Day 2 recap, and a little breakthrough!

Going in to day 2 of Herbalife I was a little apprehensive (my bad), but I slept horribly the night before and knew that coffee was going to be on my radar all morning.
B and I met up in the morning and made our first shake...

vanilla with peanut butter and granola

...did our tea shot and took the vitamins...

herbal tea concentrate, multivitamin, cell activator, and cell-u-loss


...and within a half hour I hit a wall.
I wasn't expecting that.
I was so tired I had to lay down at work and take a 15 minute power nap.  Frustrated, I talked to my "coach" and let him know I really needed coffee.  He encouraged me to keep pushing through it and drink more water...so I did...and by the afternoon I had a lot more energy.

I counted how much protein I had throughout the day, and counted calories as well...I focused more on protein.  100 grams of protein is my goal each each day, on day 2 I hit 113!  So I skipped my last snack and let myself have a small chocolate treat.  :)

My meals broke down like this:

Breakfast: vanilla healthy meal shake with 1/4 c low sugar granola and 1 tbsp of peanut butter

Snack: hard boiled egg, roma tomato, and 1/2 c cottage cheese (I was HUNGRY)

Lunch: vanilla healthy meal shake with 1/4 c oats, 1 peach, and 1/2 a banana

Snack: string cheese and 1 hard boiled egg, handfull of edamame

Dinner: 1/2 c rice, 1 large chicken breast seasoned with sea salt, 1/2 an avocado sliced on top with salsa

Treat: 1 piece of chocolate

I increased my water intake, and started adding lemon juice to it to make it a LITTLE easier to drink so much throughout the day.  :)

All in all, day 2 was a little harder...but very worth it.

Today marks day 3, after today I will take my measurements and weigh again, but this morning I took a sneak peak and discovered I have lost 3 1/2 pounds!

May not sound like a lot, but I did that without even looking at a gym...each step counts!...tonight I'm going to do 30 min of yoga and a run around my neighborhood SINCE IT'S FINALLY WARMING UP!!!

I'm way excited to weigh and measure tomorrow and see how the rest of the week goes!  I'll post my day 3 meals tonight :)

PS...anyone who watches Glee...HALLELUJAH KURT AND BLAINE!!!  The moment I've been holding my breath for since yummy Blaine first batted his eyes :)



Day 1!

Today is the day!
I let myself have chips last night as a treat before cutting them out of my life for the next month (and possibly beyond!)...and woke up this morning ready to take on this challenge!

This morning consisted of weighing myself (which put me in tears after realizing I had gained back all the weight I had worked so hard to lose 2 years ago), taking my measurements (even my wrists and ankles??? pretty sure those guys aren't going anywhere), and recording everything so my wellness coach could use it to give me my plan of action.

I made it small on purpose!  Can't read these numbers!

Unfortunately I also had to take a "before" picture.  Despite any embarrassment this may cause me, I'm going to post it to motivate myself and hopefully show really positive results.  Hopefully it will also show that this isn't just something I'm doing for fun, I'm doing it to become more healthy since all my weight falls in areas that can have a major impact on heart health, and feel better about myself...given the stress I've been facing the last several months it's about damn time I did something to bring about a positive self image.  Negative comments can be kept quiet please and thank you :)

Ignore scary morning face, and messy laundry area ;)

I also got to start making my shakes and taking the vitamins and supplements...
When picking out what 2 flavors of shakes I'll take, I wanted to make sure they would combine well with a variety of flavors...a month of all the same shit will make me go nuts.
I went with chocolate and vanilla...both go well with fruits, grains, nuts, and peanut butter :)
In addition to shakes and vitamins, there is an herbal tea concentrate that I'll take 3 times a day.  I'm not thrilled with how it tastes, but B and I discovered if we take it like a shot it's pretty tolerable ;)

So this morning, my breakfast consisted of the following:

along with a multivitamin, cellular therepy, and cell-u-loss.
Doesn't really look like much but I used a little more soy milk than it called for and was surprisingly full afterwards.
Lunch was similar.
Dinner was on my own.
Snacks in between.

My meals broke down like this:
Breakfast: chocolate healthy meal shake with 8oz soy milk and 1/2 cup raspberries
Snack: 1 string cheese and 1/4 cup raw almonds
Lunch: vanilla healthy meal shake with 1/3 cup oats, half a banana, and 1/4 raspberries
Snack: 1 string cheese and a hard boiled egg
Dinner: 2 whole wheat pita halves, both with 2 tbsp lowfat skim mozzarella and 1 tbsp fat free italian dresseing...1 with half an avocado and 1 with 1/3 cup fresh mushrooms
Snack: edamame
**Each meal was paired with vitamins and herbal tea concentrate.

I wasn't very good at tracking how many ounces of water I drank, but it was 4 water bottles (the nalgene kind) full.  (I swear to god I peed every 5 minutes...driving me crazy, but I'll adjust.)

All in all, I'd say today was a success, and all I can do is take this day by day!


**EDIT**
About an hour after posting, I started feeling pretty achey and nauseous...I texted my wellness coach to see if this is a normal thing and I was assured it's normal and a sign that the body has started detoxing...yay?

Herbalife

So I'm making a commitment to myself and to taking the steps towards a healthy life.

I have been bad to myself for a while now...unhealthy foods, very very little exercise, and it's not right.  I have to forfeit the right to complain that my clothes don't fit, and about always being tired. 

A coworker of mine started using Herbalife products about a month ago and loved the results so much that he is now a wellness coach and has been spending time talking about it with me and B.  Yesterday he had a shake party at his house and B and I went to scope it out and see if it was worth giving a shot.

I start my first month tomorrow!  I'm so excited!
For the next little bit I'll be blogging about my experience with Herbalife and tracking my results...I could be setting myself up for embarrassment but it's worth a shot right??

Wish me luck!!

....

And this is how my horoscope for today starts out ...

"You may be a bit aggravated today, Leo."

Ya think?  Whoever says horoscopes aren't legit needs to re-evaluate.

It's an Addiction

"I don't even want to see the damage you're going to do right now" says my husband as we walk to my favorite clothing store :)

**I will add that beforehand we stopped at the jewelry store where hubs gets all my jewelry to have my engagement ring and wedding band cleaned...I always have massive anxiety doing this thinking that if I leave them there to soak and be cleaned really well that they will forget who I am and not give me my rings back...I survived, but not without almost chewing a fingernail off while waiting...**

He then makes the smart decision to go on his merry way and leave me to my happy moment.
I have really wanted to update my spring wardrobe and while I have many of the basics, I needed a few fun things...
In addition to a pair of studded flats, 3 patterned dresses, new lighter wash skinnies, a white cardigan, 2 light fitting crop cardigans, and a light green peasanty top...I wanted a new watch and belt....

...then threw in a necklace for good measure :)
Lots of money spent...happy wife, happy life.

As another sidenote...scented nailpolish, while good in theory, will only give you a buzz when you aren't asking for one...

I finally got around to watching Tuesday's episode of Glee :)  "Sexy"
I'm not sure when sex and drinking became Glee worthy subjects, but ever since the Michael Jackson/Yeah Yeah Yeahs mashup I really don't feel arguing their decision-making abilities is appropriate...clearly, they're geniuses.

Things currently making my life happy are:
1) GLEE

2) Making birthday cards as awesome as this one

3) Bellas fashion sense

4) girl scout cookies

5) Being GREEN and starting a carpool with coworkers!

Happy Thursday!  <3

Wellll helloooooo there

SOOOOOOOOOOOO it's been a while huh??

The last month has absolutely flown by in a mix of happiness, hilarity, and complete sadness.

I don't really know where to begin.

Let's start with how cute Bella is so I can keep the mood happy :)
I gave my little sugar a tutu (amongst a million other cute tiny human clothes) for Christmas and today her mom send me this picture...

Clearly, she's destined for fashion greatness.  HOW CUTE IS SHE!!!!  I can't even handle it.  The poor baby has RSV now and is on a breathing treatment, and of course she looks cute doing that too.  :)

My uterus basically talks to me in my sleep and tells me how much it needs a baby in it....

The mix of happiness and sadness comes in with my trip home to Illinois to see my family.
Who doesn't love seeing the people they love most in the world??  My family is a freakshow.  Never met a funnier bunch of people in my life, and I'd give anything to see them more often than I do.  The 8 days I got to spend with them included getting to celebrate Bella's 2nd birthday with her, getting to see my dad's girls' basketball team win their state qualifying game (obviously they won the championship), and have many a glass of wine with my mom.
I do feel the need to toot my own horn when it comes to packing for said trip.  Mind you, I own more clothes than any 20-something should and my shoes have taken over a large portion of the closet I recently had to kick my husband out of...
However, I managed to turn this...

...to this...

...in a matter of an hour :)
***pats back***
(I'll choose not to include the cuss words this included OR the fact that I had to lay my body on top of the suitcase just to zip it...)

This trip also forced me to learn how to A) take the train in Chicago, B) not kill Brandon after he gave me shitty instructions, C) carry a broken suitcase, D) make camping boots look REALLY good, and E) sleep even harder on a plane/train than I do in my bed.

Leaving Illinois was incredibly difficult, not just saying goodbye but knowing that I was coming home to an impending separation as well as getting back into work mode after 8 days off.
My dad drove me to the airport and took me out to dinner (and a little gambling at the casino) before walking me to airport security.  I was then THAT person sobbing as security scanned my bags, sobbing as I waited for my plane to board, and sobbing as it took off.  I cried so much the ticket lady (Lisa) felt sorry for me and upgraded my seat (hell to the yea!) and the guy sitting next to me on the plane offered to keep buying me drinks...I took the upgraded seat, but not the drinks...**pats on back again**

Now I'm "home" in Utah, dealing with life, and making damn sure that I make myself a priority from now on.

I'm sure I'll get the urge to post more later today...

MJ + Glee = happiness in my loins

Oh happy dayyyy!!!!!!!!  Last week, Glee came back to my life.  After the cast dealt with a laryngitis EPIDEMIC, they took a brief hiatus...crushing my soul and leaving me in a deep dark pit of doom and despair bummer.  The first episode back they paid tribute to my lover, Michael Jackson.  Sure he's a creepy little baby toucher but I find him oddly sexual and the music speaks for itself.  In THIS episode, the rivalry between footballers and Glee club hits an alltime high, while the Cheerios are up for a record 7th national title.  Coach Beast makes the glorious decision that her footballers should join the Glee club :) and Sue schedules the Cheerios competition the SAME DAY as the "big game" leaving them without a halftime show...bitch.  AND the footballers decide they hate Glee (duh) and they quit, and get kicked off the team.  **Spoiler alert!** The Glee ladies join the football team, the Cheerios ladies quit the squad, and the footballers agree to join the halftime show...it all ignited in an MJ, Glee, "Heads Will Roll" explosion that left happiness in my loins a real big smile on my face.  :)  Here's another picture for your viewing pleasure.

My life = joyous.

On an even happier note...ole nug was put to rest last night and the helpful souls at Best Buy helped me pick out a nice replacement.
World, meet my new lil nug...name to be determined.

Ain't she purdy :)
So, the trials and tribulations of dealing with ole nug really were worth it...and it's the best proof I can find that buying the extended warranties on electronics IS the best idea.  My extended warranty paid for itself 4 times over on the Toshiba.  Since they junked it out, I got this one for only the price of a warranty!  Hell to the yeah!

Today = happy day.