Transformation Tuesday! Meet Barabara.

Meet Barbara R.! 


She participated in The Beachbody Challenge and won the $500 Daily Prize for September 29th!

“I Lost 50 Pounds, and I Also Saw My Body Change and Become Stronger”

Tell us about your life before you started the program. How did you feel about yourself and your body?

I had gained 50 pounds from my pregnancy. I was on bed rest for 16 weeks, seeking comfort from food. After I had my baby and I came to terms with my body, I cried. I lacked all confidence, and I desperately wanted my body and my life back.

What inspired you to change your life and begin your transformation journey?

When I saw a photo of myself, I realized I needed to make a move. I knew I had to drastically change my lifestyle to regain my body, confidence, and freedom. I saw a commercial for Insanity, and I didn’t even think twice about ordering.

What is the greatest challenge you faced before beginning the program? How did the program and Beachbody® help you overcome that challenge?

My greatest challenge was lack of motivation and guidance. I did not want to go to a gym and have to leave my baby with a babysitter. However, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. INSANITY offered the convenience of exercising at home, while providing a complete, full body workout program. It taught me about nutrition, introduced me to Shakeology, and kept me motivated.

Describe the results you achieved with your Beachbody program. Which achievements are you proud of?

I did a few rounds of INSANITY, paired with Shakeology, to achieve my results. I lost 50 pounds, and I also saw my body change and become stronger than I was before. I’m most proud of the weight loss.

How has your life changed since completing your Beachbody program?

I have more confidence than ever! Also, my lifestyle has become much more focused on fitness, nutrition, and overall health. I am in better shape than I have ever been before. My strength and endurance are amazing compared to the lack of both before.

You can change your life, too. Take the Beachbody Challenge, for the ultimate motivation to get fit! Select any Beachbody program and once you complete it, share your results for your chance to win cash and prizes.  Click here and make me your Coach today!  ITS FREE TO GET STARTED

Click Here --->  https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=257550

An apple a day really does keep the doctor away!

 

An apple a day really does keep the doctor away!

 

5 Health Benefits of an Apple

1. Benefit: Nutrition, straight up.

Packing in quite a bit of soluble fiber (4 grams per medium apple) for a modest amount of calories (95) makes apples a filling, sweet snack. Plus, a medium apple counts as 1 cup of fruit, so after eating one you’re well on your way to meeting your daily fruit quota (around 2 cups for adults on a 2,000-calorie diet). They also are a good source of immune-boosting vitamin C (providing 14% of the Daily Value).

2. Weight Loss

Apples satisfy hunger for few calories so it’s not surprising that they can be part of a healthy diet that promotes weight loss. And in a recent study, dried apples also helped participants lose some weight. Women who ate a cup of dried apples daily for a year lost some weight and lowered their cholesterol and heart disease markers. Florida State University researchers think apples’ antioxidants and pectin (a type of fiber) are responsible for the benefits—and think that fresh apples would be even more effective.

3. Heart Health

The Florida State study is not the only one to link apple consumption to heart health. Last year, the Iowa Women’s Health Study reported that, among the 34,000-plus women it’s been tracking for nearly 20 years, apples were associated with a lower risk of death from both coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease. Some years earlier, Finnish researchers studying dietary data collected over 28 years from 9,208 men and women found that frequent apple eaters had the lowest risk of suffering strokes compared with nonapple eaters. Experts attribute the heart-healthy benefits to antioxidant compounds found in apples, which help prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and inhibit inflammation. Plus, the soluble fiber in apples has also been shown to lower cholesterol levels.

4. Protect Against Metabolic Syndrome

People who eat apples may be less likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Joyce Hendley reported in EatingWell Magazine that researchers who analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) data, a survey of eating and health habits, found that people who had eaten apples in any form over the past day were 27 percent less likely to have symptoms of metabolic syndrome than those who didn’t. The apple eaters also had lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation whose presence in the blood suggests an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.

5. Exercise Extender

Eating an apple before you work out may boost your exercise endurance. Apples deliver an antioxidant called quercetin, which aids endurance by making oxygen more available to the lungs. One study showed that quercetin—when taken in supplement form—helped people bike longer.

Ready to start your health and fitness journey?

Let me help you every step of the way.

Join one of my upcoming challenge groups today!

 Fill out this questionnaire and let's get started. ~~~~> http://coachrachaelsfitness.blogspot.com/p/window.html

3 things you can do to improve your diet.

 Do these 3 things and your diet will get better. 

Probably much better!

They might be obvious yet, in my experience, many people have trouble following the basics. I guess we’re all wired differently and, thus, we vary in what clicks for us mentally when it comes to instruction. But I can’t tell you how many diets I’ve analyzed that weren’t “working” that were focused on, say, gluten or Paleo or some other trend-of-the-year but weren’t focused on these three simple components.

If you want to lose weight, adopting these three methods is absolutely vital no matter how you’re eating, be it high protein, high carb, high fat, or high fruit.

1. Drink more water
Most people overeat because they’re dehydrated. Drink two glasses of water every morning and keep on going throughout the day. A good gauge is to aim for half your body weight in ounces each day. Or, shoot, just make it an even gallon. You’re unlikely to drink too much, and I’ll bet you drink too little. You’ll be amazed how much better you feel and function when you’re properly hydrated.

2. Cut out (or at least down) on junk
Most of us know where our diets are going south. We eat too much packaged junk, desserts, fast food, and cheap beer. Like, way too much. Stats show we get more than 10% of our calories from soda, fast food is a jillion-dollar industry, ampms are way more popular than farmer’s markets and we drink more beer, per capita, than the country that invented it. Yet, we have an insatiable appetite for answers to our issues that aren’t (quite literally) right in front of our face.  Instead of worrying about eating like a caveman or whether or not you’re allergic to gluten, try cutting the crap out of your diet and see what that does for you. Chances are you’ll never have to suffer through a diet book again.

3. Eat to fuel recovery (aka eat for what you do)
Instead of eating until you’re stuffed, try eating just enough so you recover from your workout, or whatever else you just did. We’ve gotten used to feeling full as our default state, or goal, which is positively bourgeois.  In a survival state, aka a performance state, you’d want to feel light, not full. Get used to feeling light and you’ll push harder during your workouts and you’ll end up eating pretty close to optimally because performance is addictive, too.