13 Weeks Without Alcohol + One Failure

Where oh where has the time gone?!?!  I sweat it was JUST Friday and now all of a sudden it's Wednesday?!  How in the heck did that happen?

Magic - it must have been magic. 

Please consider this my weekly year without alcohol post - and you're welcome to think of this being the week I failed.  

I failed at updating my blog on Monday afternoon like I always do - but I did not fail at abstaining from alcohol this week!  Whoo hoo one more week down! 

This year has just been flying by; I can't believe I've already made it 13 weeks!!!  Oh there's that pesky number thirteen - it's bad luck, right??  That must be why I failed to post on Monday!  (Really I have just been crazy busy the last 5 days and I pretty much completely forgot about it.  But if I can blame my failure on the evil omens of the number 13, I'll go with that!)

Last week Monday - Friday was simple to go without alcohol, just like it normally is.  I don't really think about wanting a drink during the week anymore - and that makes me happy!  I did have a dream that Jake and I were at a beer tasting party and I had to refrain from trying any of them - that was a bit difficult to deal with so luckily it was just a dream! :)

Friday after work I went to my mom's house for our monthly book club which was a lot of fun!  This used to be an event that saw me with a glass of wine (or two... or maybe three if I was feeling really extravagant).  Going without the wine was easy; I had my trusty water bottle with me and didn't feel too deprived :)  

I woke up on Saturday, started my day with vanilla Shakeology and then headed to a family girls' weekend - it was great!!!  There were about 20 of us women from the family who all met up at a hotel with some children tagging along and we had a great time.  

It's not very often that we all get together and I don't remember the last time we ever had this big of a reunion so it was a great weekend for sure!  We got to swim, play cards, talk and just hang out - couldn't ask for much more!  Drinks were had but, again, it wasn't too depressing to pass them up. 

My sister thought she was so clever to take a picture of me buying a box of wine - here it is! haha.  No one else really felt like leaving the car to get my grandma wine so I took one for the team :)

I still think that my first drink after the year will be a glass of champagne (though not a large one - it'd really go straight to my head after not drinking for a year!)

Diamond Beachbody Coach!

Guys I am just busting at the seams writing this post!!  I have been pinching myself for the last couple of days because I am just so excited and amazed that it happened - as of Thursday I am a Team Beachbody Diamond Coach!!!  As I had mentioned a couple weeks ago, I completely skipped over being a Ruby Coach - I went straight from Emerald to Diamond and it feels awesome!

What my coach wrote after I officially went Diamond:

Congrats to another shiny shiny diamond coach!!!

Ashley Krekelberg my dear how I love you soo much! 

I'm so proud of you and just watching you go through your own physical transformation and now getting to celebrate this big milestone with you is so exciting!!!

I'm so proud of you and all the hard work you have done!

You have been so focused and determined and it is shining through! 
Excited to celebrate this day with you!
Great job!!!!

I not only was covered with congratulations and celebrations from my fellow coaches for going Diamond, my name was congratulated on the NATIONAL Team Beachbody call!  It's incredible to be a part of a company that truly does celebrate and appreciate what you're doing - it was an awesome day and I'm still riding high because of it!!

Being Diamond means that I am helping to change lives from the inside out and also the outside in! Financially, physically and emotionally people are living better lives because I took the chance and signed up with my coach.  It has been the most humbling and awe-inspiring couple of months and I cannot wait to see where Beachbody will take me - I have huge goals and I am pumped to have hit this one!  

When I first signed on as a coach I set a goal to be Diamond by Beachbody Summit 2014 - in July.  Then I pushed that goal up to December 31st of 2013.  Then my coach asked me to push it up even further so I could help her reach a big milestone in her business - and I made it!  I was definitely nervous at times but one of the greatest things about the team I am on, The Dream Team (The #2 team in all of Beachbody!!) is that we are all there to help support, encourage, help & motivate each other.  We help each other reach these goals and we celebrate when we get there!  

I feel blessed. Lucky.  Excited.  Proud.  Enthused.  Humbled.  And the list could continue - but it sums up to one word:  Awesome.  I feel awesome about everything and I am beyond happy that I took the leap of faith, joined up and committed myself to helping people change their lives.  It's an honor to be a part of that journey in another person's life and I am grateful for the chance - and there are a lot more people who want extra support, encouragement, motivation or help!

Hitting Diamond made a fire that was already in me start burning SO much more than it had been!  This isn't a fad or a trial period for me - I am proud to be part of this company and the changes it is helping create across the USA and Canada and I am bursting with excitement to help other people take part in it!  

In a couple weeks I am starting a new Coaching Challenge Group - I will introduce you to the company, help you create a vision board so you can start setting and hitting goals, and I will help you find people who are ready to change their lives but only need your help to do so!!

If you enjoy health & fitness, have dreamt of finding a job that you can do at home but still be engaged in life outside your doors, want to feel passionate about what you're doing for your income, want to help people or just want a change of pace this could be the perfect fit!  

I'm enrolling for the Coach Challenge now - but spots are limited!  I am dedicating myself to helping you achieve your goals and really learn everything there is to learn about Beachbody - are you ready to commit to these things for yourself?

Email me now at ashleykrek@gmail.com for all the information and to get enrolled!

3 Months Without Alcohol

As of today I have made it three whole months without a drop of alcohol!  It has been much easier than I thought it would be, actually, but, of course, each week has its struggles.  Some are easier than others but it's always fun for me to look back over the week and see where I felt a bit weaker and where I excelled!

This past week I felt under the weather for a couple days, and I have never been one who can drink when I'm sick.  Some people can power through and get rid of their headaches with a beer or shot, but if I even think about alcohol when I'm sick I make myself 10x sicker.  So for those days it was easy to not even think about drinking!

But then...

Something happened...

Something that bummed me out in a big way...

That something?

Snow.  

Snow.  Cold.  Winter.

I am a fall girl to my bones - but I'm NOT a winter girl by any stretch of the imagination!  I hate when the roads get slick, having to bundle up, my nose freezing, the bottom of my jeans always getting wet because of walking in the snow, scraping off my car in the morning - any of these things makes me want a drink in a big way.  

Yes, it can be pretty and yes, I enjoy snuggling up to watch White Christmas with a cup of hot cocoa.  Truth be told, when I started doing Insanity last winter I would get so hot I would open my front door halfway through the workout so I could cool down a bit!  I definitely loved that aspect of the cold!!

The rest of it?  Not so much.  

I suppose I'll have to get over it, though.  Winter is almost here - and this year I can't cope with a glass of wine or Vodka 7 in hand!

Three months down, 9 to go - I'm celebrating tonight with day 8 of FocusT25 and tilapia for dinner!

Shakeology Brownies

I'm a fan of chocolate.  No doubt about it, I love it!  Always have been, always will be, there's just no getting around it - call it a guilty pleasure if you like, but I try to not feel too guilty about it :)

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter + chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream - you name it, I love it!

When I started drinking Chocolate Shakeology I thought I was in heaven!  I got my daily chocolate fix and I was having something that was good for me!  Then Beachbody introduced Vanilla Shakeology - and my chocolate world flipped upside down!  I love the chocolate, but I also love the vanilla - which left me a very happy girl because I love having the option every morning, but I've noticed that vanilla just doesn't fight my chocolate cravings!

This past week my craving has been simple - BROWNIES!!!  A simple piece of chocolate was just not going to cut it - I wanted the taste, the texture, the experience of a brownie!  (Yes, I realize I'm being over-dramatic here.  I apologize.  Kind of.)

I just started a brand-new challenge group, though, so I didn't want to give in to this craving because I am seriously striving for some major goals before 2014 hits us, and brownies are simply not in the cards for me right now...or are they??

I made my very own brownies!  Shakeology brownies!  Chocolately, wonderful, fudgy goodness!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           And here is how to make them!  I can't wait to hear what you think!

Here they are in all their glory!  Looks like a normal brownie, doesn't it?  Only it's not!  It's a Shakeology brownie!  Simple ingredients, NO butter, NO flour and they're easy to make!

They get my chocolate cravings out of the way as well as my dessert desires!  Win-win combination right here, folks.

They are best served warm with a glass of milk - like any self-respecting brownie, of course!  If you're not on a strict meal plan, throw a little ice cream on top, too - but just a little ;)

Clean Turkey Chili

I have something to share, and it might be a surprise considering the title of this post.

I don't like chili.  

I'm not a big fan of it and I never have been.  It's never been my least favorite food but it's never been in my top 10, either.  

But here I am with a turkey chili recipe!  And what's even more strange - this is my SECOND turkey chili recipe!  

I realized this as I was saving images on my computer - as I tried to save "turkeychili.jpg" the little ping sounded with an error message telling me that I already had an image titled that - what?!?  And then I remembered!  DUH!  

Just a couple weeks ago I shared a turkey chili recipe!  (That one is a slow cooker recipe - this is a stove-top recipe.  I think that makes it okay, right??)  

So the other day as I was preparing my meal plan I pulled stuff out of my cupboards and threw this one together - and it is awesome!!!  So please excuse my multiple turkey chili recipes - but please know that they're both definitely worth it :) 

I know that I have committed a horrible crime in food-blogging here, but I don't have a good picture of this turkey chili.  I'm sorry!!!  I will be sure to take and share one the next time I make it, I promise!!!

I'd love to know what you think of this recipe!

11 Weeks Without Alcohol!

Crazy, crazy - it's been 11 whole weeks since I've had a drink!!!  Going into this I thought it would be much more difficult than it has been, but I'll be totally honest here - this past Friday was HARD!

Last Friday was just one of those days that seemed like it was never going to be time to clock out for the day and go home!  There was stuff going wrong all day long, I was frustrated and just done with the week - and I really just kept thinking "I need a drink.  I really need a drink.  A beer would be perfect right now."  

I haven't had a day like that to really test my resolve yet, but I'm happy to be able to say that I made it through!  I skipped going to the bar after work with co-workers (because honestly, I might not have had the mental strength to be there and not order a drink!) and I let myself have a bit of time to just relax after work.  Jake came home and we went to see Ender's Game (which is my all-time favorite book so I was PUMPED to see the movie!!!)  

That definitely helped me forget about the stresses from the day and I was beyond grateful for that!!!  The rest of the weekend went by pretty quickly and luckily I didn't have any more "I need a drink" moments - so I'm proud to say that I DID make it through week eleven!!!  Next week will be three whole months down - 1/4 of the way to a year!!!

Would you like to join up with me for the rest of the year??  Of maybe just a week??  I'd love to hear how other people do!

Oversized Sweatshirts

Can you believe it's November already?!?! That's crazy!!!

When I looked at the temperature this morning, I saw a horrible thing - 40 degrees!! 40 degrees, people!! Just horrible. 

November means it's time for bundling up, the dash between the car and the house, frosty mornings and snow's probably not too far away! 

That got me thinking about bringing out all my winter-weather attire. Looking through it I saw a trend - a BIG trend! Everything I have is over-sized, unflattering and what I always used to call 'comfy'. Really, though, what 'comfy' meant was 'I can wear this and bundle up and hide any shape that I might have because I don't like my shape as it is.'

Well I'll tell you something - I don't EVER want to feel like that again!! I'm rounding in on the year anniversary of my healthy-living and weight loss journey and I couldn't be more proud! I feel comfortable in my own skin again and that is the best feeling in the world - no more need for xxxl hoodies and layers upon layers of clothes that only serve to hide me from the world!

Is it YOUR time to shed these same things? Are you ready to commit to a healthier, happier, more confident life? My next clean eating and fitness support & motivation group starts on November 11th - and it's already filling up!!! Email me today at ashleykrek@gmail.com to secure your spot!!

Let's get you into the flattering sweaters - not the "this is my workout but really napping sweatshirt that doesn't fit but hides me!" sweatshirt!!