3 Ways To Get a Six Pack

***I am a Beachbody Coach so if you choose to purchase a program or Shakeology from me I will be earning a commission. This commission will help pay for my girls' theatre stuff this spring. So, if you want to help us out, Thank you so much. If you don't, you can get it anywhere Beachbody is sold***

Now let's get to the good stuff, the reason you are all here, how to get a six pack!

1. Eat the right way.

This is so important, what you eat is the fuel for your body to complete tasks and you need to give it the right fuel. You wouldn't try and run your car by filling up the gas tank with water and you body can't run correctly if you don't fuel it the right way. Lets' talk about how to fuel your body correctly.

Carbs- oh no, I just said the “c” word, carbs. But not all carbs are bad for you. The refined white carbs are the ones you want to steer clear of, instead opt for fiber rich slow burning carbs like brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat, oats, etc.

Protein- Eat your bulk of protein in the morning. Why? It will help curb your hunger and proteins are the building blocks for muscle. To see your six pack you will need to get rid of the layer of fat on top of them, and by curbing your hunger this can help whittle away at that fat. But keep your fat levels in check, go for less fatty options like egg whites or Canadian bacon. And your body burns more calories breaking down proteins, you'll be burning more calories breaking down your egg white veggie omelet than you will some sugary cereal.

Cut Out Processed Foods- Not only do they lack nutrients they are filled with sugars, fats, and synthetic stuff. Ever try and read an ingredient label on some of those processed foods? Bet you couldn't even pronounce half of them let along know what they are!

Eat More Fruits And Veggies- you want to eat nutrient-dense calorie-light fruits and veggies. The fresher the better, remember your trying to cut out processed foods, this includes canned fruits and veggies. These will help energize your body and you will be eating less calories while filling up!

Water- Drink a ton of water. Okay maybe not an actual ton, but do drink more than you do now, a lot more! Not only does your body need water to function properly it will help boost your metabolism. And cut out the sugary sodas and juices. If you don't like the flavor of plain water, add some fruit like slices of oranges or lemons or some sliced cucumbers.


Healthy Fats- Fats that are primarily from monounsaturated fast and polyunsaturated fats like nuts, avocado, fish and natural peanut butter are good for you and your body needs these kinds of fats in small proportions. Let's face it fat is fat so if you load up too much on these you will gain weight and body fat. Eating your protein and carbs with a little fat will help you keep fuller longer as well. Aim to get 20-30% of your diet from fats.


2. Exercise the Right Way

Exercise Your Core- After you get rid of that layer of fat you will need to have ripped abs underneath. The god news is you can be building those abs while losing that fat. And you can do this at home or in the gym. Do exercises like the plank, crunches, and bicycles. These exercises will also help with your posture.

Weight Training- Your entire body needs to be working at it's highest level to support your six pack abs. Do exercises, like trunk rotations, flies, and such to work out your back shoulders, chest, and arms.

Cardio- Now you're like, "Hey I'm not training for a marathon I just want great abs."  But the best and quickest way to burn fat is to do cardio. Doing both weight training and cardio at the same time is the best way to maximize your results the fastest way possible. And you don't have to run swimming and boxing are great cardio workouts. Consider doing high intensity interval training as well. 30 seconds of high intensity bursts then 1 minute of medium/low intensity and keep switching back and forth.


3. Get Enough Sleep and Rest

Sleep- You need to be getting enough sleep every night so that you are rested in the morning. Not on;y will this help you accomplish more but your body heals while you are sleeping and resting. You need to give it time to heal properly.

Rest Days- You shouldn't exercise your whole body everyday. Remember what I said about your body needing to heal. So do your upper body one day, lower body the next day, and cardio the day after. It's also not a bad idea to have a day of complete rest from your workouts.

By following this advice you will see the fat melt away and your six pack emerge!

I highly recommend Beachbody products as they have helped me so much in reaching my fitness goals.

Now until the end of February you can get Beachbody On Demand All Access for a full year and Shakeology, and more! You will save over $75! 

You will have access to every workout program on Beadbody On Demand for a FULL YEAR!!! And Fixate, a healthy cooking show. There is so much available on Beachbody on Demand.  Order Now!

It's Not Too Late To Join Beachbody's Healthy Bet and Earn Cash!

***I am a Beachbody Coach so if you choose to purchase a program or Shakeology from me I will be earning a commission. This commission will help pay for my girls' theatre stuff this fall. So, if you want to help us out, Thank you so much. If you don't, you can get it anywhere Beachbody is sold***

As you may or may not know I am a Beachbody Coach. I started using the products and fell in love with them! I have lost almost 55 pounds, have increased energy, less cravings and my blood sugar numbers are looking better. After trying out the products for a month and seeing the changes in my own health I decided I wanted to help others, so I became a coach.

For the first time ever Beachbody is doing a program, Healthy Bet, where they will give everyone who completes this "bet" an equal piece of the $1+ million pot! Beachbody is betting you and me that we will fall in love with getting healthy!

Do you have to be a coach? NO

Do you have to lose a certain amount of weight? NO

Do you have to be super fit and skinny? NO

Do you have to log a certain number of minutes of exercise or steps or whatever? NO

Do you have to do a Beachbody workout? NO

Do you have to log sweaty and gross photos of yourself? NO

So what is it and what do you have to do? Keep reading 'cause I'm gonna give you all the juicy details! And you'll see it's so simple and easy to get a piece of the pot!

First let me give you the dates of the program: September 5th - October 2nd

Week 1: September 5 - September 11
Week 2: September 12 - September 18
Week 3: September 19 - September 25
Week 4: September 26 - October 2

To get a piece of the pot you have to qualify with a few things:

1. Participate in an active Challenge Group on the FREE My Challenge Tracker app and register in it before midnight on September 5th. This app is so easy to use even me who is sometimes technology challenged was able to figure it out without a problem! It is available for both Android and iPhone.

2. Log a minimum of 5 Shakeology's each accompanied by a Shakeology photo. It can be a pic of just the shake by itself, you drinking it, or even preparing it.

3. Log a minimum of 3 workouts. Any kind, any length, Beachbody workouts or not, walking, swimming, lifting weights, etc.

4. Be 18 or older and a legal resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)

5. Have at least a basic Beachbody membership--which is FREE

That's it! It's so easy! You can do this!

If you would like more details (no pressure or obligation), have questions (again no pressure or obligation), or want help choosing a program comment below.

You can also shop at my Beachbody website!

5 Tips To Turn A Reluctant Reader Into An Avid Reader

My youngest Emma use to be a reluctant reader, until I discovered some tricks that have made reading more enjoyable to her.

As many of you know, we are avid readers. My husband and I love to read and so did our oldest, Miriam. So, we were concerned when our youngest was more of a reluctant reader. We read to them all the time and they were always surrounded by books. We have so many books in our home, that we do not have a "home" for all of them!

So here is a list of the things I did to help our reluctant reader become an avid reader.

1. Let Them Choose What To Read! This may seem like a no brainer but we often don't let them make the choice. We try to "help" by offering this or that book. Let them browse and find what looks interesting to them.

What got Emma into reading was a comic book series, "Tiny Titans." It looked good to her and she picked it out completely by herself. She devoured these comics and would reread them over and over again! A highlight when she was younger was when she got to meet the creators Art and Franco at Comic Con! She brought every single copy, even the ones without covers and that were falling apart so they could sign them.

2. A Special Book Just For Them One trick I discovered completely by accident. I had picked up some books at a library sale, can't pass up a great deal on books. I usually pick out books with one or the other of the girls in mind but I tend to give them to them all together. Well, that day I happened to show my husband the books first and had told him why I chose each book and who I was thinking would enjoy it. So, he told our girls that mommy had picked out some books special for each of them, so when I got home Emma met me at the door bouncing up and down and asked what books I had gotten special for her. I gave her the books I had picked out thinking of her and she sat down and read them! So, giving them a special book especially for them might help.

3. Fewer Choices Half the time during school I pick out what we will be reading/studying and the other half of them time I will let the girls choose. Well, what I pick isn't always what they are most excited about but when I would let them choose Emma would take forever and she would start whining about not knowing what to pick. Which would lead to me getting frustrated, just pick a book we have a ton! Then one day I chose a few books for her to choose from and asked her to choose from those, which she happily did and sat down to read no whining and no tears. Lesson learned, sometimes too many choices can be way too overwhelming for a beginning reader.

4. Reward Them for Reading I came up with the idea to chart the books we were reading and give them a reward when they reached a certain level. Sometimes it's a toy from the dollar store, a candy bar at the grocery store, picking a craft to do together, picking the movie for movie night, picking dessert, or anything else I come up with. As you can see it's usually inexpensive as well.

Here is what their reading charts looked like when they were younger.

They can fill in the squares by coloring them or with a sticker. Because Mia was a more advanced reader she had to read a few more books than Emma to reach each level.

To solve the problem of having them reading the easiest books to fill up the most spaces faster I came up with a point system. Each book was given a certain number of points determined by me based on difficulty as well as their individual reading levels. Also they are allowed to read the same book again but it loses one point each time it is read, so if a book is worth 3 points the next time it is read it is only worth 2. We did have some books that were so ridiculously easy that they are worth 0 points. They love to see their charts filling up as well as getting their rewards.

Now that they are older we keep a reading log.

5. Read Aloud With Them No matter how old they are reading aloud with them is still a great way to introduce new books and genres. This is a fun way to spend time together as well.

Kind of a spin off to this tip is listening to audio books. We do a lot of driving in the car to classes and such and have discovered audio books for the drive!

Do you have any tips to helping a reluctant reader become an avid reader?

Practicing With PicMonkey

***Disclosure there are affiliate links in this article. By clicking on them I do earn a commission, or you can just go to whatever website you want and I don't earn anything. Totally up to you!***

I have always wanted to have a nice camera but was overwhelmed with the choices and pricing. We actually received a super nice camera as a gift for my hubby putting in over 15 years at his job. I love it! So I have been practicing with it, doing some free courses on how to use it, etc.

I just started dabbling in picmonkey. I used older pics and started dabbling with making collages. And then started working on making pics for Christmas gifts. And now have started putting quotes on them. I want to use my own pics with quotes I like!

Here's a couple I made yesterday. I think they're adorable!

7 Day Slim Down

***Disclosure I am a Beachbody Coach. By purchasing from my website I do earn a commission, or you can just go to whatever website you want and I don't earn anything. Totally up to you!***

I am trying to lose wight to get healthier overall. I want to be able to get off my diabetic medicine, feel better, and have more energy.

I hit a plateau in my weightloss and I was getting pretty frustrated. I had lost a total of 40 pounds but I couldn't seem to get under 190.

Then I decided to do the 3 Day Refresh from Beachbody. I started using Beachbody's Shakeology and Piyo and saw such great results. I feel more energy and less cravings and I have been losing weight. I loved these products so much that I became a coach. But I had not tried the 3 Day Refresh.

The 3 Day Refresh is meant to be a kickstart to your weightloss so I figured that I needed a kickstart to get me off that plateau. With this program you drink Shakeology, a Vanilla Protein Shake, Fiber and then some healthy small vegetarian meals.

My hubby joined me in this challenge. By the end of the 3 days he had lost 10.2 pounds and I had lost 6 putting me at 188!

I knew when I went back to eating more normally that I would initially gain back some weight. I gained back 4 pounds. But started losing them again and as of today, 1 1/2 weeks after completing the 3 Day Refresh I am back down to 188!!!!!

I am starting a challenge group and would love to have you join me.

We will start the 7 Day Slim Down after the 4th of July! After you fill up from your Independence Day BBQ we will gain freedom by shedding some weight!

Cut off to join me is Monday, June 27. Your commitment will be 7 Days and $35. What do you get for it?
1) Personal motivation from yours truly
2) SEVEN meals
3) Meal Plan
4) Workout tips
5) Personalized Exercise Plan
6) AND a secret Facebook group where we will keep each other accountable
7) RESULTS!
If you know you need this... comment below right now & commit.

www.beachbodycoach.com/marcipeterson1

Camp Fundraiser

***Disclosure there are affiliate links in this article. By clicking on them I do earn a commission, or you can just go to whatever website you want and I don't earn anything. Totally up to you!***

Every year our church has girl's camp for those girls who are 12-18. And every year they do a fundraiser to help off set the cost of attending.

This year's theme was Alice In Wonderland. Mia was the Queen of hearts and Emma was the March Hare.

They had a spaghetti dinner and this year they added a sauce cookoff. They also had a bake sale and a Texas Auction going. And the girls provided entertainment with little scenes from Alice In Wonderland that they acted out throughout the evening.

The evening went well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. And bonus, they made almost all the money they needed for camp!

My husband and daughters really enjoy Alice In Wonderland both the book and the Disney movie.

Pet Series - Brandy the Old Grumpy Cat

***Disclosure there are affiliate links in this article. By clicking on them I do earn a commission, or you can just go to whatever website you want and I don't earn anything. Totally up to you!***

We have 13 pets! Crazy I know especially because my husband doesn't like animals and is allergic. But the things he does for us. My girls and I love animals so we might have gone a little overboard. I thought it would be fun to introduce you to a member of our pet family one a week as well as some funny stories.

Our older cat was our very first pet, well if you don't count all the fish that have died. We can keep a hamster alive for 4 1/2 years but can't keep fish alive past 6 months. :(

Back to our adorable cat, we rescued her years ago when we were still living in our apartment. It has been 9 years since we took her in. She was declawed and fixed and was being beat up by all the stray cats in the apartments. We started feeding her on our patio and the girls would play with her. Then she started leaving us "gifts."

It started out slow, just every once in a while, a dead mouse, a bird, or bunny would end up at our patio door. Then she started leaving something about everyday. I can do any live animal, dead animals, that's when I call my hubby to take over.

My sweet hubby decided that he would take allergy medicine so we could let her in the house. And thus our zoo has begun.

She was so happy to be inside that she pretty much let my girls do anything. You'll give me a house and food? Sure, you can dress me up in doll clothes, carry me like a baby, carry me around so my back paws are dragging on the floor because you're so short! She is the sweetest cat alive!

We went out and bought her all kinds of cat toys but she wanted nothing to do with them. We soon learned that she was not into playing, she just wanted to be held and loved.

She purrs almost continually and only meows when she wants attention or help with something.

All the usual cat stuff you hear about, this is not Brandy at all.

Then we bought our house in 2010 and started adding to the zoo! Our next addition was a puppy and she was not happy about this puppy wanting to play with her. She soon put the puppy in it's place when she bonked her on the nose with her paw. The puppy whined as if this was the most horrible thing that had ever happened to her. But from that time on when she entered that room she would enter slowly, looking for the cat.

After the puppy grew up and lost some of that puppy excitement Brandy and her soon became happy housemates and at times almost seem like they are friends.

One day they were both out in the backyard. The dog was running around and Brandy was sitting there staring at the ground with her tail swishing. All of a sudden she let out a meow and the dog came running over and started digging. Then Brandy moved to a new spot watching, let out a meow after a while and the dog came running over to dig. This went on for a while until the dog got a gopher! They had been hunting the gopher together!

Then we got the kitten last year. She does not want to play with her but all the kitten wants to do is play. The dog will even go and intercept the two cats when the kitten is bugging the Brandy too much.

Brandy knows her name and will come when called even if she is outside. She comes faster if you have her favorite treats!