Hello 2014

January 2nd is here and sure enough January 2nd is almost over!! Here in the Northeast we are having a snow storm so both my husband and son are hoping for one more day at home.  

my loves playing MarioKart on Wii

I on the other hand I cannot wait to get back to my normal schedule.  I have been a bit lax with my normal routine and boy do I feel it.  Although I do have to admit I LOVE all of us being home together.  The kids are always with  me so it is nice for them to have their daddy home with them as well.  

What I also look forward to is preparing for the New Year.  At the end of the year it is always a time for me to reflect of course on the previous year and a time for me then to think of the New Year and what is in store.  During these days home with my family all home I was reminded why I do what I do.  I am very blessed to be given the opportunities and I feel proud that I took advantage of the opportunities!! 

I stay at home with our kids because before we had children we said it was important to both of us to have a parent stay home.  Not only do we want a parent home but we want that parent present - so the kids are not always in front of the TV, electronic device, etc.  Instead we are interacting with one another.  This is sometimes challenging (just being honest) as I also have other duties to tend to during the day like cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.  When I was given the opportunity back in 2012 to become a Beachbody coach I thought NO WAY, I had no time to do it PLUS I didn't want to take any time away from my kids.  Little did I know I could have it all if I planned properly and so that is why my schedule I have in place is so very important to me.  I want to make sure I am not working too much and I continue to be present in the lives of our children.  I enjoy being the person to teach them new things, practice ABCS, and today I was reminded I want to be the person not a non-parent to be there for our kids when they get hurt (my daughter fell pretty bad today and I was the one to be there for her, fix her up, and comfort her!)

Planning as mentioned has been key for me to juggle my busy schedule but honestly I would not have it any other way.  Yes, I am sure I could be more on top of many things but what matters most if that my family is taken care of.  This also brings me to how being a Beachbody coach has also helped us continue to have one parent stay at home.  What I also didn't realize when I signed up to be a discount coach (just wanted to get a discount on my #1 meal Shakeology!) that as a coach there was great potential for making a decent income.  Depending on how much time you want to give you could also make well into the 6 figures and then some.  Hello Beachbody's Millionaires club!! Well right now that is not a goal of mine but what is a goal is to be able to help provide for our family so that we can continue living like we do and have one parent stay at home.  

How I plan on continuing to make this all happen begins with my priorities and then setting goals. As I was reflecting on 2013 and preparing for 2014, I looked at what goals I didn't accomplish in 2013 and why and then I decided what goals I would like to accomplish in 2014.  

Although I was totally bummed about the goals I didn't reach in 2013 I feel I did everything I could to get done what I did.  I am not upset anymore with what didn't happen instead I am going to learn from my mistakes and move on.  and so here is my vision board for 2014 - for the first half of 2014 only though!!

I learned this past year that making a full year board was very discouraging for me when I didn't reach many of my goals. So this year I am trying something new and breaking it down into the first half of the year and later on you will see the second half of the year. I will be revisiting my goals on a monthly basis and creating action plans so that I do not disappoint myself again. Some of my goals are dependent upon other people so yes that will be challenging but I feel very strongly we can all make it happen!! 

As the saying goes, "We are Better Together!"

At the end of the day though I know one thing is for certain I love being a stay at home mom and I love being a Beachbody Coach. I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I get to stay home with my kids and I get to help others achieve their goals.  Now that is something to be thankful for!! 

2014 will be my year

Cheers to 2014!!

Now is the time to learn how to

Live a Fit, Happy, and Healthy life

and WE will do it 

TOGETHER!!!!

~Alyson

alysonhorcher@gmail.com

teambeachbody.com/alysonh

myshakeology.com/alysonh

facebook.com/alysonhorcher

@alysonhorcher - Instagram

Weekly Planning done again!!

It's that time of week again and I am preparing for the week ahead!! 

Meal Planning time in the Horcher. 

  

Recycling some old recipes but also trying two new ones - the whole wheat Zucchini bread (still trying to find one that I love!) and trying a friends marinade on the grilled Pork chops. 

This week I will mostly be getting fruits and veggies at the grocery store.  I will be heading to Costco to stock up on Greek Yogurt (if I need a snack in the evening this is my go to), almond milk, eggs, kids yogurt, oatmeal, chicken, flat buns, vanilla, cinnamon and I think that is it!! Everything else I will get at my local produce store or grocery store if they are having any good deals.  

As you know I also include in my meal plan my workout routine.  I am redoing Week 7 of Les Mills Pump. I was feeling off all week and just didn't feel like I gave my workouts my all.  Thankfully because I am at home working out with my own DVDs I can make this choice. 

Plus on the days of the longer workouts I felt like I was rushing because I knew my kids would be up soon.  So I am also going to try waking up at least 15 minutes earlier this week - eeekkk, wish me luck!! and of course NO SNOOZING!! I have been getting worse and worse with this again.  I remember the days in college and I was never a SNOOZE button person.  Oh my how times have changed!! Another goal this week is to get to bed earlier.  I know first hand that part of living a healthy lifestyle is getting adequate sleep.  I for one know I do  not get enough sleep and so I need to start taking care of that part of my life.  

What do you do in order to get up out of bed in the morning? Do you get enough sleep? Do you hit snooze? Do you have a morning routine that you follow?  

Mine is wake up at 5am (well this week I am shooting for 445am), workout, have my Shakeology shake as I am walking upstairs to get my shower at 6am. Get ready from 6-630am. 630-7 check in with my challenge groups. 7am kids get up and we start our day together!! From there it varies...I do try and schedule my day with important tasks and always create a to do list.   

I love schedules though!! I was looking on pinterest this week and I found a chore chart. Now I will have to make some modification with a few other things that need to be done as well but I think this is a great starting  point.  I like having lists and checking things off as I do them.  It keeps me on track. 

I have been meaning to create a chart like this but hey, if you can find one already  made why not use that right?!?! So we will see how this goes!!

This leads me into why meal planning works so well for me.  I struggled with meal planning in the beginning because I didn't know where to start. What foods were considered clean and healthy? How much should I have to eat at each meal? etc. Have you ever felt like this? You want to eat healthier but just aren't sure exactly how to do it?  For me it was all about creating a schedule to follow (ha told you I was a schedule person).  First it started with what times of day would I typically be eating.  This is where I varied greatly.  Then it was learning about what foods are considered healthy and clean.  What foods to pair together to get the maximum fuel for my body? ahh, and then portions!! I don't know about you but I never watched my portions.  I always eyeballed everything until one day I found my eyeballing was WAY OFF!! 

Other ways Meal planning has helped not only me and my family eat better but we also don't waste nearly as much food as we did before so that also means we waste less money!! Chaching!!

If you are interested in learning how to meal plan please feel free to contact me at alysonhorcher@gmail.com. I would love to walk you through what I do each week and see how meal planning can help your life too!!  

Now is the time to learn how to live a 

FIT, HAPPY, and HEALTHY Life 

and we will do it 

TOGETHER!!!!

~Alyson

alysonhorcher@gmail.com

teambeachbody.com/alysonh

myshakeology.com/alysonh

facebook.com/alyson.horcher

@alysonhorcher - Instagram