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Fall is here, and that means there’s going to be pumpkins everywhere! Pumpkin Spice Lattes, pumpkin pie, Halloween candy—in other words, there are going to be so many deterrents to try to get us off our clean and healthy and fit routine. So I’m going to give you some tips to help you stay the course through Fall, because as the weather gets colder there’s comfort food and drinks everywhere! So here are three tips to get you through the Fall, without falling off your plan! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun!)

 

1. Avoid places where you know you can’t control yourself. We all have those places, whether it’s your favorite local coffee shop, or your favorite restaurant. If you can’t control yourself, just don’t go in there! You know that if you go in you’re going to walk out of there again with that Pumpkin Spice Latte, or that chicken fried steak! So if you know you can’t control yourself in those places, just avoid them.

 

2. Look for healthy substitutes of your favorite types of dishes. You can go online and Google a healthy recipe for your favorite comfort meal, or maybe make the Pumpkin Spice Latte a little better by using skim milk, maybe—I’m not an expert on the coffee drinks! But you get the idea, look for a healthier alternative or twist. 

 

3. Find—and keep!—a workout routine that you like to do. Beachbody is great for providing a variety of different workout plans, so that way you choose the one that really fits your workout style, and the time that you have available. If you need help picking one out, that’s what I’m here for! I’m here to help you find the routine that best suits you! You can reach out to me through my website, or through Facebook. I love it when you message me on Facebook! 

 

I hope this helps you get through the fall months! It’s such a beautiful time of year and we should enjoy it, but I want to make sure you have the ammunition you need to stay on course with your fitness goals. 

 

Remember, you can reach me at  http://melissamadeonline.com/  and on Facebook. Have a great Fall!

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So, the kids are back in school! My kids are grown now, but I do remember the hustle and bustle of the school year! From going to sports practices, to drop-off and pick-up, and getting them up early, and breakfast, and dinner, and then — oh my gosh, it’s the weekend! Where do we get a workout in? And how do we eat healthy?

 

But you know, it’s so important that we stay healthy during these busy times. Here are a few things we can do throughout the school year to make sure that we are healthy and fit. 

 

1.  The first thing you can do — and this may sound like a broken record, but it’s not rocket science, because it’s not going to change — You need to be drinking your Shakeology! Whether you’re making a shake in the morning, or having one at lunch, you know you’re guaranteed to have at least one healthy meal a day! Let Shakeology be your shortcut to a healthy meal. 

 

2.  The second thing you can do is to make time. I know it’s easy to say, “I don’t have time!”  Schedule your exercise time like it’s an appointment with yourself. It’s that important! Whether you’re doing a Beachbody program, or jogging, or doing your own fitness routine at the gym, it doesn’t matter — you need to schedule it like it’s a doctor’s appointment or a client appointment. Make it important to you!

 

3.  Finally, get the kids involved! Make sure you’re preparing healthy snacks for them, whether you’re preparing school lunches or an after-school snack. Lead by example! If you’re eating healthy, typically your kids will eat healthier. And if you’re outside playing with them, you’re helping them get healthy and fit. So don’t just stop with you, pass it down to the kids. Obesity is a big deal in this country, so we want to make sure that we’re educating our children through our actions.

 

I hope these tips help you get through the school year healthier, and hopefully that will translate into happy moms and dads, and happy kids, too!

 

For more tips, please visit my website teammadeonline.com. Have a great school year! 

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A lot of you know that I’ve been doing PiYo for a long time. PiYo is Beachbody’s program that combines moves from yoga and Pilates, but in a way that gives you a challenging, all-over, sweaty workout. I absolutely love it, and I want you to love it too! Here are four reasons why you should consider giving PiYo a try:

 

1) — No weights! I know a lot of us ladies love to work out, we want to stay fit, but not all of us like to use weights. One of the great things about PiYo is that there are absolutely no weights involved. All you need is yourself, and a yoga mat! The exercises are all bodyweight moves, and you’re going to be amazed at how much you can do just using your own body!

 

2) — It’s geared towards every fitness level. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced; or maybe you used to be into fitness but now there are kids, there’s work … oh my gosh, you look up and you haven’t worked out in two years!  PiYo will still work for you. It’s great for beginners, but it will still give advanced exercisers a great workout.

 

3) — It’s low impact. As we get older some of us have knee problems, back problems, and other challenges. PiYo is very low-impact, so you can still get a complete workout without having to worry about putting stress on your knees and joints.

 

4) — It really sculpts and defines! I talk about this a lot. Sometimes your goal is not to lose weight, but to trim and tone your body. I know I’ve seen great benefits in my abs from doing PiYo. It’s a great way to do some sculpting and get some of that definition in your body!

 

It’s also a great program to look into if you just want to dip your toe into an exercise program! I highly recommend a PiYo class! Check out my website at http://melissamadeonline.com to find out more about how to get started with PiYo!

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It is officially summertime, and that means going on vacation and traveling! So let’s talk about some ways to stay healthy while we travel. As we all know, we tend to let ourselves go a little bit when we’re on vacation, right? But we can still stay healthy while we have fun! Here are three tips for how to have a healthy vacation.

 

1) — Bring your Shakeology with you! There will be many meal choices that are out of your control while you’re on vacation. You might end up eating at a relative’s house, a resort, or at a hotel, and sometimes you don’t have as much control over what you’re eating. But if you have your Shakeology shake with you, you’ll know that you’ll have at least one nutritious meal a day!

 

2) — Portion control! This goes along with not having control over your meals. If you don’t have much control over what you eat, you still have control over how much you eat! If the only thing they’re serving at one of your vacation functions is country-fried steak, go ahead and eat! But maybe only eat half of it, and then have a salad if you can. Utilize portion control when the content of the food is out of your control. 

 

 3) — Stay active! Be sure to bring a fitness DVD with you, or do some kind of fitness activity every day. Sometimes this can seem difficult if you’re at a hotel that doesn’t have an adequate gym, or if you’re staying at a relative’s house. But remember, there are many things we can do that don’t require weights or equipment! Bodyweight exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups don’t need much space. Go for an evening walk if it’s too hot to get out during the day, or an early morning run. Get creative! There are many different things you can do to stay active even if you’re not in the comfort of your own home. 

 

These things will help you to return from your travels just as healthy and fit as when you left. I hope you all have a great vacation! For more tips, please visit my website teammadeonline.com. Have a healthy summer! 

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 3 Easy Ways to be a Better Beachbody Coach

 

1.  Sharewear — always wear your Beachbody T-shirts, tank tops and things of that nature to the grocery store, on your errands or anywhere you can. They’re perfect conversation starters! You never know when someone might see your shirt and ask, “What’s Beachbody?” Or, “What’s Insanity?” This is a perfect way to get people to approach you, and to bring Beachbody up in conversation naturally. Always be wearing your Beachbody and Shakeology shirts when you’re out and about!

 

2.  Focus on helping —  instead of talking about how much money you’re making, talk about how many people you’ve helped. Talking about money is a turnoff for some people, and may keep them from wanting to hear more about your business. Share stories about the people you’ve helped instead! Share about the people at your church, or at work, or in your circle of friends that you’ve helped to live better lives through being healthy. Talk about their successes, and how great it feels to be helping people lose weight, get fit, and feel better about themselves!

 

3. Use the products! — this should be a given! It’s very hard to sell Shakeology if you’re not drinking Shakeology daily! It’s very hard to sell PiYo if you’ve never done PiYo! The more you use the products the better you will understand them. When you can actually see how your body benefits from Shakeology, it’s easy to share your excitement! When you have that depth of knowledge about the different exercise programs you’ll know just what programs to recommend to your clients, and how to help them get the most benefit. And by using the products yourself, you become a product of the product, so everyone can see by looking at you how much you’ve benefitted from Beachbody!

 

So there you have it, my three tips for being a better Beachbody coach: always wear the products, tell stories about people you’ve helped and how far they’ve come, and always lead by example — let everyone see how much Beachbody has done for you!

 

I hope this helps you to become a better Beachbody coach! I’m Melissa McAllister - thank you for reading, and please share with anyone you think it might help! 

 

Please follow me here on Facebook for more tips: Melissa McAllister: 

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 I am a mother of two myself, so I definitely understand how it can be tough to eat right and work out when you’re trying to raise a family. My kids are grown now, but I understand the time constraints! I’ve got a couple of tips for you moms out there, because I figured — what better gift to give than the gift of health and fitness?

 

My first gift to you is to remind you to be realistic with your goals. There are a lot of quick-fix fads out there, but they are not going to work for you because they put so much pressure on you to get fast results. Instead of worrying about getting your body completely in shape quickly, give yourself three months, six months, even a year, to hit some of your goals. Make small goals to start off with, and when you achieve them, make your next set of goals! You’ll get there!

 

My second gift is to remind you of how important it is to take time for yourself. Now, I know how hard it can be! I know you’re trying to run a busy household, and it’s so easy to feel like you don’t have any time for yourself! But as a mom, it is so important to find ways to carve out that “me time!” BeachBody is helpful here, because there are so many programs available that there will be one that works for you in the amount of time you can manage. Some of the P90X programs are 40 minutes to an hour. Some Insanity programs are around 30 minutes for a workout. But there’s also 10-Minute Trainer! You don’t have to think that you have to clear your whole schedule for an hour or more to get a workout in! There are so many different things you can do to get yourself in shape! And it’s so important, that I really want to urge you to not let lack of time be an excuse. A short workout is better than no workout!

 

My last gift is to remind you to eat healthy! It’s not just about working out. We’ve got to take care of us from the inside out! That’s going to take meal planning, and meal prep, so that you always have healthy food on hand to eat. Obviously I’m a big proponent of Shakeology, and it’s so easy to get that into the mix to give yourself a quick boost of nutrition, whether you’re using it to replace a breakfast, or a lunch — or sometimes, even dinner! As a mom it is so important to have good nutrition, because it takes a lot of energy to do what we do! And being healthy and fit will help us to be better moms!

 

 

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Spring is here and you know what that means, don’t you? Summer is right around the corner! And that means some of us might be looking back on our New Year’s resolutions and thinking “Uh-oh, we have some work to do!”

 

That’s okay! We still have time before we need to be ready for all those vacations, beaches, barbecues, and pool parties we’re looking forward to! Here are some tips to get your spring back on track:

 

First, don’t look back! Start where you are. Don’t worry about the past - you can’t change that. But you can change what you do now! Start a plan for now, for the months we have left before summer. For instance if your goal is to lose weight in time to hit the beach, set a goal weight for yourself for 2-3 months from now, and focus on that. 

 

Another tip: pick a program or fitness routine that you actually like! If you hate running, don’t pick running. If you hate lifting weights, don’t pick lifting weights. Some of us force ourselves to the gym, promising ourselves that we’ll feel better afterwards - and we do, because we get those endorphins moving. But wouldn’t it be even better if you didn’t have to force yourself to go and get that great feeling? Pick a workout you actually look forward to! Whatever you choose, whether PiYo, Body Beast, yoga, or anything else, make sure it’s something you can’t wait to do!

 

And the third tip: pay attention to your nutrition. Your workout works so much better when it’s supported by good nutrition! This is the season when we do spring cleaning on our houses. Think of it as spring cleaning for our bodies, too! This is the time to really get your nutrition on track. And while you’re at it, remember to clean out your pantry and your office desk of any junk food you might have stashed there, and make sure you have plenty of healthy food instead. We talked about this in a previous blog - if healthy food is at our fingertips, we’ll eat better because we’ll eat what’s there! 

 

I hope this helps you start your spring off the right way to get you to that bathing suit body in time for summer! Have a great day!

 

For daily tips and motivation, please like my Facebook page here: Melissa McAllister

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Have you had one of those hectic mornings when you forget to eat?  How about a busy afternoon and you did not bring a lunch?  Sounds familiar right?  Well, there's a better option then starving ourselves in the morning or settling for a $6 fast food "value meal".  It's a meal replacement shake Shakeology and it has been a great addition to my diet and many others that I've helped. Here are 3 benefits of drinking Shakeology daily.

 

1. Increased Energy:  I am not going get technical here, but when you get your day started with a healthy meal full of nutrients, it will result in more energy. The same goes for eating a nutritious lunch (instead of fast food or skipping lunch).  Learn more about where the energy comes from by reading what's in Shakeology here----> Shakeology Ingredients

 

2. Reduced Cravings:  Since drinking Shakeology has everything that you need for a full meal, it will reduce food cravings.  Most of the time, cravings arise because we aren't giving our bodies what it wants. Vitamins and nutrients! By fulfilling those needs, you won't be tempted to reach for junk food to suppliment what you're lacking. It doesn't hurt that Shakeology tastes great too! 

 

3. Save Time: Have you ever watched a movie or a tv show where someone is cooking a full breakfast before a school/workday, then sit down to eat?? Not very realistic in our world right?  Well, most people have busy mornings, so making a quick shake to go will save you valuable time in the morning while still having a healthy breakfast.  Also, restaurants and fast food places can take a long time during busy lunch rushes (not to mention, expensive) so bringing a small blender to work can help you save time during the day too.

 

I have been an avid Shakeology drinker ever since the it first came out and I absolutely swear by it!  If your goal is to eat healthier, I highly recommend that you give it a try.  They don't call it The Healthiest Meal Of The Day for nothing! :)

 

 If you're interested in giving it a shot, please shoot me an email at melissa@teammadeonline.com

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Most people would love to be fit and healthy.  No one sits around thinking, "I just love being out of shape!".  The problem is, there's no magic pill we can take or special button we can just push to achieve our fitness goals.  It takes discipline and hard work. Easier said than done right?  There are some people that can go to the gym, workout and eat great without anyone pushing them or motivating them (or go for a run or other type of exercise). For those of us that need a little extra push, I highly recommend joining a Beachbody Challenge group.  Here are 3 reasons why:

 

 

1. You're not alone:  Joining a challenge group gives you the opportunity to have a support group of others that have similar goals as you. This is motivating for most people as you have support and encouragement from peers.  It becomes difficult to "skip" a workout when you see everyone else in the group getting their workout in. Also, you can have a little friendly competition with others in the group and the progress of everyone becomes contagious. 

 

2. You have a plan: Since every Beachbody program has a shedule, joining a challenge group with a Challenge Pack gives you a daily plan.  Most people fail when it comes to fitness because they don't have a concrete plan.  Not having a plan can be frustrating due to lack of results.  By putting an actual game plan together, along with the support of others will yield positive results. I have seen it time and time again.  Tip: Don't stop the plan after the challenge is over.  Continue on and maintain your results! Make it a lifestyle!

 

3. You're eating right: Another key reason why people don't reach their fitness goals is their diet.  We can spend hours in the gym, and ruin it 15 minutes later with poor meal choices.  The beauty of a challenge group is that is combines fitness, support AND nutrition since Shakelogy is part of the process.  Drinking Shakeology gives us a healthy meal full of nutrients that go hand in hand with a great workout.  Again, you will need to make healhy meal choices in addition to Shakeology, but it is the staple to a nutritious lifestyle. 

 

In conclusion, I have seen challenge groups work over and over again.  It has all of the components necessary for success in fitness: Support/motivation, a workout plan, and proper nutrition.  Please shoot me an email if you are interested in joining my next challenge group so you can be next on the list to share your success story! Here's my email:  melissa@teammadeonline.com

 

For daily tips and motivation, please like my Facebook page here: Melissa McAllister

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We've reached the time of year where everyone starts to look forward to the New Year. For some, this means a fresh start. The two most popular New Year's resolutions are to get finances in order and to get in shape/lose weight.  Don't believe me? Visit your local gym on January 1st ;)  The problem with resolutions are that most of them are not attained. In fact, I would bet that most people give up on their resolutions within the first couple of months of the year.  Let's go over some tips on how to actually reach your fitness goals for 2015.

 

1. Don't make a resolution: Hear me out on this one...the reason why most people don't achieve their New Year's Resolutions is because it's not a habit or a lifestyle.  Making changes "cold turkey" is not easy.  What I am saying is, if you REALLY want to get in shape for 2015, why wait?  Start making healthy choices today and CONTINUE doing so throughout the year.

 

2. Get an accountability partner: It can be difficult for us to achieve our goals on our own, so I recommend getting an accountability partner to help keep you on track.  This can be a friend, a co-worker, a family member, or even your spouse.  Just be sure that whoever you select will actually keep you in line and remind you of your goals and, more importantly, your "why".

 

3. Get fit doing something you love: When starting a new fitness routine or regimen, it's best to find something that you like doing so it doesn't seem like WORKing out.  Make it fun (or as fun as you can). If you hate running, don't start a running routine.  If you can't stand lifting weights, don't start by doing a weight based program.  Find something that fits your strengths and interests. Beachbody has plenty of programs to fit just about any fitness preference. 

 

4. Set clear goals:  Another problem with most New Year's resolutions is that they are usually vague.  "This is my year!" or "I am finally gonna get in shape this year!" or "This is the year I lose weight!".  These are all great things, but what does "lose weight" mean?  Set a clear goal.  If you want to lose weight, write down exactly how many pounds you would like to lose and a plan to get there (ex: Hire personal trainer, join gym, purchase a Beachbody program).  If you want to get in shape, write down something tangible you can achieve, such as finishing a Beachbody program without hitting pause once ;)  To take your goal setting one step further, be sure to write down WHY you are trying to achieve these goals (ex: be able to play with kids, fit into old clothes, "wow" everybody at the reunion, etc). 

 

I hope these tips help you in 2015.  I am constently running challenge groups, so if you need some extra coaching and motivation, please join me here on Facebook:  Melissa McAllister