10 Day Shakeology Challenge

My favorite Beachbody item is Shakeology.  It is an amazing snack or can be used as a meal replacement that is rich in flavor and amazing nutrients.  I drink it everyday for breakfast.  The reason I am an advocate for this product is because of what it does for my body.  I eat it for breakfast and do not snack on junk before lunch, my digestive tract is very happy, I do not get sick (colds, flu) as much because of all the awesome vitamins. 

I would like to share an opportunity with anyone and everyone: The 10 Day Shakeology Challenge. 

If you want to know more about shakeology please visit www.myshakeology.com/nicoleabel. 
To sign up for the challenge please leave a message on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AbelFarmFitness?ref=hl.

I will be away from the internet until July 6th, but I will contact you ASAP after the 6th.

Well Well Well

Nice to be back.  I went off the blogging trail for a while and have been doing some amazing things that I really should have been posting about.  To wrap it up in three sentences or less I have been purchasing the Clean Eating magazine off the news stand and LOVE cooking the recipes they have in there.  I am also within days of celebrating my 1st anniversary with my amazing husband, and plan to travel to South Africa tomorrow for our official honeymoon.  (insert addendum to sentence limit) Now it would be a bloggers dream to post on the fly about this trip however... my husband has just reasoning for me to turn my phone off and spend time with each other.  So that is what I will do.  I will however take a lot of pictures and notes, and the first thing I will do when I get home is catch everyone up!  (Back to my last sentence)  Finally I have been having fun helping others improve their diet and health using Beachbody as a tool to do that.

So my vision for this blog is to move towards clean food recipes and idea, fitness motivation, and through in a little fun stuff on the side like trips to Africa and such.

Post UR

The last two weeks have been eye opening.  I immediately went back to some of my old eating habits and regretted that.  I have confirmed the dreaded intolerance to dairy.  AHH, that is my absolute favorite food group! Damn!  So I must move on.  And there are some decent alternatives.  While in Hastings I picked up two Clean Eating magazines and have been cooking from them over the last week.  Holy cow there was some good food!  And it really did not take that long to prepare.  I may feel that way because I survived the 21 days of the Ultimate Reset and the millions of hours in the kitchen preparing food for that program. :-)


My so so recipe was the pesto scallop linguine.  I loved the pesto and scallops, but the "clean" part (aside from the yummy homemade pesto) was the whole grain linguine.  It felt gritty, and I thought I was eating dirt.  I wish I could use regular spaghetti. 

My favorite recipes: pomegranate steak with balsamic vinegar, fish tacos, and fajitas.  Now the meat recipes called for beef, but my house is powered on venison and elk.  I did have to go buy the scallops and halibut.  Yikes, that was pricey, but a god treat.  I probably will not cook those to recipes too often.  I also have really enjoyed making a sour cream alternative using Greek yogurt, lime juice, and cilantro.

I had an Amazon buying binge last week and bought Practical Paleo, the Clean Eating cookbook (same people as the magazine) and Karma Chow (the chef that designed the Ultimate Reset).  I just opened the Practical Paleo and was very happy with what I saw.  The book is huge, and not just a cook book.  The first 1/2 is educational based discussing the paleo concept, the digestive system, thyroid issues, just a bunch of good stuff.  So I am going to sign off and look for a yummy banana dessert.

UR Results

I woke my husband up this morning to get the dreaded pictures taken.  I chose to do this program in a bikini.  Uhh, I will never do that again...uhh oh well, I am on a journey to a healthier me. So I need to take the pictures, deal with the mental trip hazard and move on.  Or put that damn workout in the DVD player and "push play."

I lost 13 pounds and 5 inches!!  Amazing!  My husband was not happy that I lost the most around my chest.  he he.  I was surprised that the pictures did not show more of a drastic change.  13 pounds is A LOT.  Must be 5 pounds in each boob and a little around the middle.  :-) 

I am still very happy with the results.  As I have said earlier, this is not primarily about weight loss.  It was about a frame of mind change, and setting my body up for positive changes and success.

Day 21 of the Ultimate reset!

Whoohoo!  I made it.  21 day journey to a cleaner me.  I took a bath and reflected on this journey this evening. 

What have I learned?  I learned that I absolutely love steamed and roasted vegetables.  Beets are amazing.  It is not that hard to cook, just takes a little time and planning.  I also know that I can eat clean and enjoy it.  This process has taught me that nori rolls and tempeh are awful, and I will never eat those again.  :-) 

This was a challenging task that I took seriously and committed to 100%.  I did not cheat once!  I drank water everyday for 3 weeks.  Can you believe that?  Before the UR I was lucky to get one glass a day. 

My body feels great.  Cutting dairy out of my diet has helped immensely.  I have known for a while that dairy makes me feel bad, but I like it so much I was willing to deal with the side affects (sorry hubby).  But now I know that I want to feel better all the time.  When I went to Africa 2 years ago I felt amazing.  My stomach never hurt, I didn't have gas, and it was because I was eating clean with no dairy.  I feel that way today! 

What are my post-reset plans?  I am going to add meat back into my diet.  That is the one thing I truly crave.  I have already bought some chicken to grill for my salads to take to work for lunch.  I will keep dairy out.  I am also surprised to realize today that I have not thought about grains at all.  I did not miss them.  So my goal is to keep grains to a minimum. 

I signed up to be a Beachbody coach during the reset and bought the P90X2 challenge pack.  I also have TurboFire and Les Mills Combat sitting on the shelf.  I first intent to finish RevAbs as I started that before the reset, then work on each of these programs. 

Doing the UR at the first of the year has set me up for success.  This was a springboard to a cleaner, more focused me.  I have also been participating in Chalene Johnson's 30 day challenge and between the two programs I have a definite focus for the year.  I am excited to tackle new projects on my personal and professional life.

I am very happy I took this challenge.  If you had asked me that in week one you would have gotten a different answer.  With the support of my husband and all the fellow UR folks on the facebook pages I was able to overcome a mental and physical barrier that week.  It was worth it!  I am so excited to see what happens to my mental and physical state in the next 12 months. 

Torture! Kinda.

So I took my FFA students to a trap shoot today. Tradition is that we go to the world famous (ok famous to us) Effie Burger. This thing is huge! The kids love it. Well I snuck my apples in and watched them gorge themselves. Lol. It smelled really good, but I actually could just look at it and think about the stomach ache I would have if I are that! :-)

UR Week 3, Day 5-6

Oh man, the dinners the last couple days have been good. I LOVE roasted beets. The Asian stirfry was really good also. And I liked the avocado- jicama salad as well. Yummy.

I have been going through the clean eating magazines for recipes post reset and have found some good ones. Ofcourse my eye is drawn to all the yummy grilled melts. Ahh I am going to try really hard to keep dairy away even though it is my favorite! :-(. But the good news is there are some definite possibilities for good food out there. My goal is to focus on cooking clean on the weekends and prep for the week.