We all have dreams

Hello Friends!
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday! I spent my long weekend with my kids and despite all the whining about who of my 5 kids would get the 2 turkey legs, it was fun!  Yesterday (Sunday) we all went to see Disney's newest movie Tangle which is the retelling of the Classic Rapunzel.  We all went, even my oldest (17 year old boy) and none of them came out complaining about the movie, so I will assume that they concur with me in that it is a fun movie! As always there are several good messages in the Disney movies.   I won't get into all of the messages in Tangle, but the one that applies to everybody, is that we all have dreams.   I have several dreams, but to stay true to the theme of my blog I will only share a couple :)

My First and foremost dream is to show my kids how to live healthy.  I really don't want them to get heart disease, diabetes, etc.  They must learn how live a  healthy lifestyle, my ultimate goal is to have them automatically choose the healthy alternative without any prompting or nudging from my part! I can dream can't I? lol

My second dream, is to become healthy myself, I can't achieve dream number 1 without accomplishing this dream, so maybe this dream should be first?  Anyway I want to be in a healthy weight range, and I want to look fit.  This dream goes hand and in hand with being a beachbody coach.  Most coaches will tell you that they are coaches because they want to help other people...which is true I do want to help other people, but what drives me is that 1st dream...teaching my kids to be  healthy.  I don't want them to go through open heart surgery like my grandma.  I don't want them to feel limited  because they feel weighted down by how they feel and how they look. 

We all have dreams, being a beachbody coach is an action that I do everyday to achieve my other dream.  What are you dreams?  can Teambeachbody help you achieve those dreams?   Do you want to get fit and healthy?  Do you want to help others achieve their goals?  Do you want to get Financially fit?  Teambeachbody can help you get closer to your dreams.  Now, I am not saying it isn't hard work....well it really isn't if you really think about it.  Most of you already are doing workouts, trying to eat healthy.  Being a coach will help you stay accountable.  Your own journey will be an inspiration to others.  They may embark on the same journey you are traveling.  You will get to know fun and caring people.  Is it scary?  my biggest "scary" thing to overcome was time.  Did I really have the time to be a beachbody coach?  the answer was (and still is)  yes.  I don't spend a lot of time really.  I workout for an hour a day.  I do another 1 or so on social media making friends and talking to others of what is working for me.  Truth be told, to be successful, all you have to do is be consistent.  If you only have an hour to devote to being a coach, that's all it takes, just make sure you devote that hour everyday!  Its the power of the slight edge! 

We all have dreams, I hope you go and live them because they really shouldn't be just fantasies :)  I know I want you in my team I know we can be successful together. 

I am not Terrified :)

Hi Friends!

Well this week is Thanksgiving week.  For many of us, this means a Happy Week looking forward to spending time with family and friends with good food!  however behind all the warm feelings, there might be some underlying fear of what all this might mean to our waist line.  I say don't fear.  Most of us do not eat like this all year round.  Definetly strategize, but hey!  like Chalene says, "who likes the Food Police?" I know I don't! and hopefully I won't become one.  My only strategy for this Thursday is: eat and taste everything! I will not feel deprived and  it will also help me be mindful of portion control.  If I am going to taste everything I can't over indulge in any one dish ;) 

With that said, this year I am going to strive to making a healthy dish and I really doubt the kids will even notice it! This year I've choosen to add Quinoa Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans as a new  side dish to our feast:

Quinoa Pilaf Ingredients:

2 cups dry whole-grain quinoa

4 cups water

2/3 cup dried cranberries

4 to 6 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 cup finely chopped celery

2/3 cup toasted pecan pieces

Citrus Vinaigrette Ingredients:

4 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

Directions:

Add quinoa and water to rice cooker and cook until quinoa is soft and water has been absorbed. Add quinoa to large serving bowl and let cool about 15 minutes. If you don’t have a rice cooker, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in 4-quart saucepan. Add quinoa and bring back to boil. Cover saucepan and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all the water.

Stir dried cranberries, red onion, celery, and pecans into quinoa.

In a small bowl, combine citrus vinaigrette ingredients with a whisk. Drizzle over quinoa mixture and toss to blend ingredients. Cover and refrigerate pilaf until ready to serve.

Yield: Makes about 12 side servings

Per serving: 227 calories, 5 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrate, 11 grams fat, 1.1 grams saturated fat, 7 grams monounsaturated fat, 2.9 grams polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3.3 grams fiber, 58 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 43%. Omega-3 fatty acids = 0.2 grams, Omega-6 fatty acids = 2.7 grams.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Grr - On a Standstill with P90X

Hello Friends,

Well, I must admit and come clean that last week I did not follow P90X.  Now don't get me wrong, I did workout! just not with the X man...well I lie, I did do a Power Half Hour routine last week.  The deal is this, my husband is working major overtime.  So he asked to me to wait for him until his overtime is over.  So I am.  I did do other workouts and this week we were going to re-start where we left off.  The penalty was going to be to repeat week 3 before we went unto our recovery week, which is what it would have been last week.  But now it turns out that he will be working overtime all this month! now there are some mix feelings on this.  The positive note is that we will have extra money for those holiday expenses coming up! On the negative side, in the evenings it will be me...just me with 5 kids, prepare dinner, and workout...all by myself. Well no, to be honest Will is a great help so I am sure I can count on him.  However, he still does need to do his own homework, he still goes to his self defense class..so for the smallest fraction of a second I wanted to be like "oh poor Carmen" but if I do that I know I will drop the ball in terms of food and exercise schedule.  It will be really really easy to rely on the drive thru for dinner this week, or simply stop exercising until Angel can join me again. So NO! I am not letting myself feel sorry about how tight my evening schedule will be the upcoming weeks.  I've decided to make a special workout rotation for this week since I am  postponing P90X until Angel's schedule gets back to normal.  In times like this, I will not begrudge him his overtime, we need that money! So I am planning on doing the Slim Series with Debbie Siebers and doing the Slim Training (difficult) rotation! Starting today my evening  workouts will consist of:

Monday - Shape it Up
Tuesday - Firm it Up
Wednesday - Mix It Up
Thursday - Tone It Up
Friday - Cool
Saturday - Tear it Up
Sunday - Stretch

In the AM, if time permits I will be focusing on Turbo Fire workouts! will alternate between Class 30, 45, 45ez and the HIIT workouts, the one I choose will depend on how much time I have to spare that morning. 

To avoid any meal pitfalls, I've already scheduled my dinners:
Tonight: - We are having Enfrijoladas (with spinach and cheese inside)
Tuesday - Whole Wheat Spaghetti with turkey meatballs, and steam broccoli on the side
Wednesday - Black Bean Soup (yes I am obsessed with Beans :)
Thursday --Its my day off! Brother in Law cooks!
Friday - Homemade Chicken Soup - loaded with zucchini, carrots, chayote, green beans and I will go easy with the potatoes.
Saturday - Homemade Turkey Burgers
Sunday - Quesadillas

If need be will repeat the same "Menu" the following week....I have a plan! and I can't wait for Angel to stop on this overtime madness so that we can get back on our P90X schedule!