Find your Why

Everything that we do in life, we do for a reason. We work to make money, we make money to pay the bills, we pay the bills to survive. Those are basic, but what about hobbies, leisure, extra curricular kind of things? Fitness for example, you don't have to do it to survive, it usually doesn't pay the bills, so why? Apply a why to anything that you want to be successful in, but as usual, my post will focus on fitness.

When you are starting something, you need that sense of purpose. There is more to it than just setting yourself goals, though that is an important part to succeeding at what you do. WHY? Why do you want to reach this goal? Why is it important for you to start now? Your why, is the base of your journey and therefore you need to know it well. 

Sometimes this takes a lot of thought, you can't just answer it quickly and simply. I got started because I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired....but that isn't a very strong base. I sat around a little at a time over a span of 3 days to come up with a deeper and more meaningful why. I started to think about health, I thought about family, I thought about my future, what I wanted to be. After pondering for several days who I wanted to be versus who I was, I was able to finally sit down and write my WHY.

My personal why, which is in my fitness binder, is rather lengthy so I won't share the entire thing, but rather give you the highlights of what I came up with:

Why Am I Committed to Fitness? I want to be around for my children, and not just around, but actively involved in their lives. I want to take them to their ball games, volunteer for functions, ride roller coasters with them, play outside with them, and not feel sluggish and tired. I want to be healthy so that I don't spend time in the doctor's office instead of with my family, so that my family doesn't have to worry about me, so that I don't have to worry about if I will be around long enough to become a grandmother. I want QUALITY of life, I want to be an active participant in this world and not just an onlooker. Leading a fit life with healthy eating is the best way to ensure that all of this happens. 

All my life I've had to weather storms: In Texas and Georgia it's been tornadoes, in Washington, Colorado and Maine it was Snowstorms, everywhere has had bad Thunderstorms. I like to think of my Why as my fallout shelter. In the event of a storm we would gather in the basement or a small enclosed room on the bottom floor of the house. It's a safe place where you can ride out the storm. We all have emotional ups and downs, we all have failures and successes, we all have doubts and despair. When you are in a bad point in your journey and you feel like giving up, that's when you revisit your why. Really read over it and let it soak in, why did you start, why do you continue? Without a storm shelter you aren't likely to survive the storm, without a base your house has no foundation, without a why your success is left shaky.

Take time, think about your life, think about what is important to you, devise a why, write it down, and refer back to it as needed! I wrote mine over 3 years ago and it still applies to my life to this day. A good why is timeless, so don't be afraid to put a little time into writing it out! 


I love doing these blogs and helping people through their journey, for more free services from me sign up to become one of my team beachbody clients! Find me on facebook! facebook.com/suzylonglais
www.teambeachbody.com/suzycutie86  <--- click on the join button, choose the free coaching and you become one of my clients in less than 5 minutes!

What your Cravings are Really Telling You!

We all have them....those urges to eat foods and drink liquids that our bodies DO NOT need! It's hard to resist and sometimes we think it will even make us feel better to indulge in them (though often we have eaters remorse!) Next time you have the itch to ingest junk, think about what is actually fueling the need. Here is what your body is telling you that you are insufficient in when cravings attack:

Let's start with one of my biggest vices....DUN DUN DUN (that was suspenseful by the way)
CHOCOLATE! 
When you are craving chocolate, that means your body is deficient in Magnesium. This is a very important mineral for the body and only a small percentage of the population actually gets enough of it! Magnesium is responsible for supporting your immune system and healthy blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It also aids in maintaining strong bones and teeth as well as keeping your organs healthy and efficient. 

When you crave chocolate, try eating magnesium rich foods such as:
Fish
Nuts
Seeds
Spinach and other deep green veggies
Potatoes (with skin)
Yogurt

Next up, Salty foods....ya know like those chips you want to reach for!! When you are craving salty your body is really trying to tell you one of two things: you are stressed or you're depriving it of 2 specific minerals.  If you are stressed you need to take time for some "me time" to do things such as meditation, yoga, a workout, sit in silence, read a book, take a bath.If you are not stressed reach for foods Chloride and silicon to help mellow out the craving in a healthy way:

Goat Milk
Fatty Fish
Nuts and seeds

Now we ALL get this craving....BREAD! Yummmmy carbs! Yes Yes Indeed! Actually, this craving isn't that far from the truth, we can just make healthier subs to get what we need. When we want breads and pastas our bodies are really saying that we are low in Nitrogen. Nitrogen, as you can imagine is fuel. Like any machine, your body needs fuel to carry out all of its activity. If you are a more active person, you will need more fuel, if you are less active, you won't need as many carbs, but they are still important for your body. Here are some foods to fuel you, fill you, and not put on the bulge that bread most likely would:
Chia seeds
Quinoa 
Lean meats
Beans

Cheese is another sneaky craving. While some cheeses are good for you, most of them are too fatty or are accompanied by pizza toppings, sauce and a crust! Needless to say, when you are craving fatty cheese, your body needs healthy fat! Fat is so important in a healthy well rounded diet and aids in things such as flatter tummies and healthy weight management. We need fats to lubricate our joints and keep our hearts healthy. Reach for good sources of fat (and not too much of it) when you are feeling the need to cheese!
Walnuts
Fish
Nut butters
extra virgin olive oil....EVOO to you fitness fanatics out there
Salmon

And very last, if you are having an extra hungry kind of a day, you need water!!! About half the time that you feel hungry, your body is really trying to alert you that you have not consumed enough H20. We need half of our body weight in ounces to stay at the proper hydration level. It's important for our organs, for our hair skin and nails, (I know skin IS an organ) and for our overall health. 


All of these vitamins and minerals, plus tons that I did not even mention (around 70) are in Shakeology: the nutrition shake I've been drinking for over 3 years. Shakeology, when drank daily reduces your cravings and supports healthier eating. If you find that you cannot control your cravings with the foods that I listed, you may want to incorporate this drink into your daily diet. Feel free to get in contact with me on here or facebook @ www.facebook.com/suzylonglais or look at the website to see what this drink is really all about www.myshakeology.com/suzycutie86

WHEN to eat WHAT

By now we all know that what we eat is important. We need to make wise choices in order to achieve happy, healthy bodies, but did you know that when you eat is also important? There's a lot that goes into this topic, but in the interest of not overloading you, here are a few things you can start doing to get more benefits out of what you are currently eating.

Let's start with Breakfast: It's the most important meal of the day! Why? Well it sets the mood for your metabolism! Start off each day by eating a large protein source within the first hour of waking up. I hear a lot of people say they "can't" eat breakfast, I used to feel that way, truth is you can train your body to do anything so stop the excuses! Breakfast!!! Eat it!!! Good examples of High protein breakfast foods would be: 

Protein Shake
Eggs prepared how you like
Peanut Butter toast
Breakfast meats such as turkey bacon, turkey sausage, canadian bacon/ham


Next up the importance of your preworkout meal. What you eat preworkout will vary some based on what kind of activity you are doing. Rule of thumb is 30-60 minutes before you hit an intense workout, eat a good source of carbs. This can come from starches or fruit, they are different kinds of carbs, but both convert into energy and give you a boost through your  workout routine. So for example you could eat:


Banana
Apple
Sweet Potato
Quinoa 
Oatmeal
(the list goes on and on)


You may also want to try a preworkout drink. Try a nitric oxide booster if you are looking to increase muscle mass. They are anywhere from zero to fifteen calories per scoop so you don't have to make room for them in your caloric intake. Rather, it opens up your blood vessels allowing for more blood, oxygen and nutrients to be rushed through the body. This helps you with your workout performance and also aids in recovery time. *WARNING* there are risks and side effects labeled on these powders so read them before you decide to buy.

When the workout is done, PROTEIN! This is the best thing you can be giving your body during the anabolic window (right after your workout to an hour after your workout) your muscles are torn and tired and you have released hormone responses telling your body to gather protein for repair.Feed yourself a post workout shake or food with protein:

Meat
Beans
Nuts
Greek Yogurt
low fat cheese


Let's talk about those Carbs again, the starches in particular. Bread products are in the starch group but you don't want all of your starch calories to come from breads (they convert to sugar and are stored as fat in the belly region) instead, open yourself up to the world of squashes, corn, potatoes, wild and brown rices, oatmeal, and more. As far as ingestion, you should make sure that you get your starches eaten earlier on in the day. I aim to get all of my servings in by 2 pm. This gives the body time to burn off the energy and for minimal amounts to be stored as fat. 

Veggies are easy as far as flexibility is concerned, they can be eaten any time of day and you can basically have all you can eat, its quite hard to overdose on vegetables.Try to incorporate veggies into most of your meals and snacks to help both fill you up and fuel you up!


Lastly, at least an hour before bed, have a casein based protein source. this is a slow digesting protein that will keep your digestive system working through the night. the more your digestive system works, the higher your metabolism, the more calories and fat you burn, and the less hungry you feel. Cottage cheese (casein not whey) or a casein protein powder are good for bedtime snacks.


Speaking of snacks, I'll leave you with this: Try to eat every 2-3 hours. That means lots of snacking! Breakfast....preworkout snack....lunch....afternoon snack.....dinner....before bed snack! that's just an example, but feel free to sit down and figure out how best to fit these meals and mini snacks into your lifestyle. Try to map it out where you have your starches earlier on and a good source of carbs before your workout, and don't forget a slow digesting protein before bed! 

It's all about Attitude!

No matter what you are doing, what you put into it is what you will get out of it. How do you best control your end result? Control your attitude! When it comes to love and relationships, work and professional life, and in  my case FITNESS, your attitude will make or break you!

Your mood triggers hormones in your body and change your brain chemistry. When you choose to be positive about your situation, your body responds positively to that. Likewise, if you are feeling negatively about something, your body feels negative. Simple! Well, the thought process is simple, actually maintaining the ideal attitude takes work. 

Here are a few tips on how to be a more positive person and trigger the good responses in your body to help you become successful in what you are doing. 

*Surround yourself with positive people. You need people who are so chipper, you suspect that they poop rainbows! These people have contentiously good personalities and a little of their sunshine will rub off on you. Find them out there in the real world for a human connection, find them on social media too so that the first thing you see in the morning is a happy go lucky status update that sets your mood to fun right from the get go! 

*Ditch the drama! People draw you into drama traps, they say or do things that they know will get a response out of you. It is far easier to get a negative response out of someone so they stir that pot with tons of gossip and drama. Those are the people you need to detach yourself from. You don't have to cut them out of your life completely if you don't want to, but do take what they say with a grain of salt.

*Don't give people power over your emotions. Lots of us care more about what others think than what we think of ourselves. I have falled victim to that role more than I'd like to admit. Friends think i'm not cool, i'm not good enough for some people, people think i'm fat....now its people think i'm skinny. If we wait around on the approval of others we may die first. Sometimes we dwell on what we think others think of ourselves, but honestly, why? We each have one life to live, don't you want to live yours the way that you want? Let's not lose who we are by trying to blend in with other people. You are You and that is something that should be owned and lived up to!
Also, if someone does something that you don't like, choose to confront them about it or let it go. If it is important there needs to be a confrontation, if its something dumb, it needs to be let go of and not dwelled on. It's amazing the tiny things we let get in our way of being happy! When crap starts going down just start singing along with Elsa "LET IT GO LET IT GO" she's got the right idea ya know ;)
......If you aren't into Disney you can always "Shake it off" with Taylor Swift

*Go in it to win it! Did you start a new job? Did you start a new fitness program? Are you in a new relationship with a partner or friend? Whatever it is you need to start out with the "in it to win it" mentality! What do you want out of this new venture? Figure it out, write it down even, and then say I WILL get this. No maybes about it, uncertainty leads to doubt and doubt leads to failure! You say "I WILL LOSE 10 POUNDS" or "I WILL GET A PROMOTION" and it's going to happen for you a lot faster than skating through it hoping or not knowing what you are capable of. Know what you are capable of and get it! When you tell yourself that you don't have a chance of failing, then failing doesn't have a chance!!! 

There are many more things that you can do to improve mood. Meditation, eating right, taking care of your body, melting away with music, taking 10-15 minutes of you time each day to collect yourself. the list really does go on and on. Make yourself a list of what you can do starting today to make yourself more positive. Making yourself more positive is going to make you more successful in what you do, and who doesn't want happiness and success? 

Happy Monday, go drink some coffee for me since I'm not a coffee drinker myself ;) 

and remember, you can become one of my clients for free by clicking on the link below and hitting the orange join button, choose the free option and you are 2 seconds away from 1 on 1 coaching with me! 

www.beachbodycoach.com/suzycutie86

~*~Fitness Funnies~*~

Today's Blog post is all about FUN!
If any of these made you chuckle feel free to share my blog with your friends or even pin your favorites on pinterest! 

                           Odd couple!!!

                        Close enough!!

There's a little too much truth to this!

I believe it's actually Nestle's Crunch ;)

I've been doing these all wrong!

This actually works!

sounds delicious...and slightly dangerous

So I'm not that pretty before, but yes, that is my actual after picture!

I'd imagine his stunts are slightly less entertaining without music

I'd go to that revival!

Glad they specified "Men" I would bust my head open trying this!

And now you know my secret!

Beachbody Coaching

Today I want to talk about Beachbody Coaching! We all know Beachbody, most people say "hey that's the p90x people right?" I just got that today at the bank when I was depositing a check with their logo on it. Everyone has seen the infomercials for Insanity, P90x, TurboFire and all the rest on an endless loop. But what makes them more than just some As seen on TV Product, is the unique system of Beachbody Coaches.

What is a Beachbody Coach? To make a long answer as simplistic as possible, we are a Product of the Product. Meaning, we do the workouts, we drink the Shakeology, we get the results, and we share it with others. We share our successes, we share our failures, we share motivation and support. We are always learning and always updating our clients with what we learn.

Who can be a Coach? Anyone who wants to lead a healthier life, who wants to help others lead healthier lives and kind people who don't drag others down.

How much does it cost for my coaching business? There is a one time fee of $40 dollars when you sign on to coach, but if you buy a challenge pack when you decide to coach, that fee is waived and you get to join free! After that each month has a 15 dollar fee to maintain your websites, give you training materials and webinars, and the coach relations hotline. 

To our men and women who serve in the Military your coaching is absolutely free as a thank you from all of us at Team Beachbody for your service!

What are the perks of being a coach? There are so many perks to coaching. Monetarily it means that any of your personal purchases such as Shakeology and fitness programs are now 25% off with your coach discount! It also means that anyone who purchases a beachbody product from your website will earn you a 25% commission! There are also programs that give you added bonuses dependent on your sales and coach rank.

Aside from the money, there is the wonderful feeling you get by helping other people. I have always wanted to feel like I have a positive impact on the world we live in and this gives me that gratification. 

Also, I used to struggle with sticking to my workouts, sticking with proper nutrition and staying positive and motivated. When you have a spotlight shining on you because you are an example for others, it gives you an extra sense of accountability. NEVER have I been more successful in my fitness life, it took feeling responsible to all of my clients and fellow coaches for me to really turn this into a lifestyle and not a "quick fix" mentality. 

Coaching is something that you can do for yourself, do for your family, and do to help others. It's a unique job where meyou get to set your hours, choose if you want to be part time or full time, make your own goals, and really feel like you are making an impact! I did not start coaching for the paycheck, but rather for the discount. I was hooked on shakeology so why not get the 25% discount, but the paycheck followed anyway (SCORE!) and the satisfaction of seeing others change their lives and the urge to reach out to even more people is just as good, probably even better, than getting my paychecks! 

If you think that you would be interested in coaching, reach out to me in a personal message on facebook www.facebook.com/suzylonglais

and you can visit my personal Team Beachbody Website @

www.beachbodycoach.com/suzycutie86

you can sign up for coaching through me at that link as well.

Autumn Spiced Sweet Potato

Today I bring to you a recipe that I indulge in almost daily during fall. This is a sweet treat that satisfies but doesn't break the diet! Be on the look out for my next recipe post which will most likely be a healthy pumpkin breakfast muffin, I've been challenged to create a recipe for a guilt free muffin, and I'm in the process of doing so. But for now, I present to you, the Autumn Spiced Sweet Potato....

Alrighty, first you some sweet potatoes suitable for baking. (I like to choose medium round ones so that they bake quickly and have a good filling to skin ratio)

Wash em, scrub em, and poke em with a fork a few times!

I had to get my cute flowers from my coach Justine in the picture! Oh yeah, the next step! You will need strips of aluminum foil (a strip for every potato) cooking spray and pumpkin pie spice. Spray the cooking oil onto your potato and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, flip the potato over and do the same thing to the other side. 

Now wrap that bad larry up in the foil and pop it in the oven for around 70 minutes at 375 degrees. Cooking times may vary ;)

Once cooking is done allow it a good amount of time to cool on top of the stove. You can eat it or store it for later. I usually cook up quite a few of these, keep one out and put the rest in the fridge for later. 

Okay, now let's dress it! Cut open your potato, put in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter, usually 1 is fine but 2 is good for a larger potato. Give that a few seconds to start to melt in and sprinkle cinnamon and stevia on top. 

Look how happy those flowers are to be next to such a delicious treat!!! 

Mash it all up if you'd like to mix the butter and cinnamon "sugar" in there.

Or, keep it pretty, you choose!