Do you feel like this guy??

Are you sucking down coffee to wake you up each morning and then drinking wine and chocolate at night to help you calm down?

Are you reaching for sugary snacks mid afternoon to combat stress, cravings and that afternoon lull??

Are you stressed, overworked, underpaid, under appreciated, rushed and drained?Are there too many things on your to-do list and it seems like things just keep getting added to it?

Is this affecting your weight or the ability to lose weight?

Actually – it very well can be. And not only your weight but your health in general.

Have you heard of the “stress hormone” cortisol?

Cortisol is a hormone that assists in regulating blood pressure and your body’s ability to use fats, proteins and carbohydrates. It helps with metabolism, releasing insulin for blood sugar maintenance and inflammatory response.

Normal levels of cortisol will help increase energy and metabolism and helps to regulate blood pressure.

Even small increases will help improve memory, reduce sensitivity to pain and help sustain energy.

Cortisol is secreted in higher levels during the body’s fight or flight response and during high levels of stress. This all sounds good, right? I mean if a normal level helps with increased energy and metabolism then wouldn’t that mean more stress = more cortisol = increased energy and metabolism?

NO!!

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol (which is realeased when you are under stress and pressure) can cause

• Suppressed thyroid function
• Increased blood pressure
• Decreased bone density (high levels of cortisol is a primary cause of osteoporosis)
• Blood sugar imbalances (blood sugar imbalanced = cravings for sweets, salts, fats)
• Lower your immunity
• Lower inflammatory responses
• Slow down the healing process
• Hormone imbalance – the more cortisol the higher the need is for other hormones like thyroid, insulin, estrogen and testosterone

So what’s the solution?

We need to reduce stress in our lives. Of course this is easier said than done!
Next week I have over 70 ways to deal with stress – that don’t include eating junk food!

There is no magic pill to reduce stress but there is an amazing ingredient in Shakeology that
helps to

• improves learning, memory, and reaction time
• reduces anxiety and depression without causing drowsiness
• stabilizes blood sugar
• lowers cholesterol
• reduces brain-cell degeneration
• offers anti-inflammatory benefits

Do you know what this amazing herb is? It’s called Ashwaganda. Ashwagandha works as an adaptogen, promoting the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis and resist stress and everything listed above!

Those of you who are already using Shakeology are already getting this amazing herb daily, not to mention over 70 other whole food, healthy ingredients to help you

• lose weight
• gain energy
• lower cholesterol
• reduce cravings
• improve digestion
• just feel better

Still unsure about Shaekology? Grab your bag and try it risk free for 30 days!
If you don’t like it you can return the empty bag for a full refund, no questions asked!

Those who order Shakeology on Home Direct on or before Feb 18th, 2013 will automatically be invited to participate in my upcoming 21 Day Clean Eating Challenge held on Facebook (just add me as a friend!). I’ll provide weekly meal plan options, daily support and tips to help you eat clean for 21 days. Just place your order and make sure we are friends on Facebook!

Keep your eye out for an upcoming blog– I already have over 70 tips to help you deal with stress. I’d love to know what your favorite way to deal with stress is that doesn’t involve junk food, cigarettes or alcohol! Will you help me get to 101 ways to deal with stress? Leave me a comment and I’ll have a little prize for my favorite one!

Back then typically 2/3rds of my meals included meat. Lunch was typically a ham or turkey sandwich and dinner was lasagna, chicken parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken fingers, cheeseburgers, or salad with grilled meat on top. I also, rarely, if ever ate fish.
My nutrition first started to change when I bought P90X 3 years ago and started to use that and follow the meal plan. What, no cookies or MnMs??? What do you have for afternoon snack?!?! No sodas?? How am I going to stay awake??

I was pretty ignorant with our food system. I remember reading on menu’s “Corn-fed beef burger” and not knowing any better. Later I learned that cows aren’t supposed to eat corn and it really affects them negatively. I switched to grass fed beef but actually didn’t like the taste of it at all. I didn’t even know that I didn’t like beef because I had never actually tasted the way beef SHOULD taste. I couldn’t be responsible for a cows messed up stomach because I thought it tasted better!

More recently, back in February of 2012 I actually read a book that really affected me and my eating habits. Just a few months ago I was still eating meat regularly but I did want to “experiment” with eating more vegetarian meals. I just really didn’t know HOW. I mean, besides the obvious of just don’t eat meat! For me I think it comes down to that typical plate – your main (meat, chicken or fish) taking up the majority of your plate with two sides, a couple vegetables and a healthy grain or starch. What’s for dinner was always answered with an animal protein – “Fish. Chicken. Venison”. Not “Lentil soup and leaves!!” Leaves for dinner!! YAY!!

I have watched all the scary documentaries like Food Inc., Foot Matters, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and I KNOW how bad the factory farmed meat is and how beneficial a plant based diet is, yet I still bought meat regularly. I would get sucked in at the grocery store looking at a breast of organic chicken and a breast of farmed “chicken” and 9 times out of 10 chose the chicken that was bigger and cheaper. I can’t see the hormones and nasty stuff that’s in there, maybe this one is ok… I just couldn’t quite justify it. Until I read this one particular book.

There is something different that happens when you read vs when you simply watch a 90 minute documentary. Or at least there was for me.
I read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and it absolutely changed the way I bought and ate my meat. Maybe because my mind actually imagined what he was describing – I wasn’t being shown an image on a tv I could turn away from while sitting in my comfortable house. I wasn’t watching a short clip about factory farming on You Tube that would soon escape my memory. My mind had to work to imagine the pictures he was describing. They got more ingrained in my psyche.

Check out the way he really describes the living condition of egg laying hens:

Like being trapped in an elevator?

Here is another excerpt from the website:

Excerpt from Eating Animals

After reading this book I immediately changed my buying habits. I didn’t go vegetarian but I stopped purchasing factory farmed meat. I haven’t gone that way for fish, yet. I simply decided if I was going to eat meat I had to do it more responsibly. It’s more expensive to eat meat responsibly so in order to keep my grocery bill the same I had to replace meat with other choices. I  was sick of supporting the big companies that are making the world and its people sicker and sicker because they are worried about their bottom line. I was saddened to really know that every time I chose to eat meat I was affecting the environment.

I also stopped ordering meat in restaurants. This made ordering always go MUCH faster as there is rarely more than a couple vegetarian options on the menu! I used to have to read the whole menu then ask oodles of questions about which meal was best!

Now, summer of 2012,I am doing a 21 day Reset/Cleanse. I’m excited because it is such a well laid out meal plan that takes me easily to a gluten free, dairy free, alcohol free, caffeine free, sugar free, vegan diet. I don’t know what will happen after the program is over. I’ll be able to asses how MY body feels with this new nutrition. You can follow my blog to see how I manage. I am not doing this because I want to be a vegan or vegetarian for the rest of my life, but I do want to learn how my body reacts to being on a meat free diet.

I’ll leave ya with my tips on what I would recommend to people looking to eat less meat. I’m definitely no expert on this – just trying to make the best choices for my body and our lovely earth.

Make just one meal that isn’t typically a vegetarian meal meat free today.
Order the vegetarian option in restaurants.
Hang out with a vegetarian
Buy only organic, ethically raised meat. If it hurts your wallet there is less of a chance you’ll eat a lot of meat.
Check out a vegetarian cookbook at the library and try a new recipe.
Know WHY you want to change your eating habits.

After I left Vegas I spent a week in Colorado with my family. I had really started to learn more about fitness and nutrition as a Beachbody Coach and was really loving what I was learning. No more processed meals, was learning how to cook healthy food and how food really can be medicine. My mom had about 30 pounds that she could stand to lose and was on 3 different medications all for weight related issues. The more I learned and read, the more concerned I became for her health and I wanted her around longer.

My mom on her 60th birthday

I sent her an email asking her to give me simply TEN MINUTES of movement everyday. She told me she would start walking and with my Beachbody discount I bought her Ten Minute Trainer for her 60th birthday. Six months later she still hadn’t even taken the DVD out of the box, much less pressed play. I told her when I was there we were going to work out everyday and follow the routine. I also helped her come up with a nutrition plan and we made some changes to what she was eating.

We had to modify some of the exercises, like push ups, and we opted to stick to walking outside instead of the indoor cardio. We did the 6 or 7 days together and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I left. Thankfully she stuck to it and went from a size 14 to a size 2 or 4. She is off two of three of her meds and a lower doseage for another one. I’m SO proud of her and she is by far my favorite success story with Beachbody!

I remember when we first walked around the neighborhood and she was huffing and puffing after 10 minutes. Now she can easily walk 3 miles and has stuck to her routine! She’s inspiring those around her as well.

Are you currently using a Beachbody product like P90X, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, Shakeology, etc?

Are you loving your results and talking to friends, family and strangers about what you are doing?

Have you already inspired someone else to try one of the workouts?

Do you enjoy helping others get the BEST results they can from the program?

Would you like to save 25% on all Beachbody products?

Could you use some extra money in your pocket?

If you answered YES to these questions then YOU are already PRACTICALLY a Coach!

I like this 25 minute video THE BEST for REALLY understanding how the opportunity works.

I would LOVE to TALK to you and answer any questions you have about Coaching, the benefits, how it works, and how it has changed my life!

1. They ARE working on a Vegan option – woo hoo!!! I am SO excited about this!

2. It is FAIRTRADE – meaning Darin Olien, creator of Shakeology, literally SHAKES the hand of the farmers and manufacturers to make is truly SUSTAINABLE for everyone involved

3. Yes, they are working on Vanilla – Vanilla is such a neutral flavor – meaning to get a good NATURAL vanilla flavor it will compromise the integrity of the product. It’s not as easy as throwing a vanilla bean in the mix.

4. It took over a year to get the current flavors – Chocolate and Greenberry.

5. It is not kosher. Kosher wouldn’t not change the quality of the product, but it would increase the price.

If you want more information on Shakeology please check out www.myshakeology.com/rainbowmandy

Ready for your own BAG?

What is the Shakeology 3 Day Cleanse?
It’s a 3 day is a nutrient-dense eating plan that acts like a cleanse to flush out toxins and help get your body running more efficiently.

You can use it as a JUMP START to a new program or during a recovery week. You can also use it as a PLATEAU BREAKER! Remember, this is a PERFORMANCE cleanse, so it’s different from many other cleanses, like the Master Cleanse, where you are getting very few calories, if any, no nutrients and those last anywhere from 7 to 30 days.

Goals:

-Jump start your weight loss goals, break a plateau
-Rid toxins
-Nutrient efficiency

-Reduce bloat
-It will bring you hydration levels into homeostasis (which if you remember from health class is your HAPPY place!)

-Renewed energy

Results:
A lighter, cleaner and healthier YOU!

I personally know three people (Dani H., Stephanie R. and Stephanie L.) who have lost between NINE and TEN pounds in the three days AND kept it off!

I know countless others who have lost over five pounds in the three days.

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Here is the 3 day cleanse schedule, it is the same each day:

Start: 1 cup of green tea (no milk or anything extra in your tea!)

Breakfast: Shakeology with water, ice and OPTIONAL 1/2 cup fruit

Snack: 1 piece fruit

Lunch: Shakeology with water & ice ONLY. Followed by 1 cup green tea.

Snack: Shakeology with water & ice ONLY. (You can have this snack AFTER dinner if you want, it’s up to you)

Dinner: Salad with greens, 3 servings of vegetables and 4 oz grilled white meat.

**Drink plenty of water
**ABSOLUTELY NO DAIRY OR SUGAR!

Potential negatives to be aware of:
-Headaches: If you are normally a caffeine drinker you might be experiencing some withdrawals.
-No weight loss on the scale, but measure your inches too!
-Hunger
-Lack of energy
-Light headed: modify the exercises you are doing, keep them light! if you have to add a small snack (5-10 almonds, 1/2 banana)

So who is in it with me to do a SHAKEOLOGY CLEANSE? My next cleanse will be March 24-26th, 2013.

If you need your bag of Shakeology just click here.
Why not make it a Challenge Pack? Save money when you combine your favorite workout with a bag of Shakeology. Specials on P90X, P90X2 and Ultimate Reset Challenge Packs until the end of March, 2013