Would I Make a Good Beachbody Coach?

It's hard for me to put into words what the opportunity of Beachbody coaching has truly meant to my life. I can sit here and say how awesome it is, and how passionate I am about it, and that you should be one too (because, well, EVERYONE should. How about potentially making six figures or more for only $16/month? Ummm YEAH). But, I thought I should give some cold hard FACTS to help give a little demonstration of what this company does for its business holders:

-->In 4 months, I am at a rate that will have me earning about as much as I would have as a Pre-K teacher. Now, that may not sound like a lot, because it's no secret that Pre-K teachers don't make jack squat. But let's really think about this for a minute. I was miserable. I was working sometimes 10-11 hours a day with 20 four year olds (sometimes grouped with younger or older children, depending on what was happening at that center at the time) BY MYSELF most of the time. I was getting hit, kicked, spit on, yelled at, dealing with supervisors and parents, tests, paperwork, YOU NAME IT! I was coming home exhausted, not able to spend any time with my fiance (I cannot imagine it for the teachers who had their own children to come home to). I was spent and had no life.

Fast forward 4 months- to be working in the COMFORT OF MY OWN HOME, by MY SCHEDULE, doing what I LOVE TO DO, I get to make the same amount of money. Do we all see how spectacular this is now!? I also fully intend to have a six figure income by 2016. Just saying. If that seems like way too long from now, can we calculate the amount of time doctors and lawyers bust their behinds in school/internships/awful jobs to get to that point? Exactly.

-->I have already over halfway paid for an entire Beachbody coach trip to Cancun next April. Best part is? When I say "pay," I mean with the FREE MONEY I earned from Beachbody. No money actually came out of my pocket. Each time I reached a certain amount of Success Club points (NOT hard to do, mind you), every point equaled either $5 or $10 towards that fund automatically. In 4 months, I have over $1,000 for a $2,000 trip saved up without me doing a thing. Wonder what that extra money will equal? ;)

-->Discounts? Have I mentioned discounts yet? Oh yeah. You get 25% off of EVERYTHING you ever order, including access to exclusive coaches only clothing and other fun Beachbody clothing. Some coaches join just for the discounts.

-->For getting Success Club Starters (Success Club my first 3 months as a coach), I earned a free ticket to Coach Summit in Nashville, TN! THIS IS HUGE. That thing usually costs about $300. But not to fret, when you get to a certain point in your business (that doesn't take very long), you'll be getting in for free/skipping lines/etc. Did I mention that all of the celebrity trainers are there? Yeah, check this out. I got to meet my all time favorite trainer, Tony Horton, creator of the P90X series. I have been so incredibly thankful for his programs, I can't even tell you.. but that's a whole different story. Meeting him was a HUGE check off of my bucket list!

-->This point is a little bit different. I am, or really was, an introvert. I am better with one-on-one conversations. I'd rather drink with you and your friend in your apartment than go out clubbing. Actually, I'd rather be at my house by myself. In silence. Haha. :) Beginning this business was extremely difficult for me. I used to post on Facebook like once every 3 months, and now I love it because it's opened up so many opportunities for me to reach people and meet people- and that's something I NEVER thought I would say I loved to do. Beachbody has changed me from the inside out! Through the pain and struggles of putting every ounce of my life out into the world, I have grown more than I can ever describe. There have been tears, hurtful comments, and naysayers, but the love from my team, my challengers, the weight loss stories and the "thank you's," they have grown me. Every part of it has grown me. I am the same, but totally different. I could have never asked for anything better!

There are a multitude of other things I could say that this opportunity has done for me, but above all, what all of these points have in common, is FREEDOM. That is what coaching with Beachbody boils down to. Freedom. You make your own rules. You run your business. You help people and help yourself.

What does it take to be a good Beachbody coach? Being on the path to a better, healthier you. Do you need to be in perfect shape? No. Do you need to have reached all of your fitness goals? HECK NO. Do you need to be STRIVING for those goals and trying to be your best self each day? Yes, yes you do.

Along with helping yourself, you must also want to help others on their path to their own personal health and fitness goals. You must focus on OTHERS and NOT yourself. This business is about becoming a healthier you, but it's not about you. I wake up every morning excited to see what my fitness group challengers are doing. I wake up excited about their fitness goals. I wake up excited to help train my coaches and see their successes. I also wake up ready to do my workouts, eat clean, and read my personal development, but that's to keep me healthy and a good example for those that I want to help.

Does this take hours and hours a day?! Absolutely not! When I first started coaching, I was still working full time as a Pre-K teacher. Can we talk about a daily power hour that's gotten me to the point where I am now? 1-2 hours a day and you are set. Some take more time, others use LESS! You can work it very easily around any schedule, and I can tell you how. But it needs to be DAILY, not every 3 days whenever you feel like it.

So, do you love health and fitness? Do you WANT to love health and fitness? Do you want to help others along their paths as well? Do you have 1-2 hours a day to build a business of limitless potential? Then YOU would be an AMAZING Beachbody coach. We are here to HELP. And there are SO many people that need your help.

Join a fitness challenge group with me to try it out and see if it's something you would like to duplicate with others before becoming a coach.

Apply here to be a part of my team and I will help you through every step of the way. I love this business and I am yours 24/7.

Have any more questions? Feel free to shoot me an e-mail :)

This opportunity could be your EVERYTHING!

With love,

What's This 3 Day Refresh!?

The picture on the right shows a loss of 5 pounds.

Are these results from the latest 90 day fitness program?!

Nope. These are the results from clean eating for just 3 DAYS on the 3 Day Refresh!!!!

As is human nature, we are CONSTANTLY looking for the quickest, easiest way to lose weight. We want it done in the shortest amount of time possible for the smallest amount of work possible.

However, the downside of that is that it is nearly impossible to find something that does this for us and that is HEALTHY and safe.

A Beachbody coach once came up with the notion of the 3 Day Shakeology cleanse, replacing 3 of the major meals a day with Shakeology and snacking around that, and while Beachbody didn't necessarily disapprove of this, they also didn't see Shakeology as suitable for 3 meal replacements.

So as the 3 Day Shakeology cleanse has become more and more wildly popular, Carl Daikeler, CEO of Beachbody, and his team have been working hard to get us a more suitable cleanse that will really meet all of our body's nutritional needs and not rob us of other health requirements.

That's when Carl's wife, Isabelle Daikeler, came up with the 3 Day Refresh.

It was released while all of us coaches were at Coach Summit in Vegas, so I immediately purchased it and have been waiting for the right moment to use it! Let me tell you... It requires EXTREME dedication. But it WORKS. Oh MAN, does it really work.

I'm sure most people's main concern will be keeping the weight off that was lost, since this is only 3 days and not a permanent fix. My answer to that, first and foremost, is that this is to give us a healthy jumpstart on what needs to be a LIFESTYLE! If you do this refresh and then indulge on all of the cheeseburgers and pizza you missed out on the next day, you WILL gain all of it back, and probably plus some. This is to help your mind and body get in the right place to pursue the rest of your health and fitness goals.

I had gotten into a bad spot of skipping workouts and eating too much throughout the day, and not well enough. I was bloated and constantly felt just plain gross. My fiance switched to night shift, and it was hard to keep up with my same sleep, exercise, and eating schedule while trying to work with his new schedule. Point blank, I knew I needed to hit the brakes before this became something permanent! We had one more fatty fat weekend at his parent's house, and I immediately started the 3 Day Refresh when I woke up the next morning!

I had actually JUST been telling my mother-in-law that it made me sad to look back at pictures from when I had finished P90X3 because I just didn't look like that anymore. Well, guess what... 3 days later and I look BETTER! And it was purely my diet. Eating clean. I never worked out one time in these 3 days. It also ended up ending perfectly on the day of our engagement photoshoot! Boom.

So, this is recommended for:
- anyone who needs a jumpstart back into a healthy LIFESTYLE
- anyone who needs a quick fix before a big event, photoshoot, etc.
- anyone who wants to shed those last few annoying pounds the HEALTHY way

I also HIGHLY recommend you doing this over a period of days that you will not be working or doing any intense physical labor. It will be much more difficult if you are in an environment in which you are constantly tempted by foods (or stress that tempts those foods), or if you are exerting a ton of calories exercising or moving furniture or what have you. I was able to exercise the first day, but not the 2nd or 3rd day. You are just not consuming enough calories during this time to lose them all during exercise!

WARNING: You may notice difference in... toilet times. Sorry, but it has to be said! Depending on your body and how much fiber you are already normally taking in, there WILL be differences. I have already been fairly good on my daily fiber intake and vegetable servings. So I had a very good "cleanse," if you will. If you are not used to eating this many veggies or fiber, you may experience a little backing up, but that is normal and will go away! Trust me. Trust me that you must also, MUST MUST MUST drink LOTS OF WATER! At least half of your body weight in ounces. I made sure to drink around 67oz a day. If you don't, the amount of fiber will bloat you and constipate you even worse!

Without further adieu, here are a few clips from the last 3 days:

Day 1

I was STOKED to begin on Day 1, and I really felt amazing all day. It had me energized and feeling much lighter and healthier already. To the left is my breakfast and first shake of the day! 1 scoop Vanilla Shakeology, 1/2 cup of frozen red grapes, cinnamon and stevia to taste, and ice, blended. It was yumy. 

I was happy we were allowed green or black tea or black coffee throughout the 3 days! It's optional, but also better for me to do than cut caffeine out completely, because I can get major caffeine headaches. I also found drinking it really helped when hunger would strike. Every time you consume a beverage or meal, it's split up by at least an hour. Every time it was tea time, it seemed that I was craving some majorly greasy foods, and this ALWAYS satisfied me. You can at least sweeten your tea and coffee with a serving of stevia, as well!

This is my first lunch! The Refresh vanilla shake with 1/2 banana, cinnamon, ice, and stevia, and a serving of a veggie and healthy fat: cucumber and hummus. This had me FULL!

Later afternoon snack (at least an hour after lunch) consisted of another veggie serving from the veggie list, and another healthy fat. One of my all time favorites: celery and PB! Mmmm.

So, for dinner I was pretty boring. I did a bowl of broccoli with the allotted amount of garlic with my vanilla shake! At dinner, you can choose from a list of their dinner recipes, and this time, no fruit in the shake. I think it's harder for our bodies to digest that sugar later at night, and I've always heard to eat your fruits earlier in the day, so that made sense to me. Again, they had much better options for the veggie dinner recipes, but I was lazy. ;)

Day 2

Ok, this is your warning. Day 2 is SO MUCH HARDER than Day 1. I woke up feeling starving and with a slight headache. I woke up saying to myself, "oh my gosh. I can't do this. I'm going to consume EVERYTHING right now." But you know what? I didn't. Because it was my MIND trying to tell my BODY what it could and couldn't do. I was not going to let that happen. I pushed through and felt great.

PUSH THROUGH Day 2 because it WILL be hard, but you CAN do this! This is all about TAKING CONTROL of our minds and bodies and not letting them rule us anymore. We got this.

This was my yummy Vanilla Shakeology with 1/2 banana, cinnamon, and ice. Cinnamon is always in my shakes because it was a "freebee" and could be consumed in unlimited amounts! Other sweeteners were not the case.

You can't tell in my smile, but I'm STILL STRUGGLING! Haha. This Refresh vanilla shake was good, though. The fruit serving for strawberries was 12 medium ones, so it was super berry-filled and delicious! 

I was, again, very boring for my dinner choice. I LOVE green beans though, and was so hungry by the time dinner hit, I just made these bad boys lightly seasoned with sea salt. So delicious. I went to sleep ready to take on the last day!

Day 3

Day 3 started out like any other day, with my favorite vanilla Shakeology shake. However, I was different. My mind and body between Day 2 and 3 did a total 180 degree turn. When I woke up, it was like my body was telling me, "I can get used to this. In fact, I AM used to this. I even like this. Thanks for taking care of me!" ;)

For lunch I decided to change it up a little... with a salad! Hehe. 3 cups of fresh romaine lettuce and a serving of sesame seed dressing. Delish. And somehow, this food became filling.

I ate my snacks throughout the day as repeats of the first couple of days, but as my last Day 3 dinner, I made the vegetable stir fry in the dinner recipes options! It was DELICIOUS. Grilled in vegetable broth, olive oil and garlic... *drool.*

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Overall, my experience was a great one. I was much more energized, and again, this way of eating has really become habit in such a small amount of time. I did not jump up this morning, the first morning I am now free to eat whatever I want, wanting junk. I woke up wanting a simple Shakeology shake, and have really not been ravenous like I was before. I am eating to live, NOT living to eat. I am really thankful for this cleanse. It has honestly changed my life in just 3 days- and I am not being overly dramatic! :)

I plan on doing this once every few months, or anytime I need a little kick in the butt and reminder of what food is supposed to do for us... FUEL OUR BODIES!

If you are wanting to try the 3 Day Refresh for yourself, order here!

-->3 DAY REFRESH

I hope you all have an amazing day,

The Power of Loving Oneself

I just began reading Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfections, and it has already spoken to me on so many levels (I also HIGHLY recommend it).

In this generation of rising adults, I have felt such a strong pull for the need to always be doing the best, and being the best, and accomplishing faster than EVERYONE around me. It creates a whirlwind of chaos, fear, anxiety, excitement, yet major self-doubt in the process. I feel that those of us who are rising adults, or just spreading our wings into our first career-oriented job, have the sense that we are just NEVER good enough.

We won't be good enough or worthy of praise until we graduate college, or until we are accomplished in our career field, or until we lose the 20 pounds we gained this last year.

I am tired of this way of thinking and feeling. We ARE good enough, right here and right now.

Life doesn't always go the way we originally planned, and that does not make us any less worthy of love and a sense of belonging in this world.

To me, being successful should not only hold true for those who have been fortunate enough to go through the steps of life in what is considered "socially normal" (i.e. graduate high school, go to college, meet the love of your life, graduate college, start your career, get married, have babies, live happily ever after).

Rather, why not let us all see the success in the abundance of COURAGE in those who have suffered from painful life experiences, that have chosen to grow up, take responsibility, and rise above in the end?

To me, it is not about where you start, it is about where you DECIDE which path your life will take with what you are given. Each day, we make THOUSANDS of seemingly small choices, that all end up creating our habits and ultimately our entire fates.

If you take what you are given and try to be and do your best with it, you are SUCCESSFUL and COURAGEOUS in my eyes.

All of these thoughts have reminded me of the story of my upline Star Diamond coach Lindsay Matway's story, who created the entire Bombshell Dynasty (or the umbrella team that I am under as a Beachbody coach). Linsday dropped out of high school at 16, and made most of her money into her mid-20's as a bartender. She never finished school, never stepped foot into college, and would sometimes try starting new business ideas (she calls herself a "serial entrepreneur"). She felt like she was never good enough for anything and would never amount to anyone truly worthy of love.

As if things couldn't get much tougher, she ended up getting pregnant with her boyfriend of a few months. In the last stages of her pregnancy, her daughter had many health complications, causing her to be born prematurely, and racking up about $400,000 of hospital debt.

Lindsay ended up being a 25 year old (partially) single mother and bartender with $400,000 in debt. She filed bankruptcy and her and the father of her child decided something had to give.

That's when she discovered P90X, and was desperate to get back into shape after having her daughter. Well, she ended up getting in incredible shape, and becoming a coach to help others get in shape. She worked HARD for YEARS and she now has not only paid off all of her debt, but is a MILLIONAIRE and was able to pay off her house with CASH last year!

So, you could say the rest is history, but let's look back for a second here.

Lindsay hit a fork in the road and she had two choices: 1) give up and continue to think of herself as unworthy and keep scraping by with her bartender paychecks and tips, because reaching out and trying something else is too risky, or 2) get RID of the blame and self-hate. Love yourself NOW and see yourself as worthy NOW. Stop giving up and start FIGHTING for something no matter what!

Luckily, she chose the latter. And that is what I have chosen and strive to choose every day. That is what I hope YOU will begin to choose!

Take Lindsay's story and just THINK about how powerful loving ourselves can truly be. Not only has she become financially free, but has been able to live her life by her own design, and has become one of the most inspirational leaders in all of Beachbody, and just for anyone looking to change their lives that have never thought themselves capable, and that they are too far gone for that option.

When we finally realize how much we are capable of in the here and now, and that all of the seemingly small choices we are making now will and DO make an impact- that is when we can really let our light out into the world and create MIRACLES.

Love yourself now, because you are worth it. Take risks. Find your passion and WORK for it. Do what you can right now to get where you want to be... those grueling night classes and 9-5 jobs will be worth what you are fighting for! NEVER GIVE UP!

Basil Pesto Chicken

If you are looking for a low carb, gluten free meal that you can throw together in a matter of minutes for your family or to section out for the rest of the week, this meal is perfect!

It is four simple ingredients, just a few simple steps, and downright DELICIOUS!

When I took my first bite after making it, I was honestly shocked out how GOOD it was! Juicy, melt in your mouth tender, and seasoned to perfection with just the basil pesto sauce and mozzarella cheese- you can totally fool everyone into thinking you spent HOURS on this dish. It doesn't get much better than that!

If you are lactose intolerant, or try to go dairy free in general, try out the Veggie Mozzarella cheese you can get from your local grocery store in the vegan section!

*This recipe is slightly adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen website!

Basil Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:

-8-10 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets

-1/2 cup Basil Pesto Sauce (I got mine from Publix)

-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation: Preheat oven to 375F, while trimming any extra fat or tendons from your chicken cutlets. Spray the inside of a 9" x 12" baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray. Spread 1/4 cup of basil pesto along the bottom of your baking dish, and then line your chicken cutlets on top of that. Season them with fresh salt and black pepper as desired, and spread the remaining 1/4 cup of basil pesto on top of the chicken cutlets.

Bake at 375F COVERED WITH FOIL for 25-30 mins, not letting the chicken cook too long. Take the chicken out, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and bake again for an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

And VOILA! Your delicious dish is ready to be served.

Enjoy!!!

How a "NO" can turn into a blessing!

"Trust that when the answer is no, there's a better yes down the road."

I want to talk about a little word called "no," and how those two letters have such an impact on our lives and in our culture. We hear the word "no" an unspeakable amount of times before we even understand the English language. A UCLA survey found that the average ONE year old hears the word "no" more than 400 times in one day! So, imagine how many times we must be told what we cannot do, instead of what we CAN do, by the time we are adults.

I think it is so easy for us to cringe and break down once we are told "no," maybe from the first time you mustered up the courage to ask your parents to go on an incredible Spring Break trip to New Orleans with your five closest sixteen-year old buddies (because what could go wrong?), or from your first application to your dream college, or your first application to your dream job- you worked SO HARD to get to where you are and to be a trustworthy, reliable individual- why keep trying when you are constantly told "NO?!"

I have been told "no" countless times, and for things that I thought would be the end to anything important to come to my life. I want to share my story and why me being told "no" ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.

I was always in love with school. I'm not sure if it was the challenge of it, or the rewards of getting good grades, but I just loved it. By the time I was in high school, I would do everything in my power to get a 4.0. In fact, I ended up graduating with honors and OVER a 4.0. I didn't know what I wanted to do yet, but I knew I would for SURE end up being some groundbreaking surgeon or millionaire anthropologist because, I mean, I got AMAZING grades, right?!

Well, not so much.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted into my dream college at Florida State University (GO NOLES!), and worked my butt off harder than EVER before in my four years there. I had decided that the medical field was officially my calling. My dad was (and is) a very successful optometrist, I could kinda sorta handle blood and needles, AND when I studied for eight hours a day, I could pull a B on my Biology and Chemistry exams! That lasted for a semester. My first semester. Then, I realized becoming a doctor maybe wasn't so much my thing. After talking to my family and friends, we all decided that nursing was the next best thing- and I really ran with it. I became obsessive over it. I wanted to be Amanda Corry, R.N. SO badly, I would have done  ANYTHING for it!

I studied, and studied, and studied some more. I never went out to late night parties. I didn't go to Thirsty Thursdays at Potbelly's or "women drink free Wednesday's" at the local pub. I spent hours making notecards and even more hours learning them them front and back. I made A's in almost all of my classes, and the occasional B on an Anatomy & Physiology exam.

I did everything right. Did I get accepted into FSU's Nursing Program? No.

I was totally and completely devastated. WHY oh why were these females that go out four nights of the week getting trashed, then coming home and cramming the night before the test to make an A on their memorization skills getting into nursing school without even trying, and here I am getting DENIED!? Don't they see how badly I want this?! Maybe I needed to get cozy with the Dean of Nursing and try again...

But I didn't. My ego was shot, and I gave up. I just decided that it "wasn't meant to be." Really, if this were my ULTIMATE dream and not just what I had realized I wanted to do to make everyone else happy, I would have found another way and pushed harder to get into another nursing school. Since I made the excuses and didn't fight harder, I realized then that I would not the person to take that spot in a nursing program from someone that truly and honestly lived for it.

I changed my major to Family & Child Sciences. I really loved the classes and their content, and enjoyed it thoroughly. In my last year at FSU in the program, I ended up getting my internship hours in a First Grade Classroom. I will tell you, I was NOT happy about that at first. Kids scared me! I didn't know what to do with them and I SURELY did not want to spend 60 hours of my semester with them!

Can you guess what happened?!

I fell in love. I fell in love with the classroom and each child. I fell in love with lesson planning and watching little lightbulbs go off in the children when they understand a new aspect of reading, and the little sparkle in their eyes when you hug them goodbye for the day and tell them you can't WAIT to see their little faces tomorrow. When you get an "I love you" from the children from broken homes. NOTHING compares to the love of a child. 60 required hours turned into almost 200 volunteer hours. I knew then what I wanted to do.

I immediately took and passed all of the teaching certificate exams I could without first being in the school system; I got all of my recommendation letters; I served almost 100 hours tutoring first and second graders at a non-profit after school mission center; I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.75 gpa and many kudos in my major, and immediately got accepted into the Okaloosa County School District's website to begin applying for jobs.

When I moved to Ft. Walton Beach, FL, I immediately tailored and printed out every resume to every elementary school in the area, and took them to the principals in person all dressed up. I applied to over 30 teaching jobs.

I did everything right. Did I get a job teaching in the school district? Nada.

WHY WHY WHY is this not happening for me!? I could not understand. I became desperate for a job and began applying to local preschools, and settled for a job at Childcare Network in the area. It was a tough year, and I absolutely loved it, but I knew I couldn't do it forever. I began to question teaching entirely.

That's when I also came across this little opportunity called a Bombshell Challenge fitness group. (I was also entirely out of shape at this time, but we will save that for another post ;) ). It was finding a Beachbody program to fit my fitness needs and what I liked, starting to drink Shakeology every day, and being in a fun support group with a few other women.

Needless to say, that ONE seemingly small opportunity... that one little "YES" that knocked on my door that I thought would never turn into anything, became the best thing to ever happen to my life!

After falling in love with my Beachbody program and the community it involved, I became a Beachbody coach myself (like anyone can do). I have never felt more like MYSELF than I do now. This is my niche, this is my passion, and it has become my world.

One little "yes" in a world of what seemed like endless, painful "no's." And I wouldn't change it for anything.

"But what about your degree, Amanda? What about your teaching certificate, Amanda?"

Yes, those are questions I, too, ask myself. However, they are not my worry as of today. Everything I experienced during my time at FSU, and my time at Gilchrist Elementary School, and my time at Childcare Network... they have all brought me to where I am today. I know without a shadow of a doubt, I would not be here had I not gone through those hurtful learning experiences.

I am so thankful for each and every "no" I have ever received, because they carried me to the place I belonged, and brought me to a place of complete peace, confidence, and health in my life. And I get to spend my life helping and sharing that with others.

I could not ask for more.

I encourage you to KEEP GOING no matter what. NEVER give up. Go after your passions and your dreams! You may get a few doors slammed in your face, you may have a few nights begging on your knees for an answer as to why, but just remember the good IS coming, and there is always... ALWAYS a better "yes" down the road!

With love,




*I also want to give a big thank you to the love of my life, Stephen James. You have been my rock and my support through every bump and turn in this crazy road, and you never gave up on me. You always encouraged me. Thank you for being the best and always being right by my side.*