4 years into my nursing journey...

I never knew how long I would nurse Addison for, but I knew I wanted to go for 2 years and let her wean on her own terms. I never imagined we'd still be nursing at 4 years, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know the end is in sight, as there are nights she doesn't want to and just wants to be rocked, or mornings she springs into action instead of wanting to cuddle.

I loved seeing the pictures and reading the stories at this site: http://thehonestbodyproject.com/?p=859

2 years into my health, fitness, and weight loss journey with Beachbody

The first year of my fitness journey was AMAZING. I saw results immediately and all year long. My 2nd year was VERY different. If I didn't have the support of my accountability groups and education to give me a new mindset on RESULTS AND HEALTH, I would probably think that not losing any more weight or inches from year 1 to 2 would be a bad thing.
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So many people see results and then QUIT without realizing that health is a journey, not a number on the scale or destination. Then they go back to their old habits and wonder why they gain the weight back. 🤔 If you really want to be healthy, you've got to draw a line in the sand and say "ENOUGH" and never go back. That's what 2015 to 2016 was for me.
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I STILL drink Shakeology daily, I STILL workout at home 5-7 days a week, I STILL use my portion control containers and meal plan and allow for moderation and indulgences, and that's why I am STILL down the same amount of weight and inches as I lost in the first year of my health and fitness journey. I found the secret to lasting results, and that's to LAST- just keep on keeping on!
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If you want to see changes like this and feel the benefits of more energy, better digestion, clearer skin, less cravings, more confidence, more patience, better relationships, then are you ready for a commitment? I will do it WITH you and I WON'T QUIT on you. The deadline to join my June 6th accountability group is fast approaching.
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Who's in? Comment below or message me to get started. 
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If you are reading this after the fact, please contact me via Facebook at www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving to see when my next accountability group starts!!

Struggles make you stronger

WHAT IS ONE STRUGGLE THAT MADE YOU STRONGER? *Transformation Tuesday*

          I want to share with you part of my story that has nothing really to do with my physical journey at all. I went into grad school directly after graduating college because the job market was bad and I (fortunately) was able to attend with a tuition waiver and a stipend from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2 years later when I graduated the job market was still bad, so I moved to Iowa where Corey had been teaching for 2 years. In this small town area there were no jobs related to my field and every entry-level job turned me down because I was “overqualified”.
          The only job I did get was through Corey’s school as a 1-on-1 aide for minimum wage, and the next year I got my sub license and worked while I was pregnant. Subbing work was slow also, but it got us used to living on 1 income before Addie was born. I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom, and since I never really became involved in a job/career out of grad school, it was an easy transition to stay at home and we were already used to living on only Corey’s income. That doesn’t mean living on a teacher’s salary is easy, but we are used to it.
          I used to think that because I couldn’t find a job to put my master’s degree “to use” that I was a failure. But those setbacks really just set me up for being a stay at home mom, and then about 2 years into staying at home I joined the Beachbody family as a coach to get a discount on Shakeology and to turn my health around. 2 more years later and what started as a way to save money has now turned into a purpose to help people change their lives through health and fitness, a way to bring an in an income, AND I still get to stay at home. heart emoticon 

          My point is... In the THICK of it... Your life may seem out of control... it may feel like everything is going wrong... You might be struggling... Financially, spiritually, emotionally, and physically... But THE TRUTH IS... it may just be the thing needed to create your AMAZING future!!! Stay strong... Have faith! Everything is going to turn out just how God intends it to!

Hospitality vs. The "Perfection Infection"

What do you see here? Deep down, I see a couch with hidden Kirby hairs and one that desperately needs to be shampooed.

In years past, I would have let my "perfection infection" drive me nuts and would have deep cleaned not only the couch but the whole house before hosting Addison's birthday party. And if I couldn't get it all done before people came over, I would have been upset. Not to mention very difficult to deal with as I was doing all of the cleaning.
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This year I took a different approach and did what I could, asked Corey for help (which he gave and I'm so grateful for), and the rest I just let go and focused on enjoying the people that came to the house and enjoying the celebration.
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While reading one of my books "No More Perfect Moms" the author brings up this question: Is our resistance to hospitality and allowing our fears to control us an act of selfishness? Do we care more about how we feel then how our hospitality may make the other person feel? I can guarantee that no one at the party mentioned the fact that my couch would look nicer if it was shampooed; and if anyone thought it at least they didn't say it, so thanks for that!
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I am learning that perfection is an unrealistic standard, and maybe just an organized reality and a welcoming heart and spirit is more important than a house that looks like it came out of a magazine. Hospitality is our opportunity to be Jesus to those around us and it is an extension of our hearts. ❤
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Offering hospitality puts the emphasis on others and strives to meet their physical and spiritual needs. I love a part from my book said: your hospitality should make people feel REFRESHED, NOT IMPRESSED when they leave your home.
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Do you struggle with extending hospitality to others? I hope that sharing this with you can empower you to replace fear with courage, insecurity with confidence, and judgment with grace. And invite people over to be part of your reality- no unrealistic expectations or perfection required.

Unexpected car repair? No problem!

I'm just at the oil change place sipping my Shakeology when I get the news that my squeaky car has a bad U joint. Like DANGEROUSLY bad. The bill: $180. 😳
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Guess what? For the first time getting this kind of news I don't have to freak out and set a later appointment until we come up with the money or sell a few things. 🙌🏻 Why not?
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Because that's covered from my last 3 Beachbody weekly pay checks. 👊 We save what I make and sometimes it goes toward fun things like Addie's soccer sign up/equipment ⚽️ but sometimes it goes into savings for times like this. 🚙
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The fact that I can pay for things like this just from sharing my health and fitness journey honestly and helping other people do the same is such a blessing.
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If you'd like to turn your fitness into a business and are the tiniest bit curious about what I do as a coach, please like/comment/message me and I'd love to share some information with you. 😘
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"Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill."

Why I became a Beachbody coach

The moments captured in THIS picture are part of why I became a Beachbody coach. I was not doing Addie's future self-image and self-esteem any favors by sitting on the couch, loafing around letting anxiety, depression, and laziness rule my life.

I was not doing my family's financial future any favors either. While it's always been my dream to be a stay at home mom, tight finances have been a result of that dream. 

Enter Beachbody. My friend Toni saw in me the potential to be happy and healthy again. She knew I could push myself and was willing to do that for me when I wasn't doing it for myself. She is also a stay at home mom and found a way to balance family life with building a debt-crushing business in her free time, WHILE staying fit and healthy, too!

Being a stay at home mom has a lot of responsibilities, but whatever your job may be, there are down times in your day when you're watching tv or scrolling Facebook. I've learned to take those mindless activities and turn them into a way to help pay bills and be my own boss. 

She doesn't do it every day, but I love when Addison joins me for a workout. On days like today, the calorie burn is the least important thing on my mind. ❤Giving each other winks and thumbs up, "boo-yah" and fist bump, talking about the latest Lion Guard episode, teaching her pointers when she is excited to join in, and quality bonding time over a habit I hope she continues long after we have the chance to do this together.

What kind of legacy will you leave as a result of your habits and lifestyle? I am looking for ladies who can see themselves in who I used to be, and want to see themselves in parts of who I am now. Because I'm not the only person whose life has been changed by becoming a Beachbody coach, and I won't be the last. But it is up to YOU if you join me in being the author of your own future and being in the drivers seat of your physical and financial health.

If you'd like more information about joining my team to see where we go in 2016, please comment below and I will get in touch with you.

Dealing with anger toward your children in a Godly way: God's timing for my personal development reading

          Sometimes your kids can give you big reality/gut checks. When Addie and I were talking before nursing last night, she said in a sad but serious tone "Mom I want you to apologize for spanking me." Now to clarify, it wasn't a spanking but I yanked her towel down off the ring in the bathroom pretty quick in frustration from her not listening to me and it got her hand in the process.
          But, I was frustrated and lost my cool and that's the truth. It's tough when your kid points out a fault you already know. But if I'm going to set a good example for her, I need to show her how to apologize and ask for forgiveness when she does make mistakes. So I apologized and we talked how you can sin when you are angry or if you don't listen to mommy that's a sin too.
          She responded by saying "I don't have sins anymore. God took them and made a hole in the ceiling and flew up to Heaven with them and now they're gone." 
          Then we prayed together. I went first to show her how to say I was sorry for my sin and ask Jesus to help me do better next time. Then she folded her hands, closed her eyes, and prayed an apology and asked Jesus to take that sin away.  We both apologized to each other and forgave each other and made a commitment to (me) take a deep breath first when frustrated and (her) listen to mommy the first time.
          I am so humbled by her innocence, growing faith, and the refreshing honesty she gives me on a daily basis. She is such a blessing from God for my own faith and that pesky pride.

          Fast forward to today. I was reading my personal development while Addison was at school. It was totally God's timing for me to read this chapter today out of Anger: Taming a Powerful Emotion by Gary Chapman. This book is such a blessing. I highly recommend it to everyone.

          Do you ever find yourself letting your anger get the best of you? It's not a sin to be angry! It is a sin to act wrongly because of our anger. We have a responsibility as parents to stop the cycle of not being able to handle our anger effectively and to teach our children to be in control of their emotions.

How does reading a book about anger help me in my business?

Anger: Taming A Powerful Emotion

I intended to read 1 chapter a day of this book and be done within 2 weeks. I bought it at a conference in November after I listened to a seminar on anger. The author is Dr. Gary Chapman who also wrote the book The 5 Love Languages. That book completely changed how Corey and I communicate in our marriage and I believe changed our marriage so much for the better.

Given some recent events that have happened in my family's life I feel like this book was was destined for me by God and I am already one quarter through it in one afternoon! I have highlighted and taken notes all over and I can't wait to pass this along to some members of my family who are really struggling with the emotion of anger and how to deal with it.

So many people, Christians included, feel like anger is such a taboo subject and we aren't supposed to admit that we are angry. This book is teaching me (as did the seminar several months ago) that anger, as an emotion, is rooted in the nature of God as a response to something that is unjust or unholy. Anger is designed to motivate us to take positive action when we encounter an injustice. It's purpose is to motivate us to positive loving action that will leave things better then we found them. This is totally not what mainstream media portrays as anger; they always show us something negative and destructive and that's because people don't know the origin of anger the purpose of anger and they don't know how to keep it from being a raging uncontrolled emotion or how to let not let your body take over you when you're angry.

Anger is the opposite of the feeling of love: love draws you toward someone and anger sets you against them. It's really a poison in your life and in your heart. I have learned and gone through firsthand how freeing it is to reframe how I think of anger and how I deal with it. If you're a Christian you are to be set apart from other people; other people should be able to look at how you live your life and know that there is something different about you, something good. I used to suffer from a lot of anger and fly off the cuff and have outbursts and not really control what I said (I always regretted it), and I had a festering bubble all the time inside of me waiting to explode. That's not a good way to live your life!

Personal development is one of the required behaviors for a Beachbody coach. True, I could be reading a book about marketing or some business topic and I have several of those on my bookshelf and my wish list, but honestly I want to better myself in all areas of my life. I want to be a better mother, a better wife, a better Christian; I don't want to suffer from having anger, depression, or anxiety take over me! I want all over health for my life.

For me, being a Beachbody coach is not about having a perfect body or selling products. Yes, it's helping people discover physical health and wellness through nutrition and fitness, but it is also creating all over health by investing in yourself with personal development, and financial health by sharing this opportunity with others and building your own business. 

If you'd like to see these sort of all-over changes in your life, please reach out to me because YOU are the type of person I want to align with and have on my team!

Did your job give you a raise last year? Mine did!

          I did some number crunching today and my jaw dropped. My 2015 Beachbody income was 3 TIMES what I made in 2014!! Can you say that about your 40+ hour a week job? This is the type of job where the sky is the limit. Nothing is guaranteed, but if you work hard you will be rewarded! I took part in several trainings, applied what I learned, and have a daily "Power Hour" of items where once I am done, I can shut my computer lid if need be and spend the rest of the day with my daughter. I never thought that the 2.5 hours twice a week that Addison is in preschool would be such a blessing but it has made a huge difference in my business and I am usually able to squeeze the most important things for my business into those mornings.

          Some months this income paid for gas and groceries, some months it paid for a splurge of a gift, this summer it paid for our trip to Kansas City, and other months it provides much needed savings for our emergency fund/debts. Every month, though, it paid for our Shakeology and then some. Which is more than enough for us!!

          How am I able to accomplish this without letting the tv raise Addie and the house fall into disarray? I don't need to work full time hours to create an income as a Beachbody coach. In fact, I joined as a coach simply to get a discount on Shakeology and to hold myself accountable to MY OWN fitness journey. I share that with you, and invite you to join me.

          To learn more about what it takes to be a Beachbody coach, please like/comment/message me because my team is hosting a free sneak peek this week that will answer all of your questions. Now is the perfect time to take control of your own health and fitness and to earn money while you're at it! 

          To keep Corporate happy: "Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill."

2016 is here: Time to take action!

2016 is here. Are you going to keep waiting for life to happen to you, or are you ready to take action?

I read the book “The Organized Mind” by Daniel Levitin and a specific passage really spoke to me about three principles that lead us toward INACTION in a large social group that are ingrained into our psyche. First is the desire to conform. We are driven by the need for acceptance. We want to be seen as agreeable so that we can blend into the group. The second is social comparison. We compare our actions in terms of other people's actions and want to make sure that we're seen as similar. The third one is the diffusion of responsibility. Let’s say for example that you're the only person that witnesses an emergency. You are definitely going to take action and help out, right? But if there's a bunch of people there, the responsibility is spread out and everyone is waiting for someone else to take the first step to do something about it.

That used to be me: I sat around waiting for things to happen to me. I did the bare minimum and wondered why nothing was getting better. When I was approached by my friend about being a Beachbody coach, I thought: I don't know what it means to be a coach; I don’t have a “beach body”; I’m not healthy, why would anyone look to me for help or as an example?

But over the last 2 years, I have learned how to live a healthy lifestyle. I still have insecurities- who doesn’t?! But I will rock a bikini when I’m at the pool with my daughter and I don’t care what anyone thinks. Now I have an inner confidence to be myself and to not care what the group is doing, thinking, or saying. I no longer have a desire to conform. As far as the diffusion of responsibility goes, I’ve realized that I have a responsibility to teach my daughter what it means to be healthy and strong and confident. No one else is going to do that for me.

I am no longer living a life of inaction. I’ve learned about confidence and the tools to be healthy. Now I teach them to other people and inspire them to make changes in their lives and families. If you think the you would like to be captain of your own ship instead of waiting for someone to take the steering wheel for you, then I would love to have you join my team or accountability group. Please leave a comment or contact me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving