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I’m sitting here reflecting on that past 21 days and I have so many mixed feelings about it ending!

I’m SO thankful and SO glad that I did it! I’m even more thankful that I had Neil to go through it with me and help me with food prep and purchasing, and all that good stuff! It was the biggest learning experience for me. So many of these items I had never heard of or cooked before. I learned a lot about food prep and I feel so much more confident in buying fresh food and being able to use it… you know before it goes bad! 😉

I went to the store yesterday to restock my fridge and found myself naturally gravitating towards fruits and veggies and they made up most of my purchases. I was thrilled to see blueberries on sale , strawberries you could smell across the store, ripe yellow bananas, beautiful tomatoes, bright red bell pepper and gorgeous zucchini! The best part… I felt completely comfortable buying all those and KNOWING that I had the ability to cook with the veggies and put the fruit to great use!

I also had weaned myself off of my daily cup of coffee. When I first started the Reset I was sure that I would continue drinking coffee the MOMENT it was all over, but I didn’t. I DON’T need it- my body has plenty of natural energy and I have never felt better! It feels great to know my body is so clean and running so smoothly and efficiently! Now, will I stop drinking coffee COMPLETELY? No, probably not, but it definitely won’t be a daily thing anymore and my adrenal gland is thanking me!

I also lost 10 pounds on the Reset which is a lot for me.  I lost 2 inches on each leg (which you can see REALLY well in the first picture above) and 2 inches on my waist (which you can see in this picture)- I mean that’s just still so unbelievable to me! And all from EATING CLEAN! This is what we’re always talking about with nutrition being soooo important for your results! You can’t out-exercise a bad diet and this proves that!

A lot of people may get critical about my weight loss, but I ask you to please keep those thoughts to yourself because there was nothing dangerous about what I did. This was completely all natural, whole foods, non-starvation 21 days and I definitely ATE. I ate THREE solid meals a day plus a snack a good chunk of the days- these were super healthy and clean meals with REAL food! What this did was remove so many of the toxins in my body that had build up after years of eating processed foods. Now that this is over, it’s time to really tighten and tone my body which I am SO excited to do! Time to get LEAN AND TONED, baby!

I’m going to miss knowing exactly what my meals are everyday. I mean, isn’t that what we all want- someone to plan our meals for us? Well and cook them too I suppose, haha! This just proved to me how AWESOME the Beachbody Meal Planner is and I plan on seriously committing fully to using that. I mean how easy is that? Shopping lists, recipes, menus- I mean everything that you need to be successful. I just fully realized its value through this.

I am glad though to be able to eat what I want right now. Honestly, I WANT healthy foods- that’s what my body wants so obviously I’ve flipped that switched in my brain and body which is exactly what I wanted. My first meal off the Reset was steel cut oats with blackberries, flaxseed and pure maple syrup. Sound familiar? It should- it was a breakfast on the Reset! There are plenty of recipes that we will definitely continue going forward- Stir Fried Veggies, Garlic Veggies, Quinoa Lentil Pilaf, Black Beans & Rice Tacos, Zucchini Cashew Soup, Lemony Broccoli and Asparagus…. to name a few!

After  not working out for 21 days I was anxious to get back to it. I did Pump Challenge and honestly that was enough for the first day. It’s hard for me to pull back but I know my body needs some time to get back into full force. However, even though it’s a short workout and I didn’t even use VERY heavy weights- I felt more efficient doing it. I felt like it was a really productive 20 minutes so I think that is a GREAT sign! I’m excited to put my new body to the test!

Here are my biggest tips for those of you just embarking on this journey!

• First of all- GOOD FOR YOU!! This is going to be the best money, time and energy that you can spend- no joke! This is TOTALLY worth every cent! You’re going to learn so much, experience so much, and come out renewed, refreshed and in the BEST HEALTH of your life! I guarantee it!
• Remember that this isn’t a “diet”- this is a detox so try as hard as you can to stick to it. Yes, sometimes you don’t want to, sometimes the food sounds unique, but you’re going to be so proud of yourself if you stick to the program! Don’t you want the best results possible????
• Preparation is KEY! In my previous blog posts documenting my journey, I tried to give you tips on what to make ahead of time so you’d know what to expect. Just make sure you look ahead and really do everything you can to make life easier on you during this time. On the weekends, we would shop for everything we needed for the next week. Then we’d get to work- we prepared a ton of things ahead of time on the weekends. This saved us a lot of time- chopping veggies, marinating things, making salads… all that stuff is going to really help you out!
•  Alkalinize has a very unique flavor, but don’t skip it! It takes a few days but you’re actually going to start looking forward to it. Your body will be craving it in the afternoon and you won’t mind the taste at all! It ends just tasting a little salty and really refreshes your body! I promise I’m not crazy (not about this anyway)!
• Detox is not that bad so don’t get freaked out or worried about it. Yes, it’s going to clean you out, but no you won’t be running to the bathroom. I really had no big problems taking it so don’t let it deter you from this! You’ll be just fine!
• When you’re done, make sure you take some time to reflect on what you’ve done. You’ve overcome a lot, you’ve probably dealt with some emotional issues like I did, you’ve learned so much and you’ve not given into temptation! You should be so proud of yourself- I know I am!

My last thought is just that if Neil and I can do this- you can do this! This was an AWESOME experience and I hope that you’ll really consider it! Please, feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns and I’ll be happy to help you and answer any questions that you may have! If you want to read more about the Ultimate Reset, check out this website. My blog also has a day by day guide with pictures of food and my thoughts and feelings each day. I also have an Ultimate Reset Support Group on Facebook so all my peeps doing the Reset can join, get all their questions answered, share successes and struggles and get endless support! It’s a great group!

10 pounds down, at least 4 inches, energy through the roof, more confidence, super lean, super clean, and complete control over my food preparation and consumption. It takes 21 days to make and break habits… Are you ready to replace your bad habits with good ones? That’s EXACTLY what the Ultimate Reset did for me!

P.S. Pardon the difference in qualities in my pictures- my before pics are professional pics and my after ones are not.