Road Trip Snacking

Its that time of year for our 12 hour trek to the mountains. Are we like the normal people who split the trip into 2 days? Stay in a hotel? Drive through the night while the kids peacefully sleep the hours away?

Nope! Not us!

We pack it in like the Griswalds and settle in for the long haul! Mom, Dad, 3 kids, the dog and this year we are taking the newest family turtle and maybe even the Guinea Pig too.

Thank goodness for House Sitters, Personal DVD Players, Hand Sanitizer, iPods, Headphones, Air Freshener, Books and most importantly...
SNACKS!

We are not really a fast food family. (Never say 'Never')
For one thing, it costs at least $30 to feed this family in a drive thru, if not $50! Another thing is that it makes the car smell even worse! And then there is MY thing...its so bad for you!!

So, I pack lots of snacks and I TRY to keep it healthy. Here is my list!

This time my plan is to pack the kids' lunchboxes with snacks. Then I can have a 'Master Snack Bag' and the cooler to supplement. If I don't give them their own stash I may as well call myself a Waitress for the day.

I am planning to study all day!

Another thing I am doing this trip is packing ONE single book of DVDs. I usually bring ALL of the books. Am I crazy? I was! I will try to post a pic of our cram-packed bus when its all said and done!

What prompted me to start my blog? What prompted me to stand up taller with more confidence? What introduced me to an amazing team of like minded women from all over the country that I now call my teammates and friends? What makes me feel better on an achy day? What centers my mind when the chaos creeps in?

The PiYo Flip AKA The #WildThing

The answer to all of these is PiYo!! I never would have thought a fitness program could change my life the way this one has! I would love to share my passion with a few more women who are ready to change their bodies and possibly their mindsets! The program is on sale for a few more days and I hope that some more women will gift it to themselves to start the new year off right before it even starts!

This low impact, medium - high intensity workout will restore your mind and body. PiYo is such an amazing program that a beginner can do it at the same time as a conditioned athlete, they just need to modify to their greatest abilities. If you have been looking for a change in the way you look and feel then we should talk. I would love to personally share more of my story with you!

Here is an idea of what the program is all about. If you follow the calendar for results, it is an 8-week program. The workouts range from 18-50 minutes 6 days a week. You work up to the levels gradually, not instantly!

How to lose your device for 1 week!

 We like to think of our parenting style as being somewhere in the middle. We try not to be overly strict or overbearing. We try not to let the kids rule the roost either. But we enjoy raising our little brood to understand that there are consequences in life. Consequences for every little decision they make or do not make. We usually leave the choice up to them, with the understanding that they have to live with their decision.

So this morning we found ourselves needing a new consequence, in writing, for some poor decisions.

They could be up to no good while not doing their homework, not studying for a test or choosing to not put away their clean clothes, this time. Lucky for us, they are just off reading survival books, tidying up their fairy gardens, dressing up the pets or sneaking the iPad away to watch the 'voice' on YouTube that shows you how to make clothes for your Barbie doll out of PlayDough! Nevertheless leaving little paths of destruction where ever they may go like Hansel & Gretel. (Certain little girls do that more than a certain big boy!)

However, that pesky thing called homework must be done! And if I have one more piece of clothing added to my pile here of clean clothes to fold today, I may end up throwing those silly devices in the canal!

So Cameron Kids be warned!!!

Why YOU should buy what WE'RE all selling! {wink}

Do you feel like lately everyone and their sister is selling something? 

Wanna know why? 

It's because WE ARE!! 

We are all busting our butts from home trying to sell you everything from Candles to Oils to Skin Care to Hormone Drinks to Fitness Programs to Weight Loss Supplements to Nail Wraps to Makeup to Boutique Kids Clothing to Upscale Jewelry and on and on and on!!!

I agree, its a little overwhelming. Its a little uncomfortable too sometimes.

-You may not want what we are selling.

-You may not want to host a party.

-You may feel guilty buying from one person and not another....

or then feeling like you need to buy from her too!

-You may not TRUST that the product works!

For some, they just sell it because they want the discount, someone told them it would bring in a good income or because it is something to do. But then there are the rest of us that do it because we have become A PRODUCT OF THE PRODUCT! We have tried the products as customers and fell in love!! We saw the results first hand. We believe in what we do! Now, that doesn't mean that what works for one person will work for you. It just means that if it worked for me, I sure do hope it will work for you too!

When you go into Target to buy skin cream, what do you base your selection on? 

- a commercial or advertisement?

- a rating in a magazine?

- a friends' recommendation?

- real life testimonials or possibly photo shopped results?

I know that I have always been a very skeptical person. I always feel like I am getting duped. Every time I get my oil changed I expect to be told about something else that needs to be done and I never know if they are being honest or not. Its a sucky feeling. I used to feel that way about the fitness infomercials on TV too. But this new program PiYo {my soul mate workout!} caught my eye on Facebook over the summer. It not only opened my eyes to the program but to how this whole Network Marketing Business World works!

Its not all smoke and mirrors. It can't be. 

Why? How? 

Because (at least for the most part) we are selling what we are selling because whatever it is WORKED for us! Most of us (again, for the most part) are in this 'thing' because we love 'it' and we believe in 'it' and we want everyone to experience whatever 'it' is that has changed our lives! We don't want to lie. We don't want to encourage our friends and family to spend their hard earned money on something we don't believe in.

We want to help other people. From home. On our own time. With help and incentives from someone else. And we want to be paid for endorsing their products, the ones we believe in. And we want the opportunity to move up in the company if we do well.

But wait, there's more!

While we want you to 'buy what we're selling' because that product worked for us, the bottom line is (here's that for the most part again) we want you to feel what we have felt. For me, I don't mind if you don't use what I use or do what I do. I do not want to sell anything to anyone just to make a buck if I don't believe in it, because that person will tell the people they know about the product I sold them that doesn't work!!

 I just want you to know that we are all out here because we truly believe in our products. 

For example, I drink Shakeology every day. I love what it does for me and I love what it does for other people I know. I own and use the Beachbody programs PiYo and 21 Day Fix, because they are great workouts. They are easy to do at home and for me and my schedule currently, that works!  One of my closest friends chooses to use Advocare for her health journey, and you know what? I am really happy for her because it is working for her! She goes to the gym and is not interested in working out at home. No problem. Are my feelings hurt? Not at all. On the contrary, I am so happy for her that she has found something that works! And she will spread the word about what works for her, because she wants other people to experience what she has experienced! 

I have seen a lot of negativity about 'competitors' and also about people thinking that these things don't work. That is why I wanted to write this piece, that I thought would be a few short paragraphs. Oops! We are all out there just trying to be better for ourselves, our friends and our families. So if its your neighbor selling something she thinks is great, just listen and see what she has to say. I think its better to hear first hand about results than to trust a product just because a beautiful model or celebrity says you should.

Now, you can stop reading my ramblings unless you want to read more about how I chose to get into Network Marketing!

 It is something I never really saw myself doing, #1 because I do not like sales and I don't think I am very good at selling things. The other main reason was that I didn't want to seem 'salesy.' I didn't want to sell a product that claimed to do anything for the body because I am not a doctor. I didn't want to sell fashion because I would hate for this casual girl to give poor advice to someone looking for glamour!
But then I took a little leap back in May and (again, stepping out of my good ole comfortable comfort zone) got out my credit card and bought the Start-Up Kit for Jamberry Nails.  I thought it was a pretty cool product and for just about $120 I could get the nail wraps I wanted to order anyways, the nail heater to make the application easier, samples and marketing materials. Not too shabby. What I didn't expect was the education I would get! So, that right there was my money well spent. In learning about Network Marketing through their 'Jamberry University' I learned a lot about myself, my style, how to present things, how to find confidence and how to 'go for no', because for every 'No' there is a 'Yes' waiting somewhere. I eventually chose to leave Jamberry to focus on Beachbody.

When I discovered the 'Coaching Opportunity' with Beachbody I realized it was very much something I wanted to do and something I would enjoy. I also realized that once again you should "Never Say Never." Here I was signing up to sell vitamins, supplements, energy supplements, protein bars, meal replacement shakes and this drink called Shakeology that the company claimed to be 'The Healthiest Meal of the Day,' Those thoughts of, 'who am I to say if this works or not?' weighed heavily on me. In the beginning I actually just planned to sell PiYo because I was just so amazed by the program. And then I started noticing how Shakeology was actually affecting me. I started getting to know the products and realizing that those infomercials are real. They are really cheesy, but they are real. Those people are not actors. They are real people who did the programs, took before and after photos and applied to a casting call for the infomercial. I wanted to apply for the upcoming PiYo infomercial but I didn't have any 'before' pics left that I didn't edit my head out of.

<Side note: Ever wonder why the people in the 'after' pictures always seem to have better posture, better tans and bigger smiles? There is a secret to those after pictures. They have better posture because they are A: proud of their bodies and B: their new stronger muscles are begging to hold things up where they belong!  And those tans? The people most likely know they are doing their after picture and they want to look GOOD! Everyone looks better with a little color...and everyone looks better with a SMILE!!!  Now you know the secret!>

Anyways, back to my 'WHY!' So now I am a few months in and I really do love what I do. I am not making a fortune, yet! But I am so happy because I am helping old friends get back in shape. I am helping 'old' ladies feel young again. I am helping people find their 'Soulmate Workout.' 

On top of all of those awesome things, I am able to work from home. Everything I do also compliments my path to getting my Personal Training Certification next year! Everything I do with my Beachbody business helps me to stay focused on the Personal Training aspects. Its as though everything is coming full circle for me. Without discovering Beachbody I never would have found my beloved PiYo and obviously I never would have even known about getting certified to teach it, which I can not wait to start very soon.

The part about all of these Network Marketing companies that is so different from mainstream jobs is that everyone has the opportunity to advance. Yes, there is still just 1 CEO etc. But as far as the sales force goes, we all have the opportunity to rise all the way to the top. There is no limit. You are not held back from advancing in rank just because the person that signed on before you has not done as well. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the products Beachbody offers, participating in one of my Challenge Groups or the Beachbody Coaching Opportunity just shoot me an email. I would love to answer any and all questions that you may have. And, of course, I would love to have you are my customer or as my team member!! ;)

Comment below to request my email address!

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My Beachbody Page

Dreams coming true!~

This time last year I was planning to go ahead and get my teaching certification...to teach elementary ed.  Something in me said to follow my dreams instead and to do what I was passionate about, what I went to college for, what I have always studied even when it wasn't necessary! This certification I received today is such an emotional piece of paper for me!!  Its just one little step in the right direction.

That's me in the white!

 I joined about 40 other women a few weeks ago in Orlando at Breakin' Sweat Fitness Studio to get certified by Beachbody Master Trainer Alli Upham to teach PiYo because when I discovered it over the summer I fell in love! I got up early Saturday morning and drove myself the 2 hours to Orlando. The sun was rising and there was a low fog in all of the fields. It was beautiful. When I arrived I found that I wasn't the only one to travel for this class. There were girls from all over the state of Florida, one woman flew down from Virginia, one flew in from Barbados and get this....one woman flew in from LONDON just to get her PiYo and Turbo Certifications. Seriously, a special day!

We began the day with introductions and quick review of our manual, which I had already studied front to back multiple times! Then we got into the full workout! You could see the smiles on (most) of our faces as we realized just WHERE we were at that very moment! For a lot of us, this wasn't just another certification or just to get Continuing Education hours. This was a life changing day. This was an inconceivable moment for some of us back in early July when we began our first PiYo home workouts and heard that you could get certified to teach it live. The emotions of how powerful this program is all came rushing in as we were powering through our Sun Salutations!

The rest of the day was a blur of practice, technique, practice, technique, cueing, practicing, doing lots of push ups and Chaturangas, drinking lots of water and feeling the beat!  At the end of the day we were ready to head home and practice! The drive home was again, beautiful. It was an amazing day!

 This is a huge step for me in pursuing my dreams! One of the songs from the lesson we practiced says "I don't want to dream, I just want to live it!"  How fitting!

I can't wait to begin teaching PiYo LIVE soon!! Stay tuned for my schedule.....

**If you want to know more about PiYo in general, becoming a PiYo Live Instructor or how you can get the PiYo home workouts just let me know!! I would love to be your personal Beachbody coach. I am always running fun Challenge Groups on Facebook for accountability, meal plans, tips, motivation and support!! My passion is helping people work towards and ACHIEVE their health and fitness goals!!**

My 3-Day Refresh 'Mini Cleanse' Experience

About a month ago I ordered The 3-Day Refresh. 

 I had all intentions of starting it on the following Monday because Mike would be in meetings most of the week so my lunchtime and midday temptations would be less.  I woke up that Monday morning ready to go.  I had my first tall glass of water instead of my coffee and realized that I just was not feeling it.  I went ahead and made my first Shakeology of the day with just water and ice.  Yep, I was dizzy and had a headache.  Allergy Season.  So I decided by 10:00 that my awesome 3-Day Refresh was not happening, not today at least.

Flash forward about 3 weeks and I wake up on a regular Wednesday morning and decide today is the day!  The words "Cleanse", "Caloric Restriction", "Fiber Sweep", "Refrain from drinking coffee" are all a little scary to me.  But I thought, its 3 days.  I can do just about anything for 3 days,  My grandmother once fasted for something like 3 weeks to 'starve' a tumor.  (Which apparently worked?) 

I can do this!  

So here I go on my 3 day adventure!

First things first...the booklet only SUGGESTS refraining from drinking coffee.  So I did have a small cup of black coffee on that first day.  After that here is how my days went:

#1 Lots & Lots of water.  My goal was to drink a gallon a day, on its own, not as tea or part of my Shakes.

#2 Breakfast: Chocolate Shakeology with 1/2 a banana, water and ice.  

{In the mornings I would rather have a delicious and thick smoothie than eat the banana so I added it in the smoothie.  Without the banana it was a little too thin for me....I learned that from my first attempt a few weeks prior.}

#3 Fiber Sweep: Boy, did I dread this the first day.  But it wasn't so bad.  I mixed it with only about a cup and half of COLD water and drank it quickly.  The longer it sits, the more it sets.  It was 'texturey' shall we say, but had a nice sweet lemony flavor.  Its only once a day, big deal.  (And the dreaded results you would expect from something called Fiber Sweep are nothing to write home about, if you know what I mean!)

#4 Lunch: "Lunch?" you say?  Why yes!  I took out my next cute little packet from the box of Vanilla Fresh and mixed it with ice and water in my NutriBullet.  I drank that and had a serving from the veggies list (usually just celery and carrots) and on the first day I had just 1 1/2 teaspoons of unsalted, unsugared almond butter.  That left me hungry.  But on days 2 & 3 I switched to hummus!!  2 whole Tablespoons of hummus to be exact!  Not so bad!

#5 Afternoon Snack: I was a little boring here, but again, I had celery and hummus or almond butter.  The veggies list is long, I just migrate towards celery sticks!!

#6 Afternoon Tea: La-Ti-Da!  So fancy!  

#7 Dinner: Another delicious (seriously) Vanilla Fresh Shake....but I treated this as dessert.  So for dinner I had my "optional" cup of organic vegetable broth to really fill me up with chopped scallions, dried tarragon, garlic powder and/or parsley.  The first night, I was not prepared, or inspired so I just added some kale from what I had cooked for everyone else to my broth.  I had a few almond slivers on the side.  (I was not really hungry that first day either, even though I skimped.)  So on the second and third night I made better choices and had an entire spinach salad one night and cucumber and tomato salad on the next night.(recipes below).  I barely had room in my belly for the Vanilla Fresh Shake!!

#8 Evening Tea: I had a cup of good ole Sleepytime Tea!

So, wanna know what happened? Well, I lost 5 pounds and 1.5 inches (overall)...in 3 days! Without starving myself!

I did not do it to lose weight, mind you.  I did it to lose the bloat and to tune things up on the inside. I didn't notice the weight loss until the 4th day.  I always try to weigh myself around the same time of day with the same type of clothing on, and on the same scale. I think those are important things to keep in mind. 

I have never done a cleanse or fast before, so this was something I was a little afraid of at first.  It really was not bad at all.  The hardest part for me was the actual action of not eating.  If I do it again I will make better choices and really plan it out.  Like I said before, you can do pretty much anything for 3 days.  I think its a great choice for doing 4 days before an event or after the holidays to rid your body of some of those built up toxins!

Here are my 2 favorite recipes from the plan that I incorporate into our normal menu quite often!!

**Full disclosure** I am a Beachbody Coach however I chose to do The 3 Day Refresh because I was interested in doing a mini-cleanse on my own.  If you are interested in hearing more I would absolutely love to help you out on your personal journey.  Fitness and Health are my passions and I am committed to helping people achieve their own health and fitness goals!!  fb.com/DarbyCam

Fall Resolutions 2014

Why do we wait around all year for the New year to arrive so we can make our 'New Year's Resolutions' list?  Why don't we resolve to make the changes throughout the year, as WE change?
Is this what your list ends up looking like?

NOT my list, found this on Google!

 I came across an old article from Forbes Magazine about resolutions and what caught my eye was the title...'Just 8% of People Achieve Their New Years Resolutions.'  The article hits the nail on the head about why.  Our resolutions are too broad, like 'Lose Weight' or 'Eat Better.'  And while those are great things to strive for they are so broad that we can easily lose focus.  Who wants be part of the 92% of Americans that apparently give up or forget about their grand plans?

Not me!

I have been making a lot positive changes in my life lately and setting all kinds of new and exciting goals.  I am really learning that you are never too old to start something (well, most things) and I think that should be true for resolutions too.  So I am starting my list of Fall Resolutions 2014 and I plan to succeed in accomplishing them and staying on track for the next 3 1/2 months of 2014.

Curious about what #1 on my list will be?

Stay tuned while I work on my list and in the meantime why don't you get started on yours!?!
***if you want to read that old Forbes article, here is the link.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/

September 11 Thoughts

Today of all days, September 11, is the perfect time to remind yourself to live in the moment.  To focus on what is real and what is important.  To follow your dreams and to do the things you are passionate about.  Why wait?  In the words of Garth Brooks "I'll never reach my destination, if I never try" .  Its just been the past month that I have come to the realization that you truly are never to old to start.  And you don't have to wait for New Years Day to start working on resolutions to improve your self, your life, your world.  Start NOW.  Start today.  And you may not will not succeed at every step, but each stumble, each failure means you are trying.  It may not happen today or tomorrow, but little by little you can make it happen!!

So today as you reflect and grieve in your own way, try to to keep in mind this thought.  If those people who died that day, or because of that day could come back and give you one piece of advice, it would probably be something along the lines of 'live in the moment' or 'do what you love, what makes you happy.'  Lets all honor those souls by taking life by the horns.  Get out there and do what you love, what makes you happy, what makes you a better person because those around you will feel your glow and maybe one by one we can make the world a happier place!

Lessons Learned From Seaglassing

About 8 years ago I discovered my first piece of sea glass on the beach in Bimini, Bahamas where we visit often.  After quickly finding a few more pieces I quickly found that I had a new obsession!  I began teaching Riley to walk along the shore and pick up the pieces of shiny colored glass.  We worked as a team combing the shore and him walking along side of me as I snorkeled close to shore picking up piece after piece.  It wasn't long before Riley caught on to tossing back the pieces that weren't quite ready.  Obviously, the girls became interested too...being that we were looking for pretty, colorful, shiny things to collect!  And now, we still walk along looking, but now everyone looks 'a little deeper.'

Even Taylor dives down for it!

How could you not get addicted to this?

Found.

Of course, Mollie gets side tracked by other things...

But finding a pretty Conch Shell surely isn't a bad discovery either!

A few years ago we started talking about the 'life lessons' we could learn from our sea glass hunting.  So here are a few:

1. Sometimes the ocean gives and sometimes she takes.  {We often find these beautiful treasures, but if we don't grab the opportunity quickly enough or if we are careless in the way we handle the opportunity, well, the 'ocean' (or life) may just sweep the treasure back out to sea.}  And when this happens, while its frustrating, we need to accept the loss and move on...and learn from the mistake.

2. Just because something is pretty & shiny from a distance doesn't mean that its going to be good enough to keep.  Some pieces have the prettiest color, but the edges are still jagged and rough--those pieces need some more time to improve and get smooth.  Which also leads us to #3...

3. Don't settle for just any piece of sea glass.  {Quality over Quantity is a tough one for the little ones to grasp!}

4. Patience brings reward.  We have learned that if you are patient and persevere that you will be rewarded with a big beautiful piece.

5. And like Mollie and her Conch shell up there....sometimes the thing you were looking for isn't what you needed after all!  Don't be so focused on a single thing that you lose sight of the other opportunities around you.

A 'small' collection of our sea glass finds and one of my favorite pictures of Riley hunting

Tasting Tomatoes

Why 'Tasting Tomatoes'?  When I was a child there was nothing more that I hated than TOMATOES!  I liked Ketchup and cocktail sauce.  I liked salsa on chips, but ONLY after I would dip it and then wipe the chip on the side of the dish to get everything off said chip.  I could eat pizza, but if I could see any of the sauce, I would scrape it off.
My grandparents had a summer home outside of Boone, NC and we would always go to Cafe Rustica for delicious Italian dinners.  That is where I was introduced to my Italian go-to meal....Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon, Butter and Fresh Parsley, please.  That was the only thing I would eat in any Italian restaurant for the first two decades of my life.  Poor Darby.  In Middle School and High School we would get together for group dinners before formal dances and I would always dread going because I knew what the main dish would be...Lasagna!  Gross. Tomatoes in every layer.  Just salad and bread for me, please.
But then something happened in college.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone and...I.Ate.Tomatoes!!!
I was at the Lake with my sorority sisters and they were making Southern sandwiches.  A slice of bright red tomato with a touch of mayo in between two soft slices of white bread.  Something about it looked so delicious!!  So I took a bite and never really looked back.  At first it was just a bit of BLT, without taking out the T.  Then it was Campbell's Healthy Request Tomato Soup with lots of black pepper.  Then a little more salsa on my chips.
And now, a decade and a half later, I am buying tomatoes every week at the grocery store.  So I like to think of how Tasting Tomatoes has helped me step outside my comfort zone more often.  You never know if your tastes have changed....
And that is what this blog is about.  Sharing my experiences (good & bad) and opinions about the things I am trying.  Follow me in my in my everyday 'adventures' of trying not to say "never."