Eating Healthy is Expensive!

So, yeah.  I'm trying really hard to eat healthy.  Some days are better than others.  I've found when I purchase healthy food, my food budget goes up about 40%. And when your food budget is already $700/month, adding 40% is PAINFUL.

I was given the opportunity to try an App called Price Comparer a few weeks ago.  I really had high hopes for this program because it's description said that it could help you save an average of 15% on your food budget by helping you figure out which items were cheaper at your favorite stores.

It's a FANTASTIC concept. No doubt about it.

So, I went to the grocery store, and bought my foods for the next couple of weeks, then set out to use this App.  I expected to be able to scan the bar codes and all the info would be available, like it is in the MyFitnessPal Ap I use.  This was not the case.  I had to scan the bar code, type in a description, then take a picture of the product (which only worked about 10% of the time).  Plus, the background was orange and the font was white, which made it difficult to read, not to mention there was no bar at the top of the screen where the navigation was, so words would overlap one another and I couldn't read them at all.

I was so disappointed with this program because it was extremely user friendly.

With that said, this has a TON of potential.  I don't think it's worth paying money for a program that you can essentially do for free through a spreadsheet.  But, should they ever fix the issues with the font, and make this program so that all you have to do is scan and enter your price, they'll make a killing on this Ap.  I would easily pay money for something like this...if it worked and were user-friendly.

Here's to hoping the designers read my post and make some tweaks to the program.  It'll be fantastic when all the kinks are smoothed out.



*DISCLAIMER:  I received this product for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased opininion.

Feeling Beautylicious! Finding Pamper Products That Work for Me

In my quest to indulge and pamper myself, I have been testing a plethora of different beauty products in search for items that will help me to become the best me I can be.

One of my biggest fears is that, as I lose weight, my skin will begin to show extreme amounts of wear and tear from years of abuse.  There is no way that a body will go from 300 lbs to 150 lbs without being left with some sort of residual damage from being obese.  I'm most concerned with:

 a) The overhang of my belly.  Having four kids and gaining 50 lbs from each one has caused a TON of stretch marks and overhang. I'm not sure if I'll have to get a tummy tuck in order to entirely rid myself of that 'flap', but I'll be darned if I'm not going to give it a valiant effort! ( more on this in a different blog post)

b) Wrinkles in my face when I thin out.


So far, I've been really lucky in the genetics department when it comes to my face.  I have no gray hair.  What you've see in the pics is my true hair color.  I don't really dye it.  And, I don't have hardly any wrinkles.  My theory, though, on the wrinkles is if I wait until they are in abundance, I've waited too long.  I am very proactive about my face, so I've been pretty regular about using different moisturizers and keeping the makeup to a minimum.  I've also tried several products to see if they help with the few small wrinkles I do have and help to prevent any more.

My most recent face products are: 

Forlan Skincare Night Cream

This night cream was AWESOME.  I have naturally dry skin, which doesn't bode well when I'm facing significant weight loss.  The changes in my skin were significant within 24 hours and I haven't had issues with dryness since.  I have noticed a few (like 2 or 3) pimples popping up, but that may be due to me not cleaning my face as well as I should (ahem).


Anaiti Luminous Cream & Dark Spot Corrector

This is hardcore stuff.  I originally requested this with the understanding that it was for dark spot correction - of which I'm beginning to notice a few on my face (yay! - NOT).  I used to have a Clinique foundation that was spot correcting, but I ran out a few months ago, and it's beginning to show.  Not good since I'm spending more time in the sun walking.  The old spot correctors I used left dry spots wherever I used them, but this is the consistency of body butter, but doesn't leave you oil OR dry.  It's just right.  Plus, it's gentle enough to use all over the face.  It's a keeper!



Anaiti Instant Wrinkle Filling Serum

Anaiti is 2 for 2. It's a line I'm certainly going to investigate further.  I was just as impressed with their wrinkle filling serum as I was their spot corrector.

I LOVE this stuff.  It is light weight, and after a week, I'm beginning to see the squint line between my eyebrows beginning to soften.  Wahoo.



Adeline Antioxidant Serum

Another winner from Adeline.  This has the consistency of watered down syrup (but in a good way, I swear!).  It's a light amber color, and soaks into the skin almost immediately, enabling my skin to tighten slightly and I noticed my foundation lasted longer when I used this serum first.




My Konjac Charcoal Bamboo Facial Sponge

This product was the most surprising product I tried.  It was touted as something that could be used to help get rid of blackheads, which is always good, plus it's cruelty free.  I expected it to be hard and scratchy at the very least.  It arrived in its package and was larger than I expected.  My daughter used it in the shower and told me how soft it was and how she didn't need any soaps to clean her face.  I tried it when I showered and had the same experience.  The sponge felt like a luxurious washcloth.  It was really nice.  It cleaned all the makeup off my face without the need for any soaps and my face was squeaky clean when done.  Plus, it didn't feel tight or dry like normal when I have to use my usual cleaners.


In all, these were all unqualified successes. So much so that my sister snagged a couple to take home for herself after I finished discussing them with her (she's a bit of a make-up snob). Luckily, I was able to hide a few of them before they completely disappeared and I had to start all over! I swear, I'm going to have to put a lock on my doors. But it's also nice to feel pampered.  It makes me want to work harder to take care of myself and continue to lose weight so I can test more!

*Disclaimer:  I received each of these items for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.  I do not receive any money should you decide to purchase these items through the links provided.

My Weight Loss Rewards List

I am a VERY oriented individual.  Every morning I wake up and create a to-do list: my goals for things to achieve by the end of the day.  I have goals for business, personal life, education, spiritual improvement, personal improvement, parenting, and, well, you get the idea.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that I also have goals for weight loss.  You know the ultimate goal: Reach the weight of 145 lbs.  But looking at that goal, and knowing I still need to lose 100+ more pounds can be daunting, to say the least.   So, I've broken it down into increments, then attached a non-food reward to go with each milestone.  Those that are starred have a personal significance to me, therefore they have a higher dollar value.


280 lbs:  New Running Shoes
275 lbs: Pedicure
270 lbs: Get my hair done - highlighted & cut
265 lbs: Go target shooting
260 lbs: Manicure
255 lbs: Write-In (leave for a weekend and work on my book!)
*250 lbs: Make-Over (Buy New Make up to go with my new face!)
240 lbs: Get my suburban detailed
230 lbs: Hire a Personal Trainer
220 lbs: Another Write-In
210 lbs: Take up Kickboxing or Karate
*200 lbs: Buy a road bike for doing triathlons
190 lbs: Go Zip Lining
*180 lbs: Vegas Baby!
170 lbs: Parachuting or Para sailing
160 lbs: Get a sprinkler system for my lawn
150 lbs: New Wardrobe :)
*145 lbs: Atlantis or Hawaii!!!

So, why are the starred weights so important? Well, 145 lbs for obvious reasons. I haven't been that weight for 21 years.

250 lbs is the weight I was when I got pregnant with my 4th child, 200 lbs is the weight I got pregnant with my 3rd child AND a major milestone anyway.  180 lbs is the weight I got pregnant with my second child (15 years ago).  So in essence, the starred numbers are the point in which I lose a child!!!! ;)  Yes, my goal is to 'lose my children'!  Bahahahaha!

Finding Peace Amidst the Chaos of the Internet: Familoop

I have four children ranging in ages from 19 to 4 1/2, and everything in between.  I have 1 child in college, 1 in high school, 1 in elementary school, and 1 in pre-school.  Add to the chaos of each child going in opposite directions every day to my own schedule of owning 6 blogs, 2 non-profits, 15 websites, doing transcription work, and writing my third book, you could say I'm pretty busy.

Luckily, I have really good kids.  For the most part, they stay out of trouble and do the right thing.  However, our family is very much entrenched in the digital age.  I spend a LOT of time on the computer for my various jobs.  Jacob, my youngest, has special needs and uses a variety of programs and apps for therapies, communication and such.  My 6-year old LOVES the Sesame Street web page, and my 15-year-old is obsessed with World of Tanks.

Although I trust that my children are good and they're doing good things while on their various electronic devices, I cannot say as much for the different advertising agencies that market to children on the websites that they visit.  It's infuriating to see what occasionally pops up as in-app marketing on my 4-year-old's game designed for 3+ years of age.

So, when I was approached to check out a program called Familoop, I immediately checked it out.  The premise of this program is to allow you to go in an monitor what is happening on your computers, Ipads, phones, etc. You see which websites are visited, for how long, when it occurred, e-mails that are being sent (if you're worried there is sexting going on, or conversations with individuals you don't trust, etc).

At first, I was unsure about the privacy issues.  Was I invading my family's privacy by spying on their digital footprint and seeing what they are doing?  Then, I realized that in order for this program to work, I needed to download a program to each device.  That means if I wanted to download Familoop to my son's Iphone, I needed to get the phone from him (which would automatically illicit a response of 'why?'). This gave me the opportunity to discuss Internet predators, porn being targeted at kids, etc. as well as giving him a heads-up that he was being watched.  It's like having 'mom' in the room at all times.  You'll be on your best behavior.

I did, however, add the program to my own personal computer that the family has access to.  However, I didn't tell anyone that it was there.  Call it morbid curiosity.  After a couple of weeks, I went into the Familoop hub and checked out the activity on my computer.  I am happy to report that nothing unusual or questionable was reported.

What peace of mind to know that I didn't have to block any sites, or have any talks with my family over the sites they were visiting, etc.

So, if you're looking for a program that will enable you make sure your kids aren't going to any sites they shouldn't, or are sending/receiving texts they shouldn't this is the program for you.  It was easy to set up, easy to understand, and easy to implement.

The Bright Idea Box is BRILLIANT

So here's a little background about me and why I'm writing a blog about a leadership book on a weight loss blog.  When I was 14, I jointed the local Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (JROTC) at the local high school.  I joined because their class description included rappelling off a 30-foot tower and that sounded interesting to me.  I stayed because I discovered I was good at being a leader.

By the time I was 17, I had my own staff of 7 cadets under me, was Battalion Commander over more than 100 kids for a full school year, and went to Spring camp at Ft. Lewis, WA where I was Brigade Commander over cadets from 3 different schools.

I was also Seminary President, Rifle Team Captain, Manager at the local Dairy Queen, and President of my Young Women's group at church.  As an adult, I started my own business with zero budget, and was making six figures by the time I was 35. I gave it up to care for my son full-time when he was born due to his heart condition and developmental disabilities. And I would do it again in a heart beat.

OK.  So I know a bit about being a boss and a leader. Though I am out of the business world, I still find that I use my skills on a consistent basis in other capacities.

When I began reading the Bright Idea Box by Jag Randhawa I was first impressed with the sheer number of good reviews he had at the beginning of the book. And they weren't reviews by random people. They were CEO's, published authors, leadership professionals and the like.

Then, as I began reading the book, I was gobsmacked by the amount of quality information and examples that were used to convey his message and to teach the reader how to be a better leader and to foster the imagination and creative juices that are necessary to create a thriving business.

After reading the book, I discussed what I'd learned with my sister, who is currently a regional manager over a major mental health-related corporation.  She was delighted to hear of the information and we discussed how important Jag's concepts were to engaging employees, creating loyalty, and helping others to achieve their potential.

I could go on and on about this book.  Several pages were filled with highlighted paragraphs and notes in the spine.  This is a book worth keeping, littering with notes, and then reading again.

Shoe Laces Are So Old School! Get With The Times and Use Elastolaces!

 I am right in the middle of teaching my kindergartner how to tie a shoelace. This is a necessary right of passage for any child. It's an opportunity to give them independence and to stroke their ego, showing the child that they are capable of learning new and important tasks. Tasks that were once relegated to the adults.

 As I have been teaching my daughter how to tie her shoes, I have wondered how I am going to teach this very same task to my son with Down syndrome. He has difficulty doing sign language because his fingers don't work independently yet. How will I teach him the intricacies of the dog running around the tree and under his leash?

 A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to try a new product called Elastolaces (found on Amazon) for free in exchange for an unbiased opinion. They gave me two pairs; one white set and a black set, along with several plastic pieces that are used to keep the laces from flopping all over. At fist, I was skeptical of them. I was afraid my shoes would be too loose, or the elastic would fray easily, leaving me with shoddy looking shoes. But once I had them on my shoes, I was impressed. The elastic was strong and resilient - not something that would easily lose it's stretch. And, though the plastic pieces used to keep the elastic in place are something I could expect my children to have enough finger strength to do on their own, once the laces are in place, they're solid.

 I worried that since there was another plastic piece at the end of the shoelaces to keep them from fraying, I'd constantly hear the tap tap tap of plastic hitting the top of my foot, but that wasn't the case. I ran several bleacher laps and didn't once feel or hear the slap of plastic on leather.

 I was impressed with the laces, and so was my 6-year-old daughter. I had to forcibly remove the extra set of laces from her hands. Though I have a feeling she will sweet talk me into using my second set of laces on her own tennis shoes...just as soon as she masters the age-old skill of tying her shoes with regular laces!


 P.S. I WILL be buying more of these when it's time to buy tennis shoes for my son who has Down syndrome. Right now he's young enough that he can still use velcro, but for those who have limited mobility, or are unable to reach their shoes very easily (elderly, obese, disabled, etc), these shoelaces are a God send. I highly recommend them!

Week 3 Weigh In: Me and My Man Legs

It is week three and I'm proud to announce that I'm down to 288.8 lbs!  I'm in the 80's, baby!!!!  That means I'm -15 lbs already. 

I measured myself to see how the changes have been thus far, measuring my neck, arm, bust, upper abs, waist, hips, thigh and calf.  on Week two, I'd gained 2 lbs and gained 2 1/4 inches overall.  This week, I'm down 7.8 lbs from last week and down 4 1/4" overall, most notably -2 1/4" in my upper abs (yeah, baby!!).  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  

The only body part that increased was my calves.  And this was the second week in a row they've grown in size.  Yeah, I'm definitely getting my man-calves back - which is why you will NEVER see me doing any calf exercises.  Actually, when I'm in shape, I have man legs period.  

In high school, my legs used to rival my older brother's who had played soccer for 13 years. I had to buy my pants to fit my legs which meant my waist always had a gigantic gap. My legs & hips are why I identify myself as 'pear shaped'.  They're also why I rarely eat red meat, instead preferring fish or chicken because red meat has a tendency to bulk my legs (Not my arms.  My arms are scrawny!).

Regardless, it all needs work right now.  So, I'm not too worried.  It won't be long before I'll be buying pants to be fitting my legs instead of my gut again.  This time I'll revel in the experience!

Taking Better Care of Myself...Starting With My Hair

As I mentioned in one of my other posts, I had a tendency to 'punish' myself when overweight by not pampering myself.  I always justified this lack of interest in my appearance by saying I'd do something special once I lost weight.

Well, 20 years later, I'm pretty much as basic looking as you can get.  My life consists of ponytails or buns, a pair of jeans (if I'm lucky) and a t-shirt that has probably been changed 3 or 4 times because my son smeared something all over me while 'playing'.  No makeup.  I'm lucky if I showered that day.  In retrospect, I can admit it was pretty bad.

As part of my weight loss journey, I've committed to taking better care of myself, which is why I do product reviews.  Since I've been out of the game for so long, I have no idea what is good and what isn't.  So, rather than spending hundreds of dollars on different products in hopes of figuring out what works for me, I'm able to get a product for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Something that has always bothered me about myself has been my hair.  Of the 10 children in our family, half of us had thick, luscious hair (after my father) and the other half had thin, limp hair (after my mother).  I was in the latter group.  My hair's only redeeming quality was that it's curly, which helps to camouflage the limp state of the strands.

Among the products I was allowed to test was a product called:

• Regenepure NT Hair Thickening Shampoo for Hair Thinning Treatment In Men and Women from Salonceuticals Regenepure.  You can buy it on Amazon (in case you're interested).

First off, let me preface this by saying I didn't know what to expect.  I certainly didn't expect results to occur in any less than 2 or 3 weeks.  Don't ask me why. That's just a number I had in my head. And, at best, I expected the results to be minimal at best.  But, I'm an optimist, so I gave it a try. 

Let me just say I'm impressed with the results.  

My long, brown curly hair falls to the middle of my back when it's wet, so there is a lot of it.  When I put the soap in my hair, there weren't many suds (which are just chemicals anyway), but I could feel my hair getting squeaky clean.  It was a different experience than I'm used to.  Normally, the shampoo would be out-of-control sudsy, then you'd wash it off and think nothing of the texture of the hair.  But it was the other way around this time. 

There was no discernible scent either, which is nice if you've got issues with smells, or are tired of having a different scent for every item you use leaving your body with 15 different scents when you walk out of the bathroom. 

When I was done styling my hair, I was thoroughly impressed.  My hair felt cleaner and not weighed down, plus it was less dull - I had a bit of shine to it.  And, because it wasn't weighed down, the curls bounced into place and STAYED in place much longer.  Normally, I'll do my hair and it will go flat in an hour. But the curls were almost obnoxious today - I finally pulled my hair back into a ponytail.

To summarize, I like this product.  I haven't used it long enough to see actual strand thickening per se, but I did notice cleaner, healthier hair, that was lighter, thus giving me more volume and the appearance of thicker hair.  I even have pictures to prove it! Ha!!

Sunshine and Blood Thinners

For those of you who don't know, I have two children who had heart defects.  One we discovered pre-natally and were able to fix the massive hole in his heart when he was three months old.  You can learn more about Jacob at http://www.downrightliving.com - my non-profit organization created because of my experiences with him.

Our second child, Elisha, didn't discover her heart defect until she was in college training to be a Division I thrower for Track and Field. She had a mini-stroke and we began searching for answers, only to discover she had a hole in her heart that needed to be fixed.

As a result, she has been on blood thinners for several months as her heart has been creating scar tissue over the device used to fix the hole.  One of the side effects of blood thinners is that she is hyper sensitive to sunshine and burns easily.  This is not a good thing for a girl who participates in outdoor track, loves to sunbathe, works at an outdoor concert venue during the summer months, or does a variety of other outdoor activities.

After coming home from an afternoon in the sun with a new sunburn, I gave Elisha some suntan lotion to take with her wherever she goes.  It was given to me to test and I figured if anyone could validate it's ability, Elisha could.

She accepted the bottle and went off on a week-long trip with her friend.  When I asked her how it worked, she said it was great!  There were no problems at all and the SPF 30 seemed to be just what she needed to keep from burning during her outings.

Wahoo! This stuff passed the test!

Bleacher Laps: Feeling the Burn

I've been working out pretty hard trying to get back into shape.  I've been playing with the same 4 or 5 lbs for the last week or two, so I decided to mix things up a bit and hit the bleachers for some bleacher laps intermixed with walking around the track while my oldest son worked with his track throwing coach.

I put in 6 bleacher laps and a mile around the track before the 90 degree F weather finally caught up with me and I had to stop. I think I worked out for a good 45 minutes in the sun.

The interesting thing I noticed as I was working out was that my lungs never got to that point where I was gasping for breath.  The majority of my effort was in the legs.  They were burning and cramping something fierce.

Yes, I was doing stairs.  And yes, I stayed hydrated.  An interesting tidbit about being so severely overweight is that underneath all of that fat (at least there is for me) there's a bunch of muscle already.  You NEED that muscle to heft around all this extra weight.

For example, halfway through my bleacher laps, an athletic guy showed up and started running the bleachers.  Good for him!  He's in shape and he's putting forth an effort.  And one day I hope to be running the bleachers just like him.  The difference right now, though, is that I'm traversing the bleachers with 20 lb weights on each leg.  20 lbs of FAT covering the muscle I possess.  With each step, I must lift that extra 20 lbs.

Consider this for a moment.  How far do you think that same man (or a women) would get with a 160 lb person on their back?  Would they be able to run very far before they get winded, or body parts begin to ache?  Could they even do the bleacher laps with someone on their back? That's what it's like for me.  I'm an athletic person with 160 lbs of dead weight hanging off my body. And until I lose that weight, my muscles will constantly be burning and aching, slowly lessening as ounce by ounce, that dead weight is burned into nothingness.

So, this morning, when I began to walk down the stairs and felt my quads screaming in agony, I smiled.  Because for the first time since I began, I was feeling a GOOD pain.  Lactic acid had built up and my body was building more muscle.

I have surpassed the hardest part of the 'torture' phase of my weight loss faster than anticipated.  Now I can begin the burn & build stage:  Burn the fat and build the muscle.  Yes!!!!!

 

How I survived a Weekend Out of Town Without Completely Trashing My Diet

OK, let's get one thing straight right off the bat.  I still gained weight. But, I'm not set back two  week's worth of dieting because of a weekend out of town. Meh.

But when the dust settled, and I weighed myself, I was only up 2.9 lbs, which in my estimation is friggin' FANTASTIC considering I had to eat out THREE MEALS per day, and couldn't work out. So let me tell you about my weekend.

My oldest son had a basketball camp in Montana, and we decided to go watch him play.  The weekend consisted of 6 hours of driving and 6+ games.  When we originally made the reservations for the hotel, we chose a basic hotel without a swimming pool with the understanding that just my husband would go and I'd stay home with the little kids.  At the last minute, Nate expressed interest in having me come support him and I willingly agreed.

So, off we went on a little family trip to watch big brother play basketball.  When we walked into the hotel room, we discovered that not only was there no pool, but there was no mini-fridge or microwave. There was no means of food prep or fresh food storage.  Ugh! Time to get creative.

In the past, the whole trip would be a catastrophe from the moment we got in the car. Snacks would be junk food and pop, consumed on the go until we stopped for fast-food along the way.  This time around, I had a bottle of water and a couple handfuls of trail mix.

Dinner was a grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy's and anther bottle of water. It was the best option considering the circumstances.

We stopped by the grocery store for food when we got to town, but what are your options when there's no fridge or microwave?  So I picked up a case of bottled water and some grapes for myself, juice for the kiddos.

To spare you the boring list of foods I ate, I'll just say that some choices were good and some choices were bad (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have gained weight!).  But, it was progress from past trips, and I managed to consume almost zero soda pop, which is huge for me!

 I have several weekends this summer that will require me being out of town.  And now I have a baseline. The goal will be to make each trip better than the last until it no longer affects my weight and I can make the best possible food choices even when I'm away from home.

So tell me, what do you do to stay on track when you go out of town?  I'd love to know so I can use them for myself next time!

Sunshine In a Bottle: Lemon Essential Oil

I had read an article a few years back that said smelling citrus makes a person less hungry, and makes them happier.  I guess that's why the smell of lemon is so popular.  Ever since I read that article, I've thought of lemon-scented products as sunshine in a bottle.

Recently, I was offered a 4 oz. bottle of pure lemon essential oil for free in exchange for an unbiased review. And, since I'd read the information about how lemon helps with weight loss, I accepted.

The container it arrived in was a high quality amber glass jar with a glass dropper, separately packaged to avoid any breakage.  When I opened the bottle, my mouth watered at the tangy citrus smell.  It was fantastic! I can honestly say that by merely smelling its scent, I was invigorated, and happier.

Not only did I receive the bottle, but I received a couple of follow-up e-mails, one of which included a link to 20 recipes that can be used with their products. Some of the recipes were an acne mask, dishwasher pods, anti-itch cream, lemon facial, anti-aging mask, household cleaner, air freshener, laundry soap powder, insect bite cream, lemon seaweed cellulite wrap, furniture oil, and a several other recipes I hope to try in the future.

I was truly impressed by the quality of the product and their interest in making sure their customers were satisfied with their product.

It is certainly something I would recommend to others.

All this talk of lemons has me hankering for some lemon juice.  Until next time...

Sometimes You Just Have to Pull Your Big Girl Panties and DO IT!

Yeah, it was one of those days.  I started the day FANTASTIC.  But somewhere between picking up messes, teaching a class at church, and work, I lost all motivation.  Oh, and the 5 friggin' brownies I ate for lunch.  Yeah, that was all I had. Brownies.  My body rewarded me by being sick for the rest of the night (serves me right).  I've had issues with chocolate ever since my 4th child was born.  It upsets my stomach.  Does that stop me? Nope.  I'm a woman for Pete's sake!  The only thing I desire more than chocolate is pizza.  And we've already had that conversation. :(

So, when 9:00 pm (my designated work out time) came and went, then 10:00 turned to 10:30pm I realized I had to make a decision.  Was I going to put my big girl panties on and do what had to be done? Or was I gonna wuss out and go to bed instead?

Yep.  I got off my sorry butt and worked out.  Not only that, but I added .2 mph to my speed, another 12 minutes (almost 50% longer than yesterday) to my time, and doubled my distance - 2.7 miles.  Not bad considering I started at 1/2 a mile a couple weeks ago. 

Any bets on what my weight loss will be in the morning??  I'm hoping karma will reward me by ignoring those stupid brownies today. 

4 Things that have changed in my body after losing 12 lbs

It's crazy to think I'm already down 12 lbs since I started this journey.  Already, I'm beginning to see and feel changes in my body.

For instance, in the beginning, I used to be able to walk only 7 MINUTES before my lower back was in such excruciating pain that I had to stop and rest before continuing.  Guess what?  Yesterday, I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill with only minor pain.

Guess what else?  My clothes are beginning to be loose.  Not just 'gee the thighs in my pants are baggy', but 'Holy freak!  If I have to hitch up my pants one more time I'm gonna scream!' sort of baggy.  Shirts that used to be my last resort, are suddenly being considered for the Goodwill pile.

And, wonder of all wonders, I have MORE energy.  You may think, "Hey, that's kind of nice."  But one must remember that I already only get about 5-6 hours of sleep per night.  For the last two nights I've fallen asleep around 1 a.m. (it takes me longer to fall asleep - not the other way around like most people) and I'm wide awake around 5 a.m.  That equates to about 4 hours sleep.  Plus, I'm off all forms of caffeine.  No coffee, no tea, no caffeinated pops, or even chocolate.  Yet, I'm usually able to get through the whole day with only a 30 minute nap around 6 pm, then I'm good for the rest of the night.

The numbness in my hands is going down.  It's not gone yet, but it's also not constant any more.  That, alone is worth the 12 lb weight loss.

All in all, I'm satisfied where things are headed.  I wish I could drop my weight faster, but I'm also aware that it takes a great deal of effort to get the boulder rolling.

Stay with me!  There are many more amazing things to come!

Taking Control of My Life: One Step at a Time

As I've begun to make little and not-so-little changes in my life, I began to realize what a shambles so many other things were in.

For instance: My home.  Ohmygosh!  Seriously.

Now, in my defense, I do have a special needs child who is extremely active and curious.  Therefore, he is constantly getting into things.  And when he acts out, it's by ramping up his destructive mode to "nuclear".  But there are still things I can do.  Hmm.  Sounds a little bit like my weight.

So, in an effort to not only transform my weight, but to transform my life, I decided to begin the arduous task of organizing.

Luckily, my husband started the ball rolling over mother's day weekend.  While I was out of town, he and the kids ripped out the flower bed in front of our house, which had become completely overgrown and replaced it with giant planters, decorative rock, and decorative grass.  It's really quite nice.

Then, the week after that, he (finally!!!) installed a dishwasher and new counter tops.  I nearly cried.

This started me off on a cleaning frenzy including organizing all the crap that's been cluttering our home.

One of my big pet-peeves were the brooms and mops.  I've never really had a "place" for them, so I would constantly be running around the house hollering, "Who moved the broom?" or "Has anyone seen the mop?"

So, when I had the opportunity to get a broom organizer arrived, I grabbed it!  The organizer I got was from Amazon (Click here to check out my broom organizer).  It's the five broom organizer that has hooks attached to it.  And I LOVE it!  It fits both my brooms, my mop and the dustpans, plus there is room for several of my favorite rags (yes, I have favorites - I don't like the kids touching the microfiber clothes and using them to scrub the carpet stains. I'm funny that way). Plus, the hooks are very sturdy.  They could handle much more than just some stinky ol' rags.  They're pretty hard core, actually.

It looks much nicer than the nasty old metal one that came with the house when we bought it then promptly broke.  It's sturdy, the six screws were relatively easy to install, and the extra hooks make the price of the organizer a steal (have you seen the price of hooks lately?!?).

All in all, I'm proud to say that my home is one step closer to being organized - just like my health. No longer will I be running around my house like a lost puppy looking for my cleaning supplies. They have a home now. And that home is rather easy on the eyes, if you ask me.  Yay!

Green Tea: Is It For Me?

I've heard a bajillion health benefits about green tea over the years.  For months, I purchased the

bottles of Green Tea from Costco, and I've taken green tea supplements off and on over the years,

with varied success, depending on who the maker is.

I was given an opportunity to try Midori Spring 

Ceremonial (GOLD) Matcha Green Tea  for free and I 

agreed.  I was interested in seeing if it tasted the same or

differently in actual tea form vs. the stuff I'd had at

 Costco. 


Duh.  Of course it did!  When I received the product, and 

during several correspondences with their company, they 

stressed that this is extremely high quality tea and will 

most likely taste differently than the green tea normally 

 consumed. 


Being as though I've never actually drank green tea, I had

 no idea what to expect.
  

First off, the tin it arrived in was of high quality and was sealed to maintain the freshness of the tea.  

When I opened the can, the tea was ground to a fine powder and this amazing bright green color. 

 I mixed the tea with the hot water, I whisked it to a fine froth, then sipped.

The tea smelled kind of like grass, and tasted bitter at first, then mellowed.  It had a bold flavor, and I

 could see how it would be a ceremonial tea - it's not to be chugged, but sipped.  I wound up needing 

to dilute the taste a little further as the flavor was a bit overwhelming to me.  


After this experience, I decided that I am not a tea drinker, and I will stick with the green tea 

supplements.  However, I do believe that if you are a tea connoisseur, this may be a tea worth giving 

a try for yourself.