My Clean Kitchen

If you would've entered my kitchen 2 months ago, you probably would've been shocked.
It seemed normal to me, I swear. And maybe for some of you, this is your normal. It was my normal! And it had been my normal for 21 years!

But here is what my kitchen looked like....

1. The pantry was filled with cans of vegetables and soup, popcorn, chips, snack boxes of chip bags, crunchy bars, crackers. Boxes full of cake mixes and brownies mixes that I made almost weekly. WE HAD TONS OF SNACKS.
2. The window ledge had a huge sack of potatoes and lots of Sara Lee Bread Thins
3. Our freezer was STOCKED with frozen packages of french fries, tater tots, chicken nuggets, and pizzas.
4. Our garbage can was full of fast food bags and trash. Burger wrappers, fry containers, and soda cups were thrown in the trash and stacking up rapidly. We ate at a fast food place at least once a week.
5. Our fridge, ohhhh our fridge. hahahahahhaha, I'm seriously laughing out loud just thinking about what our fridge looked like before...hahahahah I can't stop laughing. Let's start with the door of the fridge...The top was FULL of butter. I bought 2 or three boxes of butter a week because I used so much butter in all of our cooking. We also had the LARGE size of all the thick and creamy dressings, sauces, and more. We had a ton of whip cream and ice cream toppings, our fridge door was complete junk. I used a lot of fruit and veggies in my cooking so that filled the bottom drawers. Our fridge was filled with Soda, Peach Tea, Iced Tea, and Milk. We rarely drank any water because we had plenty of other drinks to drink. We ate cheese and meat ALL DAY in everything. So our deli drawer was filled to the brim with pepperoni, salami, turkey, chicken, and 4 different types of cheese sliced. Our grocery bill was $200. And I thought that was good...


When I was preparing for the 21 day fix, I knew we wouldn't be able to eat like we always did. This probably wasn't the best way to get rid of the food, but rather than throwing it out, we basically gorged ourselves on food the night before we started! We ate and drank as much as we could to get rid of as much as we could.

What my kitchen looks like now....
1. The pantry is basically empty! I have lots of rice and quinoa, healthy flours and sugars, and a few vegetable cans left over from before (but I have yet to use them!) I use this space now to store extras. We have our olive jars and our peanut butter there too!
2. The window ledge has become the resting ground for our onions, just a small amount of potatoes, and all of our tortillas. We replaced our bread with tortillas!
3. Our freezer is simply full of meat (ground turkey and chicken, the healthy kind!) that I buy and don't use right away, so we want to save!
4. Our garbage can still fills up so much! But it's mainly with the meat packaging materials, or small bags of vegetables that I buy.
5. Our fridge... no butter! We use olive oil on everything now. We still have our dressings, but it's a slow process. All we have to drink is almond milk and water! Veggies and fruits stock the drawers and all of the shelves! Our meat and cheese for our sandwiches is limited and low sodium.

...and I spent $60 on groceries yesterday!


i thought I'd include a short snippet of my typical grocery list. Some of these I buy each week, some of them I buy every other week, just depending on how much it we eat :)

My typical grocery shopping list
1. bag of apples
2. bag of oranges
3. 2 cartons of strawberries
4. 1 bag of baby carrots
5. 1 head of lettuce
6. 1 container of minced garlic
7. turkey bacon
8. container of turkey lunch meat, low sodium
9. 1 bag of shredded mexican style cheese
10. 1 container of vanilla greek yogurt
11. 4 packs of 8 wheat tortillas
12. 2 packaged of 1 lb. ground turkey
13. 1 package of boneless skinless chicken breast
14. 2 Almond Milks
15. 1 jar of Organic peanut butter
16. 1 package of 18 eggs
17. 2 cucumbers
18. three green peppers
19. 2 tomatoes
20. almonds


THAT'S IT! AND I SPEND $60!

So, if you are trying to make your kitchen a clean eating kitchen, then I hope this list helps you out! It's a process and it takes time. YOU GOT THIS!

Support System

First – Welcome to my blog – I’m updating, renovating, editing, and trying to make my blog the best blog that it can be. So, you’ll just have to survive my constant changes for a while J

I've always had people who wanted me to follow my dreams, do big things, and were proud of all of my accomplishments! My parents (and sisters) came to every concert, boring awards assemblies, all graduations, ..you name it, they were there. I didn't realize how much I treasured that support until things got hard and I realized how much I NEEDED that support.

Especially in the health and fitness world.

Let's be real...

I grew up, I moved out, and I needed to cook for myself. That was fine with me. I didn't need them around all of the time to applaud as soon as I did good things. I got married, I had Jared :). 

As I started working out, Jared became the person that would make me do it on the days when I didn't want too. Jared was a great support system - and he still is! He always reminds me to participate in my squat group. 

I became a Beachbody coach in late August, early September. My family didn't (and still doesn't) take me seriously at all. I'm not sure if it's because they don't see how it fits into my life (because I don't live with them daily) or maybe it's because I'm not at my goal weight or my goal size, so they think it's another phase. I'm not quite sure. I'm not offended by it at all, it's more of an observation rather. As I began selling and promoting Beachbody products I have found no involvement or support from them whatsoever. I almost feel stupid talking to them about something that I'm so passionate about because in all honesty, they don't really care. Which is fine, they are allowed not to care.

But this brings me to my next point:

Where I have found the best support system in the entire world (besides my husband, who embarks on an adventure with me every day.)

CHALLENGE GROUPS! I have met the most amazing, supportive, and influential women in challenge groups that post every day. They celebrate with me when I lose those stubborn pounds and they mourn with me when that chocolate cake is too irresistible and I take a bite. They proudly share sweaty selfies with me every day - not afraid to be makeup-less, sweaty, and natural in front of a camera, motivating me to complete my workout for the day. They encourage me to keep going - through the lazy days, the stressful days, and the easy days. They know what it's like to build a relationship with someone, to be in constant contact, to help them find the program, and for it to either follow through or fall through. For these women, some who I have and never will meet in person, I am grateful!

Although I wish my family would invest and involve themselves in my Beachbody life, I know it will come with time.  Especially as they start seeing my progress! :) However, I want to stress the importance of a challenge group, the solid foundation and support system that helped me complete workout programs day in and day out. Challenge groups are constantly forming and going on all around you - please ask me! If there isn't a challenge group for you, I will make one!

We all need support in life - whether for our passions, our jobs, our kids, and our marriages. Take advantage of that support. You can do it on your own, I'm not saying you can't! But, the journey is so much easier, the progress is so much sweeter, and the end result is so much better when you have your cheer leading squad running alongside you the entire way. 

Love and blessings to you all..