My Menu this week

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Food prep to me is the most important thing I do in my health and fitness journey.  Without the preparation I tend to over eat, grab unhealthy foods and even at times not eat enough.  With all the training I am doing it is HIGHLY important that I get good clean, healthy foods in each meal.  My meals fuel my runs and other workouts that I do each day.  Without fuel my body ends up empty, which causes me to crash hard.

Items on the list this week

Breakfast-Protein Pancakes 
1/2 cup of oatmeal, 6 oz of Greek Yogurt, 1/3 cup of egg whites.
I put the oatmeal in my bullet to make it look like flour.  After, the oatmeal is ready, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Very simple and takes less than 10 minutes to make.  You can make one big pancake or a few small ones.  Cook on medium.  Top it with some fruit and sugar free syrup.

Zucchini Bites
Picture up above show these yummy bites.  I honestly didn't think I would like them, but I LOVED them.  I tripled the recipe and ended up with only 20 bites.

Quinoa Protein Bars
Quinoa is my new favorite food item.  It is high in protein and taste wonderfully.  I wanted and quick and easy snack for work.  I don't have a food processor, so I put the almonds and dates in the bullet, it worked probably better than the food processor.  I also tripled this recipe so I can freeze some of the bars for next week. 

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Mash
My favorite things to eat is Sweet Potatoes.  So I had to give this a try.  Smelled like Thanksgiving in my kitchen.  I haven't tried this yet but know from the smell that this will be a hit.

Melt in your Mouth Chicken
I love Chicken but never eat it.  So I wanted to throw in something completely different this week.  I wasn't sure if I would like the greek yogurt on the chicken but this was delicious.  I would highly recommend this meal.  I doubled this meal and put half of it in the freezer for next week.

Buffalo Roasted Cauliflower
I love spicy foods and love it more when you can make a veggie taste wonderful.  I haven't tried this yet but cooked it up.  Smelled great and HOT!

BBQ Crockpot Turkey
Diet Dr. Pepper, 1 cup of BBQ and a small turkey breast (looked like a small whole turkey).  Throw everything in crockpot on medium.  Cook for 5-6 hours.  I always shred the meat with one hour left in cooking time.  I normally make this with chicken but I am sure it will taste great with Turkey.

Other items on my menu this week

Shakeology-I will have this at lunch every day.  I always throw in a handful of spinach, 1 tbsp of Peanut butter and one banana.  GOOD STUFF!!!
Almonds
Apples
Pears
Peaches
Carrots
Slaw-pre-mixed at the store.  I add in 1 cup of red vinegar,  1/2 olive oil and 1/2 cup of sugar (splenda).


I challenge you to food prep.  It is the key to success in any diet/lifestyle change. 

Think Happy Be Happy....My Happiness Project

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Wouldn't it be nice to walk in your bathroom every morning and see this awesome reminder? Think Happy, Be Happy.  I love it so much that I plan on making something similar.  Happiness is the key to life.  I am always in search of things that will make me happier, as well as tossing things out of my life that just bring me down.  Happiness.. I just can't get enough of it.

So what have I been doing since I started my project?

1. I completely cleaned out my room.  50 empty hangers, more space in my dressers and less shoes to deal with.  Did this project make me happier? I wouldn't say it gave me a certain kind of joy but it certainly made me feel less stressed about lack of space that I been dealing with.  I love walking into my room now, so yes it does make me happier that there is more order and organization in my room.

2.  Putting away clothes after I fold them.  This is something I HATE doing! I don't mind folding my clothes but I can't stand putting the clothes where they belong.  Normally, I will fold the clean clothes and put them on top of my front loaders.  The clothes will sit there up to 5 days and sometimes up to a week.  I will even go get dressed in the laundry room just because I refuse to take the 5 minutes to put the clothes away.  So this is a HUGE part of my happiness project for this month.  I am now trying to put the clothes away as soon as I fold them.  Okay...so this week I didn't do it but I only let them sit there for a day, instead of a week! I believe that is PROGRESS!

3.  Eat my food at the table.  When you eat alone it is so easy to fall into bad habits.  My bad habit would be eating in the living room, while watching TV.  I have read for years that this isn't healthy, people tend to over eat while watching TV.  My main reason for wanting to change this behavior is because of my wonderful dog Louie.  He is a super tall dog! When I eat on the couch, he is plate level.  NOT good!!
I noticed since eating at the table... I take my time, I am not messing on the computer and I don't have dog drool all over me. I actually love eating at the table.  I enjoy setting the table and taking the time to clean up after.  I honestly felt that this would make me feel lonely...but that isn't the case at all!

4.  Cleaning the dishes and keeping things out of the sink. Another bad habit that I have been doing for years.  I use to make dinner and throw the pans into the sink.  Sometimes I would wash them but normally I would let them sit till the next day.  Not only is that gross but I hated how dirty it made my kitchen look.  Now, I clean up the pans right away.  Once they are dry, I put them away.  If you know my kitchen...you know there is NO room for dishes and pans sitting around on the counter tops.  This for sure makes me happier! (Now I have to get my roommate on the same page!!)

5.  Going to Church.  This is probably my favorite new habit.  I have been away from the church for sometime and really needed to strengthen my spiritual self.  I am now attending a new church, signed up for a small bible study and pray every single day.  Not only does this make me feel whole but I know this makes my Dad smile. 

Five small things is all but these five things are something that I have complete control over.  It takes one minute to clean the dishes, 5 minutes to put the clothes away,10 minutes to eat at the table and one hour a week to go to church.  It is the little things in life that drive me mad and I do it to myself.  :)

I will HOPE to continue to do these new habits and add more in the next few weeks.  What's up next?

1.  Writing letters.  Who doesn't love getting a letter from a friend, family member or co-worker? I know I love opening up letters from my friends or my Mom.  Making other people happy, will make me happy.  Goal is one letter a week.
2.  Attend Bible Studies.
3. Still need to clean out the Garage and the Kitchen.
4.  Find a Gym that wants to hire me to teach classes.
5.  Paint Again :) 

The Happiness Project

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Have you ever sat around and wished you could be happier? Have you ever said to yourself I wish I could paint, hike more, fish, remember to send out birthday cards, send thank you notes to friends, visit museums, breath and enjoy every day like it was your last? I always wish to do things but I never take that first step towards trying something new and out of the ordinary.  Sure I get it; I run races like it is no tomorrow but I don't do the other things in my life that I am passionate about.

So I decided to take this happiness project head on.  I am a very happy person but i am not an extraordinary happy person.  I don't want to be like anyone else, I want to be different, happier.  I have a house, a car, a career, an education, a loving dog, great family and awesome friends.  What else in the world do I need to make me happy? It is all about the list I always make but never do.  It is about the dream to take up photography, cake decorating, physical training and so many other things.  This project is just about me, being totally the person I want to be, a person I have longed to be for a very long time. 

So where did this idea come from?  My dear friend Alicia Wagner recently talked about a book called The Happiness Project.  Alicia is probably the most driven friend I have in my life.  She puts her goals first and always follows though with them.  She is what I would call extraordinary! So when she tells me I should pick up a book up, I listened!

The book so far is GREAT! I am on Chapter Two but I already started putting together my own happiness project.  For me the first month will be all about organization.  Cleaning out the things in my house that I don't use, need or want anymore.  Organizing my work life, personal life and goals.  I also am going to make to do list and actually follow them.  Organization always makes me happy and a clutter free zone also brings me great joy!

So the project starts tomorrow! First thing to tackle will be my bedroom.  Time to get rid of clothes and clean out everything under the bed.  Time to throw out the million and one shoes I never wear.  I can't wait to see what happens to this room of mine.  I also can't wait to take my bag full of clothes, books and who knows what else to Goodwill.  Next will be the kitchen, basement and lastly my garage.  

I decided to follow the books Commandments, so here they are!
1. Be Kathy
2. Let it go
3. Act the way I want to feel
4. Do it NOW
5. Be polite and fair
6. Enjoy the process
7. Spend Out
8. Identify the problem
9.  Lighten up
10. Do what ought to be done
11. No calculation
12. There is only love

Super excited to see if I can change my happy life, into an extraordinary happy life :)
I suggest you read the book and join me on the ride!

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Hometown love

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The desire to be a movie star, rock star or any kind of star is every kids dream.  Not many children look at the moon and say that is my dream.  It was for one small town boy, his dream was to explore space and get to the moon.  I am sure this small town boy was told his dreams were to large and many probably wonder if the boy was crazy.  After all how in the world would someone from a town called Wapakoneta make it to space, let alone the moon?  But Neil Armstrong knew that his dreams were in fact big enough to happen.  He knew that if he could dream it, he could do it.  He did just that!

So why blog about Neil Armstrong? I didn't know him, never studied space and never had a desire to fly small planes like him.  I am blogging about Neil because he put my hometown on the map. Every conversation that started with "Where did you grow up?" Always ends up with "Wapakoneta, Home of Neil Armstrong the first man on the moon."

The picture above is the Neil Armstrong Air and Space museum, in Wapakoneta.  As a child, this museum was the place to go sledding, as it had the biggest hill that Wapakoneta had to offer. The place where you got astronaut ice cream and the place you could walk in a room full of stars.  As a child the museum was just a place to play, nothing more.  After all I wasn't alive when Neil stepped on the moon, it didn't feel so special any more with NASA sending astronauts there every year. 

That attitude about Neil and that museum changed when he passed away last week.  I never realized what a true symbol that little museum actually was to our small community, to the world for that matter.  Neil didn't come from money and he didn't come from a big town.  He came from a town where everyone knew his name, a town where children only dream big things.  He walked the same streets as me, played in the same parks and called Wapakoneta his home. 

You see, Neil is no different than me.  He was given a choice to live his life making his dreams happen or continue wishing his dreams come true.  Neil didn't think his mission was impossible because he only believed in the possibilities of it all.  I live my life just like Neil, I believe in the possibilities and the million reason why I can, instead of can't.

We can all learn a lot of Neil Armstrong's story.  He had the courage to take the step in achieving great things.  He took a leap not just for himself but for the world.  Thanks Neil, for showing us that no matter how small your town is you can live a life as you want it.  Thanks for reminding me that I can do something amazing with my life, that no dream is impossible. 

I will wink at the moon just for you, I hope someday you will wink back.

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Exercise-some motivation required.

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Motivation or rather lack of it, is one of the key problems in weight loss.  People who need to lose weight know that they NEED to do it, they know they SHOULD do it and they most often know HOW to do it.

There are countless diets and weight loss courses available on the marker, video's, trainers..etc. but still the majority of people find it difficult to achieve their target weight.  Why is that? Why if they know they NEED to, SHOULD and HOW to fall short of the finish line?

The problem is most often not it is not about the lack of resources or the knowledge.  With reasonable effort you can get information on how to achieve weight loss.  All you have to do is Google Healthy weight loss and a million things come up.  So what happens?

They get all the information and all the successful tips to lose weight, it's like something really stops them.  Something puts a brick wall in front of their achievements.  This something is LACK of MOTIVATION.

Weight loss is hard enough for most people and it requires a good deal of motivation not only to start but more importantly to continue even after the optimal goal is met.  This is the main reason that so many weight loss diets and programs come on the market every year.  People start a diet, start a program but never seem to have the motivation to finish.  Then something slowly starts to happen, the weight comes back, the need to lose it becomes even stronger and the people start again.  It is an evil cycle, which is so unhealthy for your body.

The key to losing weight is to WANT it badly enough and to find the motivation to carry it through.  That motivation will be different for each person.  For my client Leann, it is to be there for her daughter when she gets older.  For my Dad, it is to keep the medications away.  For me, it is to never go back to the way I use to live my life.

Everyone has there motivation but everyone doesn't have that drive to get to the end result.  So I challenge you to really look deep inside yourself to find what can keep you going.

"The biggest secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work." -Oprah Winfrey

There are only 2 choices; make progress or make excuses. -Ellen Mikesell

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Px90

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Before I became a Beachbody coach, I would always say what is this Px90 stuff everyone is talking about.  I would always talk about Px90 and get a confused look.  After the confused look I would be corrected with Kathy it is P90x. So many people think Px90 when it is in fact P90x.  No matter how you say it this workout is for real. 

My online trainer, beachbody coach and friend Corinne Crabtree has a huge success story.  Her story is remarkable and just shows that if you have the will you can do anything.  Her pictures prove that with hard work and healthy foods anything is possible.  She has completed many beachbody video's, as well as leads others to their own health goals. I have done many events with her and can't wait to do the Disney Challenge with her in Jan 2013.

I have done Px90 (P90x) and Asylum but I felt I wanted to see what this Px902 (P90x2) was all about.  I wanted to see if I could complete the program while training for a full marathon.  Results are still to come.. I have 83 more days to go! I can say after the first week I have noticed a huge different in my abs and my body feels tighter all the way around.  It is such a good feeling when you see results so fast! That just proves that my hard work, clean eating and staying away from drinking is paying off.

One of my beachbody clients is killing it! She has done Turbo Jam and is now working out with Tony Horton in Power 90.  Leanne is training for her first 5K that is coming up in 2 weeks.  She is a mom, works full time but never makes an excuse on skipping workouts and eating clean.  She prep's her food every single Sunday.  Which gives her the evenings to spend with her daughter instead of slaving over a hot oven.  She gets what it takes to make this journey a successful one.  Her daughter and living a long healthy lifestyle is her main focus.  Now she is helping others reach their goals!

Leanne has lost 40 pounds and continues to shed pounds each week!

Just like Leanne many of my clients are having success.  Why? With Beachbody programs like Px90 (P90x), Shakeology and private accountability groups.  As a coach it is my job to make sure my clients are doing the work.  The private group is geared towards diet, exercise and food prepping but what I love most about this group is we all become good friends.  We share a bond together and that bond is our passion in wanting to live a healthy happy life. 

My good friend Angela is having some awesome success with her Asylum video's.  She lives a healthy lifestyle but just needed the extra push to do something different.  Read about her Shawn T experience. 

I challenge you to join us in this passion.  Join a challenge group, give Shakeology a try, let me find a workout video that is perfect for you.  It is okay to reach out to others when you feel lost and alone.  I remember someone telling me they feel weak when they ask for help.  That is certainly not the case! It takes a strong person to come to someone and ask for help.  So be that strong person, challenge yourself to do something different.  

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10 weeks till race day

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Columbus Marathon-10 Weeks Away

To say I am excited about my 2nd Marathon would be an understatement.  I can't stop thinking about the race.  What should I wear, what will the weather be like and wondering if I will hit a wall. The next ten weeks will not be a walk in the park.  It will be full of pain, questioning my sanity and doubting myself.

I know it will not be easy but I plain on jumping over, knocking down, run around, or crawl under any wall/obstacle if I have too.  Walls are just walls and it is up to me to decide how I handle them.  Honestly, I think Brick walls are there for those who don't want it bad enough.  If you want it you will find a way to make sure you get to the other side.  That is what I will do if I ever reach one, thankfully I haven't yet!

Today's 10 miler was anything but easy.  Last week I ran 14 miles and had an awesome run.  Today my legs felt like they had bricks on them.  My knee started to hurt around mile 8 but I continued to run because a little pain will not stop me.  I welcome the pain and tell it to join me on my runs.  I will know when to stop if I ever have too but for now little aches and pains are normal.

In the next 10 weeks I have a 12, 14, 18, 20 and 22 miler.  With a few fall back runs that I will surely welcome.  I am ready for the long runs, ready for the challenge.  What I will need from all of you is support.  I will need to hear you cheering for me.  Sometimes running is a lonely sport and it great to know you have someone rooting for you.  I will try to blog about my runs each week.

I love this picture down below.  So true. 

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