30 Day Elimination Plan - Week 1 Review

Vegan Vanilla Shakeology everyday!

Week one. No cheats. Down 6 pounds.

Realizations:
If I actually nourish my body with wholesome food and cut out sugar completely- it takes me about 4 days to feel normal. Detox is real. Sugar addiction is real.

Seems like there is something to be said about what we fuel ourselves with... how it almost masks what we really need. Sugar has been a total mask. Drink it, eat it, spike of energy- crash.

I am sleeping well. But craving more of it. So each night I’ve allowed myself about 8 hours. I need this and ya know what- I’m gonna give myself the grace of it.

But then I got to thinking when advertisers talk about these amazing quick fix solutions about having more energy and getting great sleep... umm this actually the same solution. But like legit natural. No mask.
The 30 Day Elimination Plan program:

• Intermittent fasting - I eat all my food from 11 am and finish eating by 7 pm 
• Self care - 8 hours of sleep, speaking kind words to myself, reading The Goddess Revolution: Make Peace with Food, Love Your Body and Reclaim Your Life
• Eliminate inflammatory foods 
• New workouts live with Autumn Calabrese, creator of the 21 Day Fix

Sunday (day 1)
My knees are in a lot of pain, and I am limping, barely able to walk. This is frustrating, because I've been to many doctors and practitioners and no one has been able to diagnose the problem, or even have a hypothesis about the cause.

So, I took today as a rest day.

I am excited for this new program, so I spent the day meal planning and prepping. I read the first two chapters of the Goddess Revolution, a book about learning how to really love your body, and break your addictive habits with food. While I already love my body, no matter what the number is on the scale, I realize I've been carrying these extra pounds and just don't FEEL good - I feel physically weighed down.

There's a difference. I don't hate my body. It's a beautiful, strong, healthy being. But because my clothes have been tight, and my knees are in pain, I've felt uncomfortable.

And while I eat healthy, I haven't been able to adhere to a meal plan for more than three days without a cheat

Time to change.

At 9 pm was a live video face time call with Beachbody nutritionist Melissa McAllister. She talked about intermittent fasting, which I've tried before. However, she also talked about eliminating inflammatory foods for 30 days.

After listening to her, I tweaked my meal plan to eliminate my daily sweet potato, and replace it with avocado. Sweet potatoes aren't inflammatory themselves, however, too much natural glucose could cause inflammation. So, I reduced my carbohydrates, which are converted into glucose in the body, and upped my healthy fats.

Monday (day 2)

Microgreens Salad

Slayed my workout at noon, but because of my knees, which are sore and stiff, I modified any leg movements. Autumn is doing live workouts on the West Coast, and begins at noon EST. Today, this fit in my schedule, and I LOVED the Core workout. Different moves, new and fresh, kept me motivated. I have a bit of workout ADD, because I love new workout moves!

Slayed my water, my nutrition; I'm excited and motivated for this plan. I haven't been able to go 3 days without a cheat, or diving into a bag of popcorn, so I'm ready!

I started eating at 11 am and finished all food by 7 pm.

This was what I ate:

Turkey Bolognese over Spaghetti Squash

Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.

• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1/2 an avocado
• Lunch: Lettuce, pea shoots, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of red pepper, shred carrots, cucumber, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 avocado, 2 tsp evoo
• Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
• Dinner: Spaghetti Squash, spinach, red container of ground turkey, purple container of tomato sauce

Mexi-Chicken Spag Squash

Tuesday (day 3)
Down a pound, but my knees are still sore, and stiff. Cardio workout was amazing, and I love using the slides and bands! Stuck to my water and nutrition.
Today's menu:

• Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.
• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1/2 an avocado
• Lunch: Lettuce, pea shoots, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of red pepper, shred carrots, cucumber, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 avocado, 2 tsp evoo
• Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
• Dinner: Spaghetti squash with spinach and Mexican spiced chicken.

Microgreens salad with pumpkin seeds

Wednesday (Day 4)
A bit grumpy today, and tired. Guess I'm feeling the effects of no sugar!

With today's schedule, I barely had a moment to breathe. I woke up at 5:15 am to go teach Bootcamp, came home and got everyone out the door for dinner. Then I did my own workout. Couldn't do it at noon with Autumn, because I have to hold office hours for students, so I did 21 Day Fix Extreme Upper Fix, and my arms felt like jello!

After my workout, returned to the gym to personal train a client, ran home, changed and went to campus for office hours and teach my two classes. Came back home at 4 pm to quickly eat my lunch, and then went to pick up the kids from after school activities. Brought them home, another quick change to go to my husband's formal work dinner!!

The dinner started with a salad (yeah). Then, I ordered Salmon, which came with a pumpkin cream risotto. I ate the salmon, but this pumpkin loving girl took one small taste of the delicious pumpkin cream risotto and left the rest! I will NOT crack!

Then dessert came: creme brûlée! I am determined - yes, I had one taste, and that was it! Today was a WIN!

Today's menu:

• Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.
• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1/2 an avocado
• Lunch: Lettuce, pea shoots, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of red pepper, shred carrots, cucumber, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 avocado, 2 tsp evoo
• Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
• Dinner: see above

Booty Workout

Thursday (Day 5)
Down 5 pounds!!!! Incredible! Feeling great!

The workout was great! It was a booty workout, and I was worried it would be too challenging for my knees. They are feeling much better. But the workout used the sliders and the bands, new fresh exercises, with no impact and no strain on the knees!!

Beef and Broccoli

It was another day with a crazy schedule, one thing after the other. At one point, I came home, and I thought about opening a bag of popcorn, but I knew if I did, I wouldn't stop. I had pre-made my salad for when I got home, sat down and ate it, drank my shake and lots of water. Then I distracted myself, and got back to the busy schedule.

Today's menu:

• Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.
• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1/2 an avocado
• Lunch: Lettuce, pea shoots, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of red pepper, shred carrots, cucumber, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 avocado, 2 tsp evoo
• Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
• Dinner: Beef and Broccoli with turmeric, black pepper, Everything But The Bagel seasoning, coconut aminos and sesame oil

Friday (day 6)
Down 6 pounds!
Exhausted today, because of the previous two days. Feeling hungry and grumpy, but lighter! The waist of my pants is not tight! The waistband of my underwear is not digging into my hips! My knees are less swollen.

But I'm hungry. By dinner, I looked at my salad and was a little annoyed - this was all the food I had left for the day! For dinner, my husband and my sons ordered pizza. I had my salad - ugh. Was tired. Tired of salad, tired of this plan already....but I stopped and took a breath. I didn't get enough sleep the night before, yes, I was TIRED. That's all. But after I ate my salad, my son's four pizza crusts were on his plate, and I reached over and ate one!

Oh, sweet, delicious, chewy carbohydrate!! It tasted so good.....But then I stopped myself. This is how I had gotten out of control. I was not going to let pizza crust ruin my good feeling.

Today's menu:

• Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.
• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1/2 an avocado
• Lunch: Lettuce, pea shoots, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of red pepper, shred carrots, cucumber, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 avocado, 2 tsp evoo
• Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
• Dinner: Salad with ground beef, evoo, turmeric, salt and pepper.

Saturday (day 7)

Pumpkin Protein PancakesDown 7 pounds. 

Down 7 pounds.
I know I'm losing so quickly, because I'm losing water and bloat that my body had been retaining. I slept 10 hours last night, and I'm feeling amazing! YES more energy, YES happier, YES less pain in my knees!

Live workouts with Autumn are only Monday-Friday, so today I completed a 30 minute functional core workout, and walked for 45 minutes on the treadmill, as it is 20 degrees out today!
Relaxed and spent time with my family.
Today's menu:
Upon waking: 25 ounces of water. Energize before my workout.
Breakfast: pumpkin protein pancakes - SO GOOD!
Lunch: Vanilla Shakeology with almond milk and 1/3 banana for "dessert"
Dinner: Spinach and onion frittata, salad

This week I practiced what I preach to all my clients.
I gave my body loving foods, I gave my body loving movement, I gave my body sleep, and I gave my body love.

So maybe this is kinda my gut check: "Vanessa- if you want to love your job and do your job amazingly- dude take care of you first."
Like duh, Vanessa.
I've legit fallen in love with it all over again!

Thanks for all your love and support this week! Let's go Week 2!!

To join my exclusive Fit Club where we will use these same principles, or to get more info, please fill out the form below. In my Fit Clubs, we will hold each other accountable, and take care of our own wellness!!

Fill out my online form.

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Heal your body with food and fitness

Food is a subject very close to my heart. As a young girl, I loved being in the kitchen, baking, cooking and creating new recipes.

But, in my teenage years, as I started to gain weight, I started to see food as my enemy. I struggled every year to lose my extra weight. With each failed diet, I pretty much resigned myself to carrying an extra 10 to 20 pounds for the rest of my life. But, fortunately, the Universe had a different plan!

In my 20s I started researching fitness and nutrition, and I found it was whole foods, portion control, and exercise that finally helped me lose the weight and keep it off. I followed clean eating guru, Tosca Reno, and read all her books. I started taking nutrition seminars. My weight was stable....until I hit my 40s......

I felt tired and sluggish all the time. My digestion was off. I didn't feel quite “right”. Not BAD, but not great. Even though I have eliminated many chemicals from my diet and eat very clean, I was still struggling with how I FELT.

I noticed that no matter how much I exercised, that my weight would stay the SAME. And if I didn’t exercise, or eat well, I’d GAIN weight VERY easily. I had my thyroid tested a year ago and it was normal. I had several more tests run last week and finally had my answer!

There were several things going on with me. All simple fixes, but if left untreated, could end up much much worse.
I was very deficient in B12 and deficient in Vitamin D. Both very simple fixes. But those were SYMPTOMS—> like the many other symptoms. Symptoms of chronic inflammation, and Graves Disease, which was my final diagnosis. Inflammation is the biggest disease causing culprit.

Although I was eating clean, I was not RESTORING or HEALING MY HEALTH. Your grand central station for how you FEEL. Years of eating processed food as a kid and most of my adult life. For over 30 years I was digesting round up, antibiotics and vaccines. Then add stress and high cortisol levels. All things that even the BEST past 10 years of eating clean can’t undo. I am thankful for least or my Shakeology, as my doctor said it kept me from getting worse more rapidly. But the probiotics and digestive enzymes in Shakeology can only repair so much on it’s own. It’s like holding a single umbrella over your head during a hurricane. Our body needs to be restored and given a chance to heal itself with the OTHER foods we eat.

Inflammation can later lead to a spectrum of autoimmune diseases like Hashimotos, Graves disease, Psoriasis, Fibromyalgia, Ulcerative Colitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis to name a few. Ironically, all of these autoimmune diseases have TRIPLED in just the last 50 years. Also, inflammation holds the KEY to your metabolism. Improve your gut health and you improve your weight <3

This online Fitness and Health group is going to be a little more UNIQUE. For my clients, I am going to share meal plans and foods that will help RESTORE your gut and IMPROVE your symptoms. I am going to teach you foods to eat more of and less of so you can start feeling better. I’m going to include a meal plan that you can incorporate with your portion control containers and at home fitness.

This offer is EXCLUSIVE to my CURRENT an NEW clients.

If you have any of these symptoms that I have, or have been sharing the same struggles as me, just want to FEEL BETTER and are ready to learn about foods that may help, Connect with me at: vanessadotfitness@gmail.com

Or fill out the form below.

This group will target FIVE ASPECTS of your health using natural whole foods and low impact fitness to help you start healing. It will focus on

1. Decreasing Inflammation – Most diseases today are due to inflammation. Inflammation damages your cells and arterials walls and causes High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Arthritis, and digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease to name a few. By reducing inflammation your body is better able to heal from any disease.

2. Alkalizing the body – Your body should have an average pH of 7.36. A can of soda literally has a pH of 2.5 and it would take approximately 30 glasses of water just to balance things out. Green vegetable juices like wheat grass and leafy greens like spinach, dandelion greens, or kale help restore the body’s proper pH. All diseases including infections, Osteoporosis and Cancer thrive in an acidic environment. By alkalizing your body your cells can heal and regenerate at the highest level.

3. Lowering blood glucose – One of the primary causes of Diabetes and weight gain are burnt out and insulin receptors. By lowering blood glucose levels, insulin receptors can heal and your body can begin to produce normal amounts of insulin to heal diabetes and leptin for weight loss.

4. Eliminating Toxins – Toxicity has become epidemic in or society today and is a major cause of our increase in hormonal imbalance and autoimmune diseases. The diet helps problems like female disorders, infertility, hypothyroidism and headaches by balancing hormones and helps in reversal of autoimmune diseases like Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Alzheimer’s, and Autism.

5. Providing Optimum Nutrients – Many of today’s illnesses are due to nutritional deficiencies. Most of the foods we eat today are processed and stripped of all vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and enzymes. This diet slows the aging process, improves mental capacity, and increases energy levels.

To APPLY for this group, FILL OUT THIS FORM.

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