Who just want to have a healthy LIFESTYLE?!

It is the last week of my 60 day PiYo journey. Wow, I can not believe how fast the time has gone! I will write the overall results and feelings about the program next week (almost there!--- but PS: this has been an incredible experience.

My post tonight is about some thoughts I had when getting out of the shower tonight. Yea, I know, random.

I thought to myself "how many people just want to have a healthy lifestyle?  No crossfit junkies, no bodybuilding-steriod pumping lovers, no hungry-angry dieters! But people who genuinely want to lose weight, be HAPPY AND HEALTHY, but do not want the time constraint of spending 5 hours at the gym and endless amounts of money on supplements and personal trainers." I bet a lot of us do!

I know I do! I want to do the minimal amount of work possible to feel and look incredible. Call me "efficient" but I want to be smart with MY time and MY life. I have spent countless hours and YEARS at the gym, trying to sculpt my body. With little to no changes. Like how frustrating!!! After doing PiYO, drinking Shakeology and following the PiYo eating plan, I feel stronger in 2 months than I have in 7 years. WHAT!!! I also eat MORE than I have EVER and I am losing weight. WHAT! (Does anyone else hear Lil John yelling "what!" or is that just me...)

I have not been to the gym once (yay no gym membership fees!) No supplements. No calorie counting. Is it too a hoax? But this is MY chance to have a personal trainer, AT MY HOME, telling me what to eat and how to workout...and it has never felt so good!

Earlier, say around 3 months ago, when I really started thinking about strengthening my body, I reached out to a old high school friend. She is a professional fitness competitor. I said to her "Hey! I am thinking about competing, could I get more information from you." Her response " This is not for everyone...it is really expensive...it takes up a lot of your time and is really tough...you can talk to my trainer if you want..." HARD PASS. Like what is that? It is expensive, takes a lot of your time and money... I mean what is that!

This is why I love Beachbody. I have only been with the company for a little over 3 months...but I am head-over-heels about EVERYTHING this company represents--the products and the profession. As a coach, I work day after day just TALKING TO PEOPLE AND SUPPORTING PEOPLE. That's right... I have an opportunity for an insane amount of income to talk to people about living a healthy and happy life through fitness. LIKE HOW CRAZY IS THAT! WHAT A BLESSING!!!!


If you want to change your LIFESTYLE, please connect with me or a coach that you know. This is an amazing feeling to have and you want to feel this way <3

email me @  andrealyss@beachbodycoach.com

So what are you sacrificing?

As I sit here on a cold Friday night, cozy and warm next my dog, feeling refreshed after an exhilarating PiYo workout, waiting for my hubby to come home, I think to myself..." why do people sacrifice fitness?"

I hear so many stories about people who just do not "make time" for themselves during the day, week or even year! " I have kids..." "I love my career"... "My boyfriend eats junk food so I do too"..."I only eat what my kids eat"... does this sound like you? I do not have kids. I do have a career (two actually) ...and I make time for myself...Before you point fingers and throw your hands up in the air, let me come clean. I am just very interested in why people grasp onto the concept of "sacrifice..."

I am big fan of the tv show Biggest Loser. You can make sure that I stay up past my 1030 pm bedtime to watch this show with my husband every Thursday night. If you do not know about the show (for there may be some people living underneath a rock who read this blog...sorry, no offense) the reality show is a competition for overweight contestants who want to "lose weight." (Again, I put this in quotations because the point is to not lose weight but to lose fat...I just feel that I can not type 'lose fat' without requiring an explanation) 

The most touching part of this show is that every single contestant has this incredibly debilitating story about why they "let themselves go."  It is heart-wrenching to see these people cry and cry about the reasons why they do not love themselves and have gained HUNDREDS of pounds. It could be a lose of a loved one, it could be they have kids, it could be the lost a job... but it is insanely inspiring to see these wonderful people grow through out the show and develop a LOVE for themselves!! They start to understand that THEY ARE WORTH IT!!! 

So call me selfish, but I ALWAYS make time for me. I LOVE making time for ME. I love knowing that my husband thinks I am sexy. I love the my strength journey. It took me a LONG time to know my self worth and to have as much confidence as I have now. And I am far from perfect...I mean I am literally writing this blog about a 60 day (well, life long) journey for a better self... I am evolving but this is a fact... I AM WORTH IT.

So I continue to think .. "why is sacrifice related to fitness?" Like what am I 'sacrificing' to have a toned body? Sacrifice is the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get something else...so what are we really sacrificing by not eating healthy and working out? By this definition, I am a sacrificing a fat ass to have a strong physique? Hmm ok! I am sacrificing 30 minutes sitting on the couch with my husband to have a happier, healthier and hopefully longer (it is in God's hands!) life... hmmm yes!! 

Do not be a martyr for your fitness. Please take some time to care and love YOU!   

Warning: Stay Clear on Wednesdays and Thursdays till 12pm

Do you ever feel helpless? Do you ever feel like other things in your life are controlling you, not the other way around?

That is how I felt today.

Work was extremely stressful. We are insanely busy and, sadly, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. (As some of you may know, I am positive and happy 99% of the time. I love bringing good energy and having a smile on my face! Because LIFE IS GREAT! LIFE IS A BLESSING....)

But sometimes, my face hurts from smiling and all I want to do is say profanities every other word..this seems to happen most Wednesdays and Thursdays before 12pm.


It takes me a little while to calm down after work. Thank goodness I have a 30 minute drive to blast my music, talk to myself and say a prayer so that I get home safely.

 I walk in the door, and most of my stress goes away once a little fur ball named Cooper runs to me with his favorite toy....

I take some deep breathes... and all my frustrations from my day go away.

I have breathe in my body! I have energy to work out! I have food in the fridge! The Lord has SAVED me!

I am human. I get frustrated. I get impatient. I get sad. But I do not wallow in my sadness. I do not walk around with my head towards the ground.

I try to never make excuses. NOT UP IN HERE!!!! Do not give me any excuses. I literally can not stand them. If I want something, you darn well know it is going to happen one way or another. If I want something, I do it myself. More or less, it is just me being impatient and wanting things NOW. But I have a serious drive when I set my mind to something. My dad always told me to "visualize"...visualize the foul shot going into the basket, visualize the "A"...I do not underestimate the power of visualization.

I will not live my life and look back one day and wish I would have done something differently. Not anymore. (see a video that I posted at facebook.com/60dayjourney-- "My Story") I understand that somethings will not happen as soon as I want them to (for instance, my body will not be as "ripped" as I want it in a 2 week period... it will take some hard work, dedication, and time!)

It is very easy to get caught up in the "woo is me" way of thinking, i.e. "My job is horrible" ;"I have no new clothes" ;"My hair is too brown."  " I want to be skinnier." SNAP OUT OF IT!!!

The point is, I can get mad or, I can breathe, pray and be thankful for what the Good Lord has given me.

And I can yell...yelling helps too.

Day 2: If I am not feeling too hot, I shave my legs

You know the feeling you get before you get sick? Like you think tomorrow you are going to wake up with the "cold shakes" and a sore throat? Yea, that is me today.

It could be a mix of things.

I just went back to work after 2 blissful, incredible, happy, fabulous weeks off for my wedding (PS My wedding was the BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. I will forever be wed to the perfect man for me. I am so blessed!) During my time off, I would sleep in till 730a-8a, leisurely eat breakfast, possibly work out, watch some movies with Cooper (my dog), take Cooper on walks, go the library, and work lots and lots for my home business. Ohh yea, and actually hang out with my man. We work opposite schedules so we do not get to spend a lot of time together during the week. I love my husband and would love to spend more time with him. But I will enjoy the time that I can get! All in all, those two weeks were amazing!

Although I love waking up early (insert coffee cup into hand immediately!), I do not like waking up to go to corporate work. Call me crazy, but I would rather wake up early on a weekend day than a week day. So to say the least, my schedule is off a bit due to my Monday reality check. Do not get me wrong, I am blessed to have a paycheck!

My job is also a tad bit stressful. It is a lot of multitasking (no wait it is all multitasking). I deal with high volume, high emotions. Everyday is a struggle to keep a positive attitude. But it is a must!

Mind you, I get stressed out about everything! I get stressed out over computers, windows, cherry trees... you name it! It is one of the things I like least about myself. I have a certain way that I want everything to happen. If it does not go exactly as planned, I get so frustrated. I also have a strong desire to be the best. At everything. This is true for work as well.

What has helped TREMENDOUSLY is relying on the Lord for my troubles. I am a control freak. But I can not control everything! HE can! I have learned the power of prayer and the strength of our Lord!

My body might be in shock due to my new healthy eating habits. I let myself "enjoy" the bad foods of life last week (wedding cake, fast food, chicken wings, chocolate, brownies, pizza, you name it!) Please note: I will allow myself to eat a unrestricted meal once or twice a week during my 60 days.  But if I am going to follow this meal "to a T," my meals are very clean with little to no breads.

With my new eating lifestyle, I am "restricted" to 1200-1399 calories a day. Yes, you read that right. I can eat 5x a day of the following:
4 servings of primary vegetables
2 servings of secondary vegetables
2 servings of fresh fruit
4 servings of lean protein
3 servings of healthy fats

I was nervous that I would lack energy. I actually feel great so far (hunger-wise)! The only part that is upsetting is when I look at my little plastic baggy of 21 peanuts and realize that is all I can eat for 3 servings of healthy fats. You should see how little 21 peanuts look in a sandwich bag!!

So with the schedule change and going back to work, my body has felt a lil under the weather. So when I got home from work, I ate my Snack #2, did a 30min core workout, took a shower and shaved my legs.

I feel better already.

Day 1

This blog is my journey from being weak to strong- mentally and physically. There is so much that I want to talk about. I was never good with papers. I would always write the way that I talk. And I talk a lot. I guess we will see how this goes (yikes!) But I want to get everything out on the table.


Regarding fitness (which the blog will mostly be about), I have always been athletic. By that I mean that I was in sports from before I can remember. My dad really wanted me to excel in sports. I was raised to work extremely hard for what I wanted. But I also felt like I was never, ever good enough. I felt that I could never lose. I remember playing softball games in the summer. I would cry every single time my team lost. I felt like I let everyone down, like it was my fault and my fault alone that we lost. I remember one of my coaches being really concerned about me since I would take losses so hard. This mentality of never, ever being good enough, stuck with me for QUITE sometime.


The first sport I played was most likely soccer. Probably pee-wee somewhere in Worthington, Ohio. I never had a nac for soccer. I would kick the ball and it literally would go ten feet. I thought there was something wrong with my hips. I could run really fast for my age so the coaches just let me play (probably run around in circles). But I got to play soccer with the boys so I would run extra fast just to beat them! Luckily, to my parents' pleasure, my sister got the soccer jeans in the family. And she wore them well!! Full ride in soccer for college. Now, that's awesome!


In middle school, I played soccer (because all the cool kids did), basketball (because all the cool kids did) and softball (because all the girls did - plus I loved it). I went to a small catholic school and loved every single minute of it. Like honestly, every single minute of it. I grew up with the most fun, loving people that I will ever know. Although I do not keep in touch with them, they will always be a part of me. I will never forget the championship games, our super-cool cheers, and heartbreaking losses. I loved all the sports I played. I was fast, and I was really good.


I went to Bishop Watterson for my freshman year. Once high school hit, some of us girls tried out for field hockey (side note, our varsity field hockey team won States that year. States people!!!!) I got on the JV team with my friends. I also played softball in the spring.   I was good at both but always felt like I could never be as strong as the other girls. I never had muscle per say. I also had gained a lot of weight in high school. I would eat carbs like crazy. I remember being really anxious a lot of the time, depressed and never feeling pretty enough or smart enough or good enough (this still happens every so often but I am light years from where I used to be).


High school was really tough for me. You know how people say that middle school is a bad time for kids. Not for me. Middle school was awesome. High school was the worst time of my life.  I went from being extremely confident to being depressed and anxious. I had very, very little self confidence.  I wanted to be perfect and popular. That is all I thought about it. I needed people to love me. I could never be at home on a weekend night because I had to be around people, all the time. It was a horrible way to live.


It got so bad that I developed an eating disorder my senior year of high school. I also took diet pills upon diet pills because I figured if I was skinny then everyone will like me and I will be the most popular person! My grades feel through the cracks and my parents got really stressed out. I would fluctuate from being really thin to fat and then back again.  If I could forget about high school, I would. But I know how far I have come, and that makes me strong.


I forgot who I was in highschool. I had no sense of self. I wanted to be friends with everyone. I had the strongest desire to be liked by everyone. High school was devastating. Its like I was chasing after something that I could never find. I could never really find myself- ladies and gents, it took me YEARS to find me again.


College was not much better than high school. Freshman year I went crazy with alcohol and boys. I gained A LOT of weight. I was drinking a lot and binge eating along with that. Freshman year and sophomore year were the same. I made a couple best friends (whom I still have to this day), but I was NEVER happy with me. I never looked in the mirror and was proud of what I saw. I had no self respect. I transferred schools for my junior and senior year. Ohio Wesleyan was an awesome time! I had so much fun and learned a lot (it is such a great school).  But my relationships consumed me. I was still really insecure and my relationships were like rollercoaster rides.


Honestly, I do not feel like I became myself until I was 25 years old. I was a slow bloomer when it came to independency and self confidence. I felt good about myself, but I was involved in a very hostile relationship that really took a toll on me. When you let people treat you like shit, then you will start to think you are as well. I figured that I would have to stay in a bad relationship because no one would ever love me. I needed love.  I craved love. I was nothing unless someone loved me.


It took me a long time to love me. A long time. I am 100000x more confident than I used to be. Once I started loving myself, then everything fell into place. Mostly importantly, I never had a relationship with our Lord. His love is so strong!!!!!


 I am in an AMAZING relationship with my husband (just married on 9/20/2014).  If I have any advice for the girls or boys out there, is to know that YOU ARE LOVED.


So I wanted to create a blog because, well, I used to always think I was WEAK. I still look at myself and think "girl, you got nooooo muscle!" Now, mind you, I am mentally strong, but I want to look in the mirror and see muscle. Not just flab and muscle somewhere in there. I hear all the time people call me "tiny" and "skinny" But I want to be RIPPED! I want my body to be as strong as my mind!


This 60 Day Challenge, I will be following the clean eating and fitness plan created by the Chalene Johnson. The fitness incorporates pilates and yoga. The eating plan are all clean foods. By the end of these 60 days, I will look in the mirror and be proud.


I try my hardest to post daily, but at least every 3 days. I will post what I eat, my workouts and anything else I want to talk about :)


This is my 60 day journey to Chiseled-town.