Meagan Rigney

How to get started with BBG (Beachbody Guide!)

It’s no secret that I have been obsessed with Kayla Itsines Beach Body Guide (BBG) since I started last August. I have seen crazy results and honestly? I feel like I have grown more on the inside than I show on the outside. Obviously seeing ab definition and being able to do a ton of push ups is awesome, but I really can’t say enough about this program and how it changes your mindset. (Here are 3 things I’ve learned!) Let’s start with how exactly you can begin and what you need to know.

  1. I bought the first round e-book HERE and it gives you 12 weeks of workouts, with 4 weeks of pre-training if you are starting from scratch. I have since bought the second 12 week e-book and I love those books. You download them on your computer and each day I went to the gym I wrote down the 8 exercises I needed to do on a slip of paper and did that. You can begin these rounds over and over again (I’m on the third round), and because they always change from week to week, you won’t get bored. They don’t get easier, either! I am doing the first round  over again now and even though I did it when I first began, I can do the exercises faster, meaning I do more each workout. I also add more weights to challenge myself and I still die EVERY SINGLE TIME. This round I am trying out the sweat app, which is the exact same as the e-book, except it is preloaded on my phone and it times the workouts for me. I DO like the app, a lot. I have it for a trial price and I like how it pushes me to rest less and I can have everything I need on my phone. That being said, the workouts are the same as they are in the ebooks, and it isn’t that hard to write the workouts down and time yourself.
  2. When you begin week one, make sure you warm up really well ( I do 10 minutes on the treadmill, typically), and then gather the equipment you need. In the beginning you mostly use body weight exercises. These look deceptively easy, but it will be HARD. The equipment I have seen so far includes hand weights, jump rope, medicine ball, a bench to step up on or do ab work on, a barbel for squats, a bosu ball, and a kettlebell. I think you can multi-task a lot of this stuff and modify it for home. I work out at the gym and just like having all the equipment around me, though I do switch things up if I need to. You will also need something to time yourself with is you aren’t using the app. I just used my iphone or my watch.
  3. Each resistance day is built up of 4 exercises that you do as many as you can for 7 minutes, then you stop for 30 seconds and do a second set of 4 exercises as many times as you can in 7 minutes. You then repeat them both for 7 minutes each until the 28 minutes are up. The first time you do this you will probably only be able to do the circuit (4 exercises) just once in that 7 minutes. That is okay! You will get faster and more efficient as you get stronger.
  4. These workouts are built to be challenging. You focus on 3 resistance days and you will burn out your legs, arms, and abs on these days. I almost always have trouble walking down the stairs after leg day, or raising my arms to blow dry my hair after arm day. If you are not sore, you probably aren’t challenging yourself! That being said, in the beginning you will see jump squats or simple sit ups and they will look easy, but repeated over and over and they are a killer! Just do the best you can. Modify when you burn yourself out. I always try to do the full version of the workout until I can do no more, then I dial it back until I can finish. For instance, if you need to do 15 push ups, do as many as you can on your feet (even if it is one!), then modify on your knees. I promise you, each week you will build up to more of the full version until that is all you can do. I like to make sure I do each rep in an exercise to the best of my ability. It is better to do less and get each one right, then to rush and not do them properly.
  5. The other days of BBG focus on cardio. You do two kinds: low impact steady state (LISS) and high intensity interval training (HIIT.) In the beginning you only do LISS, and I typically do the 40 minutes doing an incline walk on the treadmill (going 3.5 mph at a 6-8% incline.) I listen to podcasts while I do this and the time passes by quickly. Another LISS I do is  the stair climber. I switch things up by walking up for 5 minutes, walking sideways to the right for 5 minutes, walking sideways to the left for 5 minutes, skipping a step for 5 minutes, then repeating this until the 40 minutes is done. The program calls for 3 LISS days, but in the beginning I pretty much did just the resistance days and sometimes did a short LISS after, but it isn’t recommended to do them both on the same day (you will be too tired!) HIIT isn’t recommended till later on in the program. Right now I tack it onto LISS days and either do interval sprints, or I do various exercises (burpees, tuck jumps, jump squats, ect. for 30 seconds on and then 30 seconds of rest for 15 minutes.)
  6. My current workout routine looks like this: Monday (Leg day), Tuesday (LISS and HIIT), Wednesday (Arms and Abs); Thursday (LISS and HIIT), and Friday (Full Body.) I constantly tweak this, though, based on how my body is feeling! I am probably going to replace a cardio day with a resistance day based on my current goals, but right now this is working for me. For beginners: don’t worry about doing all of this! Like I mentioned, in the beginning I only did the resistance days, and I slowly added in the cardio stuff. Do the best you can and build up to more when you can.

That’s it! Please feel free to comment below if you have any questions! I love helping people get started with this program because I have seen so much growth for myself, not just on the outside, but on the inside.

*I recently went live on my Facebook page to explain in detail how I eat (I count my macros!), and exactly what that entails. Btw, are you following me over there? I post daily and we have the best community of folks commenting and supporting each other! I post there a lot more than I do here, so there is that, too;)

why being a mama of older kids rocks

 
Before I get myself into trouble here I need to say, I LOVED having babies. They were squishy and delicious and watching them grow and change was amazing. Can I also mention that I am a baby person? If you bring a baby near me I will lunge to hold it. Babies are pure magic. There is something so fresh and romantic about a new life coming into the world. I swoon over babies in bonnets on Instagram, and hearing that someone is going to have a new baby makes me giddy with joy.
I remember looking into my daughter’s newborn face on the night she was born and not believing that this child would morph into an (almost) nine year old someday. It was impossible! How could this little five pound, tiny little thing become a real person that could walk and talk and form opinions?  I couldn’t fathom it. I just wanted to soak in this time and cuddle her and ignore the fact that she would grow up.
Here’s the deal, though.
Babies and toddlers are HARD. For all the moments of complete baby bliss, there are a zillion moments of sleep training, potty training, teething, walking the hall in the middle of the night, tears (for everyone), unexplained sickness where you have no idea what is wrong because they can’t tell you, whining at your feet while you cook dinner, chasing naughty kids at the mall, zero time to yourself, vacations that don’t feel like vacations, etc. You get the point. I did all this and it was FINE, because when you’re in it you don’t realize how crazy hard it is because you see no end. And luckily, kids have a sensor on them that knows when you will lose your ever loving mind and they do something endearing and cute. This saved them on more than one occasion.
(Should I say that after all that, I will spend HOURS looking through my photos and videos and wishing for just one day back with my kids as babies? Just a day, though.)
Something magic happens when your youngest turns 5 or so and can start to function as a person. When they can put on their own shoes and buckle themselves in the car, and play in the backyard without you. You become a real person again. You can do stuff in the house and they don’t need you. You can bring them out to dinner and, thanks to years of jamming those manners into them, they can hang and be fun and it is enjoyable. You can go the the beach and SIT DOWN, because they can swim and play in the sand without you. They become people that you genuinely LIKE (be honest, how likeable is a 3 year old?) My daughter is almost nine (HOW) and having conversations with her is the best. I mean, who is this mini adult that comes up with the funniest stuff and can make me laugh like no other? Oh wait. She’s the same kid that sprayed a bottle of red Gatorade all over her bedroom one day in a fit of rage, and also the same kid that ate an entire container of diaper cream (spoiler alert: it’s not poisonous.)
I’m saying this to you. Don’t be scared of having older kids. Take each day as it comes and try not to panic about tween fights and school drama and homework (though third grade math is a killer…) Just know this, if you respect your kids and listen to them and parent them so they know there limits, they will be good people that you enjoy hanging out with. I genuinely like hanging out with my kids, they are amazing! I have loved watching them grow and become who they are, and I can’t wait to see how this changes in the next 5-10 years.
Life isn’t over when your kids go to school and get older. It gets better (I’ve written something similar before), and for those of you in the trenches with babies and toddlers, know this: All your hard work will be rewarded. Your kids will sleep through the night and be potty trained and survive the terrible twos. You will survive all this, too. The uncertainly remains, the never ending questions and doubt and fear is always there, but you will do it. One day at a time. And it is worth it.
I always say this, year after tear, but THIS is my favorite age. These kids of mine bring me so much joy, and I can’t wait to watch them grow and change.

Does your closet reflect your actual, real life style?

This book is everything. As is this rug (for all things blog/insta photo related!)

My style and how I’ve thought about it has changed a lot for me this year. I went from style blogging HARD for 5 years straight, constantly taking photos and trying to keep up with trends, to bringing that to a screeching halt when I decided I needed to figure out what I wanted to do with this blog and this space. So I took time off and barely did any photo shoots, and just wore what made me happy. I didn’t have to worry about repeating outfits and keeping things fresh and new, I just had to pay attention to what made me happy. It turns out, neutral colors and simple silhouettes make me really happy. Who knew?

I’m not sure if it is getting a little older and just knowing what makes me happy and what doesn’t, or figuring out that a lot of cheap clothes (mostly) don’t work for me any more, or if it is a combination of the two, but I have learned something.

While I love fashion and shopping and trends and getting dressed up, this doesn’t actually translate into my real life.  I’m narrowing down what I REALLY wear and like and that has involved a lot of research on Pinterest (this board is my style completely), and this book has been my bible. It. Is. Amazing.

So how do you figure this out? The first step is to look at what you wear in a 2 week period of time, and the percentages of time (give or take) that you wear these items. Then look at your closet and see if it reflects that. For instance, Monday-Friday I wear my workout gear from approx. 9am-1pm. I then shower and put on something comfortable and work on shampoo business and blog stuff till I pick my kids up at 4pm. After that I am home again and stay comfortable. Saturday and Sunday we will go out to eat once or twice, so I’ll wear either faux leather leggings and a tunic sweater, or distressed skinny jeans and a tunic top with cute boots. In a pie chart it would look like 50% gym clothes, 35% comfortable clothes (leggings, cozy top, sneakers), and 15% of the time I am wearing my “nice” clothes. Now if you look in my closet, I have 70% “nice” clothes, 25% workout clothes, and 5% comfortable clothes. Obviously my closet doesn’t match up to my real life.

Here’s the deal: because my closet is mostly “nice” clothes I would feel guilty about not wearing them. Yet I felt weird getting dressed if I really wasn’t going anywhere besides the car rider line at school. I’ve always had a hang up about wearing my “home clothes” outside of the house. You know, those bleach stained yoga pants and that extra-large hoodie? I had ugly home clothes, so no wonder I got dressed for an hour just to not be seen in them. I upgraded a few items (one pair of leggings, a blushed colored fleece tunic), but I discovered I needed more casual clothes that were comfortable and that I didn’t feel like changing out of to leave the house.

Basically I needed less of what I wear less of, and more of what I wore more. It’s so silly and easy sounding now, I’m embarrassed I didn’t see it earlier.

So now I needed to do something about that. I’ve been steadily purging my closet for a couple of months now and my “nice” clothes have been paired down to what I really love. They are mostly black, gray, denim, white, with a touch of pale pink and mustard, and I have enough to make certain uniforms and looks that really speak to me. Basically take a tunic top + skinny jeans + cute boots + a faux fur jacket and that is my winter uniform. Or skinny jeans + cute band tee + cozy cardigan + cute boots. I have a couple of things I’d like to add, but I am good there for now. What I really needed to do was stock the underrepresented areas of my life. Which was casual clothes that are comfortable and that work for home and running errands.

This look involves leggings + an interesting top +neutral sneakers. It is actually a lot more sportier and casual than I ever thought myself to be, but it works for me! Turns out, I live a really casual lifestyle. My wardrobe should reflect that. The athleisure trend is something that fits in which how I live and I am okay with that. The important thing for me here is to not look sloppy. I still like a neutral palette, but I want it to look intentional and put together, not sloppy.

So this is where I am now. Adjusting my wardrobe to my real life, and taking it season by season. My summer life looks a lot different from my winter life, so what I wear changes (think switching the casual stuff for tons of beachwear!) It’s funny to think that I am not the “fancy” person I’ve always thought myself to be. My life is really casual, and when I work part-time at my kids’ school, my nice stuff works double duty. (For those of you that work, having a curated work wardrobe helps, especially if you can mix and match it with your weekend stuff.)

If you had told me 5 years ago I’d be wearing sneakers out of the house and not to the gym, I would have laughed at you. I also would have laughed if you told me I’d be at the gym 5 days a week, too. Things change, tastes change, people evolve. I just know that this works for me RIGHT NOW, at this point in my life.

Tell me, does your closet match the reality of your life?

A new name, and a new design!

Well hello there! You might have noticed something a little different around here! I changed my design AND renamed my site. AND moved to WordPress (which wasn’t intentional at first? HA.) ANYWAY! I feel so accomplished!
Six years ago or so I started this blog and it was mainly style driven. It was my passion at the time and that is all I posted. I loved it. This worked for me for a long time, until it just started to…not work. I got bored, and questioned everything. I didn’t want to do only style posts, I wanted to have options, yet I wasn’t ready to re brand until I knew what direction I was going in. So I waited, and pondered, and haphazardly kept this place going. I’ve loved my blogger community and even if one person came here daily, it was worth it for me. I barely posted and still saw page views, which said something to me. I wasn’t ready to stop blogging. I couldn’t quit.
Which left me with the question of re-branding. I queried my Facebook page family (love all of you over there!), and it basically came down to the idea that I just needed to brand myself. No catchy titles or names, or tongue in cheek titles. Just me. So I did it. I bought my new domain name and set it up and countless hours of html code and domain set up questions later here it is! My new baby.
You know what I didn’t expect, though? The sadness over losing Because of Jackie. Typing it in for the last time, and then seeing the error page when it wasn’t there anymore? That hit me. That was my baby, and even though it is all still here on this blog, that part is gone. Man that was bittersweet.
I am excited for this new chapter, though. You’ll see a more streamlined site, with less pages, but more content. On the right hand side are labels of the types of posts I do. (I’m currently working on tagging all my old posts, so be patient with those!) I’ll write a lot about fitness, because it is what fires me up the most right now. I’ll still write a lot about style, too! Am I going to do outfit posts 5 days a week? NO. I will take you on this new journey I’m living, though, where less is more and as my style evolves (as it has been), I’ll tell you about it. Things are changing for me, style wise, and I am so excited for that. Lastly, you’ll see the same essays and content on motherhood and marriage and life, because I like to write about that stuff. It is cathartic for me and I hope you enjoy it, too.
Thank you so much for joining along with me, whether you have followed me since day one, or this is the first post you have ever read. I appreciate you so, so much. You make me happy, this blog makes me happy, and life is GOOD.
xoxo, Meagan

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My personal goals for 2017!

Target sweatshirt (the best, so soft! wearing a medium for slouchiness); and jeans; Sorel boots (tip: bought both my Sorel boots at shoebuy.com with promo codes for less;)
This is the last of my 3 part goal series (you can my fitness and business goals here!), and these are obviously centered more on my personal life and bettering my self. I am a HUGE self help junkie and love making goals to improve who I am. I’m a mom of two and being the best I can be for them is a priority, as it being a better wife to my husband. Also, being the best ME I can be is important. I want to challenge myself and do things that scare me and always, always improve on my weaknesses. I fail all the time, as a mother and person and wife, and that is okay. Because I keep trying and know I will be better the next day. My fears are huge (that’s a post for another day!), but I know I can move forward in positivity and make each day better than the last.
My personal goals for 2017:
1) Obviously social media is huge for running a home based business, and I get that, but sometimes you need to put that aside. Sunday’s are going to be a day of rest when it comes to my online life. I tried this before and it worked really well, but I slipped out of it and I need to get back. I will not be looking at social media of any kind on Sunday’s. My kids deserve a day where mama is not staring at her phone!
2) Read more personal development books. As you know, I am crazy for reading, but I tend to read more fiction than anything else (I LOVE a good romance novel;) This is okay, but I want to dedicate more time for bettering myself. I have a post planned where I will outline the best self help books I read in 2016, and I have a bunch lined up to read this month. I read primarily on my Kindle Fire, but holding an actual book is something I love, too. I buy my personal development books and highlight the crap out of them, so holding a real book in my hand is a priority! Growing my leadership skills is something I’m making a priority (for my shampoo team!), as is better time management.
3) I want to say yes more to my kids. Not to everything, obviously, because that just isn’t possible, but MORE YES. I want to color more with my daughter and do more bike rides with both of them. I want to be more present and less selfish and give them more quality time in 2017.
4) I am constantly working on getting rid of the things that don’t bring me joy, and only keeping the things that do. This is a moving year for us, so I have begun paring down the things that will come with us and the things that won’t. It is amazing the things that we hang onto only because we have become blind to seeing them!
I also want to shop more mindfully and take breaks when I need to, and just be smarter about my purchases. I felt I did well with this the past couple of months and I want to continue.
5) I want more adventure and travel in the new year! We are really good about planning small and big trips, and I love the fun of that. (Gunning for a Vegas trip with Monat in April!) Showing my kids new places and experiences is so much fun. Again, we are moving this year (I don’t know where, yet!), and that will be fun and crazy and a little scary (…new schools, new friends!) I try to teach my kids positivity helps with the unease of a new transition, so practicing that is a daily thing around here.
That’s it (for now, lol.) I am so looking forward to this new year and the new beginnings it will bring. What are your goals for 2017?
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My business goals for 2017!

Magical shampoo details HERE: 
I wanted to break down my goals for 2017 into more manageable areas, hence this three part goal making series I’ve got going on right now (you can read about my health goals here!) My business life is so much fun right now, and writing out my ideas on how I want to expand in this area is so much fun! Last year was my best year yet when it came to my shampoo business. I love, love, LOVE sharing Monat with people because I truly believe it is the best stuff out there (I have tried it all, so I know this for a fact, HA!) 
I also run this blog and my social media accounts, which count towards my overall income and happiness, so my goals also include that aspect of my business life as well. Here we go!
1) I want to expand my Monat team and bring financial independence through this amazing, ground floor opportunity. Monat is currently the only anti aging, high end, botanically based hair care company involved in the direct sales market. This is awesome because there is no one else doing what we do, with clinically based results, and with our own manufacturing plant in the U.S. But what does this mean to you? It means you can make serious money from home. What would it mean for you to be able to pay for next Christmas all in cash, or be able to go on an all expense paid trip to Vegas, or be able to be home with your babies more? I’ve seen more income in this past year than I saw in my first FOUR years of blogging, and my income these past two months was the same as when I was teaching full time. It IS possible to do this, and I can show you. 
2) The past 6 months were a time of reflection for me. I wondered what I wanted this space to be and whether or not I wanted it to continue the way I have been. The answer is that YES, I want to blog here, it just might not be all fashion related. I love the writing part of this space, and the honesty, so you’ll see that. I love the style part of it, so I’ll do that as well (but probably in a different way!) I also love my fitness journey and sharing those tips and tricks, so you will see more of that as well.
I’m toying around with a re brand, too. I’m not sure the name “Because of Jackie” fits this space anymore, but it seems like my entire blog identity is wrapped up in that? What would you do? Re brand or stay the same? Help!
3) I’m going to be more intentional on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I adore the community I’ve found on these platforms and I am stepping up how I do things there. I plan on doing unique content and basically micro-blogging from both. I’m excited! 
4) I am going to utilize Facebook live more and connect to my audience that way. I recently jumped on live one night and despite my nerves, I found that it was a really effective way to talk about the things that interest me (personal and business wise!) Look out for more from me live. 
That’s it! I wanted to keep my goals short and sweet and try to do a couple of things really well in 2017. Goals change and refresh as we go along, so I will update them as I go along. I do know one thing, if your goals don’t scare you a little bit, they aren’t big enough! Constantly challenging yourself is key, and I plan on doing just that. 

My health goals for 2017

Victoria Secret Sport sports bra (under $20) and high waisted leggings (the BEST!)
Happy {almost} New Year, friends! I love, love, LOVE the start of a new year, it just means a fresh start and renewed goals and makes my goal driven soul happy. I post a lot more often on my blog Facebook page  and Instagram account, so if you follow me there you most likely see that I have been on a renewed health quest for the past 4 months or so. I’ve written about my progress during the first 12 weeks of Kayla Itsines BBG before, but I have bigger plans for myself in this area, so I thought I’d share. Let’s do this!
1) First of all, I am on week 19 (out of 24) of Kayla’s Beachbody Guide, (BBG) so I am going to finish with that! I see continued progress with each week I complete and feel so strong. I will do a recap and progress photos when I finish week 24 so that  I can update you. My biggest pride is the abs I’m building and how many push ups I can do (a ton!) Love getting stronger.
2) My ab goals include getting that super cut line down the center of my abs, working on it!
3) When it comes to eating, I’ve been counting my macros for the past 6 months or so and I’ve loved that. I work on eating a ton of protein and I really want to gain muscle as I lift heavier weights. This past month I’ve been working on eating more instinctively, basically not logging in what I eat via Fitness Pal and just going on how I feel. I have a pretty good knowledge of how much I should eat in a day and the portion sizes I need, as well as what I need for protein and where to get that. It has been nice letting that go, but also scary? There is something very soothing to me about keeping track of what I eat, but it is also really controlling and takes away from enjoying what I eat. Something I love about getting healthier is enjoying food a bit more and not stressing as much. I eat clean when I can and have treats when I want (using portion control!) I’ve stopped feeling guilty about indulging and really listened to my gut and what it tells me.
4) I will continue to work on increasing my weights as I progress through the next 5 or so weeks of the BBG program and gaining strength. This is hard with the amount of reps you do in each circuit, but I am slowing it down a bit and using more weight and hope to build more muscle.
5) One of the biggest blessings from this program has been letting go of weighing myself. I only weigh myself about once a month or so and it is so freeing! I used to have bad eating weekends and weigh myself after and feel bad, or diet myself and weigh myself and be discouraged by a slow moving number, or get stuck on being a certain weight (because I mistakenly thought that happiness lay in one number on a scale.) Whenever I weigh myself, it is at the same time I do my progress pictures. I can see how my body has changed for the better even if the scale itself hasn’t changed as much. I am not in a weight loss mode right now and don’t envision being in one, so the scale and the number it says doesn’t mean much to me. I feel great on the inside and that is what counts for me.
6) After I finish this second round of BBG I am either going to restart round 1 again (with heavier weights and more challenges), OR I will get the Sweat with Kayla app. I love the challenge of these workouts, as well as the variations, and having a set plan going forward energizes me.
7) I’ve been documenting my fitness journey on Instagram and I love the community of like minded women I have met. One of my goals is to continue posting and connecting and hopefully help others who would like to join in. I’m a busy, 36 year old mama of two, and I think there are others like me looking on that would like to do this with me. I’m pumped to continue meeting those of you that follow along!

 

Target sweatshirt (wearing a large for slouchiness); Victoria Secret Sport high waisted capris; Nike sneakers.
That’s it, for now anyway;) I’m so excited to see where 2017 leads me, health wise, and I’m pumped to share it all here with you. What are some of your health goals for the new year?
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Taking Stock

Faux leather jacket; Target jeans and sweatshirt (my fave for lounging!); similar Nike sneakers (buying next); J Crew sunglasses.
What’s new and happening around here, lately!

Drinking: tons of water (a struggle, but trying!), lifechanging cups of coffee (with yummy flavored creamer); and recently drinking white wine versus red (which has been giving me a headache!) Also, iced coffee with two scoops of chocolate protein powder (tastes like a mocha latte!)
Eating: Butternut squash (roasted and filled with ground turkey and enchilada sauce and topped with melted cheese. YUM)
Buying: Lots of Christmas gifts! Pokemon cards for the kids (mine are OBSESSED), plus Christmas pajamas and cozy socks for the night before (a tradition.) And a new personalized Stella and Dot necklace for me (with the coordinates of where my husband and I met in it.)
Watching: I honestly do not watch that much tv, but my husband and I do watch Total Bella’s on E!;) Don’t laugh.
Reading: I’m a romance reader through and through! I’m looking forward to the new Ginger Scott novel coming out today, and I loved this novel by Penelope Douglas. I also really recommend “You are a Badass,” it is lifechanging. 
Lusting over: These Frye boots.
Listening to: The kids and I eat breakfast together before school (or I drink coffee, they eat), and we listen to Cool Jazz on Pandora. It is so relaxing. 
Working out in: Victoria Secret has THE BEST workout pants (seriously), and you can buy sports bras (love this one) by bra size. #gamechanger
Dreaming about: Our Disney vacation in a couple of weeks! I’m going to be smart this time and wear sneakers and workout clothes and be comfortable. Novel idea, huh?
Planning for: Christmas and all it entails! The stress! I’m making headway, but getting there involves so many lists and so much planning…
Wearing constantly: My Sam Edelman ankle boots without socks, while I can. Snow is coming…
Waiting for: Word for where we will move next summer. (My husband is in the Coast Guard and we transfer every four years.) We should find out at the end of January. I am DYING to know!

The eating plan I follow to go along with my BBG workouts

VS Sport top, sports bra, and workout tights (obsessed, the best ones I’ve tried yet!)
I promised you after posting my first round BBG results last week that I would also disclose my eating plan and how I’ve tweaked my daily habits to support my new workout routine! I’m excited. 
A little back story: last Spring I kept reading about counting your macros and the IIFYM eating plan and I was intrigued. I’ve always been pretty decent about what I am eating, but I tended to make choices that weren’t giving me energy (lower calorie meals and snacks with little protein), or I would just stop tracking all together and ignore portion sizes. The result was not a huge weight gain or anything, but my body was not where I wanted it to be with regards to how hard I was keeping track of my eating via Fitness Pal, and my workouts were not giving me results. Cue counting my macros.
 I googled how to get the macros I needed (basically you keep track of your protein, carbs, and fat intake), and came up with the numbers I thought I needed to start. Obviously everyone’s numbers are different, but I just plugged my goals into an online tracker and it told me what to do. I then upgraded my FitnessPal app on my phone so it would keep track of my macros and I could begin. My biggest goal was to up my protein so I could build muscle. MY personal protein goal right now is 129 grams a day (this is highly changeable from person to person, your goal would be different!) This is hard! I tried to go even higher, bun honestly? Protein fills you up so much and I just could not do it. 
Below are some tips and a sample meal plan that work for me!
-The first thing you need to do is buy a food scale that does grams and ounces. I bought mine at the grocery store for under $10 and I love it. You will need to weigh almost everything you eat, and there is a learning curve to hitting your macros daily. On the first day I did it I was so off from where I should have been it was CRAZY!  Now I have a better idea of what I need to eat and how much so I can hit my goals. Measuring everything can sound daunting, but it seriously takes 2 seconds and it helps you keep track of how much you are eating. I even measure my ounces of wine in a glass before drinking (because mama can pour herself a big ‘ol glass of that;)
-Once you have your macros you need to find the combination of foods you need to hit these goals. I looked around for high protein foods and filled in the rest. I eat a lot of plain Greek yogurt (mixed with chocolate protein powder and Pb2), protein shakes (with almond milk and protein powder), ground turkey, chicken, and fish. In the summer I ate tuna mixed with avocado almost daily for lunch with salad, now I tend to eat ground turkey with marinara sauce and veggies that I typically roast the night before. Carbs tend to add up fast, I indulge in flavored coffee creamer in my morning coffee (measured out to the TB so I don’t overdo it!), a small bit of chocolate chips after dinner, or a glass of wine. Quinoa works as a protein and carb, and if my family is eating pasta I measure out a 1/2 cup to eat with them. It all comes down to measuring, portion sizes, and logging it into My Fitness Pal. I find a lot of recipes off of Skinnytaste.com, and I modify what I eat when I cook for my family (I’ll hold off on the roasted potatoes, and load up on veggies instead.)
-When it comes to indulging and avoiding temptation, I really try to say no to a lot of what is offered. If you think about it, “special occasions” pop up all the time. Dinners out with friends, the cookies in the work lunch room, treats at the movie theater, coffee with friends, etc. If I said yes to all that is offered with the thought that it was a special occasion, I would feel yucky. Here’s the deal: I say no more than I want to. I say no to the treats at work, no to the bread on the table at a restaurant, no to the movie theater popcorn (I grab a handful from my husband, or bring my own), no to excessive appetizers and desserts, no to A LOT. I do indulge sometimes, but mostly I really just save my treats for the REALLY special occasions (like that piece of pie on Thanksgiving!) I order protein heavy meals and eat only half the rice or carbs they add with it, or eat a small bite of an appetizer or dessert. It is personally easier for me to say to to something than to have a tiny bit, so no it is. I DO give myself one meal a week that I can have fun with and not track, but even then I tend to not go TOO crazy. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings last weekend and I ordered a snack size boneless wings basket and my stomach kind of hurt the whole night after. I think once you start eating well and seeing results, the temptations aren’t as rewarding. I don’t think it is okay to stop your life and not go out to eat or out with friends, it is just about making different choices and being accountable. You also find that by tracking your macros, that Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks isn’t worth blowing your carbs and sugar over…cue sobbing face emoji. 
-On what I eat during a typical day: I am a very routine person. I am very okay eating the same things over and over, and that helps not only in hitting my macro goals, but all my foods are saved in my phone and I can quick add them. It is pretty simple.
Breakfast: I am not a big breakfast person, I usually have to force myself to eat something. I love two cups of coffee with 2 TB of creamer in each cup, that is a huge happiness factor for me! I am bad and buy the garbage flavored creamers, but after two years of not, I find it is worth it. If I have little treats I feel better. My coffee is my treat;) I do try to have either one cup of Greek yogurt with protein powder and Pb2 mixed in, or a protein shake, with chocolate protein powder, Pb2, and unsweeted almond milk. 
Lunch: I will either have ground turkey with 1/2 a cup of marinara sauce, or smoked turkey lunch meat with a slice or two of low fat cheese and Kashi crackers, or whatever protein I have on hand with vegetables. 
Snack: I am not a huge snacker, I like more food at meals and fill up with protein, so I am tyically not hungry for snacks. If I have something it is often a cheese stick, or I make an ice coffee and drop a scoop of chocolate protein powder in it. 
Dinner: This meal varies, as I cook for my husband and kids. I modify some things, like when I make Turkey Taco Spaghetti Squash Boats I buy taco shells for them, or if I make Turkey Meatball Strogananoff I measure out 1/2 cup of pasta and the 5 meatballs in the suggested serving size, and give them extra. The biggest thing is, I need a protein source and I need to watch my portion sizes. I am rarely hungry when I hit all my macros. Roasted chicken and vegetables is a standard meal around here, as is this Turkey Chili. 
Dessert: I DO like something sweet at night, if I have leftover calories or macros! I enjoy a glass of wine, or a small handful of chocolate chips and a chai latte made on my Keurig. I typically don’t indulge more than that, though, and limit my alcohol to just a few days a week (mostly;)

-On to weight and my personal goals! Here’s the thing, when I took the picture above on the left (taken in June) I was not that far off weight wise from the picture on the right. I’m not completely sure what I did weigh, but it was around 5 lbs more. I kept my macros at the same level until I started round one of Kayla Itsines BBG in August, then I actually upped my calories and protein quota and that is when I saw my body change the most. I credit the workouts for how I have leaned out more, but I think increasing my protein and increasing my muscle mass has helped, too. My body is slowly changing week by week and I am now really addicted to seeing what I can accomplish and how I can improve. 
*Note! My current goal is not about weight loss. I weigh myself very rarely (about once a month if I think of it), and I may stop that as well. I want to add muscle, be stronger, and feel good inside. And I do! I feel better now, in my skin, than I ever have, and I credit the BBG program and watching my macros. My goal is not a number on the scale, a pants size, or to just look “skinny”. My goal is strength and being the best I can be. 
Another thought on this picture collage above! I am really scared to post it, as I actually took them both privately and never intended to share (the one on the left is in a dressing room….I texted my husband to ask him if it was too much for a day at the beach with the kids…he said it was, ha.) The one on the right I took last weekend, we were about to hop into the hot tub and I put this suit on and I took the pic, because I knew I had taken one before and I wanted to see the difference. I was actually pretty surprised my how different the suit fit and looked. I think progress photos are really important, because they help you see what is often hard to notice in ourselves. I never felt bad in that before pic, I felt good! I still think I look good in both, but internally better in the “after” version, and I look forward to adding muscle definition and adding strength.

VS Sport top, Nike sneakers. Lusting after THESE sneakers next!
That’s it! Sorry this was so long, but I know a few of you have been asking for this post and I wanted to include as much as I could;) If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, or email me. I love talking about fitness and health (it’s a side passion of mine), and if I can help you I will.

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Kayla Itsines’ BBG weeks 1-12 results!

I just officially finished week 12 of Kayla Itsines Beachbody Guide and I am so excited to talk a little bit about it here. I took all the requisite photos to show the results, but I also wanted to chat a bit about the internal shift that has occurred while working this program. 
*just a little program overview. There are 3 days of targeted circuits (abs, legs, arms), where you  repeat 2 circuits as many times as you can for 7 minutes straight. The whole workout is 28 minutes long and kicks your butt. Seriously. Then there are recommend cardio days (2-3), where you either do steady cardio or HIIT workouts. I group those onto my circuit days, as I don’t do the gym more than 3 days, but it is recommended you don’t. I will say, there are some days I only do the circuits and they are a killer, so you CAN get away with just those! 
First off, I purchased this program because I was getting bored at the gym and wasn’t really seeing any results despite working out consistently. I had heard a lot of people loved this program, so late this summer I decided to buy it. I started in mid August and began to see results pretty quickly. (Yay!) I didn’t start out needing to lose any weight, but I wanted to tone up and gain some muscle definition. I also wanted to get away from worrying about the scale and the numbers that tend to go up and down on occasion. 
I weigh myself every four weeks as Kayla advises (the same day I take the progress photos) and that is it. I love how freeing that is! I DID end up losing about 2 pounds, but I don’t really care about that, to tell you the truth. I love that because I feel strong and have a purpose at the gym, the number on the scale means nothing to me. I have weighted less and I have weighed more, but I have never felt this good in my skin. That has been my biggest takeaway from this program. 

Week 1, 4, 8 and 12 from left to right.
Week 1 and 12.
It’s funny, when you look at my progress photos there isn’t a HUGE difference from weeks 1-12, but I feel so much better in my skin as I’ve worked my way through these 12 weeks. (The ab photo below does show a more dramatic muscle definition difference. It was taken at the same time, just better lighting!) I saw the biggest difference in my stomach (I did no ab work before this), and my legs and arms have more muscle definition. I do a ton of pushups and burpees, so my back has finally gotten some definition as well! I’m going to try to do better photos for my 2nd round of this program to help capture the increased muscle definition a little better. Mirror selfies just don’t show what I want to show, you know? Ha.

Week 1,4,8 and 12 from left to right.
This side view is a little bit more dramatic, my stomach is obviously flatter (I am sucking it in in that first photo, too!), and I can tell by the way my bathing suit bottoms fit that my legs and butt are getting better. I feel like my legs are a lot stronger and I am hoping in weeks 13-24 that I see further improvement here (I’ve always hated my butt, ha.) All in all, I AM pleased with the changes I see and feel and it makes me so excited to start week 13 next week. 

I have been loving the increased muscles I’ve been building and how strong I feel! I truly enjoy pushing myself and doing better each workout I do. I try my best to push it each time and to keep going even when I feel like I’m going to die. Lol. 
If I’m not working I can go to the gym my regular days (typically M/W/F), and can do an hour or so of the circuits and cardio with some stretching at the end. If I am working (I sub at my kids’ school!), I wake up and go to the Y at 6 am and just do the circuits and stretching. I have tried going after work, but I do best when I workout right away, and despite the fact that getting up at 5:30 HURTS, I’d rather get my workout done early rather than later. 
My favorite low impact cardio is walking on the treadmill at an incline (about 10-14%) for 15 minutes, and my favorite HIIT workout is running intervals for 15 minutes (run at a 7.5-8 mph pace for 1 minute, hop on the side for 30 seconds of rest, and repeat.) I am hoping to add one more cardio day to my routine for the next 12 weeks, just to see what the results can be. 

Week 1 and 12 ab progress. (The week 12 photo above shows my muscle definition so much better than the frontal collage above… lighting DOES makes a difference;)
I think I have seen the most progress in my abs. I didn’t really do any ab work before this, and while I was pretty happy with my stomach before, I am really excited to see some definition here. There is something really empowering about feeling like you can have two kids and then get yourself back together after and be better than ever. I was thin before I got pregnant, but my stomach looks way better than it ever did before children, and I love how awesome that feels. 
The whole point of this for me has been to do my personal best and see what my body can do. I want my kids to see their mama working hard to be as healthy as she can be, and that I care about myself enough to better myself. If I am happy, they are happy! Again, while I have really liked seeing physical results from these past 12 weeks, I feel like I have felt a more drastic inner change. I feel more confident and in charge of my body and what it can do. I feel really good in my own skin, for the first time in a long time, and I love that. 
I’m thinking of doing a post about how I eat for my next fitness installment! (I follow the IIFYM guidelines.) Thoughts?!

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