Ultimate Reset: Day 3, 4, and 5 Review

The Ultimate Reset has been more than just a strict diet, it has been an adventure through many various avenues of my life that seem to have been closed off for some time, as well as a huge learning experience when it comes to food. Before you read this entry I want you to know, that despite all of this I would STILL recommend this 21 day journey to anyone.

Days 3 & 4 were largely uneventful, if I'm going to be honest. Beside a small swing in moods on Day 3 early in the morning, nothing out of the ordinary occured. Day 4 I felt very light, very happy, and found myself still anxious to explore certain feelings or thoughts that I was having. It wasn't until the night of Day 4 that things took a turn for the worst.

Bought some "relaxation techniques"

I was tired, very tired, so I laid my head down hoping that I would get a good night's sleep as I FINALLY had the night before. When I laid down, fear crept into me surrounding my business. What if I failed? What if I screw up? What does that mean for me and my family? Now, usually I can push these thoughts aside and use them to fuel my fire for greatness; however, this night they were NOT letting up and getting the best of me. The Ultimate Reset book that you receive with your package says that this is normal, and it is best to just explore these thoughts and work through them. Often times, thoughts and feelings that we have supressed find a way to show themselves during the 21 days. As our body detoxes, so does our mind and often times it is these thoughts that we push aside, but they end up building up. The book said to just experience them so I started texting my husband. Naturally, his loving words made me feel much better and I did eventually go to sleep.

Yeah..that's not good.

That was until the morning hit. I was exhausted. The dogs were keeping me up at this point so I asked my husband to let them out. He did and he never came back to bed. When I went downstairs I found him playing a video game and became enraged. Yes. Enraged. I yelled and screamed and ended up kicking one of my dog's ceramic dishes across the floor. It crashed into a railing in my kitchen, smashed into a million pieces and landing all over my door (who did nothing wrong). I stopped and it was as if I woke up from a trance and I ran to my husband, sat on him, and hysterically began to cry. It was that moment that I thought, "That's it. This Reset is OVER!"

Him being the saint that he is carried me upstairs and talked to me about what was really going on. I started talking about things that have bothered me for a while, but I just haven't admitted (like the video game playing more frequently than I would like - It made me feel like I wasn't a priority over the game), or issues about the dogs, etc. etc. It was a TERRIBLE day. I HATED.....HAAAATED myself and the only way for me to escape was to just sleep. I wanted nothing to do with myself or the day at all.

Dinner was DELICIOUS!

When I woke up I decided to do some P90X3 Pilates (which were great, by the way) and that helped me to feel a bit better. I cleared my mind as I prepared a delicious meal from the Reset and began prepping for the next day. Later that night, while guiding my dog out the backdoor so she could use the restroom (she's old and has trouble) she fell, rolled down the steps, and just laid on the patio looking up on me. Again, hysterics. I felt like the worst pet mom ever, and still sort of do today. Then the feelings of "She's not going to be with us much longer" crept in, which caused more issues. All in all....TERRIBLE EMOTIONAL DAY. But I am hoping that the release of these emotions will help me to move on from them.

Writing this it is now Day 6, and I can tell you that I did sleep last night, I did wake up refreshed, and while I do not feel 100% happy still, I am worlds better than I was yesterday. I am hoping when I check in tomorrow it is a better day to report.

Ultimate Reset: Day 2

I feel blessed that my Day 2 was not as horrible as I was prepping it to be. I have read a lot of blogs, and watched a lot of videos from other coaches where their Day 2 was very debilitating; however, mine wasn't too terrible.

I woke up EARLY, hopped right out of bed and felt very well rested, even though I couldn't fall asleep the night before and probably only had, at most, 5 hours of sleep. Seriously, I felt great...which if you know me in person you would know that mornings and I just do not work out well. I went to the grocery store before heading to work (weird) and picked up some more supplies that I could need, like distilled water.

The day was okay. I will admit, I was tired and it would have been a great day to spring for a cup of herbal tea, but I resisted. Any other day I would have gone straight to Starbucks for a Venti Gingerbread Latte, but today I just decided to ride the wave.

After lunch is when things sort of nose-dived just a little bit. I got a pretty bad headache that was just annoying, and starting around 3pm I got nauseated, to the point where I thought I might be sick. I took my Alkalinize (which is the nasty green stuff) and almost lost it in the sink..but I kept it down. I remember going back into my office and sitting in my chair with my eyes closed thinking, "I can't do this"...10 minutes later, I felt great. No headache. No nausea. Felt awesome and went and played with my dogs.

What I did notice during Day 2 was my cravings were OUT OF THIS WORLD. Stuff I never crave...like loaded nachos or pulled pork sandwiches were suddenly all I could think of. And this is no exaggeration..but my husband was making himself his lunch to take to work that night and he had Land o Lakes American cheese slices from the deli (which I love). I caught it out of the corner of my eye while I was preparing not-so-fun lentils for the next day..but he had a piece and broke another piece between the two dogs. I cried. I cried and in between tears said, "I'm the only one who didn't get a piece of cheese!!' You can probably imagine the look I got as I went and pouted in the other room.

So yeah..biggest thing from yesterday was the sickness mid day, and the cravings. Other than that pretty business as usual.

Oh! And in case you are interested, there are much more detailed reviews each day on my YouTube page. Check it out and show some love!

Sharing a gift with YOU!

Woohoo! It is an exciting day!

I am officially opening my 2013 health & fitness challenge groups today! Many of you are probably asking, "What the heck is a challenge group?" Well, I am here to tell you!

A challenge group is a small group of individuals who are dedicated to a common cause. In my case, the cause is health and fitness. My start came from a challenge group, and not only did I get great results during that time that I was in the group, but the results carried me on to new and exciting aspects of health and fitness.

A little about myself: I loved fast food. Loved it. I hated the way that I looked, though. I wasn't fat, but I was....puffy? Like, not fat but not toned, either. I would dabble around with workouts here and there. I got the gym memberships and would go and be a gym rat (see no results bc I didn't really have much knowledge at that time..just figured elipitcal and some weights here and there), did a ton of home fitness programs including Denise Austin, TaeBo, Carmen Electra...you name it, I probably have the DVD...but nothing ever really STUCK. I would always find myself hopping to the new trend, the new pill, the new WHATEVER and here I still sat...puffy and miserable.

My friend had asked me to join this accountability group and I figured, what the hell. It's January 2012..yet again, I'll try something new. This was a change! I got to be held accountable from my home office (no driving to meetings or embarrassing weigh ins), the accountability portion took me MAYBE 5 minutes out of my day, and these women were all so motivating and encouraging! There was no one watching me run in the mirror at the gym trying to be inconspicuous. There was no guy checking me out when all I wanted to do was work out. There were no time limits on machines, or now $39.95 each month for a gym membership that I stopped using. There was no driving to the gym after work, or on a Saturday morning. And there was no snarkiness from the members of the group.

This.Was. Awesome!

I was able to workout from home through a program that my coach recommended to me after I talked to her about my likes and dislikes..and what was great about that was that I actually enjoyed doing what I was doing. I wanted to pop in that day's DVD each and every day. And that kept me going. That mixed with the positivity from the group kept me going for ONCE in my life!!

Then I decided to do the same. I became a coach, and have been running fitness challenges throughout 2012 and gotten my challengers AMAZING results, and I take the challenge right along with you so it's not just you doing that workout that day..I'm doing the same one in my home!

So if you are READY to stop dabbling around and getting nowhere, if you are puffy, if you are unhappy with your appearance, if you are just looking for something that WORKS and somewhere where you can find all of the missing pieces to your puzzle, if you are looking for something that takes your time constraints into consideration...then please e-mail me (nik4213@gmail.com). I know, I know...you don't know me, it's weird emailing someone you don't know..but I swear to you I'm the most easy-going person you will ever talk to, haha, and I truly want to give everyone the chance that I got this time last year. My life has changed DRAMATICALLY and it all started from just making a choice to try a challenge group. 

I hope to hear from you! And if not, have the happiest of holidays, whichever one you might celebrate, and nothing but the best for you in 2013!

Time to Switch it Up

And a happy October to YOU!

So far, October has been a whirlwind of activity which is why I have not been on here very often. Work is killin' me, business is boomin', photography is going great, and there has been a ton to celebrate!

I love Fall...I think it's one of the best seasons around. Lately, however, it has been pretty darn cold around here. Last year we were spoiled with weather still well into the 70's in the Pittsburgh region around this time.  Fall means sweaters, scarves, hats, coats, and BOOTS! (wahoo!!) All sorts of baggy clothes to make you feel comfy and hide your, er, problem areas.

WRONG!

I think this is why so many people gain weight during the winter months is because of the clothing styles that are out there. When you are wearing shorty short shorts, tank tops, and swimsuits you are much more aware of your body than you are when you are wearing hoodies, sweats, and cow neck sweaters (are those still in style???). Many people turn to veggies and fruits in the summer because they are jam-packed of water, and they are a light snack. Who wants beef stew on a 95 degree day, right? Well, then the Fall chill sets in and we want comfort food. Mmmmm. Crockpot food...MMM! PUMPKIN PIE! OH YEAH!  All of these can lead to some serious weight gain if we are not cognisant of what we are putting in our bodies.

So what do we do? Do we just succumb to the Winter blues, gain that weight,and then totally freak out the first time its warm enough to wear last year's Capri pants and they don't zip? (GASP! NOT AGAIN!) Or do you take action now so next year your Capri pants STILL don't fit...but it's because they are falling off your body! I'll take Option #2, please.

One of the things I love about the fall, is the changing leaves. Now I understand not all of your are lucky enough to be able to experience this in your own town, but if you are GET OUT AND ENJOY THEM. How could you not love walking down this trail?

With Fall also comes rain, wind, and eventually snow and freeze as we get more toward the winter month. Often times, unless you are a die hard runner, you are moving your workouts inside...or maybe you just don't work out period. Well, it's time to start thinking about how this year is going to be different for you. Trust me, I love Lifetime movies as much as the other person. I love my Dexter, Real Housewives, and everything else that I watch when their new seasons come out in the Fall/Winter, but I use them as a reward for AFTER I do my workouts. How are you going to workout this Fall? How are you going to stay motivated? If the gym is not for you, or you have signed up before only to stop going, then I recommend you checking out some of the other tabs on this blog that house some great workout programs. You can also head right over to my website www.beachbodycoach.com/Nik4213  and checking out all that I have to offer.

Is lack of motivation your thing? I got your back! Anything you purchase from that link above comes with me :)  All wrapped up in a nice little package. Have you ever wanted a personal trainer but couldn't afford it, well tadaaaaaaaaaaaa! Here I am! I don't come to your house, I don't tell you to keep your knees above your ankles as I watch you do a squat, but I am here as your coach for motivation, support, tips, trick, recipes, you name it. I get you to where you are going. Period.

So if you are looking to change, if you are looking to try something new, I encourage you to take a look around on that site. If you have any questions, you can email me at nik4213@gmail.com.

Look, last year I was not who I am now. I was nowhere near it. I was unhappy, I felt defeated every day of my life. I wanted to give up. I wanted to just accept that I was the way I was, and then I found these programs and they CHANGED MY LIFE. The support I received from MY coach CHANGED MY LIFE. I would not be here week after week blogging about how to change your life or the lives around you, how to stay positive, and how to give everyday your all if I hadn't chosen one day to draw a line in the sand and start giving everyday of MY life MY all.  So if you are ready to do that, if you are ready to say enough is enough, and if you need a helping hand...please let me know.