I am taking this week as a rest week between rounds of 21 Day Fix.  Yesterday, I finished day #21 of my second full round, so I have decided that instead of jumping back into another 21 days I will take a week off between them.  This works out pretty well for me because it means I can do one round of 21 Day Fix each month without getting burnt out or feeling like it's never going to end.

So here's a look at how this week will be different from a typical week on 21 Day Fix:

• Instead of measuring my food in the colored containers I will continue to eat from the list of "allowed" foods but not worry as much about measuring every serving.  
• Instead of tracking my containers on the 21 Day Fix app I will eat sensible amounts of food.  I plan on eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full.
• Instead of completing the 21 Day Fix workouts each day I will be doing different routines so that I can get some variety from the ones I've been doing for the last three weeks.  I will be using the Beachbody OnDemand feature to check out other workout programs to see which other ones I like.  
• Instead of allowing myself one treat meal on Friday night I will be more flexible with the foods I eat and will have a special meal if I have been craving it for the last few weeks...without going overboard, of course.

My overall plan for this rest week is to use common sense in choosing which foods to eat but also giving myself a break from writing down everything I eat.  I will also experiment with new workouts so that I can try different programs I haven't tried yet.  I'll keep some notes from this week and let you know how it goes and if I plan to do anything differently after my next round of 21 Day Fix.

If you have any questions on how 21 Day Fix works or would like some information on how you can sign up, please send me an email at besidebeth@gmail.com.  

Don't forget to bookmark this page or share it with a friend if you think they would be interested!

Everyone has moments in their life when they want to quit.  Usually it's because they're unhappy with their situation.  But sometimes it can be more than that.  Maybe they are afraid of failure and it seems easier to not try in the first place rather than face the possibility of trying and failing at something.  There's a chance that they have failed at so many things in their life, both big and small, that the idea of failing one more time is just too much to handle.  Does that sound familiar?

Here's a real example from my own life.  The story is a bit long, but I think it holds a lesson we can all learn from.  So keep reading until the end and hopefully you will be able to apply this to your own life.

​You might not know this about me, but I tend to be an "all or nothing" type of person.  Typically I see things in either black or white.  Either I'm in or I'm out.  Either I like something or I don't like it.  I rarely see things in shades of gray.  So when it comes to my life I tend to be pretty decisive and can easily make decisions to figure out what I want to do.  

The one exception to this seems to be my Beachbody business.  I signed up as a coach three months ago and at first I was "all-in".  I would stay up late watching YouTube videos on how to run a successful network marketing business and I would write page after page of notes on how to improve my social media presence.  

Slowly something changed.  I started to spend less time on my business and wasn't quite as eager to run through my daily list of tasks. It was frustrating because I could remember how exciting this was in the beginning.  How could I go from loving something so much to feeling like it was weighing me down, all in such a short period of time?

Thankfully it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on.  As a result of being a coach I had been spending time every day working on personal development.  I soon realized that I was letting the fear of failure weigh me down.  I was terrified that I would fully commit to my Beachbody business and eventually fail majorly, so I was holding myself back from going "all-in".  Essentially, I was half-assing my way through every day.

I was afraid to quit because I knew I would always wonder what could have happened if I had stuck to it.  And I was afraid to keep going because I didn't want to fail at something that I truly cared about.  So I was stuck in the middle, wondering when I would be able to make the decision on which way I was going to move forward.

That moment happened yesterday.  I received some discouraging news about my business and it seemed like it was a sign that I should just give up.  It was the perfect excuse to quit while I was ahead and resign myself to the fact that this wasn't going to work.  My head was telling me that this was the moment when I needed to walk away from my business.

But something strange happened.  I was feeling conflicted even thought I had been given  the perfect excuse to quit.  Although my head was telling me to give up, my heart was telling me that I needed to keep going.  I spent some time listening to the war going on between my head and my heart, not knowing which side was going to win.

And then it hit me.  I knew without a doubt that I was going to stick to my business and not give up.  Despite the fact that I felt terrified to officially go "all-in", it also felt amazing to finally know that I had overcome my hesitation and would be giving myself the chance to do something I knew I wanted to do.

Now that I've had this epiphany, I feel more confident than ever in my future.  It's ironic, actually, that a piece of bad news could somehow convince me to become more dedicated to something instead of making me run away from it.

So you might be asking yourself "how does this relate to me and my life"?

I think anyone can learn a lesson from this story.  We are all faced with tough decisions in our lives.  It's usually tempting to take the easy road and quit.  But I'm here to tell you that everything truly happens for a reason.  And if you feel like quitting something just because you might fail at it, there's a good chance that it's something that really matters to you.  

Why else would you be so afraid of failing?  I think it's because you care about the outcome and you're afraid to see what could happen.  It may seem scary to go "all-in" or fully commit to something.  If you find yourself in this situation, simply ask yourself how you would feel looking back on this moment knowing that you could have done something that truly mattered to you if only you hadn't given up too soon.

Amazing things can happen when we step outside of our comfort zone.  So I am challenging you to do something that scares you.  I think you'll be surprised at how good it feels!

I hope this post was helpful and you learned something from it!  Don't forget to bookmark a link to this blog and also share this post with a friend who could use some help stepping out of their comfort zone.  

Leave a comment below or shoot me an email at besidebeth@gmail.com if you would like to discuss what you've got going on in your life.

As much as I try to be consistent and really stick to my fitness goals, there are definitely ups and downs along the way.  

For example, last week I was so excited to increase my hand weights from 3 pounds to 5 pounds.  I felt so strong at the end of my upper body workout and was really proud of myself for pushing my limits.  Yesterday, however, I started having some serious pain in my ribs which turns out to be a consequence of that upper body workout where I really pushed myself.  So now I have to be smart and give my body a break so it can heal itself.  See what I mean about ups and downs?

Another great moment this past week was when I weighed myself and saw that I had lost a total of 17 pounds from my heaviest weight.  It's so amazing to see proof that my hard work and dedication are paying off.  And now I have a cruise to go on at the end of April, so I've got even  more motivation to really buckle down and work hard!

A few weeks ago I shared some of my tips & tricks for staying motivated and losing weight.  It seemed like you guys really enjoyed hearing the tips I had to offer, so now I'd like to open up a discussion and ask you if you have any questions I can try to answer.  Maybe you're not sure of how much water you should be drinking or whether you should focus on cardio or weight training.  Those are things that I can try to help you with!  So if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below or send me a direct message so we can have a private discussion.  I've learned a lot in my journey, so I would love to pass along some of my knowledge and try to help you see some great results!

​I have decided that my word for this year is going to be "fearless".  Not because I plan on living without fear, but because I want to embrace my fear and let it push me out of my comfort zone.  I want to do things I never thought possible and that usually only happens when you've got some level of fear.  Hopefully you will see a theme in my posts for the next year where I talk about doing things I never thought I would do or overcoming a certain fear by facing it head-on.  So stay tuned to see where this takes me!

Also, I wanted to give you an update on my 21 Day Fix progress.  I weighed myself this morning and have lost exactly 16 pounds since the middle of October.  I am really happy with these results and am proud that I got through the holidays without gaining it all back!  

Out of curiosity I looked to see how long it had been since I weighed this much and it turns out it was almost exactly a year ago.  Part of me was actually kind of frustrated because in a way it feels like I wasted a whole year.  If only I had stayed on track this time last year then maybe I'd weigh much less instead of the same.  But, with the helpful advice of an amazing friend, I realized that I need to look at this as an inner growth and know that I have learned a lot about myself in the past year to get me where I am today.

I almost lost that motivation this afternoon when I realized the day had mostly gone by and I hadn't worked out yet.  The "old me" would have told myself that I could just workout tomorrow, but the "new me" knew that I'd be frustrated with myself for not doing something I told myself I would do.  So I turned on my DVD player and a short 30 minutes later I was done with my full body cardio workout and proud of myself for finishing it.

It's nice to see that with the right attitude and the right support system, we really can accomplish anything we set our minds to!

That's it for tonight, but stay tuned for more!

Today I am starting another round of 21 Day Fix, but because I'm doing things so differently I feel like I'm actually starting over.  I was really successful with my first round and ended up losing 11 pounds in 3 weeks, so I was very happy with those results.  I posted the picture from above after finishing my first round and was surprised to see how much change I could see in my face.  The biggest difference I noticed was how much happier I look in the picture on the right.  It's amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time, both physically and mentally!

The second round I completed was in December and I didn't do quite as well.  I basically stopped trying mid-month and didn't even finish out the 21 days. At first I was really disappointed in myself, but then I remembered that I'm trying to not be so hard on myself, so I gave myself a break until after the holidays were over.

The round that I am starting today will technically be considered my second round "do-over" since the last time didn't go so well.  I plan on doing things differently this time around, so I'm going to go over some of those changes to give you some tips & tricks that might work for you if you're trying to get healthier.

Meal Planning:

Before the Tone It Up Bikini Series last year I decided I wanted to write myself encouraging letters to read each week along the way.  That's what you see in this picture.  I'm going to do the same thing for this round of 21 Day Fix so that I can give myself pep talks before I start each week.  They're basically all going to say things like "you can do this" or "don't give up", but I'm hoping that reading them each week will remind me why I'm doing this and help me to stick to it.

Workout Tracking:

This is an idea I got from Pinterest.  Basically you use page flags to write down the number of days you want to workout and then stick them somewhere so that you can peel them off each day you complete a workout.  In my example above I did five days a week and each week is a different color.  

​I've found this to be highly motivating because it makes me feel good to peel a flag off every time I workout.  It's also a nice visual reminder because it gives you an idea of how much further you have to go.  I'll be doing this for the next 16 weeks before my next cruise, so I'll have 5 flags a week for 16 weeks.  I'll probably do them separately for each round of 21 Day Fix so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming!

Cheat Meals vs. Treat Meals:

When I first started 21 Day Fix I decided that I would have one cheat meal every week where I could eat whatever I wanted.  It actually worked out pretty well because it allowed me the freedom to dream about eating something unhealthy all week and then enjoy it on Friday night.  The only thing I'm changing about this is that instead of thinking of it as a cheat meal I'm going to start referring to it as a treat meal.  Because technically I'm not cheating by eating something outside the plan, I'm actually making a logical decision to eat something I've been craving all week and therefore "treating" myself.

And so those are some of the ways I'll be changing my approach to following 21 Day Fix.  Let me know if any of these ideas were helpful or if you have any tips or tricks of your own that you would like to share!

This is going to be a fairly short blog post.  Basically, I wanted to check in and let you know that I finished my second round of 21 Day Fix yesterday.  Due to a number of reasons, I had some issues with staying motivated during this round, so I definitely didn't do as well as I would have liked to.  

My main goal after this round is to take a break for the holidays and come back in the new year feeling refreshed and ready to kick some butt in 2016!  Like the quote above says, I know I CAN do this and that means I WILL do this.  

We all know that nobody is perfect and it's impossible to do things 100% right all the time.  In the spirit of being completely honest, this has probably been the hardest week I've had since starting the 21 Day Fix.  My motivation has been lacking big time and I haven't felt nearly as dedicated compared to how I had been feeling.  

I think a big part of it is that I've been so busy with the holidays coming up and I basically just don't have the energy or time to focus as much on my health and fitness.  That probably sounds like an excuse, but it really is the truth.  I've been so overwhelmed trying to get through the days that I feel like I can't even focus on following a strict nutrition plan or working out every day.  

Part of me does feel disappointed in myself, especially because my weight loss journey is so public and I feel like I'm supposed to show everyone how hard I can work and how successful I can be when I put my mind to it.  But in all honesty, I know that I am doing my best and I am trying not to beat myself up too much for falling short of my goals.

And overall, I know this is a temporary setback.  My company closes on Friday for two weeks, so pretty soon I will have a lot more free time to spend on working out and making meal plans.  And then once the holidays are over I am planning on getting back in full swing.  I've already made so much progress that I am determined to keep going and prove to myself that I really can do anything I set my mind to.

I hope this is a good reminder that we all fall short of our goals sometimes and that the best thing we can do when we fail is to pick ourselves up and try again.  

Now I'd like to hear from you.  What are some ways that you re-charge your motivation when you're having a hard week?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Today is the beginning of my second week doing my second round of the 21 Day Fix, otherwise known as "week 7".  I've officially been doing the 21 day Facebook challenge group for a week now and it's really going well.  Each morning we get a post about something motivational or informative and each night we check in and rate our nutrition and workout for the day.  It's been a great way to stay motivated, especially knowing that I'll be checking in later that day to report how my day went.

Today is also the first day of the clean eating challenge I'm running on Facebook.  There are 7 of us total in the group and it feels like a good number of people.  Not too many where it's overwhelming but just enough to keep the posts interesting and give people a chance to interact with each other and motivate each other.  I will be running a free group every month and they won't always be clean eating groups.  I'll be switching it up and making them different each month so that there's always something new for the people who have done one before.

As far as my own personal progress goes, I feel like I'm still noticing a big difference in how I look and feel.  I'm not working out 7 days a week like the schedule says, but I am still happy that I am getting a lot more exercise than I was before I started this whole thing.  

I'm also eating SO much better.  It's amazing that I don't actually crave junk food anymore.  The first couple weeks of my first round I indulged on pizza for a Friday night treat, but lately that hasn't even been sounding good to me.  It's nice knowing that I can treat myself if I want to, but also a great feeling to know that it's not something I need to do unless I really want it.

Another bonus is that I'm actually looking forward to getting weighed at the doctor for my annual physical coming up in January.  It will be nice to see the number go down for a change instead of stressing about how much it went up!

I decided to start counting the weeks of my 21 Day Fix transformation instead of days because it was getting too hard to keep track of which day I was on!  So today is the beginning of my 6th week doing the 21 Day Fix.  Instead of doing this round on my own, I have decided to join a challenge group.  I will continue to blog the whole way through this round so that you can follow me and find out what it's like to be a part of this type of group.

Since you might not know what a challenge group is, I wanted to spend some time today explaining their purpose so that you understand what I am doing and how this is affecting my weight loss transformation.  Basically, I am in a group on Facebook where I am working with other people who are also trying to lose weight and get healthy.  The  accountability part comes in because you usually do a daily check-in where you rate your workout and your nutrition for the day.  

To me, the best part about being in a challenge group is that I am not alone in this journey.  It gives me a place to go where I can talk about what I'm going through (good or bad) and get advice, support, and motivation from the other people in the group.  Sounds nice, right?  

It gets even better because the challenge group is totally free as long as you already have a Beachbody fitness program and are on a home direct order of Shakeology.  If you've already invested in these things, you might as well connect with other people who are on the same wavelength as you, right?

In order to give a sneak peak into what a full 21-day challenge group looks like, I am going to be hosting my own free 5-day clean eating group, starting on December 7,  You don't need to have purchased anything from Beachbody to join this group, so let me know in the comments below if you are interested and I will reach out to you so we can talk about your goals.  You can also sign up here: Beside Beth Clean Eating Group.

It has been a while since I updated you on my progress with the 21 Day Fix.  I finished my first round a little over a week ago.  After finishing that first three weeks, I decided to take a small break before starting another round of 21 days.  I knew that with the holiday coming up I would probably not be able to stick to the plan as closely as I would like to, so I will be re-starting again next Monday, November 30.  

In between rounds, I am still continuing to keep up with my workouts and have still been eating as healthy as possible.  I haven't been measuring food in my containers, but I feel like I have a good idea of how much food I should be eating, so I'm sticking to that and only eating when I'm hungry.  

I am excited to start another round next week, especially because I'll be joining an accountability group on Facebook with other people who are also following the same program.  We will be holding each other accountable and helping anyone who needs extra support or motivation.  Overall, it should be a great experience.

Throughout the challenge, I will be blogging to let you know how it's going and how I am feeling.  Like I said in my last post, I won't be weighing myself throughout the next round, but I will post my total weight lost at the end.  Instead of dwelling on a number on the scale, I am hoping to focus on how I feel and how my body is changing as I continue to push it through the workouts and provide it healthy fuel by eating well.

If you have any questions or would like to find out how to sign up for the 21 Day Fix, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you right away.