Final Cleanse Weigh In!!

Yesterday was our final day of the Arbonne Clean Eating Challenge!!!  And I cannot express how happy I am with the results! This past month was an emotional roller coaster with this!  Like I've said before, detox is so much for than just cutting food out!  It's about will power!  I've also been working towards making smarter decisions in my life and learning to love my life!  This detox has given me so much more energy!  I feel amazing, I'm able to push my self harder, and I cannot wait to keep going!

So my final weight after the cleanse.......170!!!!! DOWN 7 lbs in a month!!  That is not the most amazing part though!! I'm down 7 inches! And that's just measuring around my bust, waist, and hips! I know that I've gone done all around as well!

Now comes the next step...reintroducing some food items back into our diets.  We're going to still eat healthy and make healthy decisions for our selves, but not be so restrictive.  Our first thing we're going to reintroduce is milk and dairy.  Instead of buying whole milk like I normally would, I got 2%! I also got us some cheese for snacks.  I'm going to have to monitor very closely the calorie and fat content I'm taking in, so that way nothing is sneaking up on me!!  We're going to continue with making our morning shakes, and eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.

I know this is a short post, but unfortunately I've gotten sick.  Go figure right after the cleanse haha.  So that's all I'm going to write for tonight.  I have an awesome recipe to share with you all, hopefully tomorrow!

Weight = 170
Bust =  37 inches
Wait = 35 inches
Hips = 41 inches

Keep pushing, and keep going, reach those dreams!

Cleanse friendly Shepherd's Pie

So on Wednesday here in Colorado we had a really nasty Blizzard!  So much so that both of us got stuck at home for the day.  I wanted something really warm and hearty to make, so I came up with this little gem!

Shepherd's pie is one of my favorite comfort foods!  Just thinking of the potatoes, the cheese, the beer stout sauce...mmmmmmmm.. OK enough dreaming!  I had to think of a way to make this friendly for the cleanse!  Then it dawned on me...mashed cauliflower in place of the potatoes...and no cheese.  Then came the thought of the missing beer..what to do there? Well just a basic "gravy" I guess could work.  I knew that I needed to pack it full of flavor in order to make this work, that's why I added the mushrooms!

It definitely hit the spot, and was very comforting for a cold day like it was!  We ended up with a little over a foot of snow, which is crazy!!  Just walking and playing in the snow was a work out in it's self!! And we did just that! Ok ok, enough blabbing! Here's the recipe for ya! (sorry the pic isn't the best, totally forgot to take a picture before diving into it!)

Cauliflower Shepherd's Pie

1 lb grass feed beef

bag of frozen carrots and peas

2 cups diced mushrooms

2 T oil of choice

2 celery stalks

2 cloves garlic diced

1 yellow onion

1 head cauliflower

1 cup beef broth

1 T worcestershire sauce

2 T gluten free flour

1/4 C coconut milk

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a saucepan heat up oil over medium high heat.  Saute onion, celery, and mushrooms until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant. Set aside.

In same pan brown ground beef until done.  Add flour to beef stirring well, and cook for additional 2 minutes.  Stir back in onion, mushroom, celery mix, along with frozen carrots and peas.  Whisk in beef broth, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for about 5 minutes, until gravy becomes thick.  

Meanwhile take head of cauliflower and break down.  Place in a microwave safe bowl, and just cover with water.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Let sit an additional 5 minutes.  (test the cauliflower with a fork to make sure it is tender.  If not microwave until it is)

After cauliflower is super tender, drain off water and blend cauliflower with coconut milk until light and fluffy.  If you need to add more milk you can, but be careful to not make too soupy. Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Layer the beef mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish then top with the mashed cauliflower.  Spray the top of the cauliflower with cooking spray (I have just canola oil spray) and place in oven.

Bake for 30 minutes.  If top of cauliflower is not browned you can turn the oven to broil for 5 minutes.  Mine personally did not want to brown.

Enjoy!

Josh's results!

So my husband Josh decided to take an "after" picture yesterday!  He did not take one at the beginning of the month, but had one on his phone from September, which was his "after" picture from the first cleanse we did! And all I can say is WOW!  What a difference!!  He is down 35 lbs since September, and several inches! I do not know the exact amount!  He now has enough energy to workout and start building some muscle.  His headaches have gotten better, and he just over all feels really healthy!!

I will take my after photo at the end of this week, along with posting all my final stats from the cleanse!  But that does not mean that it ends there! NO WAY! This is a fresh start to our new life styles!!  2016 is the year of us!! We're becoming healthier, gaining new habbits, and hopefully will be purchasing our first house! So excited!!

I'll post later today with a new recipe :-)

Weigh in day 3 / Final Stretch!!!

So today was weigh in day!! And I"m happy to announce I am down 2 more lbs and 1 1/2 more inches!!! This past week was an interesting week.  I really focused this past week on how much I was eating by keeping track of my calories.  This cleanse is not about counting carbs, but it is good to know where you stand.  And it turns out, I was not eating enough!  No wonder I was having the headaches!!!  I was actually working out almost too much for the amount of food I was eating!  So I cut back on working out for the week to focus on my food side of things.  I think I finally got it down on how much I need to be eating every day when I do not work out!  So my challenge for my self this week is to re introduce working out, but to make sure I'm amping up my food intake to go along with it!!

When loosing weight, at least for women, you should be having a net balance of 1200 calories. It does not mean eat 1200 calories, burn off 300 working out and you will loose more weight! NO WAY!! 1200-300 = only 900 calories for the day.  Your body will go into starvation mode at this point!  When starvation mode happens your body may convert any food it gets into fat to store!  It's thinking that it needs to build up in order to survive.  Please do not do this to your body!  Make sure you eat enough!

Now this does not give you a free for all!  Still make sure the foods you are eating are pure clean healthy foods. Just up the healthy fats some if you are struggling to hit your calorie goal!  That means more flax seeds, chia seeds, coconut oil, etc.  Avocado is a great source of healthy fats if you are not allergic like me haha.  Same with nuts!  We love cashews!  And Josh also loves pistachios!

Another great thing we were able to this week was finally get Josh's diet under control! He did not loose anything this week and gained an inch across his chest!! He met up with a personal trainer this past week and is going to sign up for 5 sessions to get a great work out down to help him start bulking up!  He's never been more excited!!  I'm excited for him!  He's going to also help me out by showing me some of the stuff he learns!

So I have about 3 weeks until my cruise!! If I keep up the weight loss I've been going at, with 2 lbs a week, I'll be down 12 lbs in time for the cruise! Down to the weight I was at before my latest accident!!!  I am so excited!  I feel so good, and feel more and more healthy every day!  It's defiantly a struggle and true testament to my will power, but I'm proud of my self!  As you should be of your self! Even if it's just drinking water instead of soda one day.  Celebrate that accomplishment!!

I'm going to leave you today with a fun Sponge Bob meme about working out haha.  This one always cracks me up!!

Weight = 171
Bust = 38
Waist = 35
Hips = 41

It's not easy!

If anyone ever tells you weight loss is easy....run...it is not easy!  There is no miracle pill, or no miracle drink out there.  Those are all great for quick fixes, but not a lifestyle change!  That is what Josh and I are focusing on.  A lifestyle change!  One step at a time.  There are defiantly moments of weakness, but it is all about over coming them.  And then if you do give into that weakness, forgive your self and move on.  Do not give up! Keep pushing through!

The other night we both just had the urge to go to Old Chicago, have some appetizers and drinks.  It took every ounce of will power we had to not go.  We're dedicated to this cleanse and cannot let our weakness show!  Now after our cleanse we can do that once in a while, in moderation.  That's the key..moderation.  We do not want to completely undo our progress!  Once again, it's all about life style change.  Being healthy beyond doing the cleanse!

Speaking of the cleanse, the past few days have been our days we drink the detox drink portion of all this.  It really helps cleanse out the system, and boy does it!  My energy levels have been a little lower from it, and with the weather change my back has not been happy.  I haven't been able to go to the gym as much as liked this week, but I have to listen to what my body says :-)

My best friend visited the other night, and I needed to do something in a hurry for dinner.  I was really craving breakfast!  So I cam up with this recipe :-) I also did a little side salad with it, and it was pretty darn good if I say so my self!! Also it was super easy!!  Let me know what you think!

Eggs and Sweet Potato

2 sweet potatoes

4 eggs

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup soft herbed goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Arugula, about 2 cups

Dressing for Salad

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon agave syrup or honey

1/4 cup oil (I use canola, but you can use olive oil)

salt and pepper to taste

Turn oven onto broil

Shred sweet potatoes.  Heat up oil in skillet and cook sweet potatoes until tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Add rosemary salt and pepper.  Make 4 divots in sweet potato hash.  Crack eggs into divots and cook for a few minutes until whites are partially set.  Sprinkle the top with goat cheese. 

Place skillet in oven for about 5 minutes, until egg are cooked to desired doneness.

In the mean time whisk all ingredients together for dressing. Toss arugula in dressing

Serves 2

See I told you it was easy!! Once again, let me know what you think of it!!

Weigh in and PI day!

Happy Monday! We are officially half way through the 30 day detox / cleanse!!! WOHO!! So proud of us!  We had our weigh in this morning! I'm down another 2 lbs, and 2 1/2 inches!!  Once again, I was hoping for more, but I had to once again remind my self that it's still a loss!! And all together it is 4 lbs lost!  I'm on my way towards my goal!!  I'm fitting into my "tight" jeans, except my one pair that is a size 10.  I can actually button and zip them, but they're super tight!  I'll get back to them sooner than later!

So I've been reading my book and the past chapter I read was all about how we are in a society of wanting things right now, and that quantum leap essentially that we all expect to happen.  This was a great one to read with my weigh in day.  It was just a great reminder that there is no quantum leap when it comes to weight loss!  It's little by little, but they all add up over time!  And as I've mentioned before, this isn't just about weight loss.  It's about being healthier, and having the energy! That way we can enjoy life more!

The advice that I'm getting from the book I'm not only applying to my weight loss, but also to my Jamberry business.  It's the little things that I do each day for it, that will help me succeed in the long run!  There is no such thing as over night success, but it's so hard to get out of that mental state!!  It's hard to not just run away every time something doesn't go exactly right, but just have to keep going!

I will say that today was one of the most difficult of the cleanse so far, mentally any ways.  We woke up late, so didn't get to the gym. Then we had running around to do and had to eat out.  Not going to lie, that's when we tend to bicker the most! Over where to eat, and then when we're on this cleanse and so limited it makes it even worse!  We finally came to the decision on Wahoo Fish Tacos.  We each had one salmon one, and on wahoo one, both with no cheese.  When we got them, we forgot to ask without the sour cream sauce, so we just ate them as they were.  Oh well.  A little cheat, but it was better than arguing more over it haha.

Today was also international PI day!  Seeing pictures of pies all over Facebook today was a little bit of a killer!! This made the day that much worse with cravings. So what did I do? I got inspired!! I got inspired to make a clean eating challenge friendly pie.  Ok so it was more like a cobbler than a pie, but still hit the spot!!

Tomorrow is a new day, a fresh day, and it will be a better day!  I'm excited to meet up with my awesome Arbonne coach Ashely, and catch up!!  Who knows, maybe here soon Josh and I will be the newest reps of Arbonne!  We really cannot lie on how much this program has helped us out, and how we would love to help others out as well!  Have a great day everyone, and I will catch up with all of you soon!!

Weight = 173 lbs
Bust = 39 inches
Waist = 35.5 inches
Hips = 41 inches

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Apple Cobbler

2 Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, Diced and Cored)

2 T agave syrup

1 T lemon juice

1/2 T gluten free flour

Cinnamon (as much as you like)

Clove (as much as you like)

a pinch of nutmeg

1/2 t salt

Crumble

1 cup gluten free oats

1/2 cup gluten free flour

1 packet stevia

1/2 t salt

1/2 T cinnamon

2 T coconut oil (softened)

Preheat the oven to 350

Combine apples, agave syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, 1/2 t salt, and 1/2 T gluten free flour all together and place in a greased casserole dish.

In a separate bowl work together all the crumble ingredients, until well combined.  Top the apple mixture with the crumble.

Cover in aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes

Uncover and continue to bake for 30 more minutes.  

Voila, a cleanse friendly apple crumble!!

It was pretty darn good, deff hit the spot.  Could have used some ice cream...but that's no cleanse friendly haha!!  Let me know what ya think!!!

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!!