Cafe Latte

It is finally here!

As of January 11, 2016 Beachbody released their new Shakeology flavor, Cafe Latte!

My first job growing up was working at a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins.  I started at the ripe old age of 15 and stayed until I graduated college in May 2010 when I was 21 years old.  I was never a fan of coffee until my senior year of college (late night study sessions required some extra caffeine!).  I grew to love Coolattas (a frozen coffee drink offered by Dunkin Donuts) and Cappuccino Blasts (offered by Baskin Robbins).  I never paid attention to fat, sugar or calories at that time and thought by swapping out whole milk for skim milk that I was making a "healthy" choice.

Years later, I realize how off I was.  Let me break it down for you:

Small Coffee Coolatta from Dunkin Donuts

- 400 Calories

- 23 grams of Fat

- 43 grams of Sugar

Small Cappuccino Blast from Baskin Robbins

- 350 Calories

- 9 grams of Fat

- 53 grams of Sugar

Small Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino

- 410 Calories

- 15 grams of Fat

- 64 grams of Sugar

Now let's see the nutritional value in one serving of Cafe Latte Shakeology:

- 150 Calories

- 2 grams of Fat

- 7 grams of Sugar

What?!?!?! 

If you are anything like me, then you were just as blind as I was.  I love to treat myself to specialty drinks on occasion.  Some people enjoy them every day.  What if I told you, you can now enjoy your specialty drink EVERY DAY!

Cafe Latte Shakeology now includes Whole Coffee Fruit, an incredible super food that has a rich, coffee flavor. It contains all of the exotic superfood ingredients that are necessary to deliver a daily dose of dense nutrition.  Shakeology is nutrition simplified.  It can help to increase healthy energy, reduce craving, support weight loss, and improve digestion and regularity.

This is the perfect alternative and the taste is out of this world!

How to stay consistent

One of the hardest things about beginning a healthier lifestyle is being consistent.

Perhaps you have never really thought about your eating habits and never really had the desire to change them.  Now, you are feeling overwhelmed and defeated before you have even started.  That's NORMAL!

I have been a yo-yo dieter for the last 20 years.  I would eat what I thought was "healthy" for a few weeks or even a couple months and then would revert right back to my ways once I hit my goal.

After 20 years of this I realized it wasn't working.  I needed something that would not overwhelm me and something that would help me to stay consistent.  I knew I need to make this a lifestyle change rather than a temporary fix.

At the very end of August of this year I decided to make that change.  I have changed my eating habits and have incorporated this into my family's menu as well.  We still have our "cheat meal" or as I like to call them "fun meals" once a week.  I no longer look at it as a restrictive lifestyle, instead, I am still eating my favorite meals, but cleaner versions.

I love chicken, hamburgers, bread, eggs, potatoes, pasta, etc.  Basically, I love food.  Cooking is my stress-relief.  I love making new recipes and trying new things.  Not everyone does and that is OK, too. You can still live a healthier lifestyle and eat clean without spending hours in the kitchen.

One thing that has really helped me is being a part of Beachbody challenge groups.  I have consistently been a challenger since August 25th, 2015.  This helps to hold me accountable with a group of women who are also trying to lead a healthier lifestyle.  We share recipes, our struggles, our success.  We build each other up.  We hold each other accountable and support one another.

Planning is KEY! Once a week I sit down with my husband (or do brainstorming on my own) and think of what meals I want to eat for the week.

For example, last night we decided on whole wheat lasagna rolls, roasted potatoes, spinach salads, and ground turkey stuffed peppers.  I went grocery shopping for those specific items and spent today preparing them for the week.  I also make sure I make a list of snacks for the week and breakfast items. I always like to keep greek yogurt on hand along with apples, bananas, and grapes.

If I know I have a busy week ahead of me, I will make a crockpot meal that cooks itself.  It saves me time in the kitchen and allows me to get other things done around the house.  I also love frozen vegetables.  I have always struggled with steaming vegetables, so frozen broccoli is my thing! Pop a bag in the microwave for 6-8 minutes and you have your 2 servings cooked and ready to eat!

Set small goals --> Try not to overwhelm yourself with a long list.  Maybe for the first week you decide to stick to you meal plan.  Perhaps week 2 you focus on your water intake.  Week 3 maybe you will try a new dish or make sure you get all of your workouts in.

Find a healthy support system --> my husband supports me and my healthy lifestyle, but he is also guilty of eating what he wants when he wants and no, it's not usually "clean".  If you need an accountability partner I am your girl :)

Write a positive reminder to yourself --> Write on a post it or notecard WHY you are doing this or something like, "This will be MY year" or "You are CAPABLE of more than you know."  A few positive words that YOU write down that are POSITIVE and ENCOURAGING are going to change your mindset in ways you cannot imagine.

Change does not occur overnight.  You WILL make mistakes.  You WILL fail, but fail FORWARD.  Don't give up.  Stay consistent.  If you need that candy bar that you've been craving and can't get it out of your head then EAT IT.  Eat it and enjoy it.  It's the 80/20 rule.  Do not deprive yourself.  You deserve to enjoy food, but make it once a week instead of everyday.

Challenge Group Application

Hi! I'm Carrie :)

Welcome to my first, official blog!

I have been procrastinating for some time now, but with the holiday season ending and the new year just beginning I figured now is the time to get started!  I love to write and I really feel as if this is going to help me in more ways than I can even begin to imagine and I hope it helps you all as well!

I am going to start this blog off by telling you a little bit about MYSELF and my current journey as a Beachbody Coach and mom of two beautiful little girls.

My name is Carrie Blasko and I am 27 years old.  I am from North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (20 minutes outside of Pittsburgh). I am married to the love of my life, Joe, and we have two sweet little girls, Sydney will be 3 in February and Harper will be 7 months come January 8th.  I am a Registered Nurse on a Cardiac Telemetry unit and work full time weekends, so I can be home with my girls during the week.  I am also a Beachbody coach as of October of this year.

I enjoy cooking, reading, spending time with my family, and school - I am currently working on my School Nurse graduate certificate - I love learning!  I love traveling (this is the first time in 8 years that I haven't vacationed with my husband and it's rough!).

NOW… let me get down to WHY I became a Beachbody Coach and WHY I decided to trade in my old lifestyle and upgrade to a healthier one!

I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember.  I was never "obese", but I was never happy.  My mom used to always say, "Carrie, you are big-boned.  You will never weigh what other girls weigh." She was right, BUT I never ate right either.  My diet was never the healthiest.  I enjoyed healthy foods, but preferred a lot of carbs and starches.  (Side note: I will never forget the time I went to Kennywood with my mom, grandma, and brother and we ate at the sit-down restaurant and I got french fries, mashed potatoes, chips, and chocolate pudding.  My own grandma yelled at me for my eating habits and I was no older than 10.)  

In 5th grade I wore a women's size 9 shoe and was upgraded to a Junior's size 7.  I felt awkward and out of place.  In 6th grade I weighed about 130lbs and developed tonsillitis.  I was out of school for 2 weeks and lost nearly 15lbs.  I remember my mom and family commenting about how great I looked and that was all it took.  I was now focused on my weight.

Throughout high school, I played soccer (16 years of it to be exact), softball, and cheered for a couple years. It kept me active and I loved it.  Fast-forward through college.  I played 3 years of collegiate soccer and moved home my senior year.  My weight was a constant yo-yo.  I worked at a Dunkin Donuts full time for 7 years and was hooked on fast food, pizza, and Jimmy John's sandwiches.  If I wanted to drop a few pounds I would only eat once a day sending my body into starvation mode - not the smartest idea, but I didn't know any better.

As you can see I have had poor eating habits and personal weight issues my entire life.  Most people think I am crazy for ever feeling "overweight", but I also know what I was putting into my body and that wasn't healthy either.

I married my husband Joe on November 11, 2011.  I was working out 5-6 days a week.  I was running races (10Ks) on the weekends and boxing 1-2 times a week.  I really watched what I ate (I definitely wasn't eating enough) and I looked and felt the best I ever had since my senior year of high school.  I was working full time at the hospital in a sedentary job as a Clinical Data Analyst and started nursing school a short two months later.  I put on about 5lbs, but I was OK with that.  After completing my first semester of nursing school I surprisingly found out I was PREGNANT! I was shocked, scared, afraid, overwhelmed, etc.  We talked about waiting for at least 3 years and here we were 6 months into our marriage expecting our first baby all while trying to figure out how to be newlyweds, I was in school full time, and we both worked full time.  

During my pregnancy I blew up rather quickly.  I weighed 134lbs the day I found out I was pregnant and weighed in at 188lbs on the day I delivered. 55lbs! What?! I spent my entire pregnancy eating out (I would get to work at 6am and not get home until 10pm on school days).  I never worked out even though my husband bought me a brand new treadmill --> it's still collecting dust with maybe 7 total miles on it lol.  

I graduated nursing school when my oldest daughter, Sydney, turned 3 months old and I started the following month as a RN on the same Cardiac Telemetry unit I am on now. I kept on telling myself I needed to do something because I was SO unhappy.  I was unhappy during my pregnancy because I never felt good about myself and then afterwards because I couldn't seem to lose the weight that I had put on.  I came across Beachbody from an old high school friend and started with T25.  I absolutely LOVED it! I drank my Shakeology everyday and did my workouts.  However, once I hit my goal weight I stopped.  Fast forward another so many months and I signed up for the 21 Day Fix.  I LOVE this, too! Yet I quit again after reaching my goal.  The weight slowly came back (10lbs to be exact) and I got pregnant with my second daughter.

I was already 15lbs heavier than I was before I got pregnant with Sydney and now I was pregnant with baby #2.   I felt great my entire pregnancy.  I felt good about myself and I did not indulge anywhere near as much as I did with my first pregnancy, but I ended up weighing in at 191lbs on the day I delivered Harper (June 8th, 2015).  I still felt good and new I would get the weight, but I lacked the motivation this time.

I was due back to work from maternity leave Labor Day weekend.  I decided to try on my work scrubs two weeks beforehand just for the hell of it and they didn't fit! I was mortified.  I didn't want to go back to work wearing my maternity scrubs.  I knew I needed to do something and I also knew in the back of my head what had worked for me in the past.  This time I was ready.  This time I wanted to make it a Lifestyle rather than a Temporary Fix (don't let me fool you --> I didn't know this until I was about 6 weeks in). 

I had spent the last year following an old high school co-worker and her journey on Facebook.  I used to sit in bed at night with my husband and show him her transformation.  I was SO proud and SO envious.  I wanted that.  I wanted that strength and determination.  SO, I reached out and contacted my old friend, Erin Traill :)

Talk about the BEST DECISION I could have made.  

When I signed up I basically told her that I wanted to lose baby weight and that I would most likely be canceling my Shakeology order after the first month because it is just TOO EXPENSIVE.  Well, here I am almost 5 months later and I am now coaching, drinking my Shakeology daily, working out 5-7 days a week PLUS I am down 29lbs and 22 inches.  I weigh as much as I did when before I had Sydney and I feel the best I have EVER felt.  I am HEALTHY. I am HAPPY. I have been able to afford my Shakeology by giving up the fast food meals and Dunkin Donut drinks I had at least 3-4 times a week.  

I made the choice to make this a lifestyle, not just a temporary fix.  I remember all too well how hard it has been for me trying to get back on track. Trying to get back into clean eating and working out when it is SO much easier to make it a habitual lifestyle. I have 2 beautiful girls watching me now and I want to set a good example for them as well as the rest of my family.  I have FINALLY found a good balance in my life and I am so excited to share my journey with YOU!

Thank you for taking the time to read my introduction (I know it is a tad but long, but I want you to know my back story and know that you are not alone)!