I am reaching out to you. I want to help you, together. You can become a healthier, happier person. Sending positive vibes and prayers. Cannot wait to chat. Don't wait like I did, make the change now. <3