The 'calm' before the 'storm'

So, I know I said I would start working out on Monday mornings {along with some other times} but I haven't gotten my DVD yet and I already took a shower. But I did do 60 sit-ups; 20 normal, 20 left sided oblique, and 20 right sided oblique, so that is something. I know my package should be here by tomorrow. I have also heard rumours that FitBit One's are being shipped now and I am SO excited, because that means I should be getting mine before too long! To be honest, I loved being able to eat whatever I wanted on Saturday, but I also ate a lot more of things than I should have because I knew I wasn't going to get another chance for like 10 days, I think my body is ready to get onto a more consistent food plan again, though I must admit I will probably be looking forward to my next splurge day within a few days here. I was informed that results are best if waiting at least 5 days between each Ignite and so I am going to continue with my "eat days" and I must get better at following the program more closely until Friday. I have missed real food and so I have been splurging a little more than I should be.  I probably won't be listing my meals every day like I had been before, not unless there is something particularly exciting that happens. But this will be a fun journey; got my Jillian Michaels DVD today...so yeah. 

Waiting to begin again

Today and tomorrow I eat with discretion and use all of my Ignite pills, and beverages, etc. tomorrow I will take a new set of "before images". I did them for last week but in a bikini and then became a little self-conscious to actually post them...but I will bite the bullet and post at least the side views where you can see the most change {fun side comment, it was freezing cold}.

Before 165 lbs.                    After 156 lbs.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {9:30am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein  {10:05am}
            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack - 2 hard boil eggs and low fat string cheese  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {12:00pm}
√   Lunch of 2 bratwurst with ketchup (Sprinkle CHEAT) {1:30pm}

√   Snack- I kind of made a bad decision and ate some of my no sugar added vanilla frozen yogurt, but it was good and I know that I can work past it...
√   Dinner meal consisting of  2 bratwurst and ketchup (Sprinkle CHEAT) {6:30pm}
√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with decaf tea {9:00pm}

day 9 ~ splurge

So, today is my splurge day and I have it all planned out. I weighed in this morning and I have lost a total of 9 lbs since I started, which is exciting, but this next 8 day cycle I definitely need to lose at least the same amount if not more {they say you usually don't lose as much weight the second time around, just inches because you are muscling up as well}. Adding a more consistent workout, which for me will consist of a Jillian Michaels beginners dvd, the Wii Fit Plus, and Just Dance 2 & 3. I only really workout when my husband isn't at home, so that means Monday and Wednesday morning, Thursday night, and depending on his work schedule either Saturday and or Sunday evenings. Adding this to the 8 days Ignite shall truly help.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {9:10am}
√  Breakfast - bratwurst with ketchup and fruit salad   {10:30am}             
√   Mid morning snack - couple of small cookies  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {11:15am}
        father-in-law sent us Mrs. Fields cookies for our first Halloween and I had to try a bit of each
√   Lunch - Papa Murphy's Delight pepperoni pizza (Sprinkle CHEAT) {12:45pm}
√   Mid-afternoon snack- apple, pear, cranberry cobbler filling with lite frozen vanilla yogurt     
        (Sprinkle CHEAT) {2:00pm} 
√   Dinner - slow cooker orange chicken and steamed broccoli {6:45pm}     
        My husband and I didn't really care for the orange chicken; not a recipe I plan to repeat 
√  Mint tea with 2 Flush {9:30pm}     

         Here is the recipe for the orange chicken I made. I made a few alteration, in that I did not bread the chicken and I did not serve it over rice.

I have been nominated for the Liebster Award!! 

The Liebster Award is an award that blogger's give out to other blogger's 

who have less than 200 followers, but should have more.

Thank you so much Stacy from Momma Loving Life.  

The rules, should you be nominated:
1. If you were nominated, post 11 things about yourselves
2. Then answer the 11 questions the person who nominated you created
3. Create 11 more questions to ask the bloggers you decided to nominate
4. Choose 11 bloggers to nominate with less than 200 followers
5. Make sure and let these people know you nominated them! No tag backs, so don't nominate someone who nominated you. 

11 things about myself:

1.   I am in the first year of my marriage
2.   I have a bachelors degree from George Fox University
3.   I love animals
4.   I LOVE children
5.   I was born in Oregon, lived most of my life in Washington, and now live in Oregon again
6.   I love to learn
7.   I am hooked on Pinterest.
8.   I love the arts
9.   I do enjoy a good video game
10. I love to write, particularly creative writings
11. I am a Mary Kay Consultant and a Xyngular Distributor 

11 Questions Asked of Me:

1. If you could have any job what would it be?
        I would be a mother
2. What is your favorite meal?
        I love food, particularly mushrooms, macaroni and cheese, and salmon
3. Do you play any sports?
        I played basketball in high school and I love sports, I'm just not that great at them
4. If you could donate money to a charity, who would you donate it too?
        If I had a large sum of money I would donate to several places to spread out the wealth from the poor, those with special needs, feeding people, clean water, breast cancer, missions etc.
5. What is your favorite holiday?
        I love Christmas and Thanksgiving
6. Do you have any goals you want to meet in the next year?
        I want to hit 125lbs. and exercise regularly and pay back people I owe
7. Do you have any fears?
        Loads: the dark, deep water, failure, heights, the stage, etc.
8. What is a favorite memory from your childhood?
        I have many family memories of biking trips and camping trips, I love those.
9. What is your favorite drink?
        I love milk, Long Islands, and smoothies
10. What is your weakness?
        Plenty, IDK where to start, haha.
11. What is a typical weekend like for you?
        Watching TV with my husband, a little housework, some blogging, some Facebook time, lots of Pinterest, sleep, and sometimes some shopping

My 11 questions for nominees:

1.    Where is one place you would love to travel?

2.    Why did you decide to start a blog?

3.    Which is your favourite season?

4.    What's one thing you would buy if you had loads of money?

5.    What is one of the craziest things you have done?

6.    What makes you smile when you don't feel like it?

7.    What do you continue to do because you love it, not because you're good at it?

8.    How many states have you been to?

9.    What is your favourite color(s)?

10.  Which website/blog do you spend the most time on?

11.  What do you dream of?

My nominees are:

1. Nikki at Aussie in the USA
2. Danielle at Blissful and Domestic
3. Life as We Know It
4. Aimee at Ramblings of an Aspiring Educator
5. Brooke at The Pursuit of Healthy
6. Brandi at Thin After Twins
7. Whitney at jcway1182
8. Emilie at Inch by Inch and Step by Step
9. Jules at So Totally Life
10. Steph at A Journey Back to Skinny
11. 50 Shades of Skinny
    

Ignite ~day eight~

"By day 8 your weight loss is typically starting to slow down a bit but the inches lost will
continue to be impressive! We  recommend that once you complete day 8, take one day off and then start the program over again with days 1 & 2. Do this to lock in and solidify the weight you have already lost and to continue to create the habits that will keep you at your ideal weight for life. Plus, once you have your body on a roll you want to keep it up! The second 8 days won’t typically see as many pounds lost, but the inches will usually be even greater than the first 8 days! When your lean muscle goes up and your body fat goes down, you will be amazed at your transformation! "

I definitely plan to add more consistent workouts into my routine now that the first 8 days are over. I have invested in a Jilliam Michaels DVD and I have the Wii for a well rounded cardio, yoga, and weight training exercises. I plan to focus on my core the most as well as arms and thighs.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {9:10am}
        8th day weigh in, I gained 1.1lbs since yesterday....something needs to change
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein   {9:45am}            
        2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack - 4-6 oz tuna  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {10:50am}
√   Lunch - protein shake with broccoli (Sprinkle CHEAT) {1:20pm}
        two Accelerate and 2nd Xyng
√   Mid-afternoon snack- 2 hardboiled eggs with pepper (Sprinkle CHEAT) {6:45pm} 
√   Dinner shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein {9:15pm}              
         two Flush

Tomorrow I get a "splurge day" meaning, I don't hog crazy but I get to eat things that I missed and fill myself until satiated. I am excited about my meal plan. I will then take Sunday and Monday off and eat as if I were on an "eat day" on the diet then I start my 8 days of Ignite all over again on Tuesday. Fun, fun!

Ignite ~day seven~

I weighed in this morning and I have lost 7.5 pounds. Which is exciting, though not nearly the 14 lbs that my mother lost. But we are not done yet, I still have tomorrow to finish off this first 8 day Ignite cycle. Tomorrow I will explain a little bit about what happens after the first 8 days and how to proceed to the next 8 days.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {8:45am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein  {9:30am}
            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack - 2 hard boil eggs and low fat string cheese  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {11:15am}
√   Lunch high protein and fiber meal consisting of  spinach, chicken breast, black beans, salsa, and fruit salad. Circa 500 calories (Sprinkle CHEAT) {1:30pm}
             take two Accelerate
√   Dinner meal consisting of a pickle and 2 turkey burger patties (Sprinkle CHEAT) {6:30pm}
√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with smooth move tea {9:00pm}

Hardboiled eggs, a new way

Okay, so this Pinterest post claimed that the best way to hard-boil eggs was to actually stick them in a muffin pan and then cook them at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes. I had to try this, so, I did it the other night. I ate the first two eggs from my victory last night and I must say that in the whole-and-whole it did work and it was much less of a hassle than standing there and watching boiling eggs. But, I did over cook them and I only put them in for 26 minutes. Next time I want to try it again and just cook them for 20 minutes and see what happens then. Otherwise, I really did like this method of 'hard boiling' in comparison to the more traditional way.

Ignite ~day six~

I realized I haven't really talked about my weigh-ins much. So here is a brief review. 
After the first two days of detox I had lost 6 lbs and I was really excited. When I 
weighed in on the 4th day (the day after my first eat day) I had gained back 4 of those 
pounds and I was super frustrated, even though I knew that it was likely that I would 
gain weight because my body thought it wouldn't be seeing carbs and such ever  again. 
On the 5th day, I had lost 4.5 lbs from my starting weight...knowing that my mom had 
lost a total of 14 lbs at the end of the 8 day program and I can only hope that I follow in 
her footsteps and also lose the 14 lbs {the average is between 8-14 lbs}. Today I weighed
in at 5lbs lost {so there it is the long and short of it}. My results have been a little on the 
low side and we are not entirely sure why; everybody is a little different, so it could be that
I just have to drink a little more water, or stay away from a certain type of food on my 
'eat days', there are some options which I have not been doing that I will be starting, such as
I ate lettuce with my protein lunch today and on Friday morning I am going to eat some 
oatmeal with my morning smoothie. Hopefully adding these options will help my body in 
the weight loss process. But nonetheless, I have still lost 5 lbs in 6 days!

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {8:00am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein   {9:00 am}
            2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack - 3.5 ounces of water canned chicken  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {10:45am}
√   Lunch - 4-6oz tuna wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves (Sprinkle CHEAT) {1:20pm}
             two Accelerate
√   Mid-afternoon snack- 2 hardboiled eggs with pepper (Sprinkle CHEAT) {4:45pm}
√   Dinner shake- 8 oz hot water with one scoop protein {8:00pm} 
             two Flush

Ignite ~day five~

By now you should be leaner, healthier, and on your way to buy a new swimsuit to show off your lean, toned body! 3 more days and you’ve finished round one of the XYNGULAR IGNITE FAT BURNING SYSTEM! 

Reality Check:
Many of us have been taught the wrong things about food our entire lives. Dinner should be the smallest meal of the day and contain mostly protein and vegetables. However, many families make dinnertime a social time and use it as an excuse to be the biggest meal of the day. If you are going to bed in a few hours and your body does not need the energy, the excess calories are going to be stored as fat! If you get in the habit of eating a light dinner and sticking to mainly protein you will notice your weight and appearance changing drastically and find it much easier to maintain your ideal weight.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {8:30am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein {I made it warm again, yum}  {9:15am}
            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack - 3.5 oz chicken and low fat string cheese  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {11:00am}
√   Lunch high protein and fiber meal consisting of  spinach, chicken breast, black beans, salsa, fruit salad, and olives. Circa 500 calories (Sprinkle CHEAT) {1:30pm}
             take two Accelerate and a second Xyng
√   Dinner high protein meal consisting of romaine, tuna, green peas, and balsamic (Sprinkle CHEAT) {6:30pm}
√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with smooth move tea {9:00pm}

Ignite ~day four~

They said by day 4 I should start feeling healthier as my body flushed out all the free radicals and so on; and it is true, yesterday was a great day! I am half way through the 8 day program andtoday was the hardest day yet. I realized at about 7pm that I had forgotten my axion tablets, so that may have been part of it; but I also work at a college cafeteria and I am around food and the smell of food for 8 hours {yipes!}. I checked my measurements today and I was down about an inch in my waist. Found out part way through the day that I should have weighed myself...oops...I will definitely remember that tomorrow morning.

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {6:30am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein   {7:40 am}
            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack- 4-5 oz turkey  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {10:45am}
√   Lunch shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein {1:00pm}
             two Accelerate

√   Mid-afternoon snack- 4-5 oz turkey  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {4:30pm}
√   Dinner shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein {8:15pm}           I made mine hot today added a little cinnamon and nutmeg then took my 2 flush pills with it instead of tea, it wasn't too bad, would have been better with unsweetened almond milk but I didn't have any.

Ignite ~day three~

I weighed in this morning and I have already lost 6 lbs. It is important to remember that your body's weight can fluctuate up to 2 lbs. within a day so it is best to weight yourself at the same time of the day! Day two is the same as day one, so here I go again!

Even though it is tempting to skimp on the carbohydrates and stick with protein only for lunch you will be hurting yourself in the long run. In order for the body to continue to lose it has to feel comfortable and not feel threatened. On eating days the calories are higher which signals to the body that it is O.K. to give up the stored fat for energy. If you don’t eat your carbohydrates and you keep your calories low, you will slow your metabolism down and put your body into a protective mode. 

Eat even if you don’t feel like it!!!!

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {9:00am}
√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein and two capfuls juice  {9:45 am}
            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 
√   Mid morning snack- 4-6 oz turkey and low fat string cheese  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {11:30am}
√   Lunch high protein and fiber meal consisting of wheat bread, turkey burger patty, kosher dill pickle, and fresh    steamed green beans and a serving of peanut butter {YUM} Circa 500 calories (Sprinkle CHEAT) {3:00pm}
             two Accelerate
√   Dinner high protein meal consisting of turkey burger patty, kosher dill pickle, and fresh steamed green beans (Sprinkle CHEAT) {6:30pm}
√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with decaf tea {8:00pm}

W H A T ’ S   T H E   S I G N I F I C A N C E  O F   E A T I N G   D A Y S ?
On eating days you get to add real food back into your program with a sensible lunch containing 500-600 calories. Choose a healthy meal that is low in fat and sugar. The goal of the XYNGULAR IGNITE FAT BURNING SYSTEM is to get your body burning the stored fat on your body, not the fat you are eating in your diet. Between lunch and dinner, if you feel hungry grab a pure protein snack. For dinner, stick with protein only, like chicken, turkey, fish, etc. Eating protein for dinner is a great way to stay lean for life. Whatever carbohydrates are in your system when you go to bed will more than likely be stored as fat. Protein, however, is very difficult for the body to convert to fat. The body will use protein to repair and regenerate muscle tissue and other cells in your body, leaving nothing to store as fat. A general rule is to eat your carbohydrates early in the day so your body has the chance to use them for energy, and stick to protein later in the day and evening.

Ignite ~day two~

today was actually a bit tougher than yesterday, didn't really expect it. I guess I would say that I felt like a water balloon. Drinking loads of liquids {way more than I usually drink} and eating nothing but turkey deli meat. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I get to eat an actual meal!! It was horrible watching television with my husband today, I felt as if I saw a million commercials for food at different restaurants and all I really wanted was a good hamburger but that day will come again, in fact, I will likely be having a turkey burger tomorrow if all goes as planned.   :)

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {9:00am}

√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein and two capfuls juice  {10:00 am}

            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets 

√   Mid morning snack- 4-6 oz meat  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {12:15pm}

√   Lunch Shake - 8 oz water and one scoop protein {2:30pm}

          two Accelerate

√   Afternoon snack - 4-6 oz meat (Sprinkle CHEAT) {4:15pm}

√   Dinner Shake - 8 oz water and one scoop protein {6:30pm}

√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with decaf tea {9:00pm}

Ignite ~day one~

My main focus this week is to follow the program closely so I don't have to start over {that's right, if I mess up I have to start over!}  But it's worth doing right! I will feel great, lose weight, and super charge my metabolism and immune system.  

√  Take 1 Xyng (pill) first thing in the am {8:30am}

√   Breakfast shake- 8 oz water with one scoop protein and two capfuls juice  {9:30am}

            two capfuls of juice with water and 2 Axion tablets {I need to eat breakfast earlier} 

√   Mid morning snack- 4-6 oz meat  (Sprinkle CHEAT) {10:45am}

√   Lunch Shake - 8 oz water and one scoop protein {1:45pm}

          and I forgot my two Accelerate at home so I skipped them today and I don't have to start over because these just help curb my appetite. 

√   Afternoon snack - 4-6 oz meat (Sprinkle CHEAT) {4:45pm}

√   Dinner Shake - 8 oz water and one scoop protein {7:30pm}

√   Before bed - take 2 Flush with smooth move tea {9:00pm}

I have to remember to drink lots of water so I will detox my body and 

it helps keep me fuller and keeps the products working in my system. I drank 72 ounces today and the goal is to drink at least half of your weight in ounces so I came a little short.

Don't be hungry and remember you can have a 'naked lean' which is a scoop of Lean Protein before bed if you're hungry which will absorb quickly and help your body to burn fat and calories all night long.

"I can do anything for 8 days!"

If I start with a Lean shake in the morning I won't crave the junk.  If I start out with junk, or nothing my body will crave ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.

Xyngular Ignite

Just a quick image upload to share what I am going to be starting in the next couple of days when my package comes {hopefully today like the tracker says!}. Learn more at my website.

Diet Choices

Hello friends! Luckily enough for you, I had to stay home from work today with a sore throat, headache, and icky congestion; needless to add {but I will anyways} I did not workout today! but so far I have been good and stayed under my calorie goal so far. I did tell the hubby to return from class with something cool and icy to drink; hopefully that will not be a milkshake and will at least have a decent amount of nutritional value {like frozen lemonade or a smoothie; brilliant idea, if you have a blender, make Crystal Light Lemonade and then blend with ice! Sadly, I don't have a blender.}.

To get to the main purpose of my post today, I must divert my attention. I was chatting on Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp on Facebook {again, I know} about how I missed eating "real food"; now I know that salads and straight proteins are real food, but I did miss things like pasta, chocolate, potatoes, etc.One of the gals there suggested I try this calorie calculator instead of automatically taking the 1200 calories from MFP to see what I really needed. I put in my information and this is what happened:

It was a great idea, and let me explain that to you a little bit. The BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the approximate amount {remember, this is not an exact science and everyone is a little bit different} of calories you would burn if you did pretty much nothing all day {like I did today, being sick and all} and you would neither gain nor lose weight. The TDEE {and I don't know what that stands for, sorry} is fairly self explanatory in that it says, "daily calories to maintain weight" in other words, if you do not want to gain or lose weight it that many calories a day. Now my goal, which was chosen in step 6, was to lose weight at 20% this was on the higher end of percentage options and I figured it was a good {dare I say safe} percentage to work for personally. Now my goal is to never go over my TDEE and ideally not to go over my "goal" though I truly shoot for my BMR and I of course workout and do not eat more calories to compensate for what I burned in exercising {like MFP provides for you to be able to do}.

In short, following a model similar to this approach will make it easier to make wise food choices once you reach your goal weight and your less likely to make your body think that you are starving yourself and it will not be as eager to hang on to the calories you eat and store it as fat.

Nexercise / Earndit

Okay, so I am loving the Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp group on Facebook that I joined a few weeks ago. A gal there shared a new app for Android and Apple that she had discovered which actually rewards you for working out, called Nexercise; I figured I couldn't wait to get my hands on this! Of course, as one comment after another led down from the post, another website, Earndit, was listed that rewarded you for your workouts and it connected to your Fitbit, so of course, I signed up there too {even though I don't have my Fitbit yet}. Feeling very motivated after spending nearly an hour on Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp last night in bed I got up this morning and went for a brisk walk while running the Nexercise app; at the end I got to see several things:

I was excited, as you can see, just by doing my walk {that I was already going to be doing anyways} I earned 226 points, and then there were other points I earned today for logging in, adding friends, etc. It shows my my average speed and the distance I went and the steps I took. The only thing it didn't track that I wish it did, was a calories burnt estimate {though there are plenty of ways to look that up on the side if you have but 60 seconds}.

All in all, I am very pleased and am looking to add as many friends as I can who are willing to encourage a little friendly competition.

Crazy Life

Crazy life, you would think I would have more time to spend blogging, I have no social life outside of work and all I do at home is housework, watch tv, sleep, exercise, and use the computer. Nonetheless, I am very slow in posting; sorry guys! So why not a workout update. I have been consistant in using My Fitness Pal online again {this is a calorie counting website with a community-type aspect; it works great and you can track the food you eat and the exercises you complete here is my profile}. I have a lot more friends now because I have tried to become more active in a Facebook group that I recently joined launched by the blogger Mama Laughlin called Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp. I love this group, a bunch of gals have the opportunity to chat about exercise, portion control, recipes, books, life, and husbands; so it is very well-rounded for all women. I love the gals there so far and it is where I learned more about the Fitbit, a very techy {but simple to use} device that tracks your steps, the distance you have walked, the stories you have walked {when climbing stairs or hills}, and even tracks your sleep patterns. And the best thing? It automatically syncs with your fitbit profile and if you want it to you can also set it up to sync with your MFP (My Fitness Pal). I ordered the newest version which is coming out this month so I haven't received it yet, but I am SO excited!! I will definitely do a more in-depth product review on it once I have gotten a chance to use it a few times and hold it in my own two hands! I have already lost 1.5 lbs. since I started watching my diet and trying to exercise more, which was a little over a week ago; seeing as I haven't been taking the exercising too seriously, this is pretty good!

Until next time!