Coach 12: Sean Hyland

Sean & I met over a year ago in a lunchroom in Bethesda Maryland (we work together).  We became fast friends.  Maybe it was because we enjoyed making fun of others, maybe it was because of our mutual respect/love of Detroit (where Sean lives), or maybe it is because we are both awesome!  Over the past year Sean and I have shared many fun days and nights in Maryland, Virginia, Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta.  He is one of the funniest people I know and I wish Sean was on all my deals.  Unfortunately we haven't worked together much over the past 6 months but we still do keep in touch.

Sean loves to travel as much as I do and he works hard to stay in shape while on the road.  He has a lot of suggestions and tips of how to stay healthy.  Sean also is persistent so he was the perfect coach.  He didn't let me slack at all and if I didn't answer a text he got mad.  Thank you Sean for being a great Coach and a great Friend. 

Merry Christmas to All!

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The Fresh Diet

I'll let you in on a little secret... after my Plateau I took advantage of a Rue La La coupon and ordered 1 month of meals from The Fresh Diet.  And I really enjoy the food and the convenience.  Every night (between 7pm and 5am) they deliver a cooler of food for the next day to my door.  It includes 3 meals + 2 snacks that I have selected from their online site. Below is some more information on how it works.

The Fresh Diet provides the right balance of food in proper portions to help you lose weight, feel energetic, and maintain proper health. This is done by providing our customers with a healthy balance of good carbohydrates such as “low-glycemic” whole grains, legumes and vegetables, lean meat and fish proteins and healthy fats. Our program consists of a healthy balance of 40%, 30% and 30% carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

The Fresh Diet’s meals are designed to help your body work more efficiently. Gone are the overly refined foods. And gone is the concept of inflammation. Put simply, there are foods that increase fat cell inflammation (a contributing factor to being overweight, and slowing weight loss), and there are foods that also decrease it. The Fresh Diet meals include many foods that reduce the inflammation that keeps people fat, allowing for simple, controlled weight loss.

I HAVE LOST!

A TOTAL OF 20 pounds… that is equivalent to a car tire. Wow - THANKS to ALL of you! I am so excited and glowing! I am determined to get through the holiday’s by losing another pound rather than gaining any weight.

PS - I'm enjoying a glass of Champagne while I type this. Only one glass but a well earned treat.

Coach 11: Shannon Fitzgerald

Shannon is a neighborhood friend who I met through Ryan & Emily Elliott.  Shannon & I have probably known each other for 6 or 7 years.  She is passionate, fun, and loving.  Like me Shannon travels a lot for work so she has a lot of insight on how hard (and easy) it is to stay healthy on the road.  She jumped right on board for this challenge.  And a week when we were both in town Shannon volunteered to be my coach.  Even better - Shannon is a runner and has signed up with me to run the A1A Half Marathon in February... anyone else want to join?  Shannon also reminds me to treat myself when I reach goals but pushes me REALLY hard to meet those goals. 

Every year I vacation to Canada with Shannon & the Elliott's and they have all come to feel like family.  We have so much fun in the water, on the dock, cooking in the kitchen and reading on the porch.  And when speaking of Shannon I cannot leave out her big lovable dog- yellow lab Bugsy.  He is also family.

Last - as I go through this challenge I want to highlight a huge success of Shannon's.  She was a smoker when I first met her and has now been many many years clean.  Not sure how long it has been but it is something of her past.  If she can battle through that then I can make these changes in my lifestyle to lose weight.  Way to pave the road for me to success Shannon. 

Coach 10: Liz Traines

Liz was my coach for 3 weeks and she was AWESOME.  Unfortunately she got my plateau weeks.  My favorite was all the articles she found online that she forwarded to me (see below).  She also inspired me to workout when I wasn't in the mood.  She sent many many texts and overall she encouraged me.  Her nice and supportive words were such a motivation. 

Liz & I work together in Chicago.  She is from Chicago then worked out of our DC office and just moved back to Chicago this past year.  We became friends quickly because of her constant smile.  She is always sharing a great story or helping others.  She is so much fun to hang out with and I'm glad she signed up for this journey even though we haven't known each other very long.  Her motivating words have pushed me.  Thanks Liz.


Articles:

Feeling a little food hangover (like myself), here are some good healthy foods to get you back in line
http://www.fitsugar.com/10-Detox-Foods-6856184

I like this one because it tells you that whole eggs are important (in moderation - I know you’re watching the cholesterol!) Apparently the yolk burns fat that the whites don’t!
http://www.fitsugar.com/Dont-Avoid-Foods-When-Trying-Lose-Weight-20430275?page=0,0,0#4

Quick slideshow that has some good reminders for picking up healthy snacks/salad ingredients from Whole Foods:
http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2009/10/fat-fighting-foods-slideshow#slide=1

A Few Yummy Breakfast Recipes
http://www.fitsugar.com/Veggie-Recipes-Savory-Breakfast-20312973?page=0,0,0#0

Are you “too tired” to work out?
http://www.fitsugar.com/Signs-You-Too-Tired-Work-Out-20656906?utm_campaign=digest_email_2011-12-02&utm_medium=email&utm_source=popsugar.com&spi_campaign=digest_email_2011-12-02&spi_medium=email&spi_source=popsugar.com&utm_content=post_title

Official Plateau but Going Hard Core

Well it is official. I hit a Plateau. After 2 weeks in Arizona (with a lot of hiking & exercise) I came back the same weight as I left (probably too much wine with Mom & Dad). With that said I’m not discouraged because it was Thanksgiving and it was Arizona and I didn’t gain anything. So I have a RENEWED Spirit. I’m back in full tilt as of yesterday. Shannon Fitzgerald has asked to coach me this week and has already signed us up for Yoga tomorrow.

I also just went outside to run 3 miles. It was my fastest run in over a year... maybe because of the cold weather (see left).

Therefore, I'm now calling myself HARD CORE in this Journey.