3 Day Refresh Adventure

Hi everyone hope all is well!

We have made it home safe and sound; and even though we loved being around our family, we were missing our house. So as I said in my other post we (my husband and I) purchased the 3 Day Refresh System from Beachbody and I wanted to share our experiences with you.

In case you were wondering what I am talking about
The 3 Day Refresh is a new program form Beachbody which helps you lose weight, energize your body all while you get a head start on healthy eating habits. If you need more info click on 3 Day Refresh.

What happened during the three days?
Day 1 (133.6 lbs/34 inch) was not so great and I am being totally honest with you guys. After all those weeks of vacation eating we suddenly stopped and started the program. Before vacation started I was already 10 lbs overweight and after that I had gained 10 lbs more. With that in mind I had a massive headache, felt weak and wanted to eat a lot. I always take my Shakeology with milk, but had to switch to water (I did not enjoy it as usual but it was doable). I was ok with the fruits and vegetables and actually enjoyed it more than I expected. Personally I did not enjoy the Fiber sweep because of the grainy texture that it has. Dinners were awesome! Oh and I got creative and created my own vegetable broth for dinner.

Day 2 (132.4 lbs/33.5 inch) was way better than Day 1. I had a little headache but it went away by itself. I can truly say that I did not felt as hungry as the previous day. Did not crave the coffee or any other thing, well maybe some chicken at least but any how I did survive it. I actually enjoyed being on the kitchen preparing every meal or snack it was very relaxing. I also left my comfort zone with the vegetables and started mixing them with almond butter and hummus and it was great.

Day 3 (131.5 lbs/32 inch) was excellent! Did not have any cravings or felt like I was starving at all. We even went to church and  could handle waiting a little bit longer than usual to get my snacks and lunch. My body was feeling very different at this point that how it felt on Day 1. I was very proud of myself.

Today as I went to the scale it came up to 129.6 lbs and my inches were back to 30! I was so impress and as I said before proud. I could have deviated, eaten more than what the plan had or just quit when I got the migraine but I didn't. I was very surprised and relieved to see that it did not affect my blood sugar (hypoglycemic) and that I felt like I was eaten what I really needed. It also served as a team to reflect and get more in touch with my feelings and with God almost like fasting to me because I enjoy steaks and pork a lot! Maybe you can relate to that. I was so glad I did this, cause later on today I had a reporter come and visit to do a segment on Puertorricans moving to Texas. I was so grateful I had those 4 lbs and inches our of my body...

Things that I learned during this 3 Day Journey:
1. If I made an effort and be creative I could eat more veggies!
2. I can control what I eat even when cravings are present.
3. If you put your mind, body and soul to it you can do anything in three days.
4. I still don't enjoy grainy drinks.
5. I can survive without coffee for more than one day.
6. There are different salads and dressings you can make.

So I am hoping this will help you see how my journey and experience with the 3 Day Refresh came to an end, and at that a very good end loosing 4 pounds and 4 inches in just 3 Days how amazing is that? It can be done and its simple. So what are you doing to be a healthier version of yourself lately?
Would love to hear all about it, go to my new coach page on Facebook and share it with us! Until the next time.....

Why I wanted to be a healthier teacher!

I have been trying to live a healthier lifestyle for a few months now. So you have a better idea of what I am going to expose let me tell you a little bit about my health issues as a teacher.

Everyone in the World acknowledges teaching as one of the highest stress jobs. As teachers we are expected to do numerous things and on top of it attend to our students and lessons. We are constantly exposed to illnesses and stress. My health issues got worse since a started teaching. My first two years as a teacher were very hard on my health. I was constantly absent because I either had to go to a doctor (generalists, urologists, gastroenterologist, obgyn) you name it I had to go to it. After a while I got better but whenever stress raised up again I will start getting sick. I was not sleeping enough, skipping meals or eating junk. This reflected in my teaching why? I did not have enough energy, I had to be absent a lot, I was cranky and I did not have the strength to plan good lessons plus my tolerance was lower.

When I moved to Texas a few months ago a familiar illness pattern started to appear. It was a new experience all the way, new education system, alternative certification program and newly wed! Plus allergies came to a start which I never had! I used all my sick and personal day on the first semester and off course parents started to complain and I do not blame them but at the same time my health is important. In all of it I started to get a little depressed and overwhelmed, so I had to do something about it.

I went to a doctor and he explain that I was under lots of stress and my immune system was not responding well. He recommended a low dose anti depressant, workout, vitamins and healthier eating. In my head I was like what???? I do not have time for none of that! But I had to, so I accepted the anti-depressant as something short term and it actually helped. I was more focused and not so worried as I was before so I could actually started to have better night sleep. I organized my schedule so I could try and get at least a 7 to 8 hour sleep. Just by doing that I notice more energy during the day and a better mood. To that I added workouts, a very healthy shake as breakfast which I usually skipped and a healthier meal planning.
I saw the difference right away and my students and co-workers too. I only do a 30 minute (21dayfix) workout after I get home and it makes me have more energy to finish all the school work or other chores that I have left for the day. This helps me relax and throw all the frustration or stress that the day has put on me. The shakeology helps out greatly with all the vitamins, minerals that I am doing has 70 super nutrition ingredients which boost your digestive and immune system and lots of vitamins, mineral and proteins.

In conclusion what I want to stress out is that our job is very stressful and it exposes ourselves to many illnesses. Do research about it, I have and all coincide in the same things and that is that we need to take care of ourselves and look for healthy ways to deal with all that stress. As much as our students need intention teaching, aligned lesson plans and engaging lessons, they also need their teachers in the classroom, healthy teachers for that matter. We are there role models for our students and for that we need to model that being healthy is a very important part of being successful and a great person. If you need help in this area, motivation or some info please let me know. I want to help teacher become healthier teacher. I host a facebook group where we encourage and motivate each other to achieve this important goal. Hope this help and stay healthy!