If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, then you have seen me go through a number of, for lack of a better word, "phases".  And for those of you who are reading this blog for the first time, you will have no idea what I'm talking about.  But either way, I'm glad you are here and I am about to share some big stuff.  And there's a takeaway for everyone at the end, so there's a reason for you to keep reading.

Among the recipes, reading lists, and trip reports on this blog I have also shared some big life updates.  Sometimes those updates are in posts called "Life Update" and other times they are simply mentioned within whatever I'm writing about at the time.  These updates, or phases as I referred to them earlier, have spanned the last three years since I started this blog.  I feel like I've been pretty open on here about my life, mostly because I want to share as much as I can with you.  

A lot has happened in the past three years and I feel like I have changed significantly as a person.  At one time I made the announcement that I was planning on moving to San Diego and then a few months later I explained that I had changed my mind.  And then not long after that I announced I had become a Beachbody coach, only to write a post six months later telling you why I had decided to stop coaching.

Some people may look at these changes and say that I don't know how to make up my own mind.  Others may put a positive spin on it and look at is as me constantly moving forward (thank you, Marisa).  I simply think of it as being human.

Yes, I have had phases where I say I want to do something and then come back a few months later explaining that I have changed my mind.  And yes, these have been pretty big life events.  But what I've learned from all this back and forth is that it's important to listen to your intuition and pay attention to what you're feeling.  I could have gone through with moving to San Diego and it could have been amazing.  But before moving I realized that I was making that decision for the wrong reason and I am very happy that I stayed in Denver.  

So...all of this writing has been leading up to another big life update.  I have decided to become a life coach!  It's still scary to say that out loud, but at the same time it's also exciting.  I have been thinking about life coaching for at least a year, even before becoming a Beachbody coach.  And looking back I think that might be why Beachbody wasn't a good fit for me, because I was hoping to be a coach who helped women with every aspect of their lives and not focus mainly on their health and fitness.  

To me, being a life coach will be my chance to help other women decide what they want their lives to look like and then work with them to make those dreams come true.  I want to help women set life-changing goals that will get them closer to living the life they've always imagined.  Being a coach will be my chance to use and share some of the tools I have found on my own journey and then help other women apply those tools to their lives.  

The first step in my new adventure will be taking a course in life coaching.  I did research and found an amazing place called Beautiful You Coaching Academy that offers a six-month course in life coaching.  Their next course starts in October and is currently sold out.  Thankfully, a spot opened up and I was able to sign up for classes starting in just two months!  I know that it will be a big commitment, both financially and with my time, but this is something that I am really excited to do and I can't wait to share my progress once I start.

But enough about me.  I've talked your ear off and now it's time to shift our focus!  I would like to give you a chance to look at your own life and do a quick evaluation on where things are.  

Here's a quick exercise you can follow in order to start thinking about if your life is headed in a direction you would like it to go:

1. What is one thing you would like to do with your life?  It can be anything, big or small.  Just ask yourself, at the end of your life what is something you will wish you had done or would regret if you haven't done it?
2. How does this line up with your current life priorities?  Do you feel like you have time to do this now?  Or are you putting it off until a later time?  Do you think you're making any excuses in order to put this off?  Be honest with yourself!  If this is something you want to do, why aren't you already doing it?
3. Are you telling yourself that you will do this when X, Y, or Z happens?  For example, if you've always wanted to take dance lessons are you telling yourself that you will only be able to do that when you have a partner or if you have lost some weight?
4. How is the fear of failure playing into your decision on whether or not to do this thing?  If you knew for a fact that you would not fail, would you be more likely to do it?

These are all tough questions, so take your time and try to be honest with yourself.  You don't even have to know all the answers right now.  By reading through this list it will put the questions in the back of your mind.  Just listen to your thoughts for the next few days and see if you find your answers when you least expect to.

My reason for asking these questions is to give you a chance to step outside your comfort zone, much like I am doing by becoming a life coach.  It's easy to tell yourself you'll "do it someday" or to convince yourself that you'll end up failing, but my advice is not to wait for life to be "perfect" before you decide to do something.  Like Thoreau says, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the live you've imagined."

I truly hope this has been an interesting post and I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.  

​Please share your insights and ideas in the comments section below or shoot me an email at besidebeth@gmail.com if you would like to discuss this topic further.

First of all, it seems impossible that it's already been more than a month since my last blog post!  I am sorry for my radio silence and for leaving you hanging.  Not only have I been incredibly busy, but I've also been working out some life stuff, as you'll see in this post.

I'm going to make the assumption that most of you know about me signing up as a Beachbody coach back in October.  Even if we're not connected on Facebook or Instagram, I've also been writing about it pretty regularly on this blog, so I'll skip that part of the story.  

As you probably know, coaching was a big part of my life for six months.  What most of you don't know is that I have recently made the decision to stop coaching.  I'll say upfront that there is nothing wrong with being a Beachbody coach, so I have nothing bad to say about it.  In fact, I met some of the strongest and most dedicated women I know through my coaching team, so I'd never have a bad thing to say about it.

In fact, coaching is an amazing opportunity.  You are given the chance to build your own business from the ground up.  You can literally make coaching into anything you want it to be, whether it's a small part-time business or a million dollar empire.  Honestly, I didn't sign up to be a coach in order to make any extra money.  Before signing up I was missing passion and purpose in my life, so coaching gave me the opportunity to wake up in the morning and have a reason to get out of bed.  

If coaching is so amazing, you might ask why I stopped.  The short answer is that I don't know.  The complicated answer is that it just wasn't the right path for me to take at this point in my life. Being a coach kept me super busy, which is one of the reasons why I decided to stop.  I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person, so I couldn't find a happy medium where I gave a small percentage of my time and attention to my business.  I was working every free minute I had, usually for at least 12 hours a day.  It got to the point where I started to resent being a coach because I was putting so much into it and not getting enough out for it to be worth it to me.

Ultimately, being a Beachbody coach was an amazing experience and I am truly glad I did it.  I wouldn't even rule out the idea of doing it again in the future.  But for now, it's not the right time for me to be a coach or run my own business.  Actually, there are some potential life changes that could come up in my near future, so I will keep you updated as I find out what is going to happen.  As always, stay tuned for more!

Today's post isn't the only thing I have in plan for you.  I've got notes and pictures from my entire Caribbean vacation to share with you, so keep checking back for posts on my latest adventure!

​Today I'm starting my third week of my third round of 21 Day Fix.  An optional part of this week is to do double workouts, so that would be days 15 through 21. Even though this is my third round of 21 Day Fix, I wasn't quite ready to take on double workouts in my first two rounds.  But this time, I've decided to push myself and make the commitment to do two workouts a day for every day this week!  

I know that working out 14 times in one week is not going to be easy, but at the same time I'm actually excited for this challenge to see how hard I can push myself.  I'm ready to step outside of my comfort zone and make this happen.  

So today, for example, I did a 30 minute full-body workout that includes a mixture of cardio and strength training.  I've been doing this routine weekly ever since I started 21 Day Fix and it's still tough to get through.  I'm always red-faced and drenched in sweat by the time I get it done.  But I'm always proud of myself for starting another week on a strong note, so that feels good.

Then later today I'll be doing an ab workout.  It should take about 20 minutes, so all together I'll have worked out for about 50 minutes today.  That's not even very extreme, but the tough part is that they want you to do the workouts at different times so that you're getting your metabolism revved up twice in a day.  It's actually really smart and it's supposed to help get you even better results.

Speaking of results, I weighed myself this morning and have lost 18.2 pounds so far.  Just last week I lost 2.2 pounds, which puts me right on track to hit my goal weight before my cruise at the end of April.  All I need to do is keep up the hard work and I should be looking and feeling pretty darn good by the time I go on my trip.  I can't wait!

Another exciting thing happening this week is that my team is hosting a coaching sneak peak event on Facebook, so if you've ever wondered what I do as a Beachbody coach, now is a great time to jump in and learn what it's all about.

And, on top of everything else, I announced today that there will be an accountability group starting on March 7.  This group is a great way to give yourself a kickstart and really dive into a program.  The last day to sign up is next Monday, so don't delay if this is something you're interested in.

Okay, so I just dumped a lot of information on you at once.  So if you're interested in the coaching sneak peak or in joining the accountability group, either comment below or email me at besidebeth@gmail.com.  And don't forget to bookmark this blog if you like it and share it with any friends who might also enjoy reading it!

If you’ve been reading the last four posts about the coaching sneak peak, then you’ve already learned a lot about being a Beachbody coach.  Now you know what a coach is and what a day typically looks like for a coach.  I have also answered some frequently asked questions and told you my story about how being a coach has changed my life.

So now it’s time for you to think about whether or not you think this is an opportunity you’d like to take.  Maybe you’ve been thinking about this over the last few days as my posts have been published.  Or maybe you are just now considering this as an option.  Either way, just remember that coaching is about living a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life.  It doesn’t matter what your goals are (physical, financial, etc), the end result is helping other people change their lives.

I’d like to share something from the head coaches of my team.  This is a list they published that explains who would make a great coach.

So, as a recap of what we would consider an "IDEAL COACH":

• Knows DEEP DOWN they were made for MORE than they are currently doing with their life.
• Wants to provide for themselves and not have to rely on anyone else to support them, but also feels a calling to give back and help others!
• Wants to live life BY DESIGN: Traveling, meeting new people, giving back! The idea of working WHEN they want, with WHOM they want, WHERE they want, and doing WHAT they WANT almost sounds too good to be true, but gosh, if it was a possibility, they would be ALL over it!
• COACHABLE and willing to spend a year making short-term sacrifices if it meant spending the rest of their life enjoying long-term SUCCESS!

​At this point I’ve given you an overview of what it looks like to be a coach and how it could affect your life.  Now it’s up to you to decide whether you’re ready.  Some coaches just know that this is what they are supposed to do.  And some coaches are still hesitant but know that they need to at least try this out to decide if it’s the right path for them.  You might just need to take the opportunity and invest in growing yourself.  Remember, we all start small and out of our comfort zone.  This is about deciding that you want more out of life so you can live your best life possible.  

Here are some options for you:

• 1) You’ve got my attention, but I still need more information.  Can you send me some more resources so I can look into this before going any further?
• 2) I’m intrigued by this opportunity, but I definitely have some questions I need to talk about with you.  Can we talk through email or have a call to discuss?
• 3) I’m in, sign me up!!

Leave a comment below or email me at besidebeth@gmail.com and I will help you figure out what to do next!

One of the most amazing parts of being a Beachbody coach is the community you are a part of.  Not only are you a part of the team you signed up with, you will also have the chance to build your own team of coaches.  The team I’m a part of is called Inspire Joy.  Isn’t that an awesome name?  This is a group of women who are all so inspiring and encouraging to anyone who joins them.  You really will feel like you’re part of a family.  They will help you through your rough patches and celebrate your successes.  It’s truly an amazing experience!

So now the next step is as simple as deciding that you don’t want to let this opportunity pass you by!  The possibilities are truly endless, all you need to do is figure out what will make you happier & healthier and then make it happen. ​

​Now I have some questions for you:

• Have you given yourself permission to really reach for your dreams?  
• Is there something you want to accomplish but you’re letting fear get in the way?  

​If you answered yes to either of these questions, I can help you get past these issues and really re-define your vision for your life and your future.

I can’t wait to work with you, so if this is something you can’t pass up, let me know in the comments below or email me at besidebeth@gmail.com and we can start talking about next steps!