Cheat Day and the after effect

Yesterday was a our cheat day!! We finally had a day off together, which is rare to come by these days!  So we decided to use it as our cheat day.  Normally our day is suppose to be exactly half way, but we decided this would be better.  So we took the day and drove up to Estes Park to go to our favorite burger/gyro place! Baba's burgers.  

We had some eggs and OJ before heading up so that it wasn't too terrible for us.  After that we got to go fight with Comcast for a little before heading up.  Always so much fun!  The drive up was amazing!  Such a beautiful day out here in Colorado!  So relaxing.

At Baba's I had their traditional Gyro, and Josh had double cheese burger. We split an order of greek fries, and a soda.  I could only eat about half of my gyro and a few fries before I was full and done.  It did taste really good, but I didn't find my self gorging my self on it.  Now Josh on the other, can eat like there's no tomorrow haha.  He ate all of his, and the rest of the fries!

After we were done wondering around in Estes Park we headed up to Black Hawk.  Here we got to have a couple of drinks, but we were both so full from lunch that we did not end up eating any dinner!  Drinks were good as always, and so was the gambling haha.  We only lost $10, but to play for quite a while. Black Jack is always our go to, and we have our few annoying penny slots that we really enjoy!

So now we are here the day after cheating.  We were a little sluggish to wake but, but we did and got straight to the gym!  I have had a goal the past week to hit 5000 reps on the elliptical in my 35 min weight loss work out, and finally hit it today!! I was proud of my self!  I may have to start upping the intensity on the workout, because now it's getting to the point of being easy!  I would not have believed you if you would have told me that at the beginning of the year!  We have a free session with a trainer, so Josh is going to utilize that on Thursday to learn some proper weight lifting techniques so that he can start building some muscle. 

The only side effect we're feeling from yesterday is that our stomachs are a little girgley, and gassey, but not too bad.  We still have great energy, and really had an easy time going straight back to eating well. The only down fall we had was eating some dark chocolate, but I really needed to curb that craving before going ballistic!

We went around and did some shopping.  I needed some ore clothes for my cruise coming up.  And over all I'm liking the way things are looking.  I'm proud of my progress! Weigh in day 2 is coming up here in a few days and I'm excited to see where I stand with everything!  Almost half way through this 30 day detox!!  

Strange things are happening....

So I had a couple of revelations across the past couple of days.  Just some settle changes I'm noticing about my body, and mind.  All great part of the detox!

First off, while getting doughnuts yesterday and today for my class that I teach, I could hardly stand the smell of them!! They smelled incredibly overwhelmingly sweet!!  It almost made me nauseous! Just a couple of weeks ago I could wolf down a couple of these bad boys, but I was so turned off by the smell I had no desire at all to eat any!  I cannot believe how incredible my will power has been here lately!  With my position I literally have junky food staring me down all day long!  I should have gotten a picture to show you!!  I set up my tables for my training class with chips, candy, cookies or doughnuts, and then some fruit as well, all down the center of it.  I look at it all day long!! But not once, since starting my detox, have I had an urge to grab something!

Then today at work I bought lunch for the group.  Good 'ol friend chicken with 2 sides.  I drank my shake like a good girl, and it did not bother me one bit.  I never once found my self going, oh man I wish I could have that too....I enjoyed my shake, felt full, and was ready to keep going.  My mind is slowly shifting towards thinking of food as fuel, and not as a way to cope, or reward my self.  It's crazy how much I'm learning about what my body truly needs and wants, and listening to it is so rewarding!

Now I didn't get to work out today like I wanted to do so.  The pressure in the air must be changing because my back and neck are pretty sore this evening.  This is something I have really learned over time is that I need to listen to my body.  There is a point of pushing, but the over doing it and making it worse.  I think it's coming up time for another massage :-)  Time to reward my body for all it's hard work and everything I have been putting it through!  Now that's a reward not food!

We have our first cheat day coming up.  Technically it's suppose to be next Monday, but we're doing it Friday since we actually have a day off together.  We're planning on heading up to Estes Park! All Josh wants is a burger from our favorite burger place, Baba's burgers.  They really are good!  But while we're up there, we're going to try to go for a hike if it isn't too snowy.  If it is, we'll just end up wondering around the town and enjoying each other's company.  I cannot wait!

Another note, another strange thing I noticed about my body....When I bend over my fat rolls are different....Such a weird statement I know!! But it's true! My fat is folding weird hahaha.  I think it's a good thing!  So crazy to notice all these little changes going on!

Anyways I'm going to leave you with this recipe!  It turned out so amazing!! I cannot take the credit for this one though.  I found it on Pinterest!! So I'll show my picture and give you the link to it!!

Click here for the recipe

Weigh in day!

So today was weigh in day! I'm down 2 lbs and 2 inches.  Now, I'm happy that I did have some loss, but it's not quite as much as I was hoping for!  I should have been more excited than I was when I first weighed, but instead I found my self doubting my self.  Thinking what did I do wrong to not lose more?!?  But quickly I snapped my self out of it!! I have to celebrate! 2 lbs down and 2 inches! Not to mention how much more energy I have and how great I am feeling!!

This detox is so much more than just weight loss.  It's a great beginning to a beautiful future!  This detox is all about changing my lifestyle and mind set, and getting healthy.  Like I said, I feel so wonderful, and full of energy! Something I was really lacking before starting this.

On top of diet change, I'm reading this wonderful book called "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olsen.  It's all about how we think each and every day, and how our thoughts and actions can add up to be so much.  There was a great story within the book about a frog and his brother.  I'll just give a brief summery.  Pretty much they jumped into a milk pale on a farm.  Soon they realized that they could not jump out due to the slick surface, and not being able to touch the ground.  They tried and tried.  Finally one brother said he's going to give up and accept his fate.  The other brother refused to give it.  He kept kicking and kicking, until one day he was so tired he could harley kick anymore.  Then to his surprise he had a solid surface under him.  All of his kicking had churned the milk into butter.  He was then able to jump out.

This story really spoke to me.  It may seem hopeless, or impossible at times, but just keep pushing and pushing and eventually, you will see the results! We can apply this to our philosophy when it comes to weight loss.  So many diets out there promise immediate results, loose 10 lbs in one week guaranteed!!  But if you really look into those, they're all about either starving your self, or its all water weight.  There's nothing healthy about these!  As soon as you go off of it, you gain all the weight right back, and most people are even more discouraged then!  We're such a society of right here right now, but we need to get out of that mind set.  Results take perseverance, and hard work to finally see results, much like the frog and the butter.

Click here to buy

So my friends just keep pushing! Celebrate any loss!  Even if you don't loose anything one week, think about all the other changes.  Do you have more energy? Can you survive without coffee? Is your skin looking clearer? How about have you lost any inches?  So many other factors besides what the scale says! Just keep pushing (or swimming as Dory would say).

So I went back and read some of the materials and for optimum weight loss everything says to do two shakes a day.  So I will be doing two shakes and one meal, along with my snacks.  See how this adjustment works out for me and see if I have any greater results!  Josh will still be eating two meals, but we are adding an extra shake for him as well.  He does not need to loose any more weight.  He's on a medication that he has to be careful about not loosing too much, so to adjust he will drink another shake!

I did not end up getting to work out today.  I had every intention of doing so after work, but I got this awful migrane!  The kind that makes you kind of dizzy.  With my recent head injury, I decided it was best to listen to my body, and relax for the evening.  Maybe here in a bit I"ll get some ab exercises in at least :-)  I did get another meal made this evening for the week, so here I will share it with you!!

Weight = 175
Bust = 39.5 inches
Waist = 36 inches
Hips = 42.5 inches

Chicken with Mushroom Garlic Quinoa

3 chicken breasts

1 cup quinoa

1 cup water

11/2 cup chicken broth

2 cups sliced mushrooms

5 cloves garlic

1 T ground thyme

1 T cajun seasoning

1 T oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Toss chicken in oil and sprinkle cajun seasoning all over.  Place in baking pan and bake for 35-40 mins. Make sure it's done all the way through.

In the mean time rinse quinoa thoroughly until the water runs clear.  Then combine water 1 cup of chicken broth and quinoa in a pot.  Bring to a boil, then turn to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.  

In a separate skilled add 1 T oil, then mushrooms. Sautee until tender.  I like to do mine a little longer so they melt like butter!

                                   

Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic is fragrant, only about a minute.  Toss in cooked quinoa and rest of chicken broth and thyme.  Stir all together and let simmer for another minute.  And voila, all done!  Serve with chicken!! 

Now for portion control, the picture that I have is a Josh serving, I'd only eat half the breast!  Also it's on a small plate haha.  My little white plate looks better in pictures than my red ones :-)

Now don't forget our talk! Keep pushing, and celebrate the little accomplishments!  Before we all know it, we will see our goals come true, on little step at a time!!

So it's Sunday fun day! We started our morning with an amazing hike!! The weather has been so beautiful out here the past few weeks!! We've really taken advantage of being able to get out side! Our total hike was just about two hours, and 4 miles! We climed about 80 flights of stairs! Such a beautiful day. And what's great is our younger dog, Fry, loves to go hiking with us!

When we got home we had lunch! Some awesome salmon and asparagus. So yummy!! I'll post that recipie at the end of this post for all of you! I also started working on meal preping for the week.

Today I was chocked full of energy, and ready to rock and roll!! Zero cravings!! It's pretty amazing! I went to my parents for the evening and made my own version of what they were having and also got me some "ice cream" I can have!  But the urge to cheat is not there at all!

So Josh and I tend to work complete opposite meals, so I try to make enough meals for 5-6 days. I'll make enough of each dish to feed us twice, so I make 5-6 different meals for the week! Now most Arbonne coaches give a meal plan out that is amazing to follow, but I love coming up with my own. I will fail if I follow someone else's meal plan haha. I also have a lot of allergies to food. So I have to be careful!

For our meals this week it was $100 for 10 meals, which makes it out to be $5 per meal per person. Not bad right? I splurged a little for today's lunch with salmon and asparagus cause neither were on sale! I shop primarily at King Soopers, being that we both work for the company, and they have a great line of organics with their simple truth line!

This week we are having...

Sweet potato Brussels sprout hash with chicken
Steak rellenos
Frittata
Quinoa and mushroom with chicken
Pizza (yes pizza)
And then the salmon we had for lunch today!

So that's all to report for today!! Good luck to those of you starting tomorrow! I'll be posting my first week results tomorrow with weigh in! I cannot wait!!!!!

Dijon Crusted Salmon with asparagus

2 salmon filets
2 T Dijon mustard
1/4 C gluten free bread crumbs
2 T oil
1 bunch asparagus
2 t paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread 1 T Dijon mustard over each filet. Season with sale and pepper. Combine 1 T oil with bread crumbs, then sprinkle evenly over the filets. Sprinkle with paprika.
Trim the ends off the asparagus and toss in rest of oil. Place asparagus to the side of the pan and salt and pepper.
Bake for 10 minutes. My oven took 12, so be sure to check for doneness!!
Enjoy!!

Days 1-5 (the hardest part)

Ive heard so many people say, oh a detox or cleanse can't be "that hard..." But let me tell you... It's not as easy as it sounds! Part of Arbonne's detox is cutting out all allergin foods from your diet. So gluten, dairy, sugar, eating all natural, organic, grass fed meats. Doesn't look too bad on paper, but it's amazing how addicted we get to these things! Another no go is coffee! This was one of my hardest things to let go of! We've been primarily gluten free during Josh being gluten sensitive, but the coffee part is hard!
So I know I haven't really posted for my first week, but it is rough on your body. So many changes going on, that remembering to post as well is not easy! But I'll give you an overview of what goes on, the nitty gritty stuff people don't like to talk about!
So really day 3 and 4 are the worst! At this point your body is starting to realize that your not going to give in to your sugar or coffee addiction and it starts to retaliate! You've upped its fiber content, and it's not happy with you! For these two days I was soooo gassy!! Like pain staking cramping from it! I'm sitting there trying to facilitate my classes and not just let one rip! So embarrassing!! I had to take several bathroom breaks where I felt like I was going to explode! Also let me tell you, that fiber you add to your morning shake works! It deffinantly cleans out your system haha! (I told you this would be the nitty gritty side of things).
On top of the gas and bloating came the headaches! Josh and I both got these bad, and all it is is us withdrawing from sugar and caffeine! Wholy moly! You don't realize how hooked you get on that stuff!! I've had to withdraw from a medication before from my first car accident, and it feels pretty darn similar! But just push through it!! Know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! I promise!
Yesterday was day 5, and the tiredness set in! My body was whiped from what I had put it through for the week! I worked out 3 of the 5 days on top of detoxing and I was exhausted!! I listened to my body and slept in some before having to go to work.
Today is day 6, and it was difficult to get up, but we did, and got straight to the gym since we had missed the last two days. After finally getting to the gym all of a sudden I found my enegery!! I pushed way harder on the elliptical than I ever have!! Then I came home got ready, cleaned up, got groceries, went and saw a movie with my friend, went to the mall, going out tonight with Josh! Sooooo much energy, no gas, and I haven't had to take my heart burn meds the last 2 night!!
Like I said the first week is hard, no matter who you are!! Just push through it! You can do it!!! You will be so happy that you did!
Tomorrow is meal prep day, I'll post some pics and stuff showing off how I go a out it all!!

Arbonne 30 day detox

Back in July of 2015 I was introduced, by a friend, to Arboone's 30 day clean eating challenge other wise known as 30 day detox. My friend had some amazing results with it and my husband and I were ready to jump on board! So we did the challenge eg in August! We were pretty bad with exercising like we were suppose to, and we snuck in way too many "cheat days." Regardless we had some pretty good results!
Come October I was down to 165, the lowest I've been in a long time and was able to fit into a size 10! Life was amazing! We went on a trip to Florida and I wore all my shorts with confidence and was proud of my body!!
Then in November, I was involved in yet another car accident. Not nearly as bad, but if left me with a mast concussion, and took me out of the gym for two months! My state of mind was gone, and all I wanted to eat was super unhealthy foods!
Then the Holidays rolled around, and my diet was really out the window!! I couldn't be stopped.
Come Janurary I tried to diet a little but my self control was not there at all. Before I knew it here I am in March and I've gained 17 lbs since November!! How did I let my self do that?!?!
So I sat down with my husband and we both decided it was time to buckle back down, and focus on our health. (He's lucky and didn't really gain anything back, but yet he was out of shape.)
We thought back to August and what really helped jumpstart us. Arboone's 30 day challenge!
This time around doing the detox were not going to squeeze in extra cheat days and we're going to hit the gym hard! No excuses!! I am so motivated to do this it's quite ridiculous!!
We started on leap day, 2/29/2016.

Weight = 177
Bust = 40 inches
Waist = 37 inches
Hips = 43 inches

And the dreaded before picture... I cannot believe I'm posting this pic!

This is not going to be easy... But I know we can do it!

The begining

So here I am, February 29th 2016, leap year.  4 years ago today, my wonderful husband and I were enjoying ourselves at Disney's extra day celebration at Magic Kingdom.  We arrived bright and early, eager and young, to ride all the rides.  We would probably never believe if someone told us that on the next leap year, we would be living back in Colorado.  Renting from my in-laws, and still trying to figure out life.  Our vision was much different at that point.  We envisioned our selves owning a house in Florida, having at least one kid, me working in the entertainment industry, Josh with the theme parks, and loving life.  But here we are, 4 years later, in Colorado, not homeowners, not parents, and both in the Grocery industry.  I'm not saying that our lives are horrible or bad by any means, just much different than we ever imagined they would be!  We are both very sucessful in the industry, me being a Divisional Technical Trainer for King Soopers and City Market, making a fairly decent pay, and Josh is a Deli Assistant manager for King Soopers, also making decent money.  We're both in decent health, despite a few problems here and there, but nothing horrific.  We have family and a few friends.  Our two dogs are our lives, and we get out and enjoy life as much as we can.  But, what happened to those dreams and aspirations?  How did we get so far away from them?

It all started on June 10th 2012, around 2:00 in the afternoon.  I had gotten off work early, and eager to get to Target, to buy a few grocery items needed to make Josh's Birthday cake!  I was planning on working on it the next day since I was off, and we were going to go to Sea World's new water park for his Birthday!  We were both very excited.  Unbeknown to me, life had other plans.  I was rear ended on my way to Target, and not just a light tap, but full speed of 45 mph, while I was dead stop.  I had stopped for a Police vehicle going through the intersection with their lights on.  That right then and there, is what started our journey to where we are today.

I ended up with 4 herniated discs in my neck and a torn rotator cuff.  Doctors had a hard time figuring out exactly what was wrong and how to help.  We ended up having to get a lawyer involved because the other insurance company was not agreeing to pay my medical bills.  Life started wearing on us.  All of our days off from work were spent back and forth to Dr. visits, and lawyer visits.  Work was going down hill for me, because I got stuck in an industry I did not want to be a part of.  I only took the job back in March to be temporary, as I worked my way back into entertainment.  I was in constant pain, and on and off so many different kids of medications.  Money was getting tight from all the driving we were having to do, and all the work being missed from doing so.  We saw no light at the end of the tunnel, and everything was closing in on us at once.  We made the decision to move back home to Colorado, to be around family for moral support, and to try to find our way again.

Over the next few years, we had to fly to and from Florida for the lawsuit, which finally settled September of 2014!  Yes you read that right, two years after the accident.  While out here I found a back Dr. that was amazing.  After a few failed tries with steroid shots, we finally found that working out is what helps my back the most, but that I would have to live with the pain.

Both of us ended up in a couple of dead end jobs, with companies and managers that did not respect, nor treat us correctly.  At one point in time, we were sinking so bad that we applied for Food Stamps.  We got denied, even though we were both jobless.  All seemed lost.  We both found a couple of jobs that ended in complete disaster, but I finally got hired on with King Soopers as a Front End Supervisor.  Finally! A company that not only did they treat their employees well, but also paid well too!  Eventually I convince Josh to also apply, and he too got hired on!

I just celebrated my one year anniversary with King Soopers back in December.  Life seems to be treating us pretty well.  So why am I still not fully satisfied?

One reason I know is my weight/health.  I've been overweight forever it seems, and have always yo-yoed with my weight.  Heck, even last year towards October I was the fittest I'd ever been!  I was down 20 lbs, down to 165!!  A number I hadn't seen since my internship with Disney.  After that initial car accident I had gained quite a bit, due to lack of movement, and well depression.

But then life happened, and I got into another car accident in November.  Not nearly as bad, but I ended up with a nasty concussion, and I let my self fall again in the health department. I kept using excuses for gaining weight, but now it's time to end that!

Here I am 177 lbs, 5'2".  Yes, do the math, that means I'm obese in society's eyes.  I know that we are all to love our selves and our bodies, but I want a healthy body.  If I truly love my self I will treat my self right, and keep this body healthy.  I need to do this, not only to look good, but to keep my back feeling good, and to work towards our dreams and goals.  I need a healthy body, so that I may have healthy, happy children!  I need a healthy body, so that I can travel and ride my roller coasters that we want to do.  I need a healthy body so that I can climb that 14er this summer!!  But a healthy body also has to come with a healthy mind.



That's what this blog will be.  It will be my new Journey in life that I am setting out to take.  Towards a healthier body and mind.  I need to figure out what it will take for me to be successful, not only in my goals with health and fitness, but also my goals with life and business.  Please join me for this wonderful journey.  There will be a lot of ups and downs, but I'll get through it, one day at a time.