Katelyn Lesk Health and Fitness

Thursday, February 18, 2016

My personal financial story with Team Beachbody

The top picture was my final paycheck from my old company right before the company closed in May of 2014. This was my take-home pay every 2 weeks after 7 years of being an engineer there. I felt fairly compensated, I loved the job, I loved working on the development of our medical device and representing our company and product internationally, I felt privileged to work with incredibly talented surgeons from around the world, it was an honor to learn from the incredible people I was lucky enough to work with, and my time there will always hold a special place in my heart.

But I am also proud of this:

* I am proud of listening to my gut when my coach asked me back in 2012 if I ever considered becoming a coach. I didn’t have a clue what would come out of it but I jumped all-in because it was something I absolutely loved doing. There was definitely a small voice within me that told me I was entering into something significant in my life :)

* I am proud that despite having the same fears that anyone would when starting something new, I stayed connected to the bigger picture and put my heart out there as best as I could. I knew there was a chance that some might interpret what I was doing as salesy, annoying, or even a little crazy, but did that really matter if there were people out there that I was helping? I learned to ignore any doubts with the first message I received letting me know that I helped someone BELIEVE in herself <3

* I am proud of myself for following my heart and taking a plunge into a career that was a complete 180 from what my degree, previous work experience, and training was in (although to be honest, I think coaching is more aligned with what I REALLY wanted out of Bioengineering, which was to help improve the quality of people’s lives and make the world a better place). There were a lot of people who suggested I should get another job in engineering or questioned if I worried about not being able to find another job in engineering down the road if I stepped away from it. The truth? No, I didn’t worry. Job-wise, I knew my skill set was more marketable than ever. But throughout all of this, if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that if you stay ALIGNED with your truth and your joy, the BEST opportunities for you come your way. I never could have foreseen this opportunity coming and I learned a long time ago to trust that things are ALWAYS working out for the best. I have never felt more fulfilled or ALIVE in my life and I know in my heart this is what I was meant to do. Trust me, I’m not looking back! :)

* I am proud of what I have done with this “fun little opportunity”. I LOVE my team- some of the most incredible souls I have ever encountered. I am proud that I have really found my voice and my message in all of this. I have worked with a lot of people and seeing where we all struggle and what helps us all has really helped me learn a TON - and I can use that to help others! I love that we’re all in this together, trying to improve ourselves one day at a time!

And that brings me to my final point: I am proud of the financial success I have built with this too. I know some people feel weird about sharing income information but when I was originally contemplating becoming a Beachbody coach, seeing things like this totally INSPIRED me! I do this to show others what is possible AND because I pour my heart and soul into this business and I like to celebrate my accomplishments along the way! These numbers represent a lot more than just finances to me. This business is a representation of the things that are most meaningful to me: my passions, people I care deeply about, and my dreams! Despite the cultural stigmas attached, I think we should ALL celebrate our successes more often! So here is mine. Here is what I’ve built. And I’m not stopping here- this is just the beginning ;)

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :) Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach’s income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings located in the Coach Online Office for the most recent information on our Coaches’ actual incomes. The Statement of Independent Coach Earnings can be found at http://www.beachbodycoach.com/uploads/fckeditor/mdbody/File/downloads/statement_of_independent_coach_earnings.pdf

Friday, February 5, 2016

What's your VISION??

I view Beachbody as the most incredible platform in the world to help others transform their health but honestly, the more important mission in my eyes is to help them transform their BELIEF! I want to show others that more is possible for their lives than they ever dreamed of!! If you read my post the other day about LEGACY, you know how important that this mission is to me!!

What I realized I DON’T share as often is my vision for my OWN life! I want to feel fulfillment in my work every single day. I want to feel like I can help someone in some small way every single day. I want to show kindness to the people I encounter every single day. I feel SO GRATEFUL that I’ve been able to do this AND create a flourishing business out of this where I can help others do the same!!

I want to DOUBLE MY INCOME this year!! I don’t know how exactly that’s all going to come together, but I’ve done it before using just the simple daily activities that I know help consistently grow this business. I have a plan for EXACTLY how I’m going to invest that money. I also have a BIG vision of a donation I would like to make to a local non-profit that is very near and dear to my heart.

When I think even farther down the road, I picture amazing things for my future family because of the work I am doing now. I want my husband to feel COMPLETELY FREE of the trappings of the daily grind and instead be able to pursue the creative passions that set HIS soul on fire! I want us to be able to take long trips to incredible destinations where we can immerse ourselves in nature and spend time just CONNECTING! I want us to have the time and freedom to make every day a fun adventure- trips to the coffee shop, joking with other customers; entertaining neighbors and friends for backyard dinners full of laughter; spending time at the local music shop even if neither of us know how to play; or an impromptu road trip to a middle-of-nowhere town selected on a map by a fun game of darts. I envision a house with extra bedrooms to welcome family and out-of-town friends with open arms. I want our family life to feel happy and carefree, never worrying about the burdens of debt or being able to provide for the fun, free-spirited activities that my kids will come to me asking for! I ENVISION my future family full of laughter and joy and creativity and PRESENCE- sharing special moments outside, reading together, cooking a new recipe, or going for a long walk through the woods. I picture being able to spread a large canvas out in our backyard and taking my daughter by the hand and dancing and tossing paint into a work of art that comes ALIVE before our eyes. I picture having the time and the freedom to enjoy the simple, yet INCREDIBLE, moments of beauty in life!! I want our SOULS to feel nourished and our HEARTS to feel full!

For so much of my life, I always pictured the normal things that everyone is always taught to- a job, kids down the road, a never-ending to-do list, juggling schedules, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I make it a point to enjoy EVERYTHING in my life no matter what and I know that would have been just fine. But it’s only been in recent years that my eyes have been open to other ways- different lifestyles! I always loved my job as an engineer but now I get to do something that absolutely sets my soul on fire with ENERGY and PURPOSE every single day!! And for as many freedoms I had at my old job, it’s NOTHING compared to this!! To be honest, I still feel like I’m on one big vacation from work (it’s been almost 2 years lol)! I still have moments where I forget that this is my full-time LIFE! And that’s CRAZY to me! I can go anywhere, see anyone, any time I’d like! I can drop everything and be present with whoever needs me! And I KNOW I can not only carry this into a future family life and be present with my kids, but I also know that I can give this same gift of freedom and presence to my husband, which means the world to me. ANNDDD, on top of all that, I know that through discovering and showing what is possible in MY life, I can inspire others to pursue their OWN dreams and their OWN freedom!! And the entire time I get to feel like I’m helping others and living my life’s purpose.

Think that would feel great? It does. And guess what- ANYONE can do this. Ask me. Get started now. You can be here too!! We can do this TOGETHER! Together we can change the trajectory of our lives and the WORLD! Let me tell you, I saw others posting about this years ago and even knowing how great it sounded is nothing compared to what it feels like to be living it.

*LIVE YOUR PURPOSE*

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

What's your legacy?

I had a long drive to/from a funeral of a friend’s mom today. Even though I had never met her, it was very clear what a special person she was and what an impact she made on those lucky enough to have known her (even her fedex guy and mailman had showed up to pay their respects)! You can tell by pictures how much LIFE she packed into her years!! On the drive home, I spent a lot of time pondering my greater vision and purpose for my life. What kind of an impact do I want to make? What kind of a legacy do I want to leave?

For as much fun as I have with the Beachbody coaching, I have to say that it is something I have ALWAYS taken very seriously in terms of the message I’m providing and feel a strong sense of responsibility with the opportunity I am sharing. It is my INTENTION that every single day I will be able to help someone in some small way. I feel it is my PURPOSE to show others that no matter what they’re going through, they are not alone. My clients and coaches can tell you that I am not afraid to share my struggles in the hopes that what I’ve learned can help someone else. There is an OPPORTUNITY here to see a higher purpose and a bigger picture for your life! WHATEVER is holding you back currently (and we all have those things!), please know that you are MORE than that! You were DESTINED for greatness! We ALL were! And through discovering what is possible in MY life, I hope to inspire others to pursue their OWN dreams!!! YOU ARE SPECIAL AND YOU ARE ENOUGH! Don’t let anyone else make you feel less than the PERFECTION you already are! Don’t tell yourself that anyone else has something that makes them more special or more capable of greatness! That POWER is inside of you too!! I hope you really get what I am saying to you! That power is in ALL of us!! Open your eyes to see it and ask yourself, WHY NOT YOU?? GO for it!! If nothing else, I want to be that person to take your hand when you feel like nobody else believes in you (or maybe you don’t even believe in yourself!) and SHOW you your strengths! SHOW you that you’re already AMAZING!!

If nothing else comes out of my life, THAT is the legacy I want to leave!!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

What’s a “beach body”?

While I LOVE working for Beachbody, the term “beachbody” is such a small portion of what we actually do. We help people CREATE bodies that they feel good in everyDAY! These are feel-good-in-your-jeans bodies, jumping-into-the-center-of-the-dance-floor bodies, confident-at-the-work-meeting bodies, stronger-healthier-energized bodies, loving-and-embracing yourself bodies, chase-after-your-kids bodies, and empowered-while-walking-down-the-street bodies!! And a HUGE part of that goes WAY BEYOND physical appearance!! What I love most about what we do is that we work together as a TEAM! My clients inspire ME as much (if not more!) as I inspire THEM! We create the habits and motivations to KNOW that even though life gets in the way sometimes (as it always inevitably does!) that we can get back on track and we can do it TOGETHER and have FUN while doing it! This is not about being perfect; these are healthy LIFESTYLE changes. And that INCLUDES dealing with things that may be stressing us out or keeping us stuck. We work through our fears and blocks together and take slow and steady steps towards improving our whole lives! And WITH THAT comes the confidence, the empowerment, and the belief to know that we can do ANYTHING! Feeling great at the beach is an awesome bonus, but it’s the rest of this that creates and incredible LIFE!!!!!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Embracing anxiety out of a desire to FEEL

I woke up this morning with a surprisingly high level of anxiety with no apparent cause. I've had my fair share of stressors lately, as we all do, but nothing abnormally out of the blue. There's a lot of things I could try to blame this on or try to work through in an effort to "rid" myself of it. I tried to just sit with it and let it pass, which I like doing, but I was having trouble shutting my brain off so as not to attach meaning to it (which of course keeps it stuck there). But then I came to the realization that I always eventually do... the one that is always able to bring me some peace no matter what I'm feeling. I CHOOSE to feel. I WANT to feel. I want to feel life in all it's "good" and "bad" glory. I'll take pain and sadness if I know it means it also brings me love, bliss, and joy. I KNOW how much I learn and expand in those emotions that we deem "bad" or "negative". I APPRECIATE sadness knowing that I allowed myself to really care about something or someone. I APPRECIATE anxiety for it teaches me to course-correct to paths that are more aligned with my truth and needs and it teaches me to build my faith so as to be able to feel peace. I APPRECIATE any negative emotions that allow the good ones to feel even better. I will ALWAYS be someone who wants to feel. I know I would have picked this coming into this life. I have never wanted to go through life numb... I want to feel ALIVE! I want to experience life and emotions in all of their forms! I want to know fear, sadness, and pain so I can know love, bliss, and excitement! I believe THAT's what we're here for- to FEEL! To experience! That doesn't mean there's a right or wrong way to this life, but it does mean that I ACCEPT MYSELF as I am. I believe that joy, bliss, excitement, and love can only be felt FULLY when our walls are completely obliterated! I am WILLING to lovingly feel fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy, sadness, pain, or anything else that wants to come up because I REFUSE to have walls up to ANYTHING! And I am learning to believe that ALL of these feelings have their own raw beauty to them. There is love and joy that can be found in all of them. A humanness. I believe suffering happens when we are in resistance to those feelings, or at least that is what my experience has taught me. I now find excitement when these emotions come up- the ones I used to resist- because I know it means I am learning, growing, releasing, or expanding in some way that leads to more good in my life and experience. As for the walls, I will have none. I am just me. And I am completely, totally, inspiringly ok with that. MORE than ok with that. I am in love with that. Bring it on!! I am ready for you, life, in all your glory and experience! I love life and I am willing to love it all!!!

This picture is from a calendar that my incredible friend, Alisa, made for me. The quote seemed especially appropriate and empowering today :)

Friday, January 22, 2016

Coach Sneak Peek groups!

Hello all! Ever wondered what I do as a coach (the behind-the-scenes, the day-to-day, how I get paid, etc)? I hope you know by now that I am a no-pressure kind of person so I wanted to open up a chance for you to get to see what really goes on with this business (but without feeling like you're going to get pressured into anything)! Our team has a 5 Day Coach Sneak Peek group on Facebook starting this coming Monday, Jan 25, so join us next week for a look at what we do (if you are seeing this at a later date, don’t worry- we run these every month)! If you decide that online health/fitness/motivation coaching is something you might like to do, awesome! Anyone can do it and you don't need any special type of certification. If you join us for this group and decide it's not for you, that's A-ok too!

Coaching has honestly been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done- I feel like I get to help people in some small way every day and live my passion as my full-time job (although it's something you can easily do on the side too, which is how I started)!

I wanted to make sure that nobody I know is missing out on the opportunity to do something they might really love for fear of asking about it, worrying it's going to be a pushy thing, or not really understanding what it is. So that's why we created this group!! If you're interested, please let me know- we'd love to have you!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Juicing vs Shakeology

I wrote this post on my health and fitness page (www.facebook.com/coachkatelynlesk) back in October of 2013 but I’ve had a lot of people asking me about this topic lately, so I decided to repost it on my blog! Here’s my update: I rarely make my green juice anymore- it became too time-consuming and costly and I had a tough time keeping up with it the process of going to the grocery store every 4-5 days, cleaning my veggies immediately (so I’d be more likely to make my juice) and using them all before they went bad. I still enjoy it when I do but I’m more likely to pay a premium for the convenience of buying it from time to time at a local cafe’ (which isn’t cheap- my favorite “clean green” juice is $11 per glass)! So Shakeology is even more of a hands-down winner these days (especially at about $4 per glass)!! If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, you can check it out here: http://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/MDSUSH311G?referringRepId=183908 OR, I recommend going with this Beachbody on Demand Challenge pack for $10 more (http://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/DigitalCPUS?referringRepId=183908) which also gives you 3 months of access to our online streaming workout programs, which lets you try out any of the fitness programs in our collection!

My original post:

GREEN JUICE VS. SHAKEOLOGY. This is long but I get a LOT of questions on this so I tried to spell out all the details and things to consider.

One of the most common things I get asked about is how Shakeology compares to juicing (or other do-it-yourself versions). It’s actually the only thing I’ll ever use to make a direct comparison with shakeology because it’s the only thing I know does not contain any artificial ingredients b/c you’re in control of what goes into your blender (assuming you’re buying organic).

If you’ve been following my recent posts, you know that I’m now doing both. I’ve been making green juice each week to drink in the mornings and still drinking my shakeology every afternoon. So, as for the most important thing (HEALTH!) I think both drinks have an extraordinary amount of value. I think the shakeology is more complete- it has such a wide variety of plants, roots, fruits, PLUS pre- and pro-biotics; it’s paired to help give you the best absorption of all of the nutrients; the ingredients come from all over the world and are included in shakeology because they’re known to have incredible anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer/cholesterol lowering properties (and more!), they’re also known to have such a dense concentration of nutrients and are grown in soil that I believe to be more nutrient-rich than what we have here; etc. But I think variety is good for you (which is why I wanted to give the green juice a try), they both taste delicious, and they’ve become an important part of my day and wellness routine.

So anyways, in the big picture, I think they’re both FANTASTIC, but I’ll break down some of the other logistics involved (a lot of which I didn’t know until trying it out myself) just to give you an idea of the pros and cons of both.

- HEALTH PERKS. I have KNOWN experience of the incredible benefits of shakeology. I have customers whose blood sugars have been reduced, my own personal cholesterol was drastically reduced in the first 4 months I was on it (watch this video here https://youtu.be/ndsvEcPP7XU or check out the picture section of www.facebook.com/coachkatelynlesk for my results), weight loss, increased energy, etc. But I also don’t think anyone is going to argue that drinking a green juice full of leafy greens, veggies, lemon, and apple wouldn’t be extraordinarily beneficial to your health as well.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease*

- CONVENIENCE. Shakeology is the hands-down winner here. Dear God, that green juice is a pain in the butt. It requires me going to the grocery store every week (and not just any grocery store- a store that has all my ingredients in organic form) AND it was a 2+ hour project until I invested mucho dinero $$$ into a top-of-the-line Vitamix blender and even then there’s still a lot of prep time (washing and cutting veggies) and clean-up time. Shakeology is super easy to make: powder + liquid (usually I just use water), mix in a glass and drink. It’s easy to travel with (we even have individual serving-size packets). I can make it at work without annoying the crap out of my coworkers (literally got yelled at when I turned my Vitamix on at work yesterday- had to take it into the lab haha)

- TASTE. Both are great (granted, I do think my green juice tastes like a lemony flavored salad, but I find it extremely refreshing for some reason). If you don’t like either of them, pinch your nose and choke it down anyway b/c you know it’s good for you wink emoticon

- COST. We all know the price tag on shakeology can be a little bit of a shocker at first ($130 for 30 meals/servings). I’ve used it long enough to know it is worth every penny and more but still, I can understand why people gasp a little when they think of paying all that money at once. However, the good news is that it actually breaks down to ~$4 per shake, which isn’t too bad, and we frequently have sales/discounts if purchased with one of our workout programs, which makes it much more justifiable. BUT, if you think that’s bad, wait until I tell you how much I’ve spent on my green juice over the past 2 wks. Here’s the breakdown:

- $60.50 at Whole Foods last week and $66.20 at Giant Eagle this week and this was only enough for my WORK-week (about 5 shakes- not every day). That means I’ll be averaging about $250 per month just in ingredients. And remember, I’m not adding flax, chia, protein powder, or any other supplements. There’s also the risk of wasted money if your produce goes bad before you can use it

- $427.99 on my Vitamix blender (and that includes a 20% off coupon). Yes, I know this is exorbitant, but trust me, it only takes one time of fighting with a normal blender for hours to purée your kale and you can see the value in a blender of this quality. I knew that either my blender would break or I would be too frustrated to ever actually make it because realistically, how often do we have a 2+ hour chunk of time that we can dedicate to shake making??

- Not to mention the value of my time in making these shakes, trips to the grocery store, etc (and we all know our time is valuable, right?!)

So all in all, based on cost and convenience, if I had to pick one, my winner would without a doubt be shakeology. I love it. And I’m so grateful for finding it (I know that sounds weird, but it’s true). But I also enjoy my green juice too! I like the feeling of making something so healthful myself and like I said, it’s already become an important part of my wellness routine. The bottom line is that healthy foods aren’t always cheap. But I can’t think of a better thing to spend your money on than an investment in your long-term health and happiness and quality of LIFE!! Whatever you choose (and remember- you don’t have to choose! or you can mix it up! whatever is best for YOU!), CHEERS TO GOOD HEALTH!!!!

Bottoms up, friends!!!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease*

Visit http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Fancy, healthy, delicious recipe: lemon garlic broccoli with bacon and scallops

I try new healthy recipes fairly often but now that I’m a full-time online health and fitness coach (meaning I work from home) AND the weather and Pittsburgh is getting colder, I wanted a way to ensure I had a reason to get my butt to the grocery store every week (last winter was freezing so it was hard to motivate myself to leave my house for non-essential errands… like getting food haha). So… one of my New Year's resolutions was to try a new healthy recipe at least once every 2 weeks! The recipe I picked out this week was from my Inspiralized cookbook by Ali Maffucci: lemon garlic broccoli with bacon. And since I’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own seared scallops and they seemed like a great accompaniment for my broccoli, I decided to make those too!

My definition of what I consider to be healthy foods has changed and evolved throughout the years based on the latest research as well as how my body responds to certain foods and the needs of my lifestyle. I used a lot of healthy fats in this recipe (yes, including butter, which I spent majority of my life avoiding!) and bacon. I am super careful that anytime I am eating healthy fats/meats like this, I buy the REALLY high-quality versions (meats and butter that come from grass-fed, hormone-free organically-raised animals; the bacon is organic and nitrate free as well; any oils I use are all organic). But if your definition of “healthy” varies from this, you can easily omit the meat and replace the butter with olive oil.

One of the things that I LOVED about the broccoli recipe was that it also showed me how to use the stems, which I normally throw away even though I hate wasting them! I used my Vegetti to turn the long broccoli stems into “broccoli pasta.” For tips on how to use a veggie spiralizer, you can watch my demo of zucchini pasta here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY5w3dHoyL0.

For the broccoli dish:

I chopped up the broccoli (3 large heads) and spiralized the stems. Meanwhile, I brought a saucepan (about half full of water with some Himalayan sea salt added) to a boil. I added the broccoli to the boiling water and cooked until tender. The next time I make this recipe, I will use a steamer instead. I like the texture of steamed veggies better (plus you preserve more of the nutrients)!

While the broccoli was cooking, I used a skillet to start cook the bacon (about 8 pieces cooked in olive oil for a few minutes on each side, until desired crispness). I removed the bacon from the skillet once cooked and set it on a paper towel-lined plate off to the side. I drained some of the excess oil from the skillet but didn’t clean it (I figured the remaining oil and bacon grease combo would give the dish some extra flavor and it did)!

Next step was to add the cooked and drained broccoli to the skillet over medium heat, along with some Himalayan sea salt and pepper, about 4 cloves of minced garlic, and the juice from 1 small lemon. When the broccoli mixture was cooked to desired texture (about 5 minutes), I added in the bacon (cut or ripped into small pieces) for another minute or so.

Voila’! I rarely measure things when I cook (hence the lack of exact specifications in this recipe) but I promise this recipe is super flexible and can be adjusted for your own tastes. Exact measurements not necessary :)

For the scallops:

I have always been told scallops are really easy to make- they were BEYOND easy. Makes me question why I pay so much for them in restaurants haha! I got fresh, never-frozen, wild caught scallops from Whole Foods- they were unbelievably delicious.

To cook them, I used the same pan the broccoli and bacon had been in for extra flavor (although honestly I think the majority of the flavor comes from the butter the scallops are cooked in). Even though the pan had some remaining oils from the broccoli and bacon dish, I melted some grass-fed butter in the pan- enough to coat it. I spread out the scallops in the pan and then added a small pat of butter on top of each scallop (recommendation from a friend). When I could tell the bottoms were getting crispy, I flipped them over (the pat of butter goes with it and the other side cooks in that). Again, no exact specifications. I think I had it on medium-high heat and cooked for about 2 minutes on each side. I could tell when they were ready by pressing down on them with the spatula- I was able to notice when they started to firm up.

I’m so glad I made the broccoli dish and scallops together- it was a great combination meal! Cheers to the first new recipes of the year! I hope you enjoy!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

How to change the default thumbnail on a blog link when posting into Facebook

Hi everyone! This particular message is for anyone who has a blog (specifically through blogger) and is frequently posting links to their blog on other social media sites like Facebook. The default thumbnail that shows up when you copy a link to one of your blog posts into facebook is typically the first picture of your blog post, however, you may not necessarily WANT this to be the thumbnail that shows up. So I made a video to describe the process of how to change the html code of your blog to get Facebook to recognize a different image in your blog post as the default thumbnail. You can set this for as many of your posts as you want. The process is described in the video below and then I have some associated pictures, links, and coding that you will need to use below that (each of these is explained in the video). Hope this helps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjGOW9K1XSs

Screenshot of my coding which is in the header section of my html code of my blog template:

Code that you will need to copy:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-treat-free-challenge-facebook-group.html"'>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNmBrgGf2Pi3erR5iJ6qYkVxkKxghahJc1rWwN1JsAdAD-ooa5NY94tslilI9mMMm2PKbdzM55s0eXrJ424w6Td2AW0Q96YiVmuPBHRZlqG9jm4wgMfrvajw-vLp0yrm7rSk98mzdhao/s320/20151229_103846.jpg' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>

Copy this code word for word- every symbol is important! You will need to replace http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-treat-free-challenge-facebook-group.html in the code with the link to your specific blog post and https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNmBrgGf2Pi3erR5iJ6qYkVxkKxghahJc1rWwN1JsAdAD-ooa5NY94tslilI9mMMm2PKbdzM55s0eXrJ424w6Td2AW0Q96YiVmuPBHRZlqG9jm4wgMfrvajw-vLp0yrm7rSk98mzdhao/s320/20151229_103846.jpg with the link to the image that you want to be the thumbnail that shows up when pasting the link to your blog post in social media. The link to the image can be found in the blogger editor of that specific post as described in the video tutorial.

Debugger used to test your links and check for which picture is showing up as the open graph image:

https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!

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