Wow, can you believe it's the week of Thanksgiving?!  I can't!  How was everyone's weekend?  Mine was definitely fun filled!  Friday I celebrated my girlfriend's birthday with a dinner date and Breaking Dawn, it lived up to every expectation I had, it was AMAZING!  CANNOT wait for part 2!
Saturday I was up bright and early going over my Turbo Round notes preparing for my sample class at Phitness 4:13, class was at 8:30am so I got there a little bit early and I'm glad I did because peeps were already there ecstatic about TurboKick!  Got to talk with everyone that signed up for the class and it turned out not one person had ever done any kind of Turbo workout before (besides my regular Turbo girls I brought)... nerves through the roof!  LOL!  The awesome thing was that they were all open to the idea so that made it much easier for me :)  Anywho, we got started right on time and did about 30 min. straight to the Turbo zone!  They did AWESOME!  I was so proud of them and they LOVED the class!!  SCORE!  They want more Turbo... ask and you shall receive!  TurboKick is now on the offiical schedule at Phitness 4:13 on Saturdays at 8AM! Check out the flyer below and also be sure to check out my video on my YouTube Channel I made talking about my first live TurboKick class at a fitness facility!

Sunday was relatively low key... in the morning my sister and I headed out to the Apple Store at Crocker Park, just recently my Mac Powerbook hardrive took a turn for the worst (she was good to me though, lasted a good 7 years!).  I was in the market for a new Mac, super excited, I knew exactly what I wanted too.  Can't say enough about they staff at the Apple Store, they go above and beyond the call of duty and had me all set up before I left so all I had to do when I got home was plug her in and go to work!  Isn't she GORGEOUS?! Even bought her a new desk so that I could accommodate my work laptop and my brand new desktop :)  This new addition to my workspace is going to do wonders for my efficiency with my business and all the creative ideas I have swirling around in my little head!

Sunday night.. I had dinner with my very good friends from high school, these girls mean the world to me and I don't know what I would do without them!  Mary (the one in the 30s stuff) obviously turned 30!  We made it out to celebrate in style :)  She kicks it off for all of us, now we're gonna start falling like dominos into the 30 zone LOL!  No, I'm not at all scared of 30, I actually can't wait for the things I do in my 30s, it's only the beginning!

Oh Monday!  Not like other Mondays I must say... I took the morning off of work to take the time to be at my babies' school to help serve their Thanksgiving feast!  Half the class was pilgrims and the other half were indians... SO CUTE!  My babes were pilgrims..... oh yeah, I made the hats... THANK YOU GOOGLE :)

And yesterday was my second to last training day for the 5K this Thursday, ran 2.3 miles in 16:55, my best time yet.  Felt awesome, I think my pic below says it all LOL!  Today I'm going to hit the pavement for one last run before the race, I'll be taking a rest day tomorrow to prepare myself for Turkey Trot 2011!  Cant' wait!  Happy Thanksgiving all!

Well hello there guys!  We're early in the week, so I hope everyone is off to a good start.  This morning I started my day off with a little yoga and after I put the the kiddos on the bus I hit the pavement for a run.  On Thanksgiving day I plan to run in the Turkey Trot 5K so as we are roughly a week and a half away from Thanksgiving I have been training for the past week to prepare for the race... SAY WHAT?!  Thanksgiving is next week already?! Man.. 2011 is just flying by, isn't it?  Anywho, I really have to tell you guys that I'm not a runner by nature, but I am growing to LOVE it.  I'm not sure if it was the somber feel of the damp atmosphere or the smell of morning dew, but this morning was the PERFECT morning for a run.  No wind, temperature was just right.  Of course I had my iPod locked and loaded and my playlist of choice whenever I run is none other than her wildly wacky self, Lady Gaga.  On tap this morning was her album Born This Way.  Every song on that track relates to me in one way or another.  Which brings me to another topic I wanted to share with you... How many of you are into personal development?  Now when I say personal development I mean, do you read books on time management,  inspiration, money management?  Do authors like Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Jim Rohn & Brian Tracey come to mind?  If so, AWESOME.  If not, I highly recommend finding a personal developement outlet that suites you and that can help you DO MORE and BE MORE in this life that you have been given.  Personally, I have read books from Brian Tracey, Eat That Frog, which is a book on time management, I've listened to audio from The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, which is a profound philosophy on making goals and reaching them, I've done Chalene Johnson's 30 Day PUSH Challenge and have accomplished 7 out of the 10 goals that I made for myself in 2011.  You can't deny this stuff.  Every single day we should be putting more knowledge into our minds that will push us to do more and increase our value and self worth, not only for yourself, but for your family and for others around you.  When you make the necessary steps to improve the quality of your life and the way you live it, it makes others around want to do the same, and THAT'S exactly the kind of thing you want to get addicted to.  Currently, I'm diving head first into an incredible sequence from Dani Johnson.  Dani is a self made millionaire, a true rags to riches story that which she founded on her own just by doing and excelling at small positive changes.  I encourage you to check her out at www.danijohnson.com, sign up to get her 5 free personal development videos and also take advantage of her free book, First Steps to Wealth.  I've watched 2 of her videos already and her book is on the way to my house as we speak.  In just the 2 short videos I've watched, I can tell you this much... I have a plan of action and I am going to execute that plan and make things happen for myself.  I really can't wait!  So, ok guys, do your personal development OK!  Trust me, it will open your eyes to a whole new world of possibilities, I PROMISE!  They don't teach this stuff in college, THEY SHOULD!  So whether you struggle with time management, sticking to your goals or whatever.. there's definitely something out there for you, check out at least one of the authors I mentioned above, you won't be sorry you did :)  Have an AWESOME week everyone!  I'll keep ya posted on my running... today was 2 miles at 17:29, if I can keep that pace and get one more mile in under 10 minutes, I beat my personal best.... I smell a goal in sight!

HELLLLLOOOOO MY FAVS!  How is everyone doing this gorgeous fall day!?  I mean really, this weather keeps teasing me with highs and lows, much more of a fan of the highs, and I'll take what mother nature gives me!  Even though I'm not a fan of colder weather, I am enjoying this time of the year.  My favorite part.... cutie carved pumpkins, BOO-ing neighbors, autumn apples, fall scented candles and roasted pumpkin seeds!  Loving it all :)  So I'm so so happy to announce that I FINALLY will be hitting a major goal that I wanted to accomplish this year.  In May of this year, I made it a goal to teach my very own TurboKick class by the end of 2011 and on Nov 14 I will do just that!  So so soooo excited I can't wait!  I will be teaching at a gym called Vedas in the downtown Cleveland area, if you're close by, message me and join the party!  I also do my Thursday afternoon fit clubs there and an opportunity opened up for me to teach Turbo and of course I jumped at the opportunity!  To prepare for my big debut I have offered a FREE Turbo class on Saturdays in my basement, first session is this Saturday, 9:30AM sharp!  I am seriously giddy about this and I can't wait :) :) 

So, in other news and other passions ;)  Beachbody is raising the bar; new Shakeology flavor, new workout programs and new package deals!  Take a look at the pic below, you can couple any one of these workouts with Shakelogy, this is an awesome deal!  Talk about a winning combination - FITNESS+NUTRITION+SUPPPORT= SUCCESS!  In addition, my challenge groups, 90 day and 30 day are doing phenomenal!  At least 5 of them are averaging an 8lbs weight-loss!  How awesome is that?!  So, on 11-11-11 I'm starting yet another challenge, which is already half full!  Can't wait to get this one started!  If you want to join message me, I can fit you in, what a great way to beat the holiday weight gain, right!?

Speaking of holiday weight gain, we about to embark on the festive Halloween season where little bit sized Snickers seem harmless because they are so small, unitl you realize you have a handful of Sniciker wrappers, LOL!  I'm gulity, will be the first to admit it!!!!  I love this time of the year and I'll def. have a Snickers... or two ;)  All about moderation!  Good rule of thumb, don't buy candy til the day of trick or treating!  Have a goodie time this weekend guys!  What's everyone being for Halloween?

Hey all!  I am LOVING this indian summer we are having!  Wish it would stay just like this all winter long, that would make me soooo very happy :)  I can deal with the cold mornings and cool nights, just as long as it's sunny and warm during the day.  Unfortunately, living in north central Ohio, I know that is not the reality and the cold weather is coming.  Oh well, going to make the most of it and enjoy the awesome weather while it's here!  OK!  So let me rewind to this past weekend, Saturday was a super busy day.  It all began at 9am with some soccer watching for Haiden's game, he scored 2 goals!  He's quite the little soccer player, so proud of him!  Here's a pic of the team below, so cute!

Marianna also completed her gymnastic class this week.  Quite the tumbler we have in this little girl, can we say Team USA in the near future?  LOL ;)

Whew!  I'm exhausted just giving a recap of this weekend!  After the kids' activites, I had to shoot over to my girlfriend's Pampered Chef party.  Oh what goodies were involved at this little shindig!  Let's see... I started with a breakfast pizza, which was made from a delicious buttery, flaky crust that was filled with egg, cheese and sausage.  I had a little bit of apple fritter bake, some pudding and some cinnamon bread!  By the time I left there I was stuffed!  It was oh so good and definitely worth the extra calories ;)  I ended up ordering a can opener because for some reason I have the worst luck with can openers and I seriously go through them like water!  Probably because I constantly buy the cheap ones and they always break, haha!  So, this time I invested in a pretty awesome can opener, I'm real excited to use it.  How sad it that?!  LOL!  After stuffing my face with Pampered Chef goodies I had to drop the kids off at a birthday party at a local pizza shop, finally I get some free time!  The kids were super excited to see their friends from school and to play video games at the pizza place, I was super excited too as I wanted to go shopping for some new kicks!  I dropped the kiddos off and headed to the mall.  My first stop was Champs, they have the BEST selection of tennis shoes.  I'm a Nike Shox girl so I knew exactly what I wanted AKA easiest customer ever!  So, when I got there I went right to the Shox and started scoping out the selection.  I loved the pink, but for some reason I was lured in by the electric blue.  Oh and I LOVE black shoes and the blue on black was a no-brainer and I was SOLD!  Check em out below! You like? 

While picking out my new kicks I also got into some great conversation with the shoe salesman... see I was wearing my free t-shirt that I recieved from Beachbody, it was my P90X2 shirt and we must have chatted for a good 20 minutes on the program and how much he liked it.  I invited him to join one of my challenges that I'm holding and he was super interested.  Love how a simple thing as wearing a t-shirt can spark such great conversation! 

After shoe shopping I picked up the kids from the birthday party and headed home to make a side dish for a get together with friends later that night.  I made a whole wheat pasta salad with fresh tomatoes, onion and peppers from the garden topped with oil oil and lemon juice.  Had an awesome end to the day visiting some friends and fellow Beachbody coaches, love that crew!  So grateful to be surrounded by such amazing people that I share the same visions with!  Sunday was low-key and the start of the week is off to a GREAT start.  My 30 day challenge starts this Saturday and my challengers are locked and loaded!  Week 2 of my 90 day challenge is going smoothly, I can feel myself getting stronger and yoga this time around was soooo much better!  Two thumbs up for improving!  Have a great week everyone!

Hello there everyone!  What an amazing weekend I had!  So Saturday marked Day 1 of October, I really can't believe it is October and less than 3 months til Christmas and the New Year!  Ahhh! Just does not seem possible!  This year has been life-changing for me and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!   Not only was Saturday the first of October, but it was also Day 1 of the challenge that I'm hosting, the P90X / Shakeology Challenge.  10 people stepped up to the plate to getting healthier and more fit by the end of the year and to prepare for non other than the next wave of fitness, P90X2!  I'm so proud of my challengers for upping their game!  I created a private Facebook group page and added each of them and we have been sharing stories, triumphs and struggles all weekend, it's been AMAZING!  This is truly the best way to stay accountable, I love it!  So, Saturday I started Day 1 of P90X, we also had plans to head to Windsor, Canada for a friend's 30th birthday, so I got myself up at 5AM Saturday morning and hammered out Day 1.  About 1pm Saturday we arrived in Canada and checked into Ceasar's casino.  I'm not a gambler, nor have I ever gambled in my life.  I figured I would just be playing lots of slot machines and be done with it.  Oh no... this gal found a love for the roulette tables, LOVED IT!  Didn't hit big, but didn't lose big either, but all in all a fabulous time!  We have plans to head to Vegas next summer and you know what tables I'll be hittin up ;)  Later that night we hit up the town, had dinner at an awesome authentic Italian restaurant, I had the spicy pizza, it was LOADED with all kinds of peppers, DELISH!  Afterwards, we hit up the dance club scene... let's just say I'm not as into the techno dance clubs like I used to be, LOL!  We did find a place called the Bull and Barrel, LOVED this place.  Country music, 80s rock, my type of place, we had a blast dancing and watching other poor souls take their chance with the mechanical bull :)  Good times!   Headed back around noon on Sunday and got home around 3pm.  Needless to say, I was whooped!  I took a little cat nap to re-charge and headed downstairs to get in Day 2.  Today I'm sore as heck!  I love the sore, it lets me know I'm working my tail off and not doggin' it :)  Here's to the next 87 days!

Welcome to a new week friends!  The week didn't start off so hot for me, but it is shaping up to having a bright and positive outcome!  So, let me rewind to the weekend.  My twins turned 5 this weekend!  I really can't believe it!  I took the whole day off Friday to get everything in order for the big birthday bash on Saturday.  Talk about a busy day!  Needless to say I did not get in a workout, but let's be honest... running around all day prepping for a twin 5 year old birthday party is a workout itself!  This year the theme was 70s disco!  Saturday, I DID get my workout in first thing in the early morning before anyone woke up (I swear this is the only way a mother can get in a workout), then it was back to prepping for the party until Haiden's soccer game.  Mari and I cheered him on and Aunt Karli even showed up with birthday balloons for the twinks!  disney princesses for Mari and dinosaurs for Haiden! 

After the game it was back home to get ready for the partay!  It started at 3pm and was a hit from there.  Fun was had by all and by the end I was exhausted (imagine that!)  We spent the rest of the evening cleaning and then opening all their new presents of course!  Sunday morning was their birthday DAY, we enjoyed a family breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then spent the early afternoon at another birthday party actually!  After the party I decided that a trip to Cedar Point was in order for the birthday kids.  We enjoyed a few hours at Halloweekends and even got to see the parade and a dragon show!  Perfect ending to a perfect day.

So, once Monday rolled around I was feeling in a funk.  Not sure if it was just a case of the Mondays, or me feeling somber about my children turning 5 and realizing how time goes by too fast or what, but I can tell you this, I was just not feeling it.  I did force myself to go to the gym on my lunch break, which did lift my spirits a bit, but I still wasn't feeling my chipper self.  The weather was dreary and that could have also played into my bummer of a mood.  At any rate, that night I decided to let all the things on my to do list go and just took some time to relax, had some soup for dinner, spent some time with my little family and went to bed EARLY.  I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and tackled my day first thing and I feel a million times better.  I spoke with a few of my clients from my fitness business and hearing from them ALWAYS puts me in a better mood.  Speaking of fitness buisness, my P90X/Shakeology challenge came to a close and there are only  10 more days until the challenge kicks off, so I'm super excited about that!  This challenge filled up with people who are so ready to change the course of their life through fitness, they are already an inspiration to me!  My wheels are turning and I'm already thinking about heading up another challenge, but I'll be changing things up a bit, so stay tuned!  Or better yet, sound off on a challenge you'd be interested in trying, whether it be trying a different program or just doing a Shakeology only challenge.  Let's hear those ideas!  Well, I hope ya'll have a fantastic week, I'm a little bummed that summer is heading to a close, but I will be heading to the Indians game this Thursday, so let it be my last summer HOORAH!  Have a good one friends :)

Hello All!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend :)  Let me just start off by saying I totally used this weekend to RELAX and I mean really relax, I didn't do much of anything.  This always seems to happen on the weekend that follows a holiday weekend.  It was a shortened week last week so I guess I had less time to get the things done that needed to be done!  Well, it really pushed me to the point of exhaustion because by the weekend, I didn't want to do squat :)  Spent most of the time with the kiddos, going to soccer games and Sunday spent a nice day at home.  I got to sleep in on Sunday, which is a rarity, til 8AM!  Woo hoo! Yeah I know what you are thinking... but hey, that IS sleeping in to me and I enjoyed every minute of it!

So, let's get down to business here.... I'm heading into my 4th week of the P90X/TurboFire hybrid workout and all I can say is WOW, I have muscles :)  I'm really loving it so far and this week looks like a Turbo week, can't complain about that.  I do have to break it to you guys that I will not be finishing the hybrid program :(  I will continue to do the hybrid for the next 3 weeks, but starting October 1 I am heading up a CHALLENGE.  Yup, you heard right... The P90X/Shakeology Challenge.  For 90 days, I'm recruiting a small group of individuals that are serious about taking their fitness and health to a new level.  For 90 days we will start and finish the entire program of P90X all the while incorporating Shakeology into our diets.  Interesting you say?  Well YEAH!  This challenge is going to be off the hook and so many lives will be changed for the better because of it, I CAN'T WAIT!  So far I have 5 definite contestants that have stepped up to the plate to take on this challenge.  I'm currently looking for FIVE more.  IS IT YOU?  Are you ready to take this challenge and bring yourself into the best shape you've ever been in your entire life?!  If so... shoot me a message about the details, click here!  Would love to have you!  Oh and did I mention that the winner of this challenge, the person with the best overall transformation will win a prize?  Oh yes, and it's a good one too :)  But you have to message me for details if you are interested!  There is limited time and space.  You have until this Thursday, Sept 15th to sign up with me, there are FIVE spots left!   GO!  NOW!  What are you waiting for!?  You don't want to miss out on this opportunity, let's do this!    Have a great week everyone!

Well hey there fit friends!  Hopy ya'll had a nice loooong Labor Day weekend.  I had a pretty good one myself, low key, but good :)  Friday I got a half day off from work and I spent some time outside with the kiddos, Saturday we went to a campground and met up with some friends that have children the same age as ours and they swam, rode bikes and cooked out open an open fire.  Sunday I did some running around.  You see September is a VERY eventful month in our little family; the twins turn 5 on the 18th, my godson's birthday is also on this same day.  My two nieces celebrate a birthday in this month and on the 29th, Tony and I will celebrate 4 years of marriage!  Whew!  Anywho, Sunday I spent most of the day getting birthday invites printed, 5 year old pics printed and a stop at the party store, all with the 2 little rugrats in tow, THAT was an experience!  But still fun, this year we are doing a 70s disco theme, luckily the party store had just what we needed!  And then Sunday night we had a cookout at our house with my mom, dad, my sister and her family and my aunt, loved every minute of it!  Monday (although a holiday) I managed to be very productive, I plowed into week 3 of the TurboFire/P90X hybrid, I'm really loving this program and my muscles are really starting to take form, plus.... I lost 5lbs!  Cool, huh?!  Over the weekend I also revealed my TurboFire success story via YouTube, if you haven't seen it, def check it out!  That is all for now, short week, it's almost half way over, which means I gotta get to work and bust through this week's goals.  What your goals this week?  Starting a new workout routine?  Adjusting to the weather? ( I am, and I'm not liking it!  WANT. WARM WEATHER. NOW!)  :) :)  How are you starting September off??

Helllllo All!  Hope all of you had a fabulous weekend!  I feel like I'm still playing catch up from mine.  Or maybe it's just this week has already been very eventful, I just can't seem to get caught up!  Well, let's rewind to Monday...  First day of school!  My little twinkies went back to school yesterday.  This year is a little different, scratch that, ALOT different.  They are now in Pre-K, but they go everyday for a half day in the morning AND they ride the bus to and from school, AHHHHH!  I can't get over how fast they are growing up!  And they just absolutely love it.  Which at the same time makes me both happy and sad.  I'm glad they adjust so well to change, but it makes me sad to see them growing up, they are not my little babies anymore :(  Well, they'll always be my babies, but you get the picture!  Ah well, that's life I guess, they are growing and changing and so does Mom :)

Alright, up to speed on Tuesday, almost mid-week and I feel like I have a TON to do.  Been working on a few projects and it's getting down to the wire.  I'll fill you in on the projects when the time is right, so def. stay tuned :)  I think it's safe to say that habit is starting to form again for me in the workout department.  I'm in week 2 of the P90X/TurboFire hybrid.  P90X isn't all that bad, I thought I'd be bored outta my mind by now, but I'm loving the strength training in it and I haven't been this sore since I first started TurboFire!  That's a good thing, no pain no gain, right!?  So, I mentioned before the act of falling into a habit.  I desperately needed to get back to habit, summer was WAY too good to me this year and I cheated ALOT with yummy indulgences.  I never once slacked on my workouts, I will say that, but the clean eating part of it all really fell by the wayside.  But, now we are heading into September and I plan on getting back on the clean eating train.  At least for now, I am not allowing myself any cheat days.  This is not to say that cheat days in your diet are bad, they are actually a good thing, as long as you are doing it in moderation and not all the time.  In no way should a diet ever leave you feeling deprived.  You will surely fail at your diet if it ever gets to that point.  The need for me to execute this "no cheat days" aloud is purely my own choice and something my body desperately needs.  I can definitely tell my body has taken a beating from all my cheat eating in the past month.  Technically, the best option for me is to probably to do a cleanse, but I'm not really up for another cleanse anytime soon.  So for now, my plan is to eat clean for the next few weeks going forward.  With Labor Day weekend coming up this will be a good test for me to push my mind over matter.  I am not giving myself the excuse to indulge in sweets over the weekend simply because it's a holiday weekend.  I DO plan on spending some time with my friends and family in leisure.  Sounds good to me! 

So, how do ya'll handle your cheat days?  Are they on occassion?  Do you even have one or are you one of those souls that has extreme self control when it comes to something like this?  If you are, I'm so jealous!  I also envy those that are not sweet eaters because they just flat out don't like em.  I wish I had those powers!  Sweets are my weakness!   But I will prevail :)

Hey ya'll!  What an extremely busy week it's been already, and it's only Tuesday!  So, after a much needed and well deserved week off, I'm back at it.  Yesterday marked day one of the next chapter in my fitness journey; P90X/TurboFire hybrid!  To be completely honest with you, I've never been too interested in P90X.  My first impression of this program is intimidation, extreme difficulty and just plain not up my alley.  But, what I do know is that this program DOES work as I know way too many people who have had success with this program to not believe that it works!  So, despite my own opinion on the program I decided to go for it and give it a whirl and I gotta say, I'm glad I did.  Yesterday was my first P90X workout; Chest & Back.  Holy pull ups and push ups!  LOL :)  For the record, I'm AWFUL at both!  However I was able to get through the entire workout with modifications and yet my arms still felt like they were gonna fall off! Ha!  This is a great opportunity to improve, by the end of the 90 days I WILL be doing a full set of push up NOT on my knees and WILL be doing a pull up from a pull up bar without assistance.  Now, being a Turbo girl, I'm used to a fast paced,uypbeat tempo... you will not get that kind of format with P90X, instead it is replaced with Mr. Tony Horton's innocently goofy humor :)  Which in the end was equally motivational!  Today I got to go back to my roots and hammer out some Fire 45 EZ, it was soooo nice being back with my soulmate workout!  Tomorrow is another P90X workout, send a prayer my  way, I believe it's Yoga X, 90 minutes long!  Ahhhhh!  ;)