HUGE Holiday Sale!!!! Get Healthy for Christmas!!!

If you have been looking for some outrageous fitness deals for the holidays to jump start your New Years resolution - I have just what you need!  Our annual holiday sale kicks off TONIGHT 11/25 at 7 PM CST and runs through December 2nd!!!!  But don't wait - things will SELL OUT FAST!!!!

Holiday Promotion Link (Will NOT be a live link until the sale starts at 7 PM CST!!!):

https://www.TeamBeachbody.com/Shop/HolidaySpecials?referringRepId=282006 

Attached are images of our sale & as always I will be offering a free accountability group to coach you through the items of your choice!  Please contact me at anniereidfitness@gmail.com OR Facebook.com/AnnieMarieReid for details!!

Ultimate Reset - 21 Day Vegan Cleanse/Detox

So Tuesday the 27th I kicked off the Ultimate Reset for the 3rd time.  

Why?  I just have fallen off the wagon too many times to count this winter & spring.  I needed to refocus and this gives me just that - 21 days of focused meal plans & recipes to detox & cleanse my body so I can hit my workouts again with more energy & more excitement!

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Day 1

What is it?  It's a 21 day whole foods vegan cleanse.  It kicks off with some eggs, salmon, chicken, and yogurt but after the first week it's a completely vegan diet.  It sounds miserable doesn't it?  It's honestly not.  I have huge portions - tons of clean food & solid recipes to get me through.  The toughest part is mental.  That clearing of the children's plates where there are left over goldfish just begging you to eat them.  And tossing them in the trash because they aren't on plan.  Oye that's always tough!

So what are the benefits?  For me I just as a whole feel a lot better.  I wake up without an alarm refreshed and ready to hit the ground running without coffee - it's amazing really!  I typically lose up to 10 pounds in 3 weeks - everyone loves a little weight loss & lack of belly bloat!

I'm also fairly certain I have some food intolerances - I feel so amazing after this then I quickly blow it and eat some gluten or dairy.  This time I'm going to work hard to pinpoint what foods are triggers for me after this reset so I can continue without them!

I included all the pictures & stats of my starting point.  So far I'm down 3 pounds & getting past the caffeine headache withdrawals - that part stinks!  I'm looking forward to feeling amazing & will be sharing some meals/supplements here soon!  Stay tuned!

You Better BELIZE It!

So Mother's Day...not to sound like the worst mom ever, but it never goes as planned in our house.  Usually it's the one weekend my kids decide to go bat sh*t crazy & fight like mad.  I host cookouts and am generally exhausted when the day is done.  #truth

So almost every mother's day I have proclaimed that the next mother's day I'm spending the day all by myself at a spa or mall.

Oh I'm a hateful Mom, but for real when you spend 24/7 with your kids as a stay at home mama - sometimes you just need to get away!  Feel me?

So this year I did.  The day after Mother's day I took a #girlsTrip -(note capitalize the T on that or it takes on a new meaning when using Instagram!)  I flew out with my coach, mentor, and dear friend for a week in Belize!

It was magical!  It was refreshing!  It was just what I needed to get reinspired in life - to be a better wife, better mom, better friend, better business woman.  We all need balance and sometimes balance comes from the outside - by getting away, unplugging, and re-engaging with life!

In all honesty I wondered what in the heck we would do for a full week to ourselves - how would we entertain ourselves?  We with a condo smack dab on the beach in one of the most gorgeous places in the world - there was no time to be bored!  We had a stunning view, incredible front porch on the beach, and the nicest resort staff to boot!  We laid out, listened to music we can't play around our kids, enjoyed adult beverages, kayaked, paddle boarded, at our fill of chips and salsa & GAUC!!!! 

 We took a day trip to Belize City - hopped in a van and took off almost to Honduras to tour a mayan ruin (the history nerd in me was geeking out!!!).  Then we went zip lining and cave tubing through Jaguar Creek and saw real LEGIT Jaguar foot prints - creepy cool!  Our friend was crazy brave and tasted termites - I opted to jump into a cave river off a rock - I'm not one for legs in my mouth but she proclaimed they tasted like carrots!  What?!  How?! 

We took in all the glory that Belize had to offer & Facetimed our babies at night.

It was incredible.  I'm incredibly blessed to have a husband that fully supports my business, dreams and aspirations and that says honey - take a week off and I'll handle the house!  I came home to a fully cleaned home with all the laundry and dishes done - I have trained him well <3 a="" allows="" amp="" and="" dear="" do="" experience="" fortunate="" friend="" good="" have="" i="" is="" job="" life="" m="" me="" nbsp="" nd="" od="" p="" so="" that="" to="" travel="" with="">

Healthy Living With Kids & A Spouse

One of the most common questions I get as a Mom on a health journey and now teaching others about health and fitness one of the most common questions I run into is, but what do I feed my kids?  I don't want to cook two meals.  What about my husband he isn't on board?

And here is my response, and it may sound harsh, but don't cook two meals.  They eat what you eat - period.

My take on this has always been, if you don't like what I'm cooking - cook your own dinner - totally applies to my husband as well and trust me once he was offered that option he stopped complaining because at least there was dinner on the table right?

Right.

So what have we changed?  Clean eating doesn't mean the end of the world, it doesn't mean you need to find 30 new recipes to make dinner totally new and exciting every single night.  Chances are most of you are eating the same foods week to week anyways and there are ways to clean them up and make them healthy.

  

We still eat pizza - gasp - oh the horror!  We totally do.  I often make our own dough with whole wheat flour or sometimes I buy pre-made crusts that are whole grain.  I use tomato sauce as my sauce with some italian spices and top it with chicken and veggies and low fat mozzarella cheese.  We love it - I eat my portion size & I'm happy and done.  The old me would have ordered pizza out and stuffed myself until I had to unbutton my pants then I'd eat more in the night or the next morning for breakfast - true story.

We still have burgers - gasp again!  But now instead of ground beef (my Dad will hate me for this since we raise cattle) - we use ground turkey and I mash up black beans, corn, and organic corn tortilla chips into the ground turkey with some cumin & chili powder and then I make patties.  Top it with some avocado - hot diggity it's good guys - seriously real good!  Also fast!

So that's just a few examples of how we eat now versus how we used to eat.  Eating clean can be fast, it can be flavorful, it can be EASY if you don't over complicate it.  Look at what you like to eat and ask yourself can I remove or replace ingredients that aren't the best options?  Most of the time the answer is yes and by taking those small baby steps over the course of 6 months to a year you will overhaul the eating habits of your entire family, shed some weight, and definitely feel better because you have eliminated a majority of processed foods if not all processed foods from your diet.

And as far as exercise goes do it.  If you have to pause because your kids are coming in and out of the room - so what!  At least you are doing it right?  If your baby wakes up - do squats or lunges while holding your kid.  Do chest presses with your kid - they will love it and it keeps you active.  Be an example to your kids - let them workout with you even if it's a bit cray!  Show them how fun fitness can be!

When a hubby won't work out, won't get on board - don't push him.  Let it happen at his pace.  Don't argue over it because it just makes him not want to join you.  Be the example to him, change yourself and he will come around.  It took Jade two years to join me and now he's a different man & we workout together.  I was worried about his health & high cholesterol, but it had to take him wanting to change for himself before he was ready to join me.  Just imagine if your hubby harped on you to get healthy it would make you mad - same goes the other way.  Be supportive, be encouraging, love your husband, and the day will arrive :)

If you want some meal ideas of what we do as a family check out my eating clean guide.

A Journey To A New Me

Many of you have followed me for several years.  You knew me when I just had Aubrie and Everett and decorating was my passion.  You saw that shift big time in 2010 and you prayed for my pregnancy and you really prayed for me as I handed Ollie over for open heart surgery.  You have loved on my family immensely and I'm ever grateful for you!

You have also watched me dive into fitness after Ollie was completely healed from her surgery.

Things you may not  have known were some of our larger struggles that I was far to embarrassed to write about at the time, but perhaps you suspected anyway.  I had a pride issue and was far to proud to admit we needed help at the time.  I was completely unpaid on my maternity leave and our income was cut in half - we live in a new home we had built & I had a relatively new car - it was bad.  I had a very very gracious employer who kept me on health insurance through Ollie's surgery and never allowed me to reimburse them for my premiums - my company and bosses were amazing!  But aside from that we really struggled.  My best friend put together a baby shower where we were given gas & visa gift cards.  With our hospital 2 hours away we drove a lot and Ollie saw doctors weekly if not more than once a week.  We had hotel stays, food on the road, and co pays of roughly $400 or more a month by the time we would see all Ollie's doctors.  

On top of a baby in heart failure, fear of bills is a lot to handle.  It was kind of to the point where you really don't care about money too.  You say eff it right?  Or I did.

We were forced onto public aid, social security disability to be exact.  Jade & I felt almost as if we were pimping out Ollie's diagnosis to get a check to help us survive.  I know that isn't true, but when you have worked so hard for everything you have and it crumbles so quickly and you are forced to do the necessary it's just a kick in the gut - I don't know how to compare it to anything else unless you have been there yourself.

Ollie got better.  We started seeing less doctors.  I started sewing & making jewelry - anything to help us make $20 at a time so we could get more groceries.  We just couldn't get ahead and didn't know how.  I knew I needed to be a stay at home Mom.  Ollie needed home therapy and I didn't want to hear about her progress or delays second hand.  I knew I needed to be home.  So I officially quit my job, my good job, gave up our insurance, and we went on medicaid.  Yep it was worse than before.

But an opportunity opened up for me August 2010.  Through my personal fitness journey I became a coach.  I was hoping to find my way out of the body I had created through stress and anxiety.  I was trying to find something each day to do that was mine, that would make me confident in my own skin again.  And I did find it.  But I never expected to find an opportunity to make more than $20 at a time.  However, I found it.  My coach led me into growing a business.  A business that in 3 months time helped us get off of social security disability.  A business that planted the seed of a dream in my heart again that I COULD have more.  That would could take care of our family without state aid.  That dream made me dive all in with a passion of helping other people because you see, by helping other people that is where my personal success was found.  You can't be successful if you don't make a positive imprint on the lives of others.

My first full year of coaching in 2012 I earned $20,000 - half of my old income - but I had generated it in a few hours a week working from home - helping people and helping myself.  I was confident.  I had friends that supported me and loved me and understood my trials because they had been there themselves.  

This past year has been a whirlwind.  I really committed to helping a lot more people and helping my friends, that became coaches alongside me to find success.  I had the ability to share my story on stage in Vegas in front of 7,500 people.  And it was more than my story it was an opportunity to tell the world my child has Down Syndrome and is a rock star.  The crowd cheered!  It was a huge shift from two years ago when I'd say my daughter has Down Syndrome & people responded I'm so sorry.  To advocate for her on that grand of a scale was truly God given.  I have ended up ending 2013 as a 5 star diamond, Elite coach which I know means nothing to you but it's a big accomplishment for me.  I also ended ranked 85 out of a company of 150,000 coaches in less than 2 1/2 years.  I have done it by sharing my families story, changing our health, and helping others.

It's truly all given to me by God but it blows me away every day that I'm on my way to a 6 figure income, at home, at a desk in my living room, with 3 kids around me on a snow day, all by changing lives and loving on others!

Thank you all for your prayers and support - I know I don't blog enough and I'm working on changing that in 2014 but I wanted to share with you what our last 3 years b/c girlfriend is almost 3 - what's been going on!!

Annie's Diet Bet

Hey friends - want to put some skin in the game & add extra incentive to your weight loss goals?????   

Check out the link below & join in a DIET BET with ME- if you lose 4% of your weight in 28 days you split the pot of CASH with anyone else that hits that goal - you invest $35 to join but may get much much more in the cash pot!  I know many of us wouldn't mind to drop some weight & to win some cash in the end sounds like a pretty sweet deal too!  

Now here is my warning I want you to do it the good old fashioned way - hard work - exercise + nutrition! It's about getting healthy & getting rewarded - NO starvation tactics or you will gain it all back and possibly then some!  Go check it out - it's all online & we can do this as a team!!  We start September 23 - October 20th!

If you want my help & guidance email me anniereidfitness@gmail.com & we can design a plan that WILL WORK for you!  

Click HERE to join!!

Mini Fitness Challenges

I had shared these on my Facebook like page but not here - and go add me as a Facebook friend if you haven't yet!  So I thought I'd share them with you all too!  These are some mini challenges to challenge your strength - do them 2-3 times :)  Feel free to share!  Enjoy!

My Girls

I'm not sure how I did it, but when Jade and I made babies I some how created two little mini mes and I love it!  Enjoy!

Ollie at 2 1/2 - doesn't her scar look amazing - I think it does!  It's so faint you hardly see it now!

Aubrie at 7 1/2 - new hot pink glasses ready for 2nd grade - yes 2nd stinking grade - time goes so fast!!

 

Underpants & Kittens

You know you are a stay at home Mom when....

1.  Your kids stay in their underpants most of the day.  And everyone sprints to get dressed before opening the door for the mail man around 3 PM.

2.  Posting pictures of kittens on Facebook posed with stuffed animals becomes a high point in your day.

(said photo earned almost 200 likes - a picture of Everett earned about 10 - what the heck friends?!)

3.  House slippers are definitely shoes.

4.  Getting dolled up means you are going to the grocery store & bank.

5.  Going down the road to your Moms still in your pjs to eat lunch is considered an appointment.

6.  Facebook is your "adult" time. 

7.  You sing cartoon theme songs in your free time.

8.  You stop to pick up turtles on the road to keep your kids entertained AKA free babysitting.

9.  Cleaning is therapeutic.

10.  You find yourself organizing closets and drawers for "fun"!

Now you share with me your list!!

Disney Recap - 4 months delayed

I can't believe I didn't ever blog about this BUT probably because I may never recover from our trip!

In March I earned a free vacation to Disney from Beachbody.  It was a partial week at the Yacht Club so we extended the week at a resort of my parents.

On the way down Ollie started puking & puked the remainder of the drive.  She sat on a towel cut to fit her seat and after blowing through clothes and a roll of paper towels she rode in a diaper with another towel for a blanket.  It was hellacious - yep that's a word!

Baby girl finally recovered by the time we got to Florida on the second day, but the van smelled like death.  She had a couple major diaper blow outs of course on the streets of Hollywood Studios but we survived!

It wasn't long after that and they started dropping like flies.  

One night it was Jade in the middle of the night swearing it wasn't the stomach flu.  I refused to kiss him the entire trip - I'm hateful like that but I NEVER caught the bug!

We planned a full and I mean til you drop day at Magic Kingdom my most favorite place ever.  By the end of the day Everett didn't look great.  I just thought he was tired.  He slept through the fireworks, parades, all the fun, and when we got back to our condo he puked in the parking lot.

Fairly certain I did not win Mom of the year award for demanding we see the night show that day!

The next morning we were off to the Disney resort and we stopped for donuts then food supplies for the hotel.  

As I was in Walmart oblivious to what was taking place outside Aubrie puked all over the car - literally all over milk & donuts - too graphic?  Sorry!  Try to clean it up with wet wipes!  We threw her carseat cover away right then and there.  It was just a mess.

We pulled into the hotel parking lot only for Everett to proclaim he crapped his pants.  Jade (the one who cleaned up the puke as I shopped) lost his cool and shouted, "Why can't you guys warn me before you puke or shit yourselves!"  I was DYING - some adults can't even control themselves let alone a 5 and 7 year old.  Everett was promptly stripped nude in the Disney parking lot.

I did a full load of laundry in the hotel bath tub & hung the clothes on the balcony - did it help - absolutely not.  They were awful until we got home to do laundry and everything smelled.

Everyone missed the first party - which was amazing - Disney characters, a DJ, food, my family would have loved it but I had to go solo - boo!

The next day Aubrie and Ollie were the only two ready to rock so we hit Epcot pretty much on our own until Jade & Everett could meet us later in the day.  Epcot is right next to the hotel it was amazing!

Finally near the end of the trip EVERYONE was healthy!  

Not to make it sound like the worst vacation ever but seriously it was pretty touch and go but we had an amazing time!

We saw every park without puking!  And even hit the water park two days of the trip!

The last Beachbody party was out of this world - it was a Pixar party with all the characters in this huge building no one knew even existed followed by fireworks and dessert by the Epcot lagoon - is it called a lagoon?  It was just the perfect ending to our trip!

I had some time without the kids & worked out a couple mornings to Shaun T in front of the Epcot ball - it was opened to just us coaches early each morning & it was amazing!!  This is my coach Bec on the left & Veronica on the right - I love them!

All in all we had the best time despite circumstances!

And the van after several days in the Florida sun - oh my - Jade joked we'd trade it when we got home it was that bad!  And then in May we did trade it!  hahahaha!

Apologies in advance to the hundreds and hundreds of people we infected while we were there!  And these pictures were in no specific order :)