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Archive for May, 2015

Health Quest – I Lost Another 2lbs!

Health Quest – I Lost Another 2lbs!

16lbsDownHi all!  Well, it’s a few weeks past our Whole30 challenge and I thought I’d give an update to you all on how things are going.  Just because we finished our challenge, we have not gone right back to our old habits.   Instead, we have adopted a lot of the ideas and techniques we learned in our challenge.  I can honestly say I’m feeling amazing!  I’ve not had any bread (which, you all know I LOVE) for the last 9 weeks, nor have a I brewed a cup of coffee.  I have lost a total of 16lbs since we began our challenge and I don’t feel starved, hungry, or deprived, in fact, I feel totally satisfied.  I have enjoyed some yummy treats in the past few weeks too – Mother’s Day we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant and I enjoyed a few tortillas, chips and salsa, and cheese!!  It was heavenly, but I really noticed that a little bit went a long way.  We also had company over last week and since you all know my obsession with brownies – I did find a flourless brownie recipe that tasted amazing – you must check it out here from the blog, Running With Spoons: Flourless Double Chocolate Brownies  I’m hoping to lose another 14lbs in the coming weeks and months – that is my goal, but for now I’m loving how I feel!

For the  most part, we are still eating Whole30 – at least 80% of the time.  I’ve allowed a little more flexibility for the kids while trying to keep my diet stricter.  We are still very limited with our sugar intake, but a few snacks have made their way back into our rotation.  When the kids have special occasions at school or birthday partiesFitBit to attend, they can now partake, we just don’t eat sugary treats at home on a consistent basis anymore.  A great friend of mine gave me a spiralizer and I love it!  It makes preparing veggies super quick and easy!

My husband, and I, have started working out 4-5 times a week doing T25 and are loving that early morning time together before the kids get up!  I now own a FitBit and LOVE it!  I challenge myself daily as I try to get at least 10,000 steps in and today am proud because I’ve already put up 15,000 thanks to the lovely weather and 3 mile run I was able to do with my youngest son!  If you don’t own a FitBit or any sort of exercise/activity tracker, consider one, they are fun and a great way to stay motivated!

I know another huge part of my health success is due to the supplement that I take on a daily basis.  If you are looking for a high quality supplement, then make sure you find one that activates Nrf2 and is reducing your oxidative stress levels, while repairing your body on the cellular level.  Ok, so who has heard of Nrf2?  I promise I’m not crazy and that if you have not heard of Nrf2 yet, you will soon!  It’s something that you absolutely need to look into and do something about.  I have written an ebook all about Nrf2 that you can download if you want to axioknow more – plus I plan to write a post about it soon!  Download my Nrf2 eBook NOW.

Now back to what I was saying about supplements.  I take Protandim (I love the science behind  Protandim and the personal results that I’ve had with it, that I’m also an Independent Distributor for all the LifeVantage Products), and I love knowing that I’m not only reducing my oxidative stress by 40%, but that I’m also repairing all the years of cellular damage that I’ve caused my body with all the over-the-counter pain medications I used to take for the migraines and headaches I would get every day.  Protandim has helped me sleep better and preform better with all of my athletic workouts I do.  Today I went for a 3 mile run and I love how Protandim helps me recover quickly orthodicsand reduces overall inflammation in my body.  I’ve combined my healthy eating with AXIO, an all natural energy drink, and love the guilt-free energy boost!  I’ve even replaced my morning coffee with AXIO and love it!  I know it’s not the same as that warm cup of coffee first thing in the morning, but after all this work I’ve done, I love knowing that AXIO is actually helping me in the long run – there are studies to show it helps with cognitive brain function and it really does give me a mental clarity for the day, as well as an energy boost.  The best part of AXIO is there is never a caffeine/sugar crash!

Another great part of my overall health success is the continued support from my favorite chiropractor – Dr. Carrie Wolf from Wolf Chiropractic.  If you live near Parker, Colorado, she is AWESOME!  Carrie has not only helped align my spine from recurrent adjustments, but she has continued to do acupuncture treatments on my leg muscles and feet and along with using RockTape to hold my feet in place, has really helped make the nerve pain in my feet to disappear.  Carrie has helped me find custom orthodics that we are working hard to make perfect for my stubborn mechanical feet and today after my 3 mile run I finally feel like we are getting my orthodics right!  The doc who is making my orthodics is wonderful and between him and Dr. Wolf, they have FinishedRunnot given up on me and have continued to refine and fix my orthodics.  My orthodics look hilarious actually!  They are nothing alike – having a normal foot and a mechanical foot make for some crazy differences, but I love that my docs won’t give up on me!  Today I was able to run with minor nerve pain and my toes did NOT fall asleep!  This is awesome!

I’m planning to stick with my new routine and continue on with the awesome success I’m having!  If you have any questions on anything I’ve learned in my journey to better health, please let me know!  I’d love to know what you have tried and what has worked for you as well!

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May 21, 20150 commentsRead More
How Being a Mom Can Change the World!

How Being a Mom Can Change the World!

BeingAMomCanChangeWorldI was at my Community Bible Study group yesterday and was hit by amazing thought as I was listening to the lecture –  God uses every type of mom to do amazing things – you may not be a strong woman (although I’m sure you are stronger than you think you are), but God uses you regardless of how strong you or how strong you think you are.  I actually do consider myself to be a pretty strong woman – do you?  I like to think that I can handle most things, both physically, and emotionally – but ya know what?  I was struck by the fact that it’s not just me handling those things – God is right there along with me, carrying me through stuff that I would tend to think I’m doing all on my own.  I know now that I don’t want to be just a strong woman, but instead a weak woman in the hands of a strong God!

This carries over into everyday life.  Are you ever just fed up?  Tired?  Annoyed at your kids for just being kids?  Tired of the everyday chores of cooking, cleaning, making lunches, giving baths, changing countless diapers and then knowing that you have to do it all over again tomorrow?  I know I get stuck in that rut a lot – everyday seems to blend with the next and my eyes are so heavy I can barely remember what time to pick my kids up from school (and yes, you would think after 4 years of taking kids to school everyday that I would finally have the times down to a science, but not this mom – blame it on having 3 kids with totally different schedules)!

I’ve been studying Romans lately, and I’ve learned so much about Paul.  He lived every moment of everyday as an act of worship – down to the smallest details.  It’s a great way to live life – every moment of your “mom” day can be an act of worship to God and it all comes down to your attitude and perception.  You can worship God in the way you treat your kids, the way you talk to your kids (especially when they are driving you crazy), by not only teaching a Sunday School class at your local church – but how you teach that class, by how you react to everyday situations – for example: when your child spills a cup of milk or if they drop a glass and it breaks.  All of these situations and examples are acts of worship and just changing your perspective on these can totally change your attitude and the attitude of your children.  See what I mean – you, MOM, can change the world!

My prayer today is to laugh.  My life verse is Proverbs 31:25 “She is clothed in strength and dignity, she can LAUGH at the days to come!”  I love this verse for so many reasons, but mostly because when I am in a stressful situation I have the hardest time controlling my attitude.  A perfect example is right after we get home from school in the afternoons.  All 3 of my kids are coming at me at the same time for different reasons – Rylyn wants a snack and will ask for it at least 10 times in the next minute, Makenzie wants to color and tell me all about her day at school (even though I picked her up from half day kindergarten a couple hours earlier) and then Coen will drop his backpack and shoes in the middle of the kitchen floor and start asking for a snack while he is also trying to tell me all about his day and wanting me to sign his planner.  It’s a chaotic mess!  Everyday it stresses me out – and don’t forget, during this entire 2 minutes or so Rylyn is still asking over and over and over for snack and escalating in noise level.  Imagine trying to make a snack, field all those questions while walking over shoes and backpacks?  It may not bother all of you, but for me, that TOTALLY stresses me out, and the really silly part is that once the few minutes pass and we get stuff put away and snacks made, then all is fine and dandy.  But, if I let my attitude get the best of me, there is yelling and more stress and it all goes bad.  I get like a split second decision to decide on how the rest of our afternoon will go.  Will I worship God and be patient and kind and not say something that will hurt my kids?  Or will I explode? It’s our choice.  Worship or not?  

Hard choice huh?  I don’t want it to be a hard choice anymore.  Pray, ask God for help!  He will.  I promise!

BeingAMomCanChangeWorld

 

 

 

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May 8, 20150 commentsRead More
Katrina’s Coupon Tip #8 – Write to Manufacturers

Katrina’s Coupon Tip #8 – Write to Manufacturers

CT8_WriteToManuMake a list of your favorite products and brands and start contacting them via letter or email.  Express how much you like their products and ask them for high-value coupons to purchase their products.  I’ve done this many times for my favorite products and I’m always pleasantly surprised when I open the mail and find a bunch of really good, high-value coupons for products my family loves!  Just takes a little work, but it pays off!

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May 6, 20150 commentsRead More
Health Quest – We FINISHED Our Whole30

Health Quest – We FINISHED Our Whole30

Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!  We have finally finished our Whole30 challenge!  Today is officially day 30 and we have made it!  To be really honest, it felt rylyn_unhappylike a very long 30 days and it makes me laugh because in the grand scheme of life, it wasn’t even a blip!  30 days is nothing to most people, but it really did seem like a long time when we were in the thick of it.  I still maintain that the hardest part of the Whole30 challenge was the time commitment and the amount of cooking.  I enjoy cooking, but it’s very time consuming when you are cooking everything from scratch and that was the hard to fit in when I already have a lot going on with my business and 3 kids.  Somehow we made it work though, it’s so true, you make time for what you want to make time for.

The coolest part of this is that I lost 13lbs!  I’m really happy with that, and my husband lost close to the same.  I still can’t believe I made it 30 days without coffee, bread, cheese, or brownies (that’s about covers all my favorites)!  I honestly don’t see adding any of those things back into my daily life any time soon either.  I miss coffee, but I’m not sure I’ll go back to it, I’m thinking it may just be a special occasion thing from now on (which, I’ll tell you right now, I want a peppermint mocha for Mother’s Day really bad - hint, hint to the hubby if you are reading). Bread is one thing I really miss – nothing beats a crusty piece of sourdough bread, but , no one else in the family seems to mind not having it anymore.  I don’t have any plans to purchase it again anytime soon!

rylyn_happy_grapesThe other cool thing that came out of this was how my youngest son, Rylyn, is eating.  If you have read my other posts, you know that he is very stubborn and only liked to eat chicken nuggets, cheetos, cherrios, bread, most fruits, and anything with sugar.  He wouldn’t touch a vegetable at all even though his favorite color is green!  Now he’s eating just about everything we eat: salad, all veggies, grilled chicken, steak, hamburgers, tacos, and absolutely loves apples dipped in peanut butter!  He’s trying so many new things and doing a great job at it!  He eats eggs and veggies every morning for breakfast and doesn’t complain too much anymore!  I’m super proud of all 3 of my kids and how they are eating!  I’m super proud of how they denied special treats at school to avoid sugar and stuck with the program!  And they have said they feel much better, and are sleeping better!  The above right  picture of Rylyn is on day 1 after he refused to eat his eggs for breakfast.  The next picture on the left is Rylyn on Day 21 after he just ate a full plate of scrambled eggs, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes (you can see all the tomatoes shoved in the sides of his cheeks).

If you are considering doing a Whole30 challenge, I highly recommend it – but make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare for it!  Going forward our family plans to stick to eating Whole foods 80% of the time and enjoy at other times.  For us this means I don’t plan to buy sugary cereal, bread, chips, cookies, gummy snacks..etc…all the yummy things I used to buy that I could get really cheap or for free with coupons.  It’s really hard for me to deal with the fact that there are not many coupons for whole, healthy foods.  I hate the added expense in our grocery budget, but at the same time, I’m so glad to be feeling better and to be looking better and am hoping in the long run this pays off with less doctor bills for all of us.  I’m working hard to find ways to cut corners on food, and can’t wait to hit up our local farmer’s market that opens this weekend!  I’m looking for any tips or ideas you have might have on how to save money buying healthy foods.  Please comment with your thoughts! Hugs to all!  If you have any questions for me about how we did this challenge, please ask by commenting!  Happy to help!

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