zoodles with beef and veggie bolognese sauce

Chiberia has officially returned! The highs this week have been in the single digits at best, and Ben had two days off school this week for cold. I've spent my days huddled under 4 layers of clothes in front of the space heater, downing enormous mugs of homemade herbal tea lattes.

I've been craving warm, cozy comfort food and wine every night, but I'm not going to make the same mistakes I did last year! Last year I let the Polar Vortex get the better of me. This year I'm determined to use this time of fewer distractions to really focus on my personal goals, including my health and fitness!

After fully indulging through the holidays, I'm limiting my wine to Wednesdays and weekends (balance!) and doing my best to stay on top of my clean eating. Luckily it's pretty easy to re-make my favorite comfort foods into healthy options! Here's one way to satisfy your carb cravings without blowing your goals. I'm a hardcore pasta lover but even I can feel satisfied by replacing carb-heavy noodles with zucchini! The texture is almost identical, try it out!

Zoodles with Beef and Veggie Bolognese Sauce

Serves 4

Inspired by Cooking Light

Ingredients

-2 large zucchinis

-1 yellow onion, chopped

-4 cloves of garlic, chopped

-4 carrots, peeled and chopped

-1 lb lean ground beef

-1 can of diced tomatoes, drained

-1/2 jar of no sugar added marinara sauce (I love Aldi's organic sauce!)

Optional: extra veggies! Clean out your fridge! Mushrooms, chopped bell pepper, spinach, any veggie would be good to throw into this sauce.

Directions

-Using a

spiralizer

, mandolin slicer, or veggie peeler,

transform your zucchini into noodles

!

-Transfer zoodles to a large glass bowl and microwave for 4-5 minutes, until softened.

-Add 1 T olive oil to a large pan over medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic, carrots and extra veggies until soft.

-Add the beef and continue to cook until browned.

-Drain your diced tomatoes and add them to the pan with the marinara sauce.

-Heat through, and serve over zoodles!

[

21 Day Fix

: 2 greens, 1 red]

Husband modification: I made regular whole wheat pasta for Ben. 

I hope you are staying warm this week!

Introducing: Inspire Joy Bootcamps!

I'm so excited to officially launch my new Inspire Joy Bootcamps for 2015!

Since last February I've been hosting "challenge groups" and coaching women through fitness programs like the 21 Day Fix and PiYo, and over time (and 100 participants later!) I've slowly refined and revised the structure and format of my groups into an experience that is completely transformative.

I started feeling an energy shift in my December accountability group. The focus started to change from how many pounds and inches we could lose, to everything we can GAIN when you take a stand and make a commitment to yourself. The women in the group bonded as friends and sisters, and witnessed some incredible personal breakthroughs.

Once a month I will open a 21 day private accountability group through Facebook and create a positive, uplifting, and motivating community to help you reach your health and fitness goals.

My ultimate mission with these Bootcamps is to create welcoming, close-knit communities and life changing results factories. We start by learning how to make small, healthy adjustments in our daily routines, eliminate processed food and junk from our diets, nourish our bodies with wholesome real foods, and sweat every day with a fun at-home workout program that's guaranteed to deliver. 

Weight loss becomes a mere a side effect when you commit to these small positive changes.

A full immersive experience 

• You'll receive a fun world-class at home fitness program specifically tailored to YOU, a workout schedule, and a nutrition plan to help you establish a routine and set healthy habits you can maintain for long-term results. No more guesswork! Decide, commit, and succeed.

• Goal setting, personal development, and visioning tools to help you design your dream life.

• Daily support and check-ins via the community and social media to keep you on track when life throws temptation in your path!

• A recipe e-book chock full of delicious and family friendly meals and snacks.

• Meal planning strategies and spreadsheets to help you get organized.

• A delicious and energizing superfood and protein meal.

• My weekly Fit For Life check-in newsletter with helpful recipes, articles, and one-on-one email coaching.

• LIFETIME access to me, and a reserved spot in all future Bootcamps. I'm with you every step of the way until you've reached your goals.

You are ready if

• You're willing to make the effort to prioritize YOU. 

• You're not sure if you'll ever be able to lose the last 10, 25, 45 pounds.

• You’ve recently stepped on the scale and have felt ashamed or frustrated with the number reflected.

• You know deep down that you're worth more.

• You're a yo-yo “dieter” who struggles with consistency and you want to finally break the cycle and find a deprivation-free lifestyle that WORKS.

• You want to LOVE your body instead of feeling “gross” or disappointed.

• You want to finally fit back into that pair of skinny jeans or special dress lurking in the back of your closet (I know it’s there!!).

• You have a special trip or event coming up and want to OWN it.

• You want to find a lifestyle that is sustainable, not a short term “quick fix.”

• You DON’T want to deprive yourself of the fun in life, but also don’t want to feel guilty or regretful next time you go out for wine night with the girls, or eat a burger or piece of cake.

• You finally want to get organized and learn how to meal plan.

• You don’t want to feel alone in your journey to be healthier, or are afraid of being ostracized or judged by your friends and family.

• You have NO IDEA where to start, but you know something needs to happen.

• You need accountability to stay on track, and love being part of a smal, positive, supportive, community of women who will get you and uplift you.

Come as you are!

We’re not perfect, but we’re real women, battling real challenges. In community there is power and strength. We triumph over the day-to-day. We celebrate small victories, lift each other up when life gets hard or scary, and never give up on our future dreams no matter how far away they may seem.

Take a chance on yourself! Believe you are worthy of happiness, and capable of creating it. You are not alone.

You’re not falling off the wagon ever again. You were put on this earth to be happy, confident, and radiant, and I want to help you find that woman you were designed to be. You’re already beautiful--start believing it.

Enrollment process

I'm only accepting a small number of new clients every month. I want to make sure that our personalities "click" before we enter each others' lives,  and I want to be sure that you're truly ready to immerse yourself in this experience. I pour my heart and soul into these groups, and you need to be able to match my level of commitment! 

We will start by getting to know each other over email, and then schedule a 15 minute phone consultation if needed to dig deep into your goals.

Finally, I'll help you decide on a program that's best suited to your lifestyle, schedule, and needs so you can be sure you'll be able to stick with it and see results!

Once you're an Inspire Joy Bootcamp member, you'll have a spot reserved just for you in all future Bootcamps if you wish, and you'll receive my one-on-one support via email and social media for as long as you need me!

Investment

For entry into your first Inspire Joy Bootcamp (and a guaranteed spot in all future groups) you'll invest in a complete health and fitness package that comes with a workout program, nutrition guide, and a 30 day supply of a delicious superfood meal replacement smoothie,

Shakeology

. 

Packages begin at $160.

Transformations

Let's start writing YOUR success story today!

Click here

to read more about my experiences as an independent Team Beachbody coach!

2014 in review

I'm not sure I'm ready for 2015 yet, but ready or not here it is! It's January 2nd, a freezing cold Friday morning, and I'm sitting in my white fuzzy bathrobe going through all my photos from last year and remembering everything that happened. 

Ben doesn't go back to school until Monday, and I'm taking full advantage of being able to set my own "vacation time" so we both still have one foot in holiday mode as we step forward slowly into our normal routine again. We're home from our Christmas roadtrip, and had a great time celebrating the holidays with both of our families, but we're also happy to be able to relax and spend some quiet time together before we have to kick back into work mode.

I love the significance of a fresh start, whether it's a new week, month, season, birthday, or year. Having New Year's arrive at the end of the week is kind of throwing me off, but I'm ok with the slow transition. I'm focusing on cleaning, organizing, reflecting, and planning until Monday, when it's full steam ahead! I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing year full of growth and opportunity, but before we get too far into it I want to look back and re-cap 2014, because I think it will go down as one of the most monumental years of my life.

Career change, personal growth, weddings, friends, challenges, discovery, courage, chaos, joy, overwhelm, gratitude. 

WINTER

2014 will always be defined in my mind as the year of the polar vortex. Snow, ice, early morning workouts and brilliant sunrises, obsessive weather checking, wine nights with the girls, working from home in front of the space heater, big "cold day" breakfasts, vitamin D pills. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I truly want from life, and what success means to me.

It was a hard winter, but I discovered an inner determination to focus on positivity no matter what, and at the end of February I reached a personal tipping point and decided to sign up as a Team Beachbody coach to share that determination and take my health and fitness passion to the next level.

SPRING

The snow and ice finally melted. I distinctly remember the first day in late March that I was able to see bare sidewalk again.

Ben and I visited my family's booth at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, the first taste of spring in the city.

I pushed my mental and physical limits and completed the 21 Day Fix, reaching the best shape of my life and highest level of body confidence.

I painted a little, reveled in the green of new plants and buds, spent my 27th birthday in southern Illinois at an environmental education conference, and celebrated Easter with the first al fresco brunch of the year.

EARLY SUMMER

May is always a bipolar month in the midwest, and we took full advantage of each warm day to live a little more spontaneously.

Late spring into early summer is my favorite time of year. I kicked off my wedding season with a circuit of bridal showers and dress fittings, went home for Memorial Day and Father's Day, ran the Steamboat Classic, took lots of lunch break walks around Lincoln Park's south pond, absorbed personal development books, and became addicted to frozen yogurt.

MIDSUMMER

Last summer was a blast. After the long horrible winter, Chicago woke up and came alive, and we took full advantage of the glorious season of fun.

Ben and I spent our weekends playing tourist in the city, I mentored a new batch of high school interns at the zoo, ate copious amounts of tacos and cocktails, and celebrated a bachelorette party every other weekend.

I continued to embraceBeachbody coaching, swamped myself in the energy of online accountability groups, and started to sponsor and mentor my own coaches, women who quickly started to become some of my best friends. 

It was a whirlwind of work and fun, and I started to really think about my career path and future. After weeks of inner conflict and obsessing, I ultimately decided that deep in my heart I needed to leave the zoo to focus on what made me the happiest, running my health and fitness business and Etsy shop.

EARLY FALL

I took the plunge, resigned from my full time job on August 29th, and immediately drove up to northern Wisconsin for a girls weekend on the shores of Lake Superior. 

I don't really remember much about September, it was kind of surreal to be officially working for myself.

Wedding season officially hit, and we travelled the midwest to celebrate four weddings in four weeks, plus our own second anniversary.

I spent a lot of time reflecting and thinking about life, and it was kind of an overwhelming time.

LATE FALL

October into November. More whirlwind. Ben and I drove out to the Morton Arboretum to spend some time hiking and absorbing the fall colors. It was the first time I'd visited since I left my job there, which was two jobs ago now. 

In early November I flew to Dallas for a Beachbody training conference hosted by my team. I got to meet up with a few of my own beautiful coaches and we spent the weekend listening to leaders in the company and experts in the fields of social media, marketing, and sharing your personal story. My brain EXPLODED and it was a big turning point for me professionally as well as emotionally. We also got to do PiYo live with Chalene Johnson, which filled me with so much freaking joy and cemented my goal to become a certified PiYo instructor and eventually teach it in fitness studios. 

We also celebrated Ben's 29th birthday and I made a delicious chocolate ganache cake!

I'm slowly but surely developing a cohesive brand and style for my creative business, Anna Maria Locke, and created a few of my most popular scarves from plaid flannel and leopard print. 

HOLIDAYS 2014

So typing all this out is making me realize why I needed a break so badly, whew! What a crazy whirlwind summer and fall. This December was great. I closed my Etsy shop for vacation after a very successful holiday season in which I made over $2,500 in sales, wrapped up my accountability and  coach training groups, and made an intentional effort to relax and enjoy the season!

Ben and I decorated our second mini Christmas tree, I spent a lot of time thinking, reading, and planning for the year ahead, and we spent days driving around Illinois and Michigan to visit both of our families. 

I've been attempting to maintain some semblance of balance between all the drinks, delicious holiday treats, and my abs by sticking with the brand new Insanity Max:30 fitness program. It's been great so far--I'm on week 3 now, doing 30 minute bodyweight circuits five times a week. It's a two month program, and I'll share a review once I hit the 30 day point!

Ben and I drove back to Chicago for New Year's Eve and for the first time in my life we didn't host or attend a party. Instead, we had a wonderful quiet dinner at a wine bar in our neighborhood, then came home and binged watched some Marco Polo on Netflix before crashing shortly after midnight. 

Yesterday we kicked off the day with a delicious brunch of smoked salmon and bubbly, until a VERY UNWELCOME rodent visitor made itself known. Right now we're dealing with rat traps and poison, and frantically cleaning and organizing every corner of the apartment. Yuck!

ON THE HORIZON

I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on the work/life thing, and I'm really excited for everything that's going to happen in 2015! I want to be more intentional with my energy and time, and hopefully even out the emotional roller coaster ride I've been trapped on since last spring. 

A few of the big projects and milestones ahead:

-a new website and blog !!!

-a more established health and wellness coaching business and team

-WATERCOLORS IN THE ETSY SHOP (finally, right?)

-a new apartment this summer !!! 

I want to start writing and sharing more of my life again. I feel like I got sucked into the learning and absorbing vacuum this fall, became overwhelmed with everything I felt like I "needed" to know and do, and paralyzed myself with too many conflicting priorities.

2015 is going to be a year of FOCUS and intention. I have a lot of big goals and dreams, and I know I'm capable of making them happen. Thanks for reading along and letting me share my journey! Stay tuned :)

xo Anna