Beginner's Workout Challenge

Bathing suit season is right around the corner, for us in Arizona it's already here. So who wants to take the time to start getting their health/weight on track in may?  Here is a great workout plan I found that is amazing for beginner's. No excuses.

Do you think this is doable for you? Comment below if you are going to join me on this! I've lost a lot of weight so far, but I need to tone and shape up!

Dear Bethenny Frankel

Thank you for creating Skinnygirl! Sincerely, Me.

But on a serious note, I was recently given the opportunity to try out this Skinnygirl daily on the go bar. I was so excited to see this product in my sweet heart vox box from influenster as I am a big fan of Skinnygirl Margarita's, however I was a little disappointed when I saw the flavor. Coco-nut... Coco-nut.... I hate coconut... But Ms. Frankel wouldn't steer me wrong would she?! No she definitely wouldn't. I decided to try the bar and I was in love immediately. The coconut flavor was mild enough and mixed with peanut butter it was SO DELICIOUS! I went straight online to http://www.skinnygirldaily.com/ to see how I could order more! I am so in love with these bars, the only down side for me was the price. Being a one income family these are a little pricey but if you think of it as a meal replacement it's not as bad. I would definitely recommend trying these out for anyone who has a sweet tooth but is still trying to stay healthy! They also have Banana Oatmeal Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Multi Grain Pretzel and Greek Yogurt Blueberry crisp flavors! Yum Yum Yum!

Eggs in the oven?!

I have seen this idea posted on pinterest plenty of times, frankly I am not a huge egg fan but I know they are good for you and I needed a convenient and fast on the go breakfast. SO i tried the whole eggs in a cupcake pan in the oven thing, I used some hot peppers we got a the farmers market as well as some turkey sausage mixed into the egg whites!

Preheat oven 350 degrees, Grease Pan (olive oil/pam), poor mixture into cupcake pan (can do just eggs), cook 10-15 minutes- I just sort of poked at them until they felt like they were ready.... store in fridge in plastic bags, grab and go or place on toast/bagel!

Here is the final product:

Place them in ziplock bags and grab and heat for an easy breakfast!


 Simple, fast meals, for a mom on the go!

Rainy Day

I was supposed to start my day off by going to the local co-op to pick up lots of veggies, however the rain stopped that plan! Today has been just a relaxing day inside, I finally decided to bake some spaghetti squash instead of just throwing it in the microwave:

So these are the spaghetti squash after I pulled them out of the oven, baked them for one hour at 375 degrees. Make sure before you bake them you puncture them with a knife in a few places. The smell of them when they came out of the oven was so so so Delicious!

Here is one of the squash cut open, if you have never made spaghetti squash before you will see that the inside has seeds that will need to be scraped out.

Here is after the seeds were all out and I used a fork to string the squash, notice the fact that it has a "noodley" look. I think this is such a fun vegetable!

So one spaghetti squash filled a large Tupperware full of "noodles".

So today I used the squash as a spaghetti base, I topped it with tomato sauce (no sugar added and low sodium), yellow squash, zucchini and a little bit of Parmesan cheese!

A great healthy rainy day meal.

I love Cooking

I love cooking, especially when you put the food together and it just looks "pretty". I love using lots of veggies to give our food a bright and colorful feel. Healthy food can be fun too!

This was dinner the other night:
-Boiled Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast that was shredded
-Anaheim Pepper
-Can of green chillis
-Corn
-Black Beans (no salt added)
-Red Pepper Flakes!

I ate it as is in a bowl, my other half added salsa to his and put it in a corn tortilla. Today I had some of the left over and topped them with avocado! So delicious and good for you!

Yes that is a guitar spatula for those who are questioning, it makes your food taste better... Or so we seem to believe, we use it with our drumstick wooden spoons. My son loves the fun kitchen accessories we have!

Dear Apple Cider Vinegar

Could you taste a little better.... please?

So for a while now I have friends who have been preaching to me the benefits of apple cider vinegar. But taking shots of vinegar... doesn't sound too great to me. However on my journey to a healthier me, a healthier scalp and a journey to lose these remaining pounds I decided to take a shot at it. So today I purchased Heinz All Natural Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (with the 'mother'):

So I am sipping it, in a cup of water. Plugging my nose as I take each drink. I'm sure this will be an acquired taste. But the benefits are astounding:

• Potassium – helps to prevent brittle teeth, hair loss and runny noses.
• Pectin – helps to regulate blood pressure and reduce bad cholesterol.
• Malic Acid – gives ACV the properties of being resistant to viruses, bacteria, and fungus.
• Calcium – supports strong bones and teeth.
• Ash – gives ACV its alkaline property which aids your body in maintaining proper pH levels for a healthy alkaline state.
• Acetic Acid – It appears that this acid slows the digestion of starch which can help to lower the rise in glucose that commonly occurs after meals.

You can also give ACV to your pets! People say adding honey and other things to it help it taste better but I am just going to tough it out for now!

Who else has added Apple Cider Vinegar to their daily diet? Have you seen benefits? Please share them! 

As much as I don't like the number 13, I'll let it slide.

I don't know what it is about that number, but I just don't like it. I don't know when it started but I just know I don't like it. I remember when I went to get my first license plate for my car they handed me one with a 13 on it and I asked them to switch it because I just felt like it would be bad luck, luckily they did. BUT I will not let my dislike of that ugly number ruin this year or my hopes for it so...

HAPPY 2013!

2012:
-Lennon turned one and has been growing and just such an amazing human being to watch.
-I joined two amazing companies and have seen my sales grow, plus I get to talk about two things that I love and use on a daily basis.
-My relationship is stronger than ever and I am proud to see that we have grown.
-I've learned much more about myself and about life.
-I got a promotion and a raise at my 9-5(or 7-3:30) and I have learned so much within this company.

I really know 2013 will bring so many more blessings to my life. One of the things I am focusing on again is getting healthy, I was doing so good I lost 80 pounds and then the holidays came around and I started slacking so I want to get back on track! One thing I would like to tell you about is Greens a daily vitamin supplement you put in your water:

Build your immunity and it helps with weight loss, click on the picture for more details. It's cheaper and better than the leading alternatives! Plus it's something I use daily. 

What are key things that helped you change around your mentatlity in regards to becoming a healthier person? I need any tips I can get to get me back on board!

Thank you to anyone and everyone that checked out my blog in 2012, I know I can be scatterbrained and sometimes lack content but I appreciate every view. I can't wait to see how this grows in 2013!

we're still here

On our way to 2013, I try to explain to people that I still can't believe how much faster time goes by once you have a child. It's way faster than I could ever had expected!

The holidays were good, we got pretty much EVERYTHING except a vacuum but we got some awesome gift cards that will be used to purchase that. We are putting together our 2013 goals, not resolutions (because I feel those are easy to give up on, but goals! What are you hopes/goals for next year? Do you do a resolution ever year?

Now that the holidays are (ALMOST) over I'm going focus on getting back on track with my weight loss. For those of you who don't know I have lost 85 pounds so far since my son was born in September of 2011. I have about 50 more pounds I would like to lose, so I hope I reach that goal this year! Luckily I have some of my favorite protein in stock (ItWorks Chocolate Pro-Fit).

I have had such an amazing years and am loving seeing my page views grow, thank you to each and every one of you who does take your time to read any post by me. If you have a blog I would love to read it too!

Avocado Egg Salad

So I don't like eggs unless they are deviled or in egg salad. Two unhealthy things. I try to eat hard boiled eggs because I know they are good for you but I just can't get into them. Recently I came across a recipe for Avocado Egg Salad on pinterest and I knew I had to try it, I love avocados and it is a way to make egg salad healthier. My one problem with most recipes I found through other blogs is they included Mayo (which is one of the grossest things that you can eat in my opinion) and lots and lots of salt.

So I took multiple recipes from different sites and adapted it to make it my own:

• 4 whole Hard Boiled Eggs
• 1 whole Avocado, cubed for easier smashing 
• 1-2 tablespoons PLAIN Greek yogurt
• Red Pepper to Taste
• Chopped Green onions to taste 

Boil the eggs first then mix in all the other ingredients, if you would like it creamier you can blend in a food processor. This recipe goes good on bread, in a wrap or simple over a bed of lettuce. However you prefer it!
  
Here is a picture of my recipe

Some people add radishes/spinach/onions to their recipe you can really make this your own! If you have your own variation I would love to hear about it! You can also use either fresh lime/lemon or vinegar to help the avocados not brown.
 

777

777 page views! I can't believe we are almost to 1000 already! Thank you to everyone who checks out my blog. Tomorrow I start with a personal trainer to lose the additional 50-60 pounds I would like to making it 130-140 pounds lost all together! I am excited but nervous, I can't wait to see my end results.

The most important meal of the day

We are giving little one more solid's for breakfast now and he's loving most of them. The thing is I used to HATE breakfast (up until like a few days ago), but I know to succesfully lose weight I have to eat it. We do alot of egg whites, veggies, lean proteins (turkey bacon) and fruits.

Little one and I are pretty much all healed up from our sicknesses, he's still got a little bit of runny nose and I've got some congestion but it's 90% better! However the man of the house is now battling a sinus infection. This morning little one and I got up and had a breakfast date.

• The plate on the left is mine (obviously) It includes eggs, organic strawberries and whole wheat English muffin. I do two egg whites and one yolk for my eggs I do not add any salt/butter/milk.

• Picture on the right is little man being excited he had Van's Wheat-Gluten Free Cinnamon French toast and about 4 organic strawberries cut up!

I LOVE the Van's Products, I get mine at Safeway but I'm sure they have them everywhere they are SO flavorful the cinnamon toast tastes EXACTLY like normal cinnamon toast however it is much thinner. Here is a picture of the box (so if you are interested in it you can keep an eye out):

you can also check out the other foods Van's has and check out the nutritional info on their site (click on the picture of the box and it will take you there).

So that was breakfast, after the man of the house got up we all took Strummer (our dog) out and ran around the green belt outside. Arizona weather is finally cooling down, we can definitely handle the 90 degree temps and later we will spend some more time outside and possible go adopt a beta fish!

Smoothie Recipe!

Peach Smoothie Featuring the ItWorks Vanilla Protein Powder! YUM!

These things work wonders

Sorry sometimes I just get blown away by people and their results with the Ultimate Body Applicators "wraps" that the company I work for sells.

As a loyal customer you get 4 wraps for $59!
 I have 2 wraps and am waiting for 8 more to come in too bad people always want them from me :(

I am Back!

So it's been a long hectic week and I am so so so happy tomorrow is Friday! I will be doing a pamper party girls night with Scentsy, It Works and Slumber Party products! I love hosting these events to help my friends (and myself) bring in extra income!

Our local party city opened up a liquidation center and had EVERYTHING marked down to $1, so we got most of the birthday supplies for both my mom's 50th and my son's 1st for a GREAT deal. Plus I'm making a lot of the supplies on my own thanks to pinterest!

On a healthier note, I am attempting to lose 10 more pounds by our San Diego trip next month, plus I have 40 more pounds to go to hit my goal weight and a total of 120 pounds lost! 80 pounds so far, I hit a plateau and got super discouraged but sought the guidance of a friend of mine who was in the same position as I was after she had her daughter and she steered me in the right direction. I am now eating 5 small meals a day to equal about 1100-1200 calories. I am using PROFIT (https://wrapyourwaytothin.myitworks.com/Shop/Product/933) protein shakes to supplement one meal a day and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I mix mine with either almond milk or water and they are delicious both ways. I bought a blender bottle:

 on Amazon, they run about $5-$10 depending on the size you get but they are AMAZING perfect for your protein shakes, or morning smoothie/juice blends.

My friend also recommended I try the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown. Now I am a huge fan of The Biggest Loser and of Jillian Michaels who dealt with her own weight loss struggles, however I also know she is a fast past trainer and well I'm not in the best shape. However when I saw Yoga I was thinking this will be a great routine to ease into.... It's a great routine but it's not your typical yoga, it's a fast paced repetition based yoga. You will sweat and you will get your heart rate going, you will also feel the burn the next day. If you are new to Yoga or working out in general, they do have a beginner model showing you modified versions of the poses. It's a great workout though, it has 2 different levels and I would definitely recommend it! 

Ultimate Body Applicators

You can tell what arm she "wrapped", these are real results. You can get these results on any part of your body. Results like this make me so happy to be apart of this company. Of course I still believe you need to change your lifestyle to be healthy, but for those of us who lose like 80lbs in less than a year, we sometimes have extra skin hanging in places we don't like. These wraps helped me tone my stomach, they've helped me reduce my stretch marks and they have help my arms shrink.

But when I saw that picture above I was even more amazed, it's just such a drastic but real difference. Whenever I see that underarm flap, I always think about that movie with cameron diaz where she compares her underarm flab to the american flag waving. Who wants a waving flag under their arm? Not me, that's why I have to continue to work on it, as well as when my order of wraps get in I will be doing another session on them! My goal is to lose 20 more pounds by my son's birthday which is September 10th.

Who wants to lose weight with me? We can keep each other motivated? It's always easier with a buddy!

IF you are interested in the wraps please contact me at wrapyourselfthin@live.com or you can check them out by clicking on the picture above.

Mocha Protein Shake

I CAN'T wait for my chocolate profit to get in to make this recipe, it sounds so DELICIOUS! I'm going to use almond milk in my recipe! YUM!

Click on the picture to get more info on the profit protein powder!

Sunday

Where did the weekend go? We had a family day yesterday, Lennon got to spend time with his grandpa and his great uncles. We relaxed most of the day, today is another relaxing day. Cleaning, organizing, planning for the week ahead. I'm trying to get our household on more of a routine/schedule. It's hard because I'm not the one who is here taking care of the house during the week but I figure it can't hurt us to try.

The other two are napping right now and so I figured I would take a minute to let you know simple ways you can be active today, these can even incorporate your family/friends:

 

I think we are hopefully going to try to go swimming today and get some vitamin D in our systems! I hope everyone is having a relaxing happy Sunday!

Happy Humpday

To those who aren't into Thursday yet! Sorry for the lack of posts and updates this week as been hectic, work has been busy, my work at home job with It Works has been super busy and my son is getting in two new teeth! So needless to say it's been a little chaotic!

BUT it's almost the weekend! My dad is coming to town to visit us and hopefully we can get some of my son's pictures done to send with his invitations! I've found a couple gluten free bakeries to do his smash cake, that's really the only thing I'll be spending money on, everything else will be D.I.Y!

What did you do for your kid's first birthday? Low Key or All Out?


On that note I wanted to leave you with some amazing results one of my customer's experienced recently, only three weeks of using our products and her body has changed dramatically:

Check the products out see what interests you, ask questions. These products work I know from first hand experience, I use It's Vital daily, I use the defining gel about every other day and I try to use the ultimate body applicators "wraps" if I have them on hand.

Happy Sunday

I just wanted to share this picture, this lady recently lost a lot of weight and couldn't figure out how to tone up her loose skin. She decided to try one of our Ultimate body applicators "wraps" and these are her results after just ONE wrap:

A box of wraps contains FOUR wraps just imagine the results she will see. I saw results very similar to this on my own and it just amazes me when I see other people who have had great results as well! If you have any questions about this product please don't hesitate to ask me!

You can check out more details about the Ultimate Body Applicators here:
https://wrapyourwaytothin.myitworks.com/Home

Pizza and teeth cleanings

Today was not so good healthy eating wise... my mom watched our son and then brought over:

I definitely indulged in two pieces and they were delicious, but it's also a good thing i have my fat fighters:

 

Powered by NeOpuntia™ (a naturally based ingredient made from the "prickly pear" cactus) and the It Works! proprietary blend, Advanced Formula Fat Fighter delivers dynamic, clinically tested results for both men and women.

• Blocks some of the fat & carbs from meals
• Helps balance blood glucose level and reduce cravings
• Designed to be taken up to an hour after meals
• Cactus-based formula
• Does not contain shellfish

On another note, I also did one of my least favorite things today after work... I went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning, mind you the lady is super gentle because she knows i'm a big baby but it still hurts. I have braces AGAIN because when i was 18 and got them off I didn't learn to wear my retainer and I'm vain and so I need them again, but part of the agreement is to keep up with your regular cleanings. I want to cry whenever I get their phone calls, my next one isn't until december though.

I don't know how I am ever going to convince my son that going to the dentist is a good thing, if he ever sees me go he is going to be terrified.