Week One on the Ultimate Reset

Five Pounds...GONE!

One week down of the Ultimate Reset and I have lost 5 pounds. Say what? I can’t even believe it. But at the same time I can ...with the amount of healthy foods I have been consuming.

My goal starting this detox wasn’t to lose a bunch of weight, though I’ll be OK with a few pounds gone. I have a stack of pants in my closet that just don’t want to fit right.

Truthfully, the main reason I did this was to FEEL good on the inside. Karl reminded me several times that I already eat healthy and my insides are fine, did I really have to do this detox? 

Starting Weight: 157
Day 7 Weight: 152

My answer: YES.

In the pictures you can’t tell much of a difference. Or at least I can’t tell. However, the scale doesn't define us. But I can see why people would give up if they CAN'T SEE a difference in themselves when they put so much work and time into making a change. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Healthy changes take days upon days of hard work and dedication. And let me tell you, one week in and I feel amazing. I’m going with that!

I had been feeling so much brain fog, I was jumpy at times and anxious a lot, full of worry and I’d wake at night almost in a panic with all the thoughts racing through my brain. I would toss and turn and dwell on things I didn’t need to be worrying about but I could not release them. I’d work out, but I still felt tired though I had energy. I’m not sure that makes sense but it was a different sort of exhaustion. More like a “burned out” feeling. I felt stuck. Almost frozen because there was so much going on that I didn’t even know where to begin. And it kept coming. But by doing nothing, I created a huge amount of pressure on my chest. And I constantly had to remind myself to breathe.

Starting Weight: 157
Day 7 Weight: 152

With the Ultimate Reset, you get a sweet booklet that has everything in it. Grocery lists, your meal plan for the week and recipes. It’s THE best guide EVER. You head off to the health food stores and fill up your cart with a ton of great organic healthy eats. You learn about WHY you are doing this and what it will do for you, what you can expect and why these foods are the chosen ones. There are three phases. Week One - Reclaim. Week Two - Release. Week Three - Restore. 

What I like best is in the booklet, there is a section on “This is Me Now”. It’s a place to journal the day you start and on day 21.

DAY ONE ENTRIES: 

HOW WOULD YOU RATE OR DESCRIBE YOUR OVERALL HEALTH?

I’d give myself an 8. I get up early to workout. I pretty much follow the 80/20 rule when it comes to nutrition, but I don’t get the greatest sleep and stress seems to be a constant thing in my life right now. And I let it eat at me. Why? 

DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS?

No. I'm pretty good!

HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE A BOWEL MOVEMENT?

Daily.

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE HABITS and PATTERNS YOU HAVE FORMED AROUND EATING?

Eating has been stressful for me. Kids are usual screaming or crying and I find myself dreading it. I love preparing the food for everyone but when it gets flung across the room and Nathan screams his brains out and Jackson cries and tells me it’s “yucky”, that causes stress. It's not a fun time. So I find myself forcing food down my throat at a crazy fast speed. 

ARE YOU ABLE TO HAVE A COMPLETE AND SATISFYING ELIMINATION?

YES.

ARE YOUR BOWEL OFTEN CONSTIPATED? HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?

NO.

DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS?

NO.

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR OVERALL ENERGY LEVELS?

8. I have a LOT of energy, but I think I’m hovering around the “burnt” out energy levels now. I never shut off. I keep going and I want to find the part of me that can relax.

DO YOU RELY ON STIMULANTS, SUCH AS CAFFEINE OR SUGARS TO GET YOUR THROUGH YOUR DAY?

YES. I will have coffee in the morning on my drive in. Do I ever finish my coffee? No. Is it usually hot? No. Do I spill it? Yes. 

DO YOU SLEEP WELL?

I can fall asleep in a second. But I wake up often. I toss and turn. I worry. I feel anxious. I have lots of thoughts going on in my head. Ideas. Stories. Memories. Crazy dreams.

DO YOU WAKE FEELING RESTED?

If I get over 6 hours and 45 minutes of good sleep, yes. Anything less and the answer is NO.

HOW IS YOUR COMPLEXION?

I have this strange rash on my right cheek. And hard zits like I used to get my freshman year in college.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE HEADACHES?

Not too often.

DOES YOUR BREATHING FEEL SHALLOW OR CONSTRICTED?

All the time.

DO YOU FEEL MENTALLY CLEAR AND ALERT?

No. This makes me feel panicky because I honestly can’t focus for a second.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS ULTIMATE RESET AT THIS TIME?

My focus is so wonky right now. I am way too anxious. I have never done a detox for the fear of starving myself. I need a change. I want to feel awesome. I want to prove to myself I can do this. I want to see if this will help my optic neuritis. If this will help my stress levels. Just want to be the best mom and wife.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO GAIN FROM THE ULTIMATE RESET?

I want to feel like me again. Not sweat the small stuff.  I want to feel refreshed, healthy from the inside out, determined to take on the day and laugh throughout the day. ENJOY every day. Feel rested and calm but still have that fire in my belly to knock the socks off my dreams.  Not feel like I need to take on other’s problems and just simply focus on how grateful I am for this life I have been blessed with. Be more mindful and simply just love! I want to express my emotions better too. When something is on my mind, I just want to get it out rather than holding it in. I have this thing of keeping in any sadness/frustration I feel. Like when my grandparents died, I felt like life just kept going and I had to be done feeling sad. 

WHAT HABITS DO YOU FEEL ARE CAUSING YOUR CURRENT DECLINE?

Not asking for help enough. Putting on my oxygen mask last, not first. Not taking enough time for me to breathe. Not saying affirmations enough. Complicating everything rather than simplifying. Spreading myself too thin. Need to be better at communicating how I’m feeling with others rather than holding it in until I'm ready to blow. 

THE FOOD

The food has been incredible!! I thought it'd be tasteless. I'd be starving. My whole life would revolve around what I was eating and when. It hasn't been that way. I'm not going to lie and say there isn't prep work involved. I had to do that in pockets of time on the weekends but just like anything, you start to get the hang of it. You just need to give it a TRY! I will post more food in the recap of WEEK TWO! 

THE CRAZIEST PART FOR ME

Drinking distilled water. I never really knew that was the most purest form of water. I have cooked and baked with and only drank distilled water! Nuts, huh? But perhaps this is why my skin is so great right now? 

THE MOST CHALLENGING PART

The fruit for breakfast. I LOVE fruit but I feel like I need protein. I'm super hungry right after breakfast until lunch time. I'm trusting the process though. After all, it's only 21 Days and I probably will be adding more protein back into my breakfast and another protein filled snack before lunch once this is done. For now, I can get my mind right and breathe through it. And I drink a LOT of water!! Distilled water, that is.

HOW I FEEL AFTER ONE WEEK
AMAZING!!! I haven't slept this hard and good in years. I feel incredibly rested. My rash on my face has cleared up. I have little anxiety. The brain fog is gone. I had a couple rough days with detox headaches but for the most part I feel STRONG. Love feeling like this! I wake up and drink 12 ounces of water right away and I sit and breathe for 5 minutes. I do words of affirmations and I stretch. Doing this has been so great for me!

I'm SO glad I'm giving this Reset a try. I can't wait to see my results after Week 2!! I'm super grateful that I am a Beachbody coach so I hold myself accountable to my own health and fitness and I get to try out all these amazing programs and products AND get the amazing discount too!! Just knowing that we get to EAT normal foods and not have to do all this crazy wonky stuff you see how there (wraps, pills, patches, double shakes for days), makes me feel proud. If I wasn't a coach, I probably would have kept going like I was and would have forgotten how good it feels to be healthy from the inside out!!

Have you done a detox before? Were you happy with the results? If you're interested in learning more about the Ultimate Reset or Coaching, please click here.  

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Body After Baby #2, Maternity Leave Health and Fitnesss Challenge

Who wants to join in the fun?

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm a bit of a health and fitness nut. I love it. Instead of minoring in advertising or marketing like most people with a speech communications degree, I minored in health. I received a lot of furrowed brows for that decision, but I knew that is where my heart was. Best choice ever because those classes NEVER felt like classes or homework or extra stress to me. I loved them.

Post baby body - Entering Week 2

Granted, I'm now a Marketing and Communications Manager for a company that distributes compressed air systems and pneumatic components (say what?) but I get to be a health coach on the side and have fallen madly in love.

With that said, I just had our second son (who I'm also madly in love with and enjoying every cuddle and snuggle and yes, even those LATE night cries just because I *think* this is our last). Don't read into that too much. We're only on week 2 here! Still on my adrenaline high.

During my pregnancy I stayed VERY active. I ate VERY clean. And had the best labor ever. If I could have that labor and delivery every time, I'm sure I'd have those 5 kids our pastor talked about during our wedding sermon.

I have learned the kinder I am to my body, the kinder it is to me. And so I plan to continue this way of life.

I know bad things can happen to even the healthiest of people. But most illnesses are 85% preventable just by taking care of ourselves. This is so important to me because my family's heart history and history of strokes. I want to be around for a very long time and FEEL my best always.

Sometimes the cost of gym memberships or health programs can be a little pricey upfront, but in the end, we end up seeing the doctor less, we take less prescriptions, we spend more time ENJOYING life. There is no price tag to be put on good health.

I want to help others like you to TAKE CARE of YOURSELF by encouraging and motivating and inspiring you to work out, eat better and be more grateful for even the smallest things in your life. Being grateful helps eliminate the toxicity and stress in our lives and helps us focus on the GOOD.

Starting November 3 I will be holding a CLOSED Health and Fitness accountability group on Facebook for all of you looking to GET HEALTHY and FIT with me! I'm going to need YOU and YOUR support and much as you will need mine!

The purpose of showing you my photos isn't to throw my body in your face.  I know that EVERY single person has their own story and nobody's body type is the same. It's to say...hey, I had a baby. My body isn't perfect. But I took care of it and had a really great pregnancy. Now, I want to continue having this new-found energy and get myself to a place where I can feel (and look) great in my clothes, where I can be THE BEST mom and simply feel AWESOME.

My goal was to only gain 35 pounds with my second pregnancy. I gained 45 pounds. I'm OK with this BECAUSE I felt really great once I hit second trimester. My energy levels were through the roof. I was able to work all the way up until our son came. I was able to move us into a new home. I was able to sleep great. I was able to do PiYo up until week 38. I rode a bike until week 36. I did stair climber all the way until two days before I delivered. Like I said, be kind to your body and it'll be kind back to you. LISTEN to what it's telling you.

Before Pregnancy
I started at 145 pounds
5'10"

Once I found out I was pregnant
143 pounds (didn't feel the best)
5'10"

Right before I gave birth 
190 pounds
5'10"

The week after I had Nathan
168 pounds
5'10"

168 pounds (you like that mouth guard? I know you're peeking at all the stuff on our counter top!)

The week of the November 3 Challenge Group (TBD!)
______ Pounds
5'10"
______ Right Arm
______ Left Arm
______ Right Thigh
______ Left Thigh
______ Waist
______ Hips
______ Chest

My #1 GOAL by the end of January 2015
FEEL MY BEST.

I'm a busy mom. Just because I had a baby, my world is not going to slow down or stop. I know a few of you are thinking...REST, WOMAN!!! Trust, me. I am doing the best I can, especially during all those nursing sessions. I stare and stare and stare at Nathan. How on earth are these adorable little boys mine???

But let's talk reality. Just because I had a baby doesn't mean I get to nap all day. I still have to feed my family. I still have to do laundry. I still have to clean our house and play trains and trucks and scoop up all the leaves with a front end loader and drop each leaf in a dump truck one by one. I still have to manage nursing while wiping my 2.5 year old's butt. I have to remain calm during a full on tantrum. I have to pay bills. I have to manage my time VERY wisely. This is a life of a mom. Instead of crawling through every hour and thinking about how badly I need my bed or just going through the motions and making poor choices, I want to be energized, alert and ENJOY every one of them.

And I feel this way when I get enough sleep (work-in-progress right now!), drink enough water, get a 30-minute workout in, eat really healthy (every 2-3 hours), get my healthy dose of vitamins (superfood), meal prep and know that I'm doing my best and giving the best of me to my family. They deserve this! I DESERVE THIS.

MY "NUMBER" GOAL:
Numbers don't reflect EVERYTHING. But I do want to drop the last 20 pounds by the end of my January challenge group. That gives me THREE whole months. A healthy weight loss should be about 1-2 pounds a week (where it won't come back). I don't necessarily want to focus TOO much on weight but more on inches and how I'm feeling. I'm nursing right now and the last thing I want is to mess with my milk production. Consuming lots of oats and avocados and water over here! The minute it goes down, is the minute I figure out what's going on in my diet and life.

If you notice my pictures, I need to TONE up in some areas. So if I can slip into my work pants (and some shirts) by the time I go back to working full-time, I will be one happy mama! But I also know it took my body 9/10 months to create sweet Nathan, so if it takes that long to bounce back, so be it. I'm listening to what my body is telling me. Again, I want to FEEL my best. Numbers don't always reflect that!

MY WORKOUT PLAN:
November

• A 30-minute walk 5-days a week until I know my body is ready for more. Or 25 minutes on the elliptical (depending on weather). My doctor gave me the OK to work out like I normally would after week 2 since I've been so active throughout. It's NEEDED for my mental health.
• Introduce PiYo again and follow the workout plan that came with my challenge pack. PiYo is a mixture of pilates, yoga and sculpt with a TON of sweating. Think squats and lunges and push ups, sit ups, tricep dips, BURPEES etc. No jumping. (It's pretty much awesome)
• I put my gym membership on freeze because I can't take my baby in with me until he's 3 months old. So I'm not about to pay the monthly fee. All it took was a note from the doctor and they totally freeze the invoices. 
• Check in every day to my closed challenge group and let them know what I'm doing and find out what others are doing! Keep things FRESH and FUN.

December

• PiYo and Les Mills Pump (this is a light weight lifting program done 3x a week in the comfort of my own home!)
• Elliptical 
• Check in every day to my closed challenge group and let them know what I'm doing and find out what others are doing! Keep things FRESH and FUN!

January

• Will pick another Beachbody workout program (probably T25 since Karl is doing that now and wants to see how coordinated I am) and it's a quick 25 minutes and can be done in our house! 
• Check in every day to my closed challenge group and let them know what I'm doing and find out what others are doing! Keep things FRESH and FUN!

NUTRITION
I don't know about you but I get the best results when I pair nutrition with fitness.

• I plan to run a 5-day Clean Eating Group every month. We try to eat clean for the most part so this isn't extra work for me. 
• I plan to meal plan every Sunday so I'm ready for the week and can only make healthy smart choices (I will be encouraging all my challengers to meal prep for the week as well!) I've noticed it's MUCH harder to eat healthier while at home than work. I pack what I need when I'm at work. At home, snacks are much more available. I have to meal prep, so this isn't extra work for me either. If I want us eating right throughout the week, meal prep is THE ONLY WAY.

So now that I've put my body out there, as well as my goals, you get to hold me accountable. Zoiks. I know you'll be watching and wondering how I'm doing. I'm READY though!!!

What about YOU though? Why don't you join me?? I can promise it'll be a TON of fun and you'll be THRILLED with the results. It's time to feel YOUR BEST, don't you think? NO MORE EXCUSES!!!! November 3 is GO TIME!!!

Let's DO THIS!!!!!!

Contact me in my Facebook comments or PM me or via email or like my Health Coach page on Facebook!

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Fun with the Koesters!

Just a little update (in photos) of what we've been doing! Enjoy!

Hoping for the big one!

Got em!

First fish

Having a BLAST at daycare!

Love this kid's smile!

He loves water!

Ice bucket challenge completed!

My lil obsession.. (Found at Costco)

A lot of pregnant ladies in one room! Watch out! Order of due dates from right to left!

UMMM. YUM!

Silly boy!

MINT with lemon. Tasted kind of like a cocktail... 

My aunt and my Godfather came up for a visit!! YAY! We had some bike riding fun!

Love these people!!!!!

Baby Colton and Jackson!!!!!!

CUTE. CUTE. CUTE.

Heart melts every time. Karl found some of his old books!

Jackson says..."GO AWAY, BUNNY!"

There he/she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO SO SO precious!!!!!! 32 weeks!

Tasty salad for mama!

Love these two!!!!! And the black socks!

Mr. Wonderful and his bubbles!

Putting on daddy's work shirt

My happy place: berries and PROJECT RUNWAY!

Jackson loves his time at the cabin!

Off to fish!

Caught the big one!

I actually got some ME time to RELAX at the cabin!!!!!!!!

My little CUTIE

Chasing after Uncle Ben

Beauty

Yummy breakfast

Yummy snacks!

Typical grocery shopping trip

FINALLY washed all the screens. Little tough with a toddler

Daddy got mom TWO apple trees for our 5 year anniversary! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!

I LOVE Minnesota!!! Leaves are starting to change though. NOOO!

PiYo time!!! 

Yummy breakfast!

A fave snack. Only two ingredients!

Shakeology in the morning! Frozen organic fruit and arugula! YUM!

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Fun Weekend in Review

SO thankful for GOOD HEALTH and HAPPY WEEKENDS. 

I realized I was taking this for granted until Jackson got sick. Life sort of flips upside down when our little ones don't feel well. I totally cherished this weekend when Jackson turned around on Saturday and was back to himself. Thank goodness!!

This is what we've been up to!!

An hour-long bike ride in our new neighborhood!!! We uncovered another sweet park!!!

Cool park!!!

My boys!

My sweetheart!

Earlier last week...On the way to the doctors. This kid never sleeps, so we knew something was up

Doctor said LOTS OF COLD STUFF. 

CHECK! We ate tons and tons of cold stuff!

Germs flying around? I made sure to make us SUPER healthy stuff all week! STAY AWAY, GERMS!

One of my favorite salads in the whole world!!! Yep, made with real Mayo!

Another new park! I told Jackson we'd stop at a park on the way to Costco. Thing is, we both love Costco! SAMPLES!!!

Cool park!

Hey! It's me! 27 Weeks Preggers! (No make-up! EVER!)

Going for a ride in the front lawn!

YAY! AWESOME NEIGHBORS! Jess was walking by with her son Jason and wanted to introduce herself. HOW COOL! Made a playdate out of it! Our friends Jason and Katie stopped by too with their daughter! PERFECT TIMING!

When my friend Katie saw our master bath, she asked how many "tubs" I've taken. Answer...NONE. So I took her advice that night and DID IT! AHHH-MAZING!!!!!!!!!

For Father's Day, I had a friend out in WA gather up a bunch of beers ONLY sold out there that Karl might love and ship them over to us in Minnesota. BOY, he did not disappoint. This is Karl's favorite so far. Funny thing is when Karl and I traveled out west along the coast, we stopped at Hopworks and had a beer there! But this one was new to us and SO good. Made with quinoa!!!!! HEALTHY BEER!!!  ( Disclaimer: I only had two sips!)

HOUSE PROJECTS FOR THE WEEK

Some cool things we worked on:

These hanging baskets are turning out SO PRETTY!!!! Giving them LOTS of TLC.

Karl filled up Jackson's sandbox and put bricks down under his picnic table after I weeded! Looks SO NICE!

Yeah. Did you catch all the weeds back there? There are a TON! A TON.

I spent 3 hours with Jackson on Sunday weeding the back of our yard. WHOA! It's looking SUPER nice now! We made a game out of it too. The kid who lived here before must have had a toy BB gun and the yellow BBs are EVERYWHERE. Jackson calls them "corns" and collects them. 

We got a new microwave!!!!!!! Our friend in the cabinet making business came over quick, raised up the cabinets, helped Karl put in the microwave. DONE IN MINUTES. BOOM. LOVE THESE GUYS!

Hope your week if FULL OF FUN and JOY!

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