Shakeology Recipe of the week: Peanut Butter Cheesecake Shakeology

Is it me or after reading the title of this week's shakeology recipe of the week, were you just like "yes to all those things"? I am going through a really big "gimme my peanut butter or die phase" so I was about this recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did this morning....

Foodie For Fodder

 The other day my friend Julio said something to me that just stuck in my mind. He said ever so casually and slightly to peer pressure me into having tacos “food is best eaten without guilt.” This made me think about my relationship with food through the years. 

 Like most people, I have been a victim of the yo-yo diet throughout the years and practiced the  not so pretty art of calorie restriction and food deprivation. Obviously, my mindset was not healthy and food was the enemy.  With food as the enemy, I would have fat free this and sugar free that; I would sustain myself off of as little calories as humanly possible. If I ate something “bad”, I would shame myself and starve and burn it off with a workout. I would work myself into a calorie deficit. As you all can imagine, I was a treat and by treat, I mean grade A bitch.  But what I failed to understand was that in treating food as the enemy, I was depriving my body of the nutrition and calories I need to just live. Did the weight come off? Sure, it did for awhile but that weight loss was not sustainable. As soon as I reached my goal, I would start eating again and my body latched onto those calories and fat onto my tiny frame. But this is what happens after your body goes into survival mode.  

 It took me forever to realize that food isn’t the enemy.  Once I started to become educated on proper training and working out regularly, I started to understand that in order to see progress and get the kind of toning I want then I have to feed my body. Not only did that mean I would have to eat, it meant I had to eat  the right amount of calories with the right nutrition. Food isn’t the enemy; food is the determinant of what kind of body you are going to have. Don’t eat enough food, your body withers to nothing. Eat too much food and/ or the wrong kind of foods you blow up and become sick with diabetes and other chronic diseases associated with obesity; eat crap, you feel like crap. Eat healthy, feel healthy.  

 Once I reconciled this in my brain, it became easier to make the right decisions with food. I started giving my body nutrient dense foods and products (I cannot preach the gospel of Shakeology loud enough) and the greasy, sweet, junky foods  just generally became less appealing. And I’m not saying that I never want those things because I totally scarfed down 5 tacos (best tacos in Phoenix too), a giant pretzel, and some whiskey last night but  the difference is that because I eat so clean in my everyday life that occasional splurges don’t make me feel so guilty. I think that in itself is a tiny miracle.

Food is not the enemy; it’s the determinant of what kind of body you are going to have and you are going to feel. So what kind of relationship with food do you have?

Back To Basics: Lessons I Learned These Past Two Weeks

Following an epic week of drunken debauchery celebrating my 29th birthday, all my hard work getting into tip top bikini shape for my pool party was pretty much trashed. So on May 17th, I began my two week Back To Basics Health and Fitness Challenge to get back on track. Armed with Shakeology, a fridge stocked with healthy eats, Brazil Butt Lift, Insanity, and an already intense training schedule (I am a beast), I shed a few pounds, shrank a couple of inches, and learned a few lessons along the way. And while I enjoy feeling healthier and being that much hotter (just kidding), I think the lessons I learned are worth sharing

• Imperfection is Inevitable. -  During the past two weeks, I am willing to admit that I was less than perfect. I am typically a very disciplined person; I wake up at 5 am everyday; I plan my workouts and meals; and I keep a pretty tight professional and personal calendar. However, in the past two weeks, there was a holiday, a birthday, work, social events, and even a tragedy. And I'm not making excuses for myself but maintaining a clean diet was not necessarily at the forefront of my mind. Sure, I did my best to eat clean and yeah, I still maintained most of my workouts but sometimes living and doing what I needed to do to survive took precedence. Imperfection was inevitable in this situation, and in reality, life is going to get a little messy and being a Health and Wellness Super Heroine is not going to be as important as staying sane. I am human after all. 
• Perseverance is Just As Important as Consistency. - Even if I wasn't perfect when life got in the way, I did try to maintain some level of consistency with living as healthy as possible. At the same time, when I screwed up and had mama's birthday cake or a couple of pieces of baklava or a few glasses of whiskey neat, I never punished myself or said "f*** this, I already messed up anyway." Instead, I acknowledged my shortcomings, went to bed, and tried to do better the next day. I know it would have probably been better to not have those luxury cheats but as I said before, imperfection was inevitable. Giving up on my goals, however, is never an option for me. I do think that consistency and discipline are the keys to success.  However, I also think that there is something to be said for picking myself up, dusting my shoulders off, and to try to do better next day or at the next meal.
• Shakeology is The Business. - I don't just mean this because this is a Beachbody product and I am a Beachbody coach but because it changed the game with my weight loss and how I felt. Shakeology for breakfast was one of the major consistencies during this two week period, and I was thoroughly impressed. For the most part, it kept me consistently full for a good 4 hours after having it and killed a lot of my cravings. And the odd thing was that, even when I slipped with my sweet tooth, I never felt satisfied like I did after a shake. I just felt cleaner and healthier from the inside out and I went from 132.1 pounds on 5/17 to 126.4 pounds on 5/31. I am not saying that it was all Shakeology because I work it out when I sweat but it definitely helped since I was not an angel all the time on my diet. Plus I don't do salads or anything that resembles rabbit food so this helped me get the nutrition I needed.

• Celebrate Your Mini Victories - I am proud of the progress I have made in just two weeks especially with the cards I was dealt but this by no means was my greatest victory or my best effort. If I was on my best behavior, I know what kind of results I am capable of getting but progress is progress. The tummy is flatter; the pants are looser; I've lost some weight; and I have a booty! Baby steps...

•  At Home Workouts Are Not Jokes- I am not going to lie; I am a traditional workout kind of  girl. I run; I lift; I go to Barre and Pilates classes. I am, by definition, a gym rat. I always thought at home workout DVDs were kind of cheesy. But in an effort to keep things fresh and try new things, I did Brazil Butt Lift and Insanity. Admittingly, I started Insanity because Shaun T is really hot (and yes, I am aware that he is gay) and Brazil Butt Lift is a little cheesy. However Insanity is hard and Brazil Butt Lift is like my Barre class at a cardio speed; they are both valid workouts.