Hey everyone ... It's Day 1 of my first-ever DietBet and as a fitness professional, I never thought that I would be on the contestant side of things. Let me tell you how it happened ...

2014 was a crazy year. Two big bombs got dropped on me:

  • My wife Kim was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
  • Her sister was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She fought hard for 3 months, but passed in September. Kim and I were her caretakers, granting her final wish of wanting to "come home and be surrounded by family".    

Now, I won't go into how hard those months were. I am sure you can imagine. What I wasn't prepared for were the months AFTER.

But, let's go back for a minute ... as I said, I am a fitness professional. I am a personal trainer, sports nutrition consultant, and an Insanity instructor. I also teach bootcamp classes and boxing.

I've been teaching my classes, and working out. But, the combination of the holidays and the depression from losing someone that was close took its toll on my willpower of sticking to my nutrition plan. So, I've gained weight, and not the good kind.

It's  time to get back on track, and this DietBet will be added incentive to stay on track.

My wife Kim is also in this challenge, so we are in it together ... altough following different plans. :-)

Day 1 went well. My meals are planned and prepped for the week, I ate clean, stuck to my nutrition goals, and I did my workout.

Breakfast was a protein smoothie made with spinach, chocolate protein/superfood powder, banana, and filtered water.

Lunch was whole grain pasta, and meatballs made with 90% lean beef (last night's leftovers)

Dinner was vegetable beef soup that I modified from this recipe. Instead of turkey, I used 90% lean beef ... and instead of fennel and basil, I cheated and used a beef stew spice blend.

I also had snacks in the AM (gluten free waffle), PM (3/4 cup plain greek yogurt, with 1 cup blueberries ... and 10 baby carrots on the side), and at night after dinner (1 cup frozen strawberries, with 1/4 cup protein granola. Microwave for 60 seconds, hit with a dollop of whipped cream).

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's posts, triumphs,  and will be doing my best to cheer everyone along. Let's do this!