Halt the Salt!!

Since beginning my fitness journey I have been gradually cutting back or eliminating things out of my diet. In general I am not a big meat eater so my three main concerns are dairy, sugar and salt.

I was quite surprised at how easy it was to cut down the sugar in my diet (especially since I own a Specialty Dessert company).   I'm trying to cut down on dairy but not all dairy. It seems that at times MILK does not always agree we with.  Not all the time, just sometimes??  And its not all dairy - just MILK.  I can eat ice cream and yogurt with no problem.  So Almond milk has become a staple in my house instead of dairy milk, I love the Almond Breeze Vanilla or Trader Joe's Brand.

Now I need to tackle salt.  I am the type of person who salts my food before even tasting it.  I don't have table salt I use the sea salt in the grinders.  I keep one in the kitchen and one on my dining room table.  After doing some research I found that Americans consume 2-3X their daily allowance of sodium. It mostly comes from eating out and prepackaged  foods. So I decided to take the Halt the Salt challenge.  This challenge consists of:

1. Eating no more than 1,500mg of sodium per day
2. Comparing nutrition fact labels and choose low-sodium items
3. Eating 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit per day.
4. Spreading awareness and encourage others to take the Halt the Salt challenge
5. Letting food companies know that you want less sodium in your food.


So take the pledge to Halt the Salt and spread the word that a low-sodium diet can mean a longer, healthier life for you and your family.  Get involved today and make a difference!

Chalean Extreme!

So i have been toying with different workouts trying to get a feel for a workout style i prefer and have come to the conclusion that i LOVE Chalene Johnson!  Ive been doing TurboJam for the past month and love the workout.  Great music just pushes me to work out more and harder. My fave is Cardio Party 2 from TurboJam Elite, it's in constant rotation, i probably do it daily.  I find myself in the supermarket or department store doing the moves to whatever music is playing on the p.a system !!!  Once you get the routine down its soooooo addictive.

But now its time to challenge myself, right now i just make focus on cardio and I've been wanting to do a 90day program that will include cardio and also resistance training and completely take my workout to another level.  I decided to go with Chalean Extreme. Im not looking to loose a great deal of weight, just the last 10-12 pounds, and i dont want to bulk up - just have tone and definition (in time for the summer)

I'll be following the meal guide as close as possible, and making any substitution using Michi's Ladder*.  Of course I will continue to drink Shakeology daily.

Once my dvds arrive and i start the program - i will keep you posted with weekly updates and well as the before photo, initial weigh in and 30/60/90 day stats and after photo!

*to get access to Michi's Ladder - you need to be a member of the beachbody club.  Its free -sign up here!