Fitness and The Wounded Warrior Project

The Wounded Warrior Project AND fitness are both something I'm a HUGE fan of. My own husband benefited from the WWP when he was injured on his way to Iraq.

How many of you have heard of Tony Horton's P90X? I bet 85% of you are raising your hands! Haha...that's the teacher in me. Now, how many of you are new to fitness (or want to be) and P90X intimidates you? Well, guess what! Tony Horton has come out with a new program called P90. The catch phrase with this latest program is that it is the "On Switch of Fitness". What does that mean? It's an introduction to fitness for people who feel like they have never been into fitness before or those who cannot handle the extreme fitness routines that Beachbody is generally associated with. Want to know more? Check out this video. I will be running a Challenge/Accountability Group for P90 starting one month from today.
 

WAIT, there's MORE!

Tony Horton's dad was a veteran who was very passionate about the WWP. He recently, unexpectedly passed away. Beachbody is donating $5 from the sale of every P90 Challenge Pack during the month of October. What an amazing way to honor Tony's father! This company never ceases to amaze me! I have decided that I will add to that. For every P90 Challenge Pack that is purchased from me in the month of October, I will donated an additional $10 to the Wounded Warrior Project. In addition to that, I will continue to donate to the WWP at the rate of $1 to every pound lost in my Challenge Group for the 90-day duration. The bigger my Challenge Group is and the more successful the people within that group are, the larger my donation to WWP will be! This is so stinkin' exciting to me! Ready to join me in this great cause? Click to join my group and I will message you to get you started. You can join the Challenge Group here. Watch this video on P90 for more information: P90

Email me at jenmccormick@live.com for a quick questionnaire that will help me evaluate your goals.

How empty is your closet?

Do you ever stand in your closet and look at all the clothes you have, but it takes forever to get ready in the morning because nothing fits, or everything makes you look frumpy? Not all that long ago, I remember crying in the mornings before work because all of my cute stuff was too small, and the stuff I could wear (comfortably) was just not something I really wanted to be seen wearing in public, let alone as a professional who was teaching a class full of children. It may seem silly to some, but this was a real issue for me. I hated my body, how I felt it reflected on me as a person, and how tired and awful I felt EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

My closet may as well have been empty.

Fast forward a little while, and now it takes me a total of 10 minutes to get dressed and apply make-up each morning. The funny thing is, the time I used to spend crying and telling myself how much I suck in the mirror is now time I spend in the kitchen prepping my meals for the day. No joke! This is me being 100% real. I used to be embarrassed to tell people how long dinner took, or how often I was in the kitchen throughout my day because I was worried people thought I was just eating my life away. I guess it's because I really was. Now, I'm excited to say that I spend 30 minutes every morning making sure that my body gets the nourishment it so deserves to keep up with my incredibly busy lifestyle. Another super perk to this is that I am teaching my children to make healthy choices too. They don't see me hitting the Hardees drive-thru for a biscuit and coffee anymore and I LOVE that...even though I do love those stupid biscuits. Now it's like once a year I have one instead of every weekend. Haha.

Going down this path has taught me so much and I want to share with you! Are you ready to START making these changes too? These changes have taken me quite some time. It surely didn't happen overnight. I've read a ton, experimented a LOT, fallen off my horse and gotten back on a gazillion times, and I still have a ways to go. Now that I have taken myself down this road, I want to help others find what I have found. Health, confidence, happiness, freedom, and so much more.
Would you benefit from a workout program that is designed to be the "Gateway to Fitness", a healthy eating plan that is not overwhelming, and a REAL person to support you and motivate you to reach the goals you share with her?

I want to take that journey with YOU through an authentic relationship. I will work one on one with you to discuss your goals, challenges, what meals and snacks will work best with YOUR lifestyle/schedule, and encourage you every step of the way through a private accountability group with others just like you with as much or as little support that is tailored to suite YOUR needs.
Check out this video http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/EnerJenic2012?bctid=3782826933001

and let me know if P90 is something that you think you could do. I'm looking for SERIOUS people ONLY, who NEED to make that lifestyle change in order to move their lives in a more positive direction. Email me at jenmccormick@live.com or message me through Facebook (Faithfull Fit Beachbody Coach Jen McCormick) and I'll send you a quick questionnaire so we can start to discuss your goals. 

It won't be long before you are sharing your success story!

Whole week of delicious, healthy family dinners

 I spend a good hour each week planning out my families meals and grocery list. This helps us be sure to have enough food for the week and helps it be less likely that we will grab unhealthy food on the run with our crazy, busy schedules. I try to make meals simple. Sometimes I reach for Paleo options, but overall, we just try to eat as healthy as possible.
Here are some recipes from this weeks meal plan.

Monday: Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
1.5 pounds of ground beef; cooked
1.5 cups organic pizza sauce
1 spaghetti squash cooked and shredded
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
5 raw eggs, whisked
Add all ingredients to a casserole dish and bake @350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until browned on top. My kids went nuts over this one.

Tuesday: Salmon Patties and Sauteed Kale
Salmon Patties
2 large cans of wild caught salmon
2 eggs
1/2 cup almond meal (little more if needed)
seasoning of choice (we like to use creole or something yummy from Penzey's)
oil of choice for sauteing (we use almond or walnut)
Throw all ingredients in a bowl (or mixer) and mix well. Form small patties and saute on medium heat until browned on each side.

Sauteed Kale
1 bunch of organic kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
oil of choice for sauteing
seasoning of choice (we use a homemade taco seasoning A LOT, but will generally use the same thing we use in accompanying dish)
Saute kale in oil until desired tenderness is attained.

Wednesday: Foil Packet Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Chicken with Steamed Broccoli

Foil Packet Sweet Potatoes
4-5 organic sweet potatoes (or 1/2-1 whole SP per family member)
walnut or almond oil
seasoning of choice (we like seasoned salt with NO silicon dioxide...read your labels, or just salt and pepper)
tin foil
Scrub sweet potatoes and chop into bit-sized pieces with skin left on for added fiber
drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasoning. Stir until potatoes are coated. Place sweet potatoes on tin foil and fold into packets. Place on grill and cook until tender.
 
Grilled Chicken
 4-5 organic chicken breasts (or 1/2-1 chicken breast per family member...or more if you plan on using leftovers for a second meal like the salad for tomorrow nights menu)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
Place chicken in a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Add remaining ingredients and let marinade for about an hour. Place on hot grill and cook until no longer pink. 
 
Steamed Broccoli
1 head organic broccoli
1/2 cup water
Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Add broccoli and water to medium saucepan and cover. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmering point. Steam until desired tenderness is reached. 

Thursday: Greek Salad with Leftover Grilled Chicken
1 bunch of romaine lettuce; washed and cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 leftover grilled chicken; cut into bite size chunks
2/3 c. feta cheese crumbles
1 can organic black (pitted) olives
1 organic cucumber;  sliced
1-2 organic tomatoes; chopped or one container of grape tomatoes
Greek dressing recipe found here.
Toss all ingredients in bowl and drizzle with desired amount of dressing. Serve with a chunk of whole grain bread or homemade croutons.

Friday: Black Bean Quesadillas and Side Salad
2 whole wheat tortillas per family member (soft taco sized)
2 cans organic black beans (more if family is greater than 5)
1/2 pound grass-fed cheddar or mozzarella
1 tbsp homemade taco seasoning (I use this one without the red pepper flakes)
grass-fed butter or ghee for cooking
Drain beans and mash in a bowl until spreadable. Add taco seasoning to beans and mix well. Spread bean mixture onto one tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and place another tortilla on top. Melt 1 tsp butter/ghee in the pan on medium heat. Place quesadilla in pan and cook until lightly browned and crispy on both sides, adding butter/ghee as necessary. Serve with  your choice of hot sauce, salsa, avocado, etc. and a side salad with healthy dressing.

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner
Eggs, cooked to order
bacon (we use Applegate farms Sunday bacon) or organic, grass fed sausage patties
Paleo Pancakes topped with fresh fruit instead of syrup
sauteed spinach cooked in a little walnut oil with salt and pepper


Sunday: (Paleo) Spaghetti  with Side Salad
I actually don't care for pasta, but the rest of the family does. I prepare spaghetti squash for myself and organic whole wheat pasta for the kids and hubs. 
Prepare pasta and/or squash. Prepare sauce of choice. We use grass fed ground beef, 1 sauteed onion, 1 sauteed red bell pepper, 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, 2 sauteed chopped carrots, 1 sauteed zucchini and two jars of whole foods organic pasta sauce. I let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes and serve over squash or pasta. Prepare side salad of choice with a healthy dressing. You can also check out my past blog on a similar recipe on the dinner here.

This week I will also be prepping homemade granola bars, Shakeology cookies, breakfast egg cups, tuna salad with paleo mayo, boiled eggs, and Greek yogurt parfaits 

My Transformation Story: A Second Chance

Okay, so you may think I'm a little obsessive over this Beachbody stuff. My heart is racing at the thought of posting this, but here it goes. Let me be totally personal with you. It is VERY hard to put these pictures up where all of you can get a glimpse into a deep and depressing time in my life. I battled with my weight for YEARS. I never was truly happy because I always had this hate for myself because I felt that my looks determined my worth. Unfortunately, so many people do. I want to share this because there are people that I KNOW are feeling the same pain and shame that I felt at 200 pounds! I want to HELP you. I truly do. If I ever win the lottery, I will buy these amazing programs and lead Challenge Groups until I die doing so, just so people can see what their quality of life can be like. I truly believe in Beachbody. The company is amazing, the programs are incredible, and the supplements are superior. Most importantly, the coaches all support each other and believe that in working together, we can make a bigger difference.

As I was looking through my old camera card this morning trying to find pictures of my larger self, I found NONE with my babies. NONE.There are over 1,500 pictures on this card, and I'm nowhere except in "before" pictures. I had even deleted a picture of my oldest daughter and I from her Honor Stars ceremony. I bawled like a baby. I hated my image so much, that I've deleted nearly every picture of me and my children from when they were younger. It's so sad to think of how much pain I was in. Nobody knew. I kept it all in and put up a fake smile for so long that it became a habit. A VERY painful habit. I probably sabotaged many relationships (romantic AND otherwise) because I didn't feel that I deserved them. My husbands orders to Iraq started a journey for ME that I never could have imagined would put me where I am today. Through the 779th Engineer Battalion, I met some wonderful ladies. Including my BB coach, Kate. She inspired me through her workout and transformations posts while her husband served in Iraq. In January of 2012, I started my journey. Along with Beachbody and my wonderful church family, I started to learn that God loved me no matter what and I was WORTHY of a change.

A little over two years later, (and some major back and knee pain that slowed me down quite a bit at time) and I have gone from a super tight size 18, to a very comfortable size 6. I was 199 pounds when I started and I was 142 this morning when I got on the scale. Could I have done even better? You bet. Do I want to weight less? Yep! Can I get more fit? Absolutely! And I will!!!! I am a work in progress, but I now love the person I have become. If I stay this size, I'm cool with that too because I have true happiness and acceptance of who I am...INSIDE. Through some major convincing, I have learned that God truly does love me no matter what and that I have a gift from Him to share with YOU. I am on top of the world. I have a wonderful day job that I LOVE and I am also blessed enough to enjoy a second passion that brings in even more income! Helping people far outweighs any financial benefit though, SERIOUSLY. This business is truly about making a difference. I want you to share in this amazing journey with me. I KNOW for a fact that many of you see my posts and want in on this. NOW is the time. Don't waste another day hating your image. Let me help you get out of that funk. Not for anyone else, but for yourself! You are worth it! Message me TODAY my friends. A YEAR FROM NOW, YOU'LL WISH YOU STARTED TODAY! -Karen Lamb

If you want to contact me to find out how I can help you start your own journey, just click HERE and you can click "contact me" on the left.