What is you decided to take the Leap of Faith?

I was standing in the kitchen washing wares when I heard the distinct message to share this post right now. Because there is a mom who is going to read this, that needs this and needs me. 

So here goes... 

Almost three years ago (it will be three years in February 2018) I was at an all time low. I did not share it with anyone I seemed happy and "normal" on the outside but on the inside that was a different story. 

You see a year and 4 months after that I had my son, Seth. He was and still is the apple of my eye and my first biggest blessing. He was the reason I entered motherhood, he was my everything. I wanted to do everything right and protect him from everything wrong. But during that time while I was learning the ins and outs of motherhood AND finishing my Interior Design degree I was not taking care of myself. I lost myself and instead of controlling life I let life control me. 

All the anxiety and the stress of life and motherhood was taking its toll on me. All the baby weight that I lost having having Seth and breastfeeding I had put right back on because I was eating CRAP and I was not physically active at all. 

I did not feel comfortable in my skin, I did not know who I was anymore. I felt my back fat every time I sat down or reach over for something. That was a completely foreign concept to me. I felt so disgusted that I allowed myself to get there. 

As hard as this is to admit I did not feel sexy for myself or for my husband. That was not something I was happy about at all. Of course the amazing husband I had never once told me anything to make me feel anything less than BEAUTIFUL  and an AMAZING mother. He always made the time to let time know that.

One day I turned to him and said I NEED to do something. I need to be more active, I do not like how I feel. He was extremely supportive. I began swimming in the community center three times a week. One night I was scrolling through social media, just like you are now, and I found a post from a coach offering a way to get back in shape from home. I was instantly intrigued and I contacted her. 

She was very sweet and she introduced me to Beachbody and its amazing opportunity. She also introduced me to the coaching opportunity. I had no idea what it was at the time all I knew is that it was a way for me to share my story and inspire others. 

When I agreed to sign up as a coach I told myself and Adam if I could inspire just ONE person, if I could just help them get started too this would all be worth it. if it did not work at least I would have started my health & fitness journey and I could quit if I wanted to. I had nothing to lose.

You know what? It's been three years later and I am still here looking for people just like you who are looking for an answer and looking for the support to get you through.

My message to you is DO NOT be afraid to take a chance, DO NOT be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and do something that is GOOD for you! 

If I did not take that chance on someone I did not even know I would not be where I am today. If I did not open myself up to the message and the answer that God was sending me I would not be here today. I would be embarking on this incredible 80 Day Obsession journey. I would not be fuelled with this insane passion and fire in my belly to build an empire and take it to the top of the company. I would not be meeting other AMAZING women and sharing my world and my life with them. I would not have the results I have today 4 months post partum if I did not TRUST and be OPEN to the answer. 

If you are still reading this then that means there is a chance that this is the answer for you and I am just the vehicle, the tool to helping you achieve everything you ever wanted and changing your life. 

If you are ready today, right now to take action and commit to becoming a Beachbody coach and being open to the idea that your world is going to be change for the BETTER, you can earn some extra income, you can be in an incredibly supportive community and you WILL get into the BEST shape of your life then message me now! 

Don't wait just take action. I know this post was for you and my hope for you is that you be open to the answer to your prayers and you be open to a world of POSSIBILITY!

The Road to being completely OBSESSED! Day 1

I have been looking forward to Autumn's new program since last summer when I was pregnant with my second child. 

It was July/August when the program was being introduced to the public and I was totally excited. I was not 100% sure what the program was all about but I loved the fact that it was 80 Days and of course anything Autumn Calabrese creates I am doing!

I was due in early September and when the program was being introduced I started creating a game plan for the rest of the year. You see one of the things I do with my health and fitness is have some kind of plan, rough if it must be but a plan none the less. 

I remember coming up with the plan and then sharing it with my challengers. I truly believe that one of the keys to being successful in your health and fitness journey is to have something to look forward to. So for me it was 80 Day Obsession, in the new year 3-5 months post partum.

My daughter was born at the end of August, she was all too excited to come into the world. I spent 6 weeks getting used to being a mom to a new born. This time around my emotions were all over the place. Even though I was so happy to have Lexi at home it was an emotional roller coaster for me as I helped Seth with the new transition. Not only that but many other changes occurred around the same time and threw his world into chaos. But I will leave that for another post. 

By my 6 week post partum check up I was all too excited to get back to doing some form of exercise. I knew the 6 weeks were very important for my body and that things needed to move back into place, so I was patient and I made sure to listen to my body. 

When I got the clearance to workout I was up and Adam then next day. I started T25 by Shaun T. I specifically chose this program because I needed something that would help me build back up my endurance and that was not too long. T25 was perfect, I mean who does not have 25mins a day for self care?

Ten weeks later I successfully completed T25 just in time for Christmas. I think I took one day off and then I was onto A Little Obsessed. The five day introduction to 80 Day Obsession, which I think is a must if you are planning on doing 80 Day Obsession. 

A Little Obsessed prepares you well. You have time to work with new equipment and get used to them. See what how they feel and figure out how to use them. 

I was able to complete three rounds of A Little Obsessed before starting my 80 Day Obsession journey. 

Today, was the start of my 80 Day Obsession journey. I was filled with so much emotion last night as I prepared for today. I was excited, anxious, happy, honoured just to name a few. 

Today I had some figuring out to do. I planned on doing the morning workout block but I ended up having to tweak that and do the mid day workout block. 

A workout block is simply the five hour window surrounding your workout. There are specific food categories to eat within certain times before and after you workout. 

I enjoyed five meals today. My timing was a bit off for the last meal but I think I did pretty well for day one. 

Here is a glimpse into my meals today:

Meal Option 1: Vegan Chocolate Shakeology, 1/2 organic banana and unsweetened almond milk

Pre-workout meal: Scrambled eggs & organic baby spinach with oatmeal and a cup of black coffee

Post workout: strawberries

Post-workout meal: Organic sweet potato, organic baby spinach & minced turkey with a La Croix

Meal Option 3: Organic sweet potato, organic baby spinach with pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds & minced turkey 

Meal Option 2: Berries, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, carrots & hummus and a teaspoon of almond butter

The workout was 60 mins long, it flew by pretty quickly. Autumn does a great job at explaining all the moves in the first round, which is very helpful. They was only one move that I could not do because it was too painful and that was the renegade row with a twist. For some reason I get a groin pain when I try to do this move so I did the basic move for this exercise (still very challenging). 

I finished every single rep today because this workout is not going to repeat itself. Also because I knew I could so I did. The name of the workout is Total Body Core. 

My honey bunny was with me the whole time and she was a trooper.

Now its time for bed time to get ready for another day :) I will be sharing my 80 Day Obsession journey here on my blog, please feel free to follow along and share with a friend. 

I look forward to this journey and I can't wait to share it with you!

Thanks for reading! 

Kari

Getting Ready for a New Journey

I am about to embark on a new journey for 80 Days with my trainer Autumn Calabrese. I have been looking forward to this and envisioning this moment since last summer when I was pregnant with Lexi. 

Since last year, I knew that Autumn was releasing a new program in January 2018 and even though I had no idea what it was all about I knew I was going to do it. So even though I was pregnant at the time I never lost focus of that. 

I am now a little over 4 months post partum and I am feeling amazing. When I got cleared to workout again at the 6 week mark I was super excited and I could not wait to get back at it. I began my post partum journey with T25, it was the first time I have ever done T25. I knew that it was a great "get back into it" program. It helped me build my endurance & my strength with little to no weights. I had amazing results and it got me ready to go a more intense program.

As I said I had everything planned out so I knew I was scheduled to finish T25 just before Christmas. My original plan was to do a round of 21 Day Fix Extreme in between T25 and the launch of 80 Day Obsession BUT as amazing as Beachbody is they created a week long program called A Little Obsessed to get you prepared for 80 Day Obsession. So I decided to do that instead and it has been great!

This is my third and last week of A Little Obsessed and its been a journey. The first week I spend figuring out the equipment and where my strength was with for them. For A Little Obsessed and for 80 Day Obsession the equipment needed are 3 resistance loops, sliders and weights.

Each loop is a different resistance for from easiest to hardest the colours go yellow, green & blue. For the first week I did not touch the blue but for the second week and this week I was all about the green and blue and trying some double loops. I know it might sound crazy but if I am not pushing my limits then I am not growing or getting stronger. 

So now I am more prepared for the 80 Day Obsession because I know where to start with my equipment. I know there will still be some guess work as I start these more intense workouts but I am so excited!

The other piece of the puzzle for this program is the time nutrition. This is something I have never done before but I am looking forward to the journey. Autumn has given me EVERYTHING I need to know for this program. My container, my calculations, my meal plan and most importantly what to eat and when to eat it. 

So now it is is up to me to do the work and make sure I follow the meal plan to the T. This piece for me is going to push my out of my comfort zone again. I use my containers but I am not getting all of them in most days. As a mom who is breastfeeding I need to make sure that I am on top of my meals. I need to EAT and eat properly in order for my milk supply to be constant.

So weeks 2 and 3 of A Little Obsessed I was me trying out timed nutrition. I have not found that rhythm with it as yet but I do have some tips and techniques to implement to help me. For example setting alarms when I have to eat. 

I am also going to switch my workouts to 5/5:30am just after my first breastfeed. I love working out in the mornings, I have more control over my day and I feel less anxious and stressed throughout the day. I have been working out in the mid morning since my scheduled changes with 2 kids but now that Lexi has a better sleep pattern I should be able to go back to morning workouts.

I am super excited for this new journey and everything it is going to bring. All the changes, all the obstacles, all the growth and all the experiences. I have never done a program of this length before but I know I can do it there is no doubt about that. 

The best part is that I am not doing this alone. I am doing it with some other women in my virtual fit club. We are totally excited to start this journey together. 

I will be sharing my journey and my experiences with 80 Day Obsession on my blog. I am starting on Monday 15th January. Stay tuned! ;)

xoxo 

Kars

PS: If you want to learn more about A Little Obsessed or 80 Day Obsession I am a message away. Comment on this blog or send me an email to kariluequifitness@gmail.com

Let Go, Take a Breathe & Listen

Not everything on life will go the way you want it to go, I learned that the hard way. Now I approach everything in my life from a new perspective. I expect the complications/hiccups or as my family refers to them, sand bunkers. And if I am being 100% honest I want them. Why?

Because I am open to growth and change. I am open to learning new ways of figuring out a problem and when I do the AMAZING feeling to ACCOMPLISHMENT is unexplainable.

I mean everything I do, I run into these sand bunkers and looking back at my life journey there were always sand bunkers. At first I used to have the Why me? approach, but at some point something changed and with it came a new understanding for life and all its challenges.

Its been almost 5 years I have been approaching life with this mindset and even though that seems like a long time there is always room for growth and new lessons to be learnt. Like this one below. 

This weekend was a crazy one. Last night I was at my wist end. I felt like I got NOTHING done and I was overly stressed about it. I saw the clock ticking away and I was making myself more anxious because I did not get everything that I want done. We did not go to church, I had more loads of laundry to do, we have an overflowing sink, we have no meals cooked for the week, the house looks like if it has been through war, I could not find a book I was looking for and the list goes on. Oh and on top of that add a sick baby to the mix who can't sleep! Talk about emotions everywhere.

I feel like Mickey in the picture below. 

Image taken from a google search

I decided to let go! I asked Adam to take Honey and put her to bed and I just took some time to breath, think and try to catch myself. After he got her to bed, Adam and I finished watching Fool's Gold (we have been watching this movie for 3 days now) and I took some time to cuddle up on the coach and just be in the moment. It was the BEST thing I could have done at the time. Again, something I learnt and continue to learn. In moments of complete anxiety and chaos, let go, breathe and just be.

I set my alarm for 5am of course I snoozed until 6am because I was EXHAUSTED. After the movie Honey woke up and I was between feeds from about 3am to 5am. But I crawled out of bed and spent time with the boys as Seth got ready to go back to school. 

A bit of panic started coming back as I watched the sink full of wares and the other things that I have to do. So I made a cup of coffee, grabbed a blanket and opened a the book, You are a Badass by Jen Sincero. 

I read this book before but I felt like I had to open it this morning. 

So I opened it to Part 2: How To Embrace Your Inner Badass. OMG! Message alert! 

Everything in that chapter was a message for me today. I cried as I read through the chapter knowing and believing that God was talking to me and letting me know that everything is going to be and is GREAT! 

I want to share this message with you, it struck me to my core and I balled as I read it. It is an excerpt from the book.

"APPRECIATE HOW SPECIAL YOU ARE

There will never be anyone exactly like you. You were given special gifts and talents to share with the world, and even though everybody has special gifts and talents, nobody will use theirs quite the same way you do. You have a way of being in the word and a perspective that's unique to you. You are the only one who thinks your thoughts the way you think them. You have created your own unique reality and are living your life according to your own unique path. You are the only you that will ever be. You are kind of a big deal."

After reading this and being open to the message that was directed at me this morning I feel so much better. I am ready to seize the day and tackle every task one at a time. 

After I finished reading this chapter and just before I started writing this blog post I realised that I got way more done over the weekend than I thought. Only until I took myself out of the situation I was able to realise that I only have about 2 loads of laundry left from about 10, Adam did the groceries yesterday and even though we did not get to meal prep yesterday we have everything we need to do so today. Seth went took a nap yesterday and he went to bed on time, I checked into my virtual fit club more than I thought and I was able to spend some quality time with Adam last night even though I was exhausted.

On top of that Seth woke up and did his morning routine as seamlessly as possible. He woke up super early, cried a bit to bath but that is normal, he got dressed went downstairs drank his up up, cuddled with me on the couch as I fell back asleep. He ate his breakfast filled the house with laughter before he left. He put on his snow suit, hat, gloves, balaclava and boots with no fussing or crying and he left the house with a smile. 

I was so proud of him and I am so beyond blessed and grateful to have him in my life. Another message to me to not stress be anxious or focus on the uncontrollable and to stay focused on everything that brings love, joy and eternal happiness in my life. 

  

In sharing my story my hope for you that you are able to use some of my experiences to help you through yours :) Remember there is no one else in this world like you. You are the only and most amazing you there is! EMBRACE IT!

Cheers to a brand new week and a brand new day!