Results Day

RESULTS DAY!!  I couldn’t wait to get up and make my Shakeology today!  It was like a little piece of heaven as I was drinking it this morning.  Coming off the Reset I couldn’t think of a better way to start my 1^st day back than with the healthiest, dense nutrition shake for my breakfast.  This was Butterfinger and was delicious! 

Lunch today is…….Sushi rolls!  What!?  You mean I’m off the Reset but I’m making another Reset meal….YES!  These were so good, so easy, and super healthy to make! 

 

10 Things I’ve Learned Through Completing the Ultimate Reset:

1.  I/You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it!  If I can do this…anyone can do this!

2.  My “sweet” cravings are all in my head.  Although I did take a small bag of the candies passed around at the presentations last Friday night (they were Hot Tamale candies and those are my FAVORITE).   I don’t have the desire to run over grab the bag and throw them all in my mouth.  I’ve worked hard to get the results I did over the past 3 weeks and I have no intention of throwing that away!  I may eat one or two here and there, but I don’t plan to go on a sugar frenzy and eat a lot of candy, cupcakes, and ice cream over the next few days. 

3.  I can survive on drinking water alone!  I’ve NEVER just had water to drink and nothing else for 3 weeks straight.  I was sure that I would have soda cravings, but not having the occasional Sprite didn’t bother me like I thought it would.  I woke up this morning and had a big glass of water.  I plan to start every day like this from now on.  Water is so important to keep our bodies functioning and flushing toxins from the body!

4.  Cooking with fresh ingredients makes a huge difference.  I liked the process of cutting all of my vegetables and using my hands to make my meals.  It made me respect and be thankful for the food I was eating.

5.  Our bodies are an amazing thing!  If we feed it with the fuel it really needs, the effects it will have are amazing.

6.  Although the process was time-consuming with grocery shopping for certain things, the prep work for food, and timing of meals eaten…it was worth it for the lessons learned along the way.

7.  I don’t need as much food as I thought I did.  As long as you’re feeding your body with the right things, it will take care of itself.

8.  I enjoyed learning to cook new things and I look forward to experimenting in the future with new healthy recipes.

9.  I’ve learned to take things in moderation.  Am I saying I won’t ever allow myself a cheat meal?  No, of course not!  It’s not a bad thing to feed your body with an influx of carbs one meal a week.  It will boost your metabolism and increase your leptin levels so that you can continue burning fat.  Leptin is the key of all fat burning hormones, so including a re-fuel day is encouraged.  I’m not saying run out and eat as many cheeseburgers, donuts, pizza, and stuff as possible…just keep it in moderation J

10.  Buying fresh produce isn’t as expensive as I thought it would be.  I was mentally prepared for the cost of the grocery purchases needed for this program, but honestly it was FAR LESS than I was anticipating. 

Ok, so everyone has been asking for the results and here they are:  I lost 15 lbs and over 6 inches over the past 3 weeks!!  I’m incredibly happy with the results and not just for the lbs lost…although that’s a nice benefit.  I feel lighter and less bloated feeling, and the one thing I wanted the most is that it’s brought my confidence back in me.  I drifted off course for a while and got into a really bad “funk” phase and now I have the fire and desire to reach for my old goals and new ones that I’m dreaming of.   

If you are in a slump, want to break through a plateau, or just get started on a fitness/nutrition plan I would love to help you and support you through your journey.  Meeting my coach was the BEST thing that happened and she has been there to support me, encourage me, and challenge me to be the best version of myself and reach high for my dreams.  I would love to help YOU! 

Follow me on Instagram @stephnt12 or email me @ stephtaylor1283@gmail.com

Day 20 - Sooo close

Nothing too exciting to report today.  Busy day at work meant I had less time to focus on how close I am to finishing this thing.  I got home and started cooking veggies for tonight and that's when it dawned on me that tomorrow night I'll be DONE!  I'm looking forward to Wednesday that's for sure.  I'll be able to start working out again and teach my Turbo Kickboxing class that night, I'll be able to have my Shakeology again, and I'll be able to start incorporating chicken and fish back into my diet....YAY!!  My celebration cookout (for my MBA) is Friday night, so I'm looking forward to eating some of the yummy treats that will be here.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on what I'm eating and splurging in little moderation.  Some people are really sensitive when coming off of the Ultimate Reset and going back into regular diets, but I think I'll be ok.

Breakfast was cantaloupe and grapes this morning.  The cantaloupes we've been getting here lately have been really good so I've been sticking with those.

 For lunch I had a salad again and veggies from last night.  I also put just a little avocado in the salad (it's hiding in the picture). 

 Dinner was just stir-fry veggies.  We had zucchini, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and carrots tonight.  So tasty!  This is definitely one of the ways I will cook veggies going forward.  The recipe gives it so much flavor!

Check back tomorrow for the final days meals, and stay tuned Wednesday for the RESULTS!

If you are interested in doing a program like the Ultimate Reset, or looking to make a change in your nutrition and/or fitness world let me know.  I'd love to help you get on your way and be there to support you as you go! 
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IG:  Stephnt12

Day 19 - 2 more days

My last weekend on the Reset was a success!  No cheating, although sitting here next to my sister with her grilled shrimp is a pretty nice smell.  I tend to "smell" a lot of their foods if its something I'd like but can't have yet.  They laugh at me, but it's worked so far.  Today was nice because I was able to get outside and work in the flower bed for most of the afternoon.  I saw this picture and couldn't help but think how true it is.  I've been eating a very clean diet now for almost 3 weeks and I feel incredible...better than I have in a long time.

Started off the day at church and I made sure to get up early enough to eat before hand.  I've definitely learned my lesson and will always have breakfast before I go anywhere.  This morning was watermelon with about 1/2 an orange. 

Lunch was a salad and a small side of zucchini.  I eat the same salad because I'm SUPER picky about lettuce, but the Reset does call for different types of salads each day.  That's the reason mine is always the same in case anyone was wondering.

I was outside working in the flower bed all afternoon so I stuck with the easiest snack possible which was almonds again.

Dinner was supposed to be more of the roasted beets, but that wasn't sounding good at all.  Actually made my stomach turn thinking about it, so I went with some edamame and corn along with stir-fry veggies again.  I'm quite addicted to cooking veggies this way now!  So yummy!

I can't believe I only have 2 more days!  I'm glad to have gone through this, but I'm ready to be done.  Not because the meals are bad but because I just want to be able to eat when I want, and what I want again (healthy that is).  Having to constantly plan out when I eat and take my supplements is tiresome.  I don't want to discourage anyone from doing this program in the future, but like I said, I want this to be an honest blog about the journey.  Very rewarding, but not an easy thing to complete.  Final stretch.....2 days to go!

Day 17 & 18 - Funny Dream

I missed the Day 17 post due to a really busy day so I'm combining the two days together.  You didn't miss much in terms of meals on Day 17 because they were all meals I've been having before.  I had to attend the final night of presentations for my MBA program last night and then come home and get ready for the garage sale we had this morning.  Completely forgot about my post :-(    Several people had mentioned to me that they have weird/crazy dreams while doing the Reset for whatever reason.  Up until now, I haven't had any weird ones to make note of until Thursday night.  I dreamt that I was out with several people and my sister had gotten some pecan pancakes (my favorite).  I ended up asking her for just a bite and she said 'no, it'll ruin your Reset'.  My response was 'it'll be ok, it won't hurt anything' to which I ate the entire plate of pecan pancakes plus her eggs, sausage, and bacon!  I woke up startled thinking 'oh my gosh what did I do' and then realized I was dreaming.  Shaking my head about how dumb I felt at that moment, I went back to sleep.  Not necessarily a crazy dream, but it made me laugh when I actually woke up on Friday morning.

For breakfast yesterday and today I had fruit again.  Cantaloupe and a pear yesterday and just cantaloupe today. 

Lunch yesterday was a salad, but I wished I had a little extra because it wasn't quite enough.  I wasn't starving, but I felt like I could have eaten a little more.  Today I knew we were going to be doing the garage sale and then working in the yard so I had a side of veggies with my salad.  Very good today!

Yesterday I had to alter my meals again due to the presentations so I had veggie stir-fry for a late snack/early dinner.  Today I snacked on some almonds while we were out in the yard. 

Dinner tonight was Roasted Fennel Bulb with a side of veggies.  I tried the fennel bulb and I will NOT be having that again....ever!  Not my cup of tea.  Some people LOVE it....I am NOT one of those people.  For those who haven't ever had fennel bulb, when you cut into it the smell reminds of you black licorice (which I'm not a fan of).  I tried to keep an open mind after it was cooked, but nope just couldn't finish off the portion of it.  I added the rest of the veggies I had made instead.

As you can imagine, without having protein in a while my craving is without a doubt chicken and fish.  That craving, along with the milk one, have pretty much been a staple since about Tuesday or Wednesday.   I look at it this way....at least I'm craving those things instead of pizza, cookies, or ice cream!  Almost done....3 days to go!

Day 16 - Almost Broke Down Today

Today was THE day that I almost broke down and cheated...threw it all away....went for the candy....got the fast food for dinner.  It was the WORST day so far only because of the stress at work and in my life that has been building up.  The first of month is always super busy for me at work and today was no exception.  I worked for about 6 hours on a specific task and realized when I was finished that it was wrong and had to redo everything I had done.  As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Monday and Tuesday were already stressful for me so today was just building.  My normal stress reliever is to workout and because I can't do that, I have no where to release the frustrations of this week.  All I wanted after 3:00 (when the sh$# had hit the fan) was to go get some chocolate and then started thinking about what I could grab for dinner.  I was frustrated, mad, hungry b/c I hadn't eaten my snack yet, and just tired of dealing with everything.  Thankfully, I pulled myself together and remembered my WHY for doing the Reset and made it through the afternoon until I could come home.  All this just reminded me again that when I get that stressed out, I turn to bad food for the comfort.  Unfortunately, after I've eaten it I feel awful because I know it wasn't part of my overall fitness goal....lose, lose situation.  No one wins when I allow this to happen.  I'm happy that it has been so recognizable throughout this process and that it registered in my tiny little brain!

Meals for today were all repeats from before.  Breakfast was watermelon, but I wasn't as satisfied with that as I had been by combining different types of fruit together.  I'll stick with a mixture from now on.

Lunch was leftover edamame/corn recipe and a few almonds.  Still just as good as the first time!

My snack was grapes this afternoon.

 

Dinner was supposed to be curried cauliflower....but I RUINED it!  I was so proud that I had done so well on cooking all of the recipes so far, but today my streak ended lol.  It was so bad I had to throw it all away without even eating it.  Luckily I had a little sweet potato leftover from last night so I repeated last night again.  Still loved my veggies though! 

In the final stretch.....only 5 more days!!!