The importance of taking before photos!

Please take before photos! I would have quit p90x without them! If you would like some extra support on your fitness journey please check out my Facebook page for free help. I would love to help you!

Food ideas

My new favorite dessert! Low calorie and tastes amazing!

 

Seriously, it tastes so good and this one was only 81 calories! It was so much dessert! I kept eating it going: "Nom...nom...nom I can't believe this is only 81 calories... nom... nom... nom" And it is served in a pineapple half which I really liked! The perfect summertime treat!

My after workout snack! I was a little hungry after working out (Brazil Butt Lift) so I decided to make a fruit salad. (Of course the four year old with me stole all (most) of my strawberries haha) Yum! What is your favorite after workout snack?

Taking the Reins!

I had a huge revelation this morning about my cancer journey and how p90x has changed my life. So I wanted to share. I hope you like it. Sorry about some of the shaking, my cat kept running into me! Please email me any feedback you have at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com or please add my Facebook page!
 

                            Here are my p90x results!


                          Thank you Tony Horton!

Challenge Group!

I have received WONDERFUL feedback about my p90x results! Are you ready to write your own Success Story? I am starting a challenge group on June 1st. A great way to get support and accountability on your fitness journey. Spaces are very limited! 

What is a Challenge Group? Basically we will all be starting a Beachbody program (p90x, Brazil Butt Lift, Insanity, ect!) on June 1st and starting Shakeology on the same day. We will join together on Facebook for support AND accountability!  These programs and Shakeology worked for me which is why I wanted to make a challenge group so I can help others become successful! Email me at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com or add my Facebook group for more information!

Why "NOT" me!

I have been doing a bunch of personal development lately and one I did recently really struck a cord with me and I wanted to share my reflections. As I listened to Craig Holiday’s “Why NOT you” I began to realize that my attitude was the difference in the areas of my life where I have been successful and those areas I am still struggling with and make excuses.

Maybe it is my optimistic Popular Sanguine personality or growing up in the Harry Potter generation where the trials you encounter in your life make you stronger. But I never realized until watching this video that I have always thought why NOT me regarding the trials I have faced in my life, and that is why I have been successful. Most people would look at my socioeconomic status and wonder how did she become a (future) dentist? And now I finally know. I always believed that I didn’t have a choice, I had to become successful. And all of the things I had to work for myself that were just handed out to others would only make me a stronger person. That is the key, I didn’t think “why me”, I thought “why NOT me” and moved on from there.

The same thing happened when I got cancer at the age of 23. Did I have moments of “why me”? Of course! (especially when I saw people my age smoking. UGH).  But still I honestly thought if there is some sort of balance in this world and my having cancer prevented some child from having cancer then this will all have been worth it. I just knew I would be stronger for having gone through this. So I just tried to be optimistic and use my situation to make jokes. People were amazed at how positive I was that some of them actually thought it was easy. I got comments like, "I'm really glad it wasn't that bad for you." And I just wanted to grab them by the shoulders, shake them and say "are you freaking kidding me?!" I lost my hair, passed out every night at 7 pm, gained weight, and had to have toxins pumped into my blood on a weekly basis. And I had to worry about passing my graduate classes at the same time. Just because I was positive doesn't mean it was easy.  But still, I think my attitude is why I was able to stay in school while going through chemotherapy. Now I can look back and say, if I can do that I can do anything.

My attitude made a huge difference with my success doing p90x. How do I know this? Because I tried p90x once with the “why me” attitude and stopped after three weeks! The first time I tried p90x I thought “I’m out of shape because I did chemo”. The next time I got the support and accountability I needed from Beachbody and I was much more successful because I changed my attitude. I stopped thinking “why me” about my physical condition and how chemotherapy negatively impacted that. So, even though chemotherapy made my asthma worse, probably damaged my heart and made me chubby I focused on the positive. I realized that if I did this and truly committed to it I could be in better shape than I was before I started chemotherapy. Despite all of the negative impacts it had on my body. In fact that is what drove me to do this. I just took the “why NOT me” attitude and realized that I would have to work harder due to the limitations chemotherapy put on my body. But that was just a fact and not something that would stop me from achieving my goals.

So, during my second round of p90x did I whine about doing my workouts? Of course! Just ask my boyfriend (I believe the term “whambulance” was used). But I changed my attitude from making excuses for myself as to why I wouldn’t succeed to just realizing that I will have challenges but I had no choice in that matter. I was going to see this program to the very end. No matter how much I whined about it, it didn’t make a difference: I was going to do my workout that day.

I finally realized that this is what I have been struggling with when it comes to motivating certain people. They tell me they want to change but they give me a huge list of excuses. I struggle with this, because I truly believe in them and what they can achieve, but it is tough for me when they don’t believe it themselves. I don’t know your “why me’s” so I only see you as you are, with all of your potential. When I tell you I believe in you, I promise you that it is sincere. Feel free to email me at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com or add my Facebook page.

Helping people achieve their goals is so rewarding to me, so I'd love to help you! I want to help you write your own success story and give you the support and accountability that Beachbody provides!

Monday was a great day!

I had a great day today!

Most likely this is because today is a rest day, but here is a list of reasons why today was awesome!:

Perfect weather!

Rest day!

Receiving a bunch of positive feedback from my p90x results! (this is one photo from my results). Want to be your own success story? Add me of Facebook here or email me at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com. It truly makes me so happy to help others achieve their fitness and financial goals!

Date night with my bf in which I even left my cell phone at home. This is serious ya’ll! It was great to unplug for a while. I had a great chicken salad (dressing on the side of course!)

I finally figured out how to mix my tropical Shakeology properly, so now I think I like it as much as chocolate! So I had a really yummy lunch.

Rest day! Oh wait I already said that. :)

I got a package of personal development books from my upline coach for making Success Club this month! Made me feel so special! :) It is pretty awesome to know that she sees me as a good investment!

I hope everyone else had a nice day today. How was your day?

p90x Day 90 results!

This has truly been a life changing adventure for me. I have just noticed so much progress in my life that I never would have thought possible from an exercise program. I look (and feel!) like a completely different person!

Unexpected rewards:

Less back pain! I am a dental student and I often have to curl over myself to see what I am doing in the back of someone’s mouth. This led to pretty frequent lower back pain. This pain is now virtually nonexistent, which is amazing! (My boyfriend has even noticed me complaining less about it!) I guess spending three months strengthening your core really helps! Another way to look at it is this: I am now less prone to injury which means I am less likely to lose wages due to disability!

Less anxiety: I have always heard that exercise helps with this but I have never experienced this significantly before. This is most likely because I haven’t had an exercise program that I would commit to every day before. Now my anxiety has significantly decreased. It is an amazing feeling. In fact, I have only had one bad day recently and I had no idea why I was having trouble and my boyfriend said to me, “Well, when was the last time you worked out?” I responded, “Well Monday was my rest day and Tuesday I did Yoga X.” “Exactly, it has been a few days since you have gotten a really tough workout in” (Side note: yes Yoga X is tough but it doesn’t really get my heart rate up). Since I felt immediately better after I did my workout of the day I think he was right. I am probably addicted to working out!

“Expected” results:

Of course I was expecting some results from p90x. However, after trying and failing at many other exercise programs I never would have thought these results would be possible for me. My abs look better than they ever have in my life!

This is a picture of me at age 21. I love that my abs look better than they did four years ago!

What I would change if I could do this again:

I would have taken better before photos, and taken more measurements. The only reason why I didn’t do this was due to an initial lack of confidence in myself that I would complete the 90 days! I think the “before” photos are critically important to set the mindset that how you look in those photos is in the past, because you are committed to getting healthier.(You may have noticed my "before" photo says Sept 2011, that is because I didn't take a picture right before I started! Doh! But honestly, I wasn't working out or eating healthy so that is how I looked at Day 1.)

I would have followed the p90x nutrition plan. Since I didn’t think I would initially get through the 90 days I didn’t start with the nutrition plan. During this process I really struggled with my diet. I definitely improved over the 90 days, but I know my results would have been much more significant if I had actually followed a diet plan!

While my diet still has room for improvement, it has significantly improved due to Shakeology. I would honestly be lying to you if I said these results were only from p90x. Shakeology has greatly contributed to my results. Why? Because it is a nutrient-packed guilt-free chocolate milkshake! It tastes amazing so it helps with my chocolate cravings and it helps curb my appetite, because my body is finally getting the nutrients it needs. I finally started to notice weight loss after day 30 once I added in Shakeology. Click here for more information about Shakeology!

Where do I go from here?

The most common question I get is what I will do next. Or are you going to do something after this? To which I answer “of course!” My involvement with Beachbody has been truly life changing. I never would have made it through the 90 days without the support of my fellow coaches. I like the person I am now so much more than the person I was 90 days ago, so I have no plans to stop. Up next, I still have results I want to see in my thighs so I am going to do Brazil Butt Lift for 30 days. Then, hopefully soon after that I plan to do the Beachbody Ultimate Reset.

If you would like some support and accountability on your fitness journey I would love to help! Email me at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com or “follow” my Facebook page.

(Belated) Birthday Post!

Birthday blog!

I started my day off right with a little Birthday Cake Shakeology!

One scoop Chocolate Shakeology

6 ice cubes

½ C  soy milk

1 C water

¼ C Cake mix

1 tsp vanilla

Blend. Enjoy!

 I am so excited to start off my 25^th year in better shape than when I was 21! Here’s PROOF:

This is a picture of me on a trip to Tobago in January 2009. Now I wasn't in bad shape at 21, but it just really nice to be getting better with age!

Also, on my birthday I received my emerald Beachbody pin in the mail. It just seems like a good sign to receive my emerald pin on my birthday, since my birth stone is an emerald! I am just so excited to be on my way to making my dreams come true! I am now officially an emerald Beachbody coach!

For my birthday dinner I had a spinach salad with some amazing cheese (Chevre). 

But don’t worry everyone I did treat myself on my birthday! 

 I hope you all had an amazing day too! If there is any way I can help you achieve your fitness or financial goals please let me know at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com