Humbling...

The Easter season always brings about a renewed sense of humbleness for me. Knowing that Jesus died FOR ME and I was on His mind as he hung on the cross - just blows my mind. My heart immediately humbles just thinking about it. For me? Me?? The wannabe elementary teacher who moonlights as a Spanish teacher, just married, working on weightloss, trying to find a new job, attempting clean eating recipes. Who spends her free time watching Keeping up with the Kardashians, home improvement shows, and Teen Mom. Who avoids cleaning at all costs until it needs to be done. Who has a rust bucket of a car. Who is a normal regular 21 year old girl with an explosive (mostly annoying) over the top personality.  I mean, I'm not that great for someone to die for me. It's not that big of a deal. and I'm also not the greatest Christian.

Sometimes swear words leave my lips in times of anger. Sometimes I talk about people when I'm annoyed by them. I don't serve others with a selfless heart like I should. On days when my job is the most frustrating thing in the world and my students don't listen, I don't go to them to figure out where to make it better for them, I just shut down and give them homework.

Jesus died for this! ^^ he died for ME. he died for YOU. He died for every single person in this crazy messed up world because he LOVES us!

I've never understood the intense kind of love that makes you die for someone. People talked about it alot at times, especially when 9/11 happened and a lot of people went to war. Not only were there people dying for our country, but they were dying for their partners over there. Taking bombs and bullets daily for their friends. I didn't get it. I didn't think I could ever feel THAT MUCH for a person to die for them. Until I got married - there's some sort of thing that happens when you decide to spend the rest of your life with someone. It becomes less about the lovey dovey kissy hand holdy life and more about the permanent best friend that you get to live with every day. I would die for Jared in a heart beat if I had too, because I love him that much.

Jesus has this intense love for EACH AND EVERY person in this world! He feels the way I feel for Jared for everyone. My mind is blown - and I get goosebumps just thinking about the intense amount of love that He has for us.

There's an amazing hymn in our hymn book about God's love, titled, "The Love of God". The verses are simply beautifully written and the words are beyond comparison. One line says this, "Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the sky of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill and everyone a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry nor could the scroll, contain the whole that stretched from sky to sky." If we fill the ocean with ink, pretend the sky was parchment, use every stalk on earth as our pen and everyone began writing about God's love, we'd drain oceans, and we wouldn't even have enough room in the sky to write about it :) HOW AMAZING.

But back to Jesus, because he is what this entire weekend is about. He died and came back to us on Easter Sunday so we could have a new life! For this, I am eternally grateful and plan on telling Him so when I get to heaven. I often think of God's amazing grace in an old hymn..and if you know us Mennonites, you can definitely hear the 4 part harmony.

"Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin...how can my tongue describe it? Where can this grace begin? Taking away my burdens, setting my spirit free, oh the wonderful grace of Jesus, reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace, the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea, the rolling sea. Wonderful grace all sufficient for me, for even me. Broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it, greater far than all my sin and shame. Oh magnify the precious grace of Jesus, praise his name!"

AH. Thank you God for sending your son, thank you Jesus for your amazing sacrifice.

A day in the life: My typical clean eating day!

ALOT of people ask me about clean eating, what it is, and how it works! I wanted to give you a sneak peek into my life - what my typical clean eating day looks like!

--I've taken the time to take pictures of everything I eat each and every day. I even documented the times! So this is my schedule of life! :)

6:15 AM - Wake up, scroll phone to wake up, hit snooze four times...
6:30 to 7 - Get ready - I'm pretty low maintenance
7 to 7:30 - pack lunch, prep lunch and AM snack (this doesn't take long at all!!), clean up kitchen, pack up teacher bags, get ready to go!
7:30 - DRINK SHAKEOLOGY!
 7:40-10 - get to school, Teach!

10:00 AM SNACK - typically cottage cheese, and a vegetable like baby carrots or a fruit like raspberries/blueberries
10:15-12:30 Teach
12:30 - LUNCH - Everyday I eat a wheat tortilla, 6 slices of low sodium turkey lunch meat, lettuce, and sprinkle of shredded cheese with an orange
1:00-3:30 - Teach and head home
3:45 - PM SNACK - my favorite snack to make when I get home from school is baked tortilla chips. I put a tortilla on a cookie sheet, sprinkle cinnamon on it, and then bake it at 350 degrees for 7 minutes! Delicious!
4:00-6:00 - check emails, prepare dinner, play with Daisy, watch Friends Reruns on TBS, relaxxxx
6:00 - DINNER - my dinner always consists of some fresh vegetable, some grain (baked potato, cup of quinoa, cup of rice), and some meat - I love my burger recipe I posted earlier, but I also make tacos, chicken enchiladas, baked chicken, etc.
6:30-9 - Workout, shower, do some Beachbody messaging, facebooking, instagramming
9:00 PM SNACK - I love having a cup of fresh fruit before I go to bed! My favorite is strawberries!

"Wait, but Alyssa...you eat 6 times a day??" Yes, why yes I do :) I never go hungry, I'm always full, and I'm boosting my metabolism by keeping it working hard.

I can't stress enough the importance of eating 6 small meals a day, even if you have to hide in the bathroom at work to nibble it down ;) Kidding! Don't rush your food! I don't get a planning period in my morning schedule, I teach straight through from 8:15 to 12:30, however, my students know I'm on track for healthy eating and I can usually take a bite, help a student, take a bite, teach, take a bite, continue on. Do I get to sit down and enjoy my snack? No! haha, but sometimes I have to eat and keep busy!

It's so easy to eat clean! It literally takes one hour, one day to plan everything, decide your schedule, and then from then on, for the rest of your life, it's easy peasy lemon squeezy!! :) If I don't cheat and eat clean, it's easy for me to lose 5 pounds in a week. and Keep.It.Off. Because losing weight is 80% food and 20% exercise. Exercise helps to burn fat and build muscle!

I also can't stress enough the importance of Shakeology and how it's changed my life amazingly! I haven't worked out since the 21 day fix in February (I know..I'm not proud of that...) I just started working out again this week. It's Wednesday - and this morning, I was down two pounds since Monday! BUT! I haven't gained a pound because of Shakeology, if anything I've lost weight! It's true, I really can't believe it how much Shakeology curbs my appetite, and keeps my metabolism going!!

Hi, I'm Alyssa and I'm an emotional eater

Taking a moment to be completely vulnerable, honest, and open with you all again. Because the support from you is overwhelming as I am in the midst of this get healthy journey!

This week was a huge slap in the face. Hah! I was supposed to start the 21 day fix again - and I did - kinda. I ate clean Monday and Tuesday. But I had a cold and had no energy and was exhausted so I didn't work out. On Wednesday, I totally broke my clean eating streak and this continued all the way into Friday evening...

I'm so lame.

But I realized one important thing throughout this week and it's that I'm an emotional eater. Not just any emotion - all emotions!

Something good happened? Let's go out to eat to celebrate!
I'm extremely tired? Let's get McDonalds
Stressed out a bit? Enjoy a snickers candy bar!
Worried about the future? take 2 servings of everything
Period not arriving yet again? You deserve two cans of soda
Frustrated with my students? Grab a cookie from the faculty room
Really excited about a potential job interview? Eat half a pizza by yourself

All of these things happened this week! Thankfully my eating was clean 80% of the day, so I haven't gained any weight (Thanks Shakeology!) But I realized something so important...I let me emotions dictate how and what and when I eat instead of listening to my body. As women, our emotions are consistently on a roller coaster (not to stereotype, but that's honestly just how we work.) Jared and I have discovered how emotions affects men and women differently simply by being married.

When something goes wrong at work, Jared leaves it at work, comes home, and doesn't worry about it. If I couldn't find the right outfit in the morning before school, I bring that to school, share it with every faculty member and some students, come over, aggravated, and take it out on dinner where I probably make a feast because, "I've had a bad day." Men tend to compartmentalize their emotions into sections of their day, where we tend to smear our emotions into our entire day (which can be both good and bad!)

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my chest because I realized how much of an emotional eater I am! It's like, finally...a reason...that makes so much sense for why it's so easy for me to cheat on a meal plan. MY EMOTIONS!

So, my 21 day fix challenge group is starting on Monday and I have some amazing women in it and I plan on starting OVER with them again.

 Is it fun to say that I failed this week? No, but I'm failing forward! Is it reassuring to say I'll try again? Kinda, not really. But I have goals and did this 21 day fix before, so I know I can do it again! Jared will be on board with me and we'll kick some major couple booty! And I'm going to continue to pick myself up, dust myself off, and start again.

In the mean time...I'm kinda depressed because it's cold out, so I'm going to go eat pancakes covered in syrup.

kidding... ;)

(not kidding, it's the maple festival! But I'm going to eat pancakes because it's the Maple Festival, not because I'm sad that it's snowing at the end of March) But..on track tomorrow!

HEALTHY HOMEMADE Burgers

So, I married a man who loves food. Specifically meat. When we were completing the 21 day fix, I wasn't exactly the most creative person in the kitchen mostly because the planning process was slightly overwhelming. But then, Jared became kinda interested in the plan..and he started asking if we could add this or if we could switch it up with that...and I came to a realization...

Jared was being creative with our food...and it was actually way better....and way more filling...and 21 day fix approved!

So, I created a burger system..that to this day we still eat atleast once a week, if not twice! I decided to share this all with you!

INGREDIENTS
 - 1 lb of ground turkey meat
 - olive oil
 - minced garlic - 2 tablespoons
 - cumin
 - oregano
 - paprika
 - powdered garlic

(spices/seasonings are free game with the 21 day fix! Hallelujah!)

Mix the 2 tablespoons of minced garlic with the seasonings. I never actually measured out any of the seasonings, but if I guesstimated it'd probably be a full tablespoon of each. I just kinda put it what I feel like! Take some ground turkey meat and fill a red container with it (or about a 1/2 a cup). Take the meat out, roll it in a ball, and then form it into a patty. I usually place these in the skillet at this point and put some olive oil over them. I spread part of the seasoning on the side facing up. As it's cooking, I flip it every so often. When I flip it for the first time, I put some olive oil and the rest of the seasoning on the side I haven't seasoned yet. From there, I just flip it until it's done!

I serve this with a tortilla, some shredded cheese on top, and lettuce. A side of strawberries and a half baked potato make it the most delicious meal ever!

7 Day Clean Eating Challenge

Holy Cow! I haven't written a blog in almost a week...not cool, Alyssa, not cool.
I've had the wonderful privilege of leading a 7 day clean eating challenge for my Beachbody Team! Because of the interest, I opened it up to the other coaches on my team and we ended up having over 60 women join in our clean eating challenge! It was definitely a rough 7 days, but we made it! WE DID IT! And I am more than excited to share results with you :) But before I do that, I want to explain a little bit about the 7 day clean eating group and how it worked.

What is clean eating?
Clean eating is avoiding processed foods and using mostly organic, natural, and fresh ingredients to make recipes! It's about being more conscious of your food's journey from origin to your plate. These ladies really buckled down, focused, and stepped away from the frozen foods, the canned goods, the boxed meals, and started eating healthier! This was just the beginning, because let's be real, we can't just go cold turkey ;)

How does the group work?
Once the ladies signed up on my website (or their coaches), I'd add them to the facebook group that I created. Remember - this is FREE! All they had to do was make a free account and commit to the meal plan/participating in the group. On the Saturday before our group started, I posted the grocery list and everyone went shopping. People were posting their groceries everywhere and it was so fun to see everyone participating! Sunday, I posted the meal calendar for the week just so everyone could have an idea of how it was going to work. From then on, each day I posted twice. In the morning, it was usually something inspirational, and in the evening, it was the recipes and directions for the meal plan the next day. The participation by everyone in the group is what made it special! We had mama's, grandma's, college students, it was such a variety of women working so hard to eat clean and healthy - in the midst of crazy busy and different lifestyles.

What did we eat?
Delicious yummy awesomeness! That's what! I'm kidding..but seriously :)
Here is a break down of what our week looked like!
Monday:
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich
AM Snack: 1/2 Banana, 7 walnuts
Lunch: Tuna Salad
PM Snack: Shakeology/Cottage Cheese
Supper: Honey Dijon Chicken with Steamed Garlic Parm Broccoli
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Berries and Yogurt
AM Snack: Shakeology/2 Eggs
Lunch: Turkey Avocado Wrap
PM Snack: Celery and Peanut Butter
Supper: Grilled Teriyaki Salmon
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Wednesday:
Breakfast: Pineapple and Cottage Cheese
AM Snack: Veggies and Hummus
Lunch: Loaded Baked Potato
PM Snack: Yogurt/Shakeology
Supper:Chicken Tacos with Beans and Quinoa
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Thursday:
Breakfast: 2 eggs/Shakeology
AM Snack: Nutty Apple
Lunch: Egg Salad Wrap
PM Snack: 10 almonds and a medium orange
Supper: Steak with Spinach and Baked Potato
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Friday:
Breakfast: Strawberry Waffle and Sausage
AM Snack: Yogurt/Shakeology
Lunch: Chicken and Hummus Pita
PM Snack: Veggie and Cheese
Supper: Rosemary Pork Chops with Peas and Wild Rice
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Saturday:
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich
AM Snack: 1/2 Banana, 7 walnuts
Lunch: Tuna Salad
PM Snack: Shakeology/Cottage Cheese
Supper: Honey Dijon Chicken with Steamed Garlic Parm Broccoli
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit
Sunday:
Breakfast: Berries and Yogurt
AM Snack: Shakeology/2 Eggs
Lunch: Turkey Avocado Wrap
PM Snack: Celery and Peanut Butter
Supper: Grilled Teriyaki Salmon
Night Snack: Veggies/Fruit

See?! I told you, it was yummy deliciousness and it was ALOT of food. We were allowed coffee, but just one cup with only one teaspoon of milk/sugar. But other than that, mainly water!

Results
  I will share results for the people that reported back to me! I'll use code names instead of real names, just to keep some privacy. Did all 60 women participate? No. Life gets in the way. Did the people that did participate commit 100%? No. Did everyone share their results with me? No. But for the people that did, I'll display here!
I am so proud of each and every person in our group. They are taking the first steps towards a clean eating journey and that is the most important part.
Participants:
A: "4 lbs. and a dress size! I only exercised once and that was on Saturday so it's all the food!!!"
B: down 7 pounds and 13.25 inches
C: 7 pounds and 5.5 inches
D: 2 pounds and 9.5 inches
E: 6 pounds!
F: "4 lbs and 5 inches gone!"
G: 3.8 pounds lost!
H: down 5.6 pounds
I: 3.2 pounds
J: 3.8 pounds
K: 4.6 pounds
L: 6 pounds!

There are so many more ladies (like I said 60++++) that are in my group and just haven't reported results yet! YOU CAN SEE HOW AMAZING IT IS!

THIS WAS ONLY IN 7 DAYS OF EATING! 7!! that's it?!! Imagine if we kept this up until you met your goal! :) It's possible...believe me!

In the end, this was a really really really hard week for me! Although I had been sticking to my nutrition pretty decently since the 21 day fix, I definitely wasn't staying 100% committed to it! This week makes the 21 day fix look easy. During this week, I didn't have a choice what to eat, but with the 21 day fix, I could swap things in and out as I craved them. :) I'm so excited for the next step, because so many ladies have already committed to completing the 21 day fix with me now! Jared and I are starting today with Round 2! WHOOHOO and the ladies will all start next week! I'm so super excited and pumped! It had been a fantastic, tiring, inspiring, and rewarding week!