Fixate Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

We have been really enjoying ourselves here with the BRAND-NEW "Fixate" Autumn Calabrese cookbook from Team Beachbody!  Each of the recipes contain a key to describe the container usage to align with the popular 21 Day Fix program.  BUT, even if you are not in the midst of doing the 21 Day Fix, this is an excellent clean eating cookbook which is fantastic for ANYONE!  There are 101 recipes and quite a few are marked as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian and paleo-friendly.  I am a coach with Team Beachbody and this cookbook Fixate is currently available only through coaches!  Find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jeanette.paradis to learn more!

Contrary to what you may be guessing from the image above, no one here is actually celebrating age 86 (or age 92 with bonus pink candles!) this evening.  Those just so happen to be the "special candles" that the kids saved from their birthdays this year.  It is SO RARE that we bake a cake around here that they felt as though it must be some special occasion and so they decorated!  We turned down the lights and lit the candles and sang.  Memories being made.  Speaking of memories, I went on to share my own former restaurant-world experience with the term "86" which means "hold the, no, or get rid of the" whatever!  My husband told the kids how 1986 was a banner year for his favorite teams - the NY Giants, the NY Mets, the Hartford Whalers and even his own Little League.  Sweet!

Fixate Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Serves 12   Prep Time 20 min.   Cooking Time 30 min.

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

2 tsp. baking powder, gluten-free

¼ tsp. sea salt

¾ cup unsalted organic grass-fed butter, divided use

1 cup raw honey (or maple syrup), divided use

4 large eggs

1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp. unsweetened almond milk, divided use

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1)      Preheat oven to 350.

2)      Coat a 9” round baking pan with spray and set aside.

3)      Combine both flours, baking powder and salt and set aside.

4)    Cream together ½ cup butter and ¾ cup honey in a medium bowl and beat at medium speed for 1 minute.

5)      Add eggs one at a time and beat until blended.

6)      Add ¼ cup almond milk and vanilla extract and beat until blended.

7)      Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until creamy.

8)      Pour batter into prepared pan.

9)    Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Place on a cooling rack.

10)  Whip remaining ¼ cup butter in a medium bowl; beat on medium speed 1-2 minutes or until creamy.

11)   Add remaining 3 Tbsp. almond milk and beat until well-blended.

12)   Add cocoa powder and blend thoroughly; scraping bowl occasionally.

13)   Slowly add remaining ¼ cup honey while beating on medium speed.  Set aside.

14)   Frost cake once cool and cut into 12 slices.  Enjoy!

 

Flexible Part Time = Full Time: Everyday to Extraordinary!

Good morning!!  Welcome to my blog!  My name is Jeanette.  I am a wife, a mom and a Coach with Team Beachbody!  I am currently sitting in our home in our suburban neighborhood here in Erie, PA.  Last week at this time I was in Nashville for our annual Coach Summit where 25,000 of us coaches had gathered for some incredible days together!!  Best part - I got to go with my sister Rachel!  She is the one who got me into all of this in the first place.  

In September of 2013, I got started in a Challenge Group that my sister Rachel was leading.  Rachel had become a coach the month prior, after having begun her own health journey that May.  I began with clean eating and home fitness and with the support of my challenge groups, I have gone on to lose nearly 60 pounds!  I feel better than ever and am just plain thankful to be where I am today!

In March of 2014, I became a coach myself!  Rachel had been asking me about it for MONTHS but I kept on saying "No!", "No thanks", "Not right now".  That stemmed from thinking that this was weird and might be some sort of scam and what if I was not good at it and what if other people thought it was strange and who am I to be helping others with their own health and what if I could just not make a go of it??????  These thoughts and many others held me back.  In the meantime, we were very, very close to selling our home and downsizing due to troubles in our family budget.  We had bought our current place when my husband had his previous job and his current job required that we make some adjustments here.  All of those concerns listed above - the things that kept me from saying "yes"?  Well, God's hand was in this.  From my very first MONTH, I was able to earn enough to cover the cost of our mortgage here.  A couple of days ago, I made a video talking about being able to do that this week with my earnings from one WEEK as a coach. As I shared in the video, why am I talking about all of this??  Well, you might be looking for something extra to help your own family and this could be it!  Seriously.  I currently work 20-25 hours per week with where I am as a coach. I began with this with 12-15 hours per week.  I look forward to really being able to dive into my business once the kids begin school next month.  I am truly just getting started!  There are so many more things I would love to do each day but have to work with the time that I have as a mom.

I host a regular coaching open house via FB group and I would be glad to have you there with us!  My sister Rachel and I lead our team together.  We are building successful businesses and are so happy to be helping our coaches to do the same!  And we are GROWING --- how exciting!!!!

Looking back through my photos from last week's trip to Nashville, I was reminded again of how much I LOVE this company!  I have gotten to know some incredible coaches who live all over this continent.  My sister Rachel's own coach Melanie is the #1 coach out of 360,000+ coaches and it is amazing to have the best support and tools right at our fingertips.  Summit was a big celebration for us as well as a top-notch learning opportunity!

 

Some begin coaching in the midst of their journey of significant weight loss.  Others do not need to lose any weight - they are looking to gain strength and energy.  Some are looking to get off of medications for an array of ailments.  Clean eating and Shakeology go a LONG way in this area.  After finding our own success and seeing this happen for others over and over again, it is too EXCITING not to share this with others! 

Some coaches work at the hobby level and delight in helping family and a few friends to reach their own goals.  Other coaches are building a significant business and are truly carrying the household budget based on their coaching career.  There are NO MINIMUMS and also NO LIMITS in what you can do with this as a business.  All of us are thankful for the quality people that we have met and continue to meet in this endeavor.  I have been part of many "groups" of people and quite a few initiatives throughout my life as a leader and person of action.  My coach friends are the best!  These are positive, caring, motivated people who are living proof that change is possible and we are done with the status-quo of our society.  Join us!

 

I remember how I used to worry over my declining health and I thought that at best I would maintain where I was... never mind the huge improvements that I have seen!  Motherhood is a great joy but I used to wonder if I would be able to find something of my own in the midst of it, without trading off too many things here. I LOVE that I can help others all over the country (and world, even!) to find the same success that I have had. Life change is POSSIBLE, REAL and NECESSARY! Time to change up the status quo in our society!

Being on my own journey of health and becoming a coach who helps others and leads my team alongside of my sister has been a surprise twist that I did not see coming at first! Now I can not imagine life any other way!  I was a SKEPTIC! My sister asked me about this sooooooooo many times and we were at the point of very nearly selling our home before I finally said yes. And you know what? This is beyond anything that I could have estimated for myself!

 

You are invited to join me in my next coaching info session to learn more about if coaching could be a fit for you!  Send me a friend request at https://www.facebook.com/jeanette.paradis and we will get started!

Cize Overview + Meal Plan!!

Here we are!  I have begun Shaun T's newest workout "Cize" and I have to admit that I am surprised that I am enjoying it!  When I first heard about this one, I was filled with a fair amount of dread.  After all, I have never been a dancer!  But Shaun T challenged that thought by saying how we say that we can't dance but the truth is that we have never tried.  BINGO!  That is me.  Time to set aside my own preconceived notions of myself and just give it my best.  Here was my other concern... I know that the program is effective, BUT what if my level of dance is sooooooo "remedial" that I can not burn a decent amount of calories due to my own limitations???  Would it still be a good workout if I am just kind of wandering through a mystery of attempted moves??  Oh my imagination does carry me away at times! 

SURPRISE!  I put on my Heart Rate/Calories Burned tracker for my Day 2 of Cize!  I did the 30 minute "Crazy 8's" routine plus the 8 minute abs.  Now, I know that I am sweating like CRAZY.  My heart rate held steady in the 140's once I was warmed up.  This is NOT a shabby calorie burn for something that truly feels like "fun" throughout the routine!  I can see why Beachbody has been using the tagline of "Cize: the end of exercise".  This does not feel like exercise!  I am learning something new and guess what else??  I am SORE from it.  Surprise #2 on that one, although I suppose it really shouldn't be a shocker.  We are talking Shaun T, after all!

Today I returned to Crazy 8's for a third time and I am starting to get the hang of it!  I like the "Crisscross" move the most and "Row the Boat" is where I need the most work with following along with my own footwork!

** update added: today was my 4th Day with "Crazy 8's" and I was brave enough to ask my husband to film the last minute of it!  This is me being BRAVE - check it out here!  

Cize includes the 7 routines here plus a bonus DVD.  In the future, Beachbody ON Demand will also be releasing FRESH Cize routines, so that is a nifty thought!  I still have a ways to go before I master everything here in the program!!  This program is low-impact, fun and allows you to really take it wherever YOU would like to go with it.  Some of my friends are incredible dancers and it is cool to see their Cize videos posted on FB and what all they are doing with it!  Others are more like me and many are somewhere in between!  Yet, it is working for all of us!  

I will be hosting a Cize test group which will begin our prep week on Monday, July 27th!  You are invited to join us!!  See application at the bottom of this blog entry!  The test groups are some of my own favorite challenge groups!  It is so exciting to tackle a new program together and the celebration of progress is so invigorating!

The Cize nutrition guide incorporates the color coded portion control ratios that were first introduced during the 21 Day Fix!  The calorie calculator has you finding your container count based on whether you are above or below 150 pounds.  The guide has LOTS of great recipe ideas!  I am also working with the BRAND-NEW cookbook called "Fixate" and today we had so much fun meal planning while using both of these guides!  We took our snack outdoors and the kids found A LOT of recipes that we will be incorporating during the upcoming days, weeks and months!

Once we had pulled some recipes, it was time to put everything together into a Cize Meal Plan.  I plotted out my workouts for the upcoming week, including two of my favorites from the 21 Day Fix Extreme.  This will be prep week in my test group and our official Day 1 will take place on August 3rd!

Through clean eating, Shakeology and home fitness, I have lost nearly 60 pounds since when I began in September 2013.  I became a coach in March 2014 in order to share all of this with others!  My challenge groups are where it all comes together!  I hope to have you with us for Cize!  Let's talk soon!!

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Results: 3 Day Refresh!

Here we are!  Just last night I completed the 3-Day Refresh and I took note of my results this morning.  For me, the Refresh is not so much a #'s thing for results as it is a mental and physical reset of habits and zeroing in on my focus.  We can workout hard, but no matter what we do in the gym, we can NOT "outrun a bad diet".  Nutrition is KEY and the Refresh really gets right to the heart of the matter. 

This is so not my usual, but I had been feeling down on myself lately. Bottom line is that too many summer treats here and there, spread over the course of 6 weeks, had added UP! Here is what it comes down to for me -- there were ZERO times that I had "gone crazy" with anything from a nutrition standpoint. Like, not at all. There was not a day where I thought, "Gosh - I really and completely blew it today!". But it was the accumulation of treats and travel and hosting guests that all added up to extra belly flub and it was bothering me. 

So, I just completed the 3-Day Refresh and I am back on track with going in the direction that I really do WANT to go in. Now it is getting a feel for how I may need to have a treat twice a month rather than once a week if I want to continue to keep traction. 

Sometimes in life we may feel like we keep on losing the same 5 pounds over and over. You know what - better than only ever gaining, right???? But it is about so much more than a # on the scale anyways. Who are we and where are we headed today?

I lost 5 pounds with the 3-Day Refresh.  More importantly - I FEEL better.  Where is this within the bigger picture of my 50+ pounds weight loss journey?  I am back within 2 pounds of my "lowest ever" weight and I am once again DETERMINED to push through the plateau where I have been dwelling! How??  Well, nutrition is going to be ON POINT more than it has been.  Between now and October 1st, I will do the Refresh again.  My game plan is to be 5 pounds below my "lowest ever" once we reach October 1st.  So that would mean losing 7 pounds between now and then.  More than losing pounds, I am aiming for losing more belly flub!  Refresh just gave me a great kick-start on that!

 

For more on what the Refresh is all about - check out this blog entry which I had written when the program was first released last summer.  I completed the program last July and blogged my results here.  I also did it again over the winter.  So my time with it just now was my third round.  I like that the Refresh is a cleanse where you are still eating "real" food and you do not feel uncomfortable at all.  :)  I still do my workouts during the Refresh.  Rather than continuing on with Insanity Max 30, I set that aside for a few days and pulled out my beloved PiYo.  Insanity Max 30 burns a ridiculous amount of calories and the Refresh is not designed to accommodate that!  

Below is a photo collage with an idea of what you eat during a day of the Refresh.  These are photos which I had taken throughout my day yesterday.  I did begin the day with 16 ounces of water and then a cup of black coffee (my only one of the day!).  Throughout the day, I drank to exceed my usual 1 gallon per day of water intake.  I did have a cup of herbal tea this evening, a that is allowed within the plan.  

My best advice on "when" to Refresh???  I was actually surprised this time and learned that I would honestly say that when you are busy in life is a great time to do this!  I had a couple of action-packed days and it totally kept me moving and Refresh was easy enough to do on the run and I wasn't sitting around thinking about all food that I wished I was eating... :)  

 

Below I am going to share some of what has been part of my thought process over the past few days.  These are posts that I had included on my own Facebook page during this round of the Refresh.  Here is the recipe for the Coconut Veggies in the photo above.  I made a big batch my first day of the Refresh and enjoyed this dish each day - truly looking forward to it each time!

This morning I woke up thinking of Zechariah 4:6 where we are reminded that in our own strength, we are not the best at building things. It is by God's Spirit that we obey, serve and honor Him.

A few thoughts this morning... perhaps a bit of a random collection!

Crooked - I saw a couple of photos of myself from yesterday and also snapped a photo this morning as I today is Day 1 of my 3 Day Refresh. My before stance, on top of yesterday's photos made me think - "yikes!!!! Too long away from regular PiYo and too much stress this week and I am a mess!"

Good timing for the Refresh and the next four days of PiYo. I will get myself mentally and physically realigned. Spiritually, God has been speaking some things to me this week. It is not easy and it is not all ready to be put into words. It will be good to set aside some time to reflect over the coming days.

Crooked is what comes of me working out of my own strength in life. Not crooked as in dishonest/cheat. That is not me! But crooked as in off-kilter and feeling skewed. Time to breathe in the Spirit and truth and keep in step with Him.

Day 2 is almost done! Why Refresh??

With lots of travel and hosting, my nutrition has not been anything truly regrettable but still not my usual with some extra summer treats in the mix! It shows and my jeans were the tell-tale sign when I put them on to ride the past two weekends.

I also needed to break a few habits that had been slipping into place with extra handfuls here and there. It is a mental thing to prove to yourself what you can do without.

Made it through the picnic ON TRACK minus a tiny bit of feta and having a bit of fruit on my salad. I can live with that!

I blended up a cinnamon version of the vanilla fresh shake once we were back home. It really is pretty good!

No headache at all today. I did have one at times yesterday. Sleeping so well was fantastic! I am having 1 cup of black coffee in the mornings. But that is it for coffee.  

The daily "Fiber Sweep" is what scares some people away from the 3-Day Refresh.  Here is an approach that I have developed which makes is not so bad at all!  Kylee of course makes a "cameo" and I also share a few more details on the program itself.
Here's to the remainder of Day 3!  See this YouTube video of mine for some tips!

Once a horse girl...

 

 Good evening!  Welcome to my blog!  This is going to be one of those "story" entries.  Sometimes I share clean eating recipes, fitness tips and reviews of Team Beachbody programs.  Not tonight!  Tonight is sharing life.  

Those who know me know that I am a horse girl.  I grew up with horses.  When I arrived and my mom married my dad, she sold her horse.  She always knew that she wanted to have horses again one day.  When I was 8 years old, we began taking riding lessons. When I was 9, we bought a horse and boarded him.  When I was age 10, my parents bought a farm and a few more horses that year and the years to come.  I grew up showing 4-H and over the years and with five project ponies/horses, I competed in just about every class with the exception of reining and the 3 foot hunters.  I will be forever thankful for my parents and two younger sisters and the way that we were raised with the horses as such a family thing.  

 

 

I began teaching beginner riding lessons at my parents' farm the summer that I was age 15.  I went on to grow along with my students and we advanced to the Hunter B Circuit and Arabian A Circuit Hunters as well as state-level 4-H competitions.  This continued on through my college years as I would return home each summer.  Best childhood ever on their 40 acre farm which is now for sale as they downsize and prepare for the next chapter. 
 

When I was 8 years old, I attended a 4-H meeting at a place that was unlike any that I had ever seen.  Windfall Farm.  This was in St. Marys, PA.  As a teen, I began working at Windfall as a show groom and also taught some lessons and worked with a summer camp.  See this blog entry on The Windfall Era and the people who significantly shaped my life during that time and beyond...  Windfall was such a part of my life and went a long way to shape me into the horsewoman that I would become.

Over the years, I went on to work professionally as a show groom, rider and instructor.  I had some incredible jobs and was honored to work with some amazing horses.  I was a show groom at Imperial Egyptian Stud near Baltimore, MD and learned some things from my involvement with the world-class breeding program there.  Orashan was a horse of fantasy and it was a thrill to groom him, do turn out and prep him for presentation to royalty from around the world.  This video filmed at Imperial shows what Orashan was like in his prime.  I worked with the babies as part of my job and "Imperial Bareez" was one of our weanlings/yearlings during my time there and I look at him now and am amazed to think that I was his primary handler during his early days.  Imperial has since closed as the owner aged and things changed.  However, doing a search this evening, it was neat to see some of "my" horses from '96-'97 represented at other farms.  I kept pulling my husband over to the computer to show him the horses that I handled daily back then which are still part of breeding programs today - nearly 20 years later!  I did horse care at a nice little barn in Geneseo, NY where I boarded my own mare "Kitty" during the time right after graduating from Bible college and working at the college for a couple of years.  

I left my office job at the college to return to horse world as the head instructor at a large and crazy-busy lesson/show facility in the DC area.  Then I moved to the Eastern Shore of MD for a riding/teaching role which was my favorite job ever.  That position had me between MD, NY and CT.  I was working for that family farm when I met my husband who had always been a CT guy.  Tudor Farms was the Maryland Property and in this video, you will see video of the barn around the 3:20 mark.

Then motherhood began and everything changed in 2006.  We moved from CT to Erie, PA that summer when I was expecting our firstborn.  I was happy to be back in my home state and was excited to be starting a family.  My parents still had a couple of older horses who had been two of my own 4-H projects during my youth.  We moved to Erie which is about 2.5 hours from the part of PA where I was raised.  After my daughter's birth, I went to 4-H judging school for the state of PA and held my judges card here for a few years.  I had judged prior to that and continued beyond that accreditation.  After my son arrived, it was difficult to leave my husband with two little ones in order to be gone judging with me needing to leave early for travel and then return late.  So I shifted gears and just covered open shows which were closer to home.  In September 2013 I began teaching at Faith Haven Stables - a nice barn that was an unfortunate 50 mile round trip from my home.  As much as I loved my lesson students and was continually impressed with the lesson horses, that drive and the ensuing 30 or so hours per week spent away from my family began to take a toll on everyone and I did wind up resigning later that winter.  I was really enjoying riding a few of the green horses there and knew that I would miss my rediscovered joy of working horses as opposed to playing around with the dear older horses at my parents' place.  

 

For the past year plus, I have deeply missed riding myself.  In September 2014, my old pony Holly passed away of natural causes.  Holly had come to us not-yet-weaned when we purchased her alongside of her mother just after moving to the farm in October of 1988.  

 

It had been just Holly and the palomino gelding Andy at my parents' place.  For the past five or so years, it really was just the kids riding the two older horses as we did not want to over-tax either one of them.  Just under two months ago, Andy, who was the last horse remaining at my parents' farm was welcomed by a family who was looking for a companion for their own horse who had lost his friend.  It was so wonderful to see photos of Andy settled at his new home, as hard as it was to say good-bye after his 21 years with our family.    

 

A month ago, a dream came true.  My youngest sister Rachel and her husband were able to FINALLY get things moving with their long-hoped/worked-for purchase of Windfall Farms in St. Marys!  Remember that place where I first visited at the age of 8 and went on to work during my teen years?  After the original owners of 45 years sold the property during their retirement and move down south, it was occupied for a couple of years by a QH operation and then sat vacant for 8 years until my sister and her husband moved in just three weeks ago!  Exciting times!  We have been down there each week since and it has been a whirlwind!  My sister and brother-in-law are tackling so many projects there right now - large and small!  It is remarkable to see the place coming back to life once again!

 

I posted this on my FB page last night...
How life has changed in the past 4 weeks is what I pondered while driving back to Erie.
It was a very, very good 29 hours down in Elk County.
Looking at the photos now while putting away things and starting some crazy-looking laundry makes me so thankful and I want to go back again soon!

The time with my family was so good and I truly love both of the horses that I found for my sister.
They moved to Windfall just 3 weeks ago and Millie arrived the next day. We met Phaedra just 5 days ago and she arrived the next day.
Life is just plain better with horses. And family! And fresh air and room to roam.

 

This past Friday, I was working in the barn with both of the horses and my 8 year old daughter said to me, "Mom, you are really good with horses."  So simple, but it meant the world to hear that from her.  She is getting to know this part of me in a new way - beyond jut spending time with the elderly horses who had been fixtures at my parents' farm.

Earlier this morning, I was messaging in "the family thread" where my mom and two sisters and I stay connected throughout each day (and night!) and I was sharing this with them...

Do you know what I realized last night and it was significant to me? God didn't let me sell my saddle, for all of the times that I tried. That is such a quality saddle and there is nothing like riding in it. I bought it when I was 16. It doesn't fit every horse but it is very nice on Millie. And Kitty's girth even fits her. Plus Kitty's bridle. So many times in the past year I have missed riding so much. I would think about it 3-4 times a week but didn't know when I would get to ride again. God knows the desires of our heart. I so enjoy riding Millie. She is such a joy. If I didn't have that saddle, it would not be the same. Sure, I could ride her in one of the western saddles but again, it just would be different. It was a reminder to me of God' plan and his timing and how He sees the big picture and we just see a part. He is faithful. 

I do not know what the future holds.  But of course I would love to spend more time at Windfall with my family - as in being there each day!  That is in God's hands and I will trust his timing.  My kids LOVE being there.  Getting my husband to embrace Elk County takes a bit more time and effort.  So we will see.  In the meantime, I am thankful for our super-gas-saver hybrid and the flexibility of my own health coaching business which allows me to travel and work from the road whenever I like.  It is not a stretch to picture a point in time a year from now where we would not depend on my husband's income as primary.  This could free us up to live wherever while pursuing a dream.  I hold that prayerfully before the Lord as I work hard and do my best each day.  He knows the desires of my heart and is certainly faithful.  Stay tuned for the rest of this story as it all unfolds!