Lights Off

For the first time since starting the 30 days, I stayed up a little later than I should on a work night.  Was organizing some stuff last night (running around the house) until 10pm.  I thought "crap, I'm going to be exhausted at 5am when I'm supposed to get up for work."

Drank my Lights Off and dozed off around 10:30.  At 5:15 I was hopping out of bed no problem!  True test of this product...I'll probably be keeping it in supply after the program!  Until you've experienced this kind of sleep, you don't understand the value of it!

Back to Normal

So it's been 5 days of normalcy since Silverwood...weighed in at 152.6 this morning so I'm still pleased.  It's only a couple lbs down since the cleanse so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Here's the normal routine:

I'm taking a multi vitamin and a probiotic in the morning before breakfast.  It's not with the plan but everyone should take these 2 things I think.  I found a liquid multi vitamin that's so much easier to take than horse pills and tastes like chewable flintstone vitamins.

Appetite Suppressant: taking 2 of these pills with my 10am snack, and 1 with my 3pm snack. Seems to work!  I eat my snacks and lunch pretty slowly and I'm never hungry.

Lights On: taking this berry flavored mix with 12 oz of water between 11-1 depending on how late I need it's effect.  It's non caffeinated energy so no crash!  Main ingredients are dietery fiber, glucosamine hcl, guarana (seed) and things from roots and leaves, including stevia and acai berry.

Meal Replacement Shake:  Here's some examples of what I've done.  You can blend it with anything really.

 

Coconut water, pineapple and half a banana: 230 calories

 

"quick fix" breakfast if I know I can't have the shake for lunch: 202 calories

 

My fav: Chocolate almond milk, ground peanuts, half banana: 332 calories

 

I've also mixed it up with strawberries and blue berries with original almond milk.  There's a lot you can do with this stuff and a blender!  I should throw a clump of spinach in there too for added nutrients.

 

Sticking to lean meats and veggies with dinner.  We love to throw mushroom, bell pepper, onion, carrots, broccoli, etc into a wok pan and let them steam with some Mrs. Dash.  I can have a whole cup or more of this mixture with hardly any calorie consumption!

 

And don't forget the WATER!  Still drinking around 80oz a day!

 

Lights Off: Before bed I take this citrus flavor mix with 4 oz of water.  I have noticed that I sleep really good, but I have also been going to bed at 9pm instead of staying up till 10 or later watching TV.  I'm so behind on my shows, but I haven't had a headache or woke up with a neck ache since I started taking this stuff. 

 

Now I seriously have to get serious about adding Jillian Michael's to my routine...at least twice a week for starters!

 

 

 

 

Hiccups

After the 10-day cleanse, I was due to start the 30-day plan on 8/1...the day I went to the Watershed Music Festival for 3 days.  All and all, my friend and I did awesome at not eating crap and did a TON of walking so I hoped all that would even out all the drinking we partook in. :)  We walked over 10 miles on Friday and over 12 on Saturday.

I baked salmon and cooked burgers and tacos on this nifty propane stove.  I used 95% lean burger meat and lettuce instead of buns or taco shells.

The salad dressing is an omni recipe that is amazing...courtesy of my omni distributor friend.  I can't recall the 3rd ingredient, but it's a dijon or honey mustard with liquid stevia.

 



As soon as I got back home Monday, I started back on my normal diet plan but instead of a normal lunch, had the meal replacement shakes.  More on those later.  I also started taking the Lights On in the early afternoon and Lights Off before bed.  Happy to report I only gained 2 lbs during Watershed and lost them in 2 days.

After 3 days of being on the plan again, I had an out of town business thing Thursday night...broke down and had a small nacho that night from the hotel.  Had my meal shake for breakfast Friday morning, not knowing where I'd be for lunch.  Since I didn't have a blender I mixed the powder with a starbucks single shot and it was delicious!  Ended up with a sandwich in a cafe for lunch, took off the top piece of bread and had no mayo.

Saturday morning...on to Silverwood with some good friends!  Continued with my starbucks meal replacement concoction for Saturday and Sunday mornings...had lunch in the park restaurant to avoid the fried junk (and have drinks)!  Ended up eating twice at the Mackenzie River Pizza Co...awesome food there.  I had fricken pizza the first night and a sandwich the next day...and a lot of long islands.  Damnit damnit!

10-Day Cleanse and Exchange Diet

I'm a little behind on my posting...so first, the 10-day cleanse.  I lost just over 5 lbs those first 10 days and broke my plateau!  I've adapted to the Exchange Diet.  This is a form of eating that eliminates the need for calorie counting as soon as you're used to what a serving is for food items you eat and how much carb, protein and/or fat you should have for each meal. 

The DMX booklet provides:

1. An exchange list for different calorie amounts you want to consume (# of carb/protein/fat per meal) 
2. A list of what is considered a carb, protein and good fat
3. A Glycemic Index chart of foods that are best to eat (under 65 on the chart)
4. Serving sizes for foods (like a cup of blueberries or half a banana are both 1 carb each)

Based on my 1,000 calorie per day goal...here is my Exchange Diet plan from the DMX booklet:

• Breakfast: 1 carb, 1 protein
• Snack: 1 carb, 1 protein
• Lunch: 1 carb, 2 proteins, 1 fat
• Snack: 1 carb, 1 protein
• Dinner: 1 carb, 2 proteins, 1 fat

So here's a typical day:

• Breakfast: 1 hard boiled or scrambled egg and a fruit (1 pear/apple or cup of blueberries, etc)
• Snack: a fruit and 1/2 oz of almonds
• Lunch: cup of lettuce, 2 oz of chicken or salmon, 1 oz of avocado (or a light dressing as a fat)
• Snack: half a bell pepper, a wedge of laughing cow cream cheese
• Dinner: a cup of steamed veggies, 2 oz of chicken or salmon, and either 1 oz of avocado or cheese.

I am not hungry at all either! I think because the only carbs I'm eating are fruits and veggies and I'm having protein with every meal.  And my calorie intake ranges from 800-1000 following the above plan.  Amazing what the right foods can do!

And of course, since I was in the cleanse phase, I gulped a bottle each night before bed of the Aloe Cleanse stuff, which helps release and clear previous toxins I consumed in a gentle way (no bathroom sprints!).  Depending on how well or unwell your diet was before starting the cleanse phase depends on how much you notice the cleanse happening.  I hardly noticed at all.





Fav new snack: bell pepper and either Vegetable Garden or Onion Laughing Cow cheese to dip in!





Lunch with lettuce, avocado and turkey (I typically used grilled chicken, which is best, but I had some leftover turkey deli meat the first few days and I didn't want to throw it out)

My tip for seasoning chicken, fish and stir fry veggies: use salt-free Mrs. Dash!  They have several flavors!

I hope this is somewhat educational for someone so far!

7/23 Day 2 Videos

1st Video: DETOX Recommendations

1. Buy a juicer-make your own juices from now on (don't have one yet)
2. Buy a blender for smoothies (have one!)
3. Exfoliate your skin (dry) with a skin brush.  I didn't know that skin brushing sped up the detoxing process!  Need to google "skin brush"...
4. Breath
5. Exercise daily (even it's a simple stretching session)
6. Water Intake!

2nd Video was Lifestyle Changes with the MD speaker...a lot of good info in 5 minutes!

7/23 Update

Somehow the kit came with a weekly and daily weigh-in log so I'm weighing daily like everyone says not to!  Well 2 lbs down in 24 hrs just by eating nothing but fruit, protein (meat, fish and nuts), veggies, and a couple fats in there (avocado and cheese).  My calorie count for day 1 was an astounding 819 calories (i seriously am NOT starving myself, ok!). So at 158.2 I am 1.3 lbs from breaking my 157 plateau!

Dinner was awesome: 2 oz of salmon (tis the season!) and a pile of stir-fry I made with NO oils or salts: broccoli, zuchinni, onion and mushroom.  It was delish.  Then I realized I forgot to incorporate a fat in there so I got to enjoy an ounce of cheese after :)

Took my shot of the Aloe Cleanse and it tastes like lemonade...I put it in the fridge and it was quite good actually.

My impressive stat for the day though is 104 oz of water drank!  My goal is 80, and I have a tough time with 64 so we'll see if I can keep that up!

It's Here!

Got my kit from Lyzz this weekend and today, Monday 7/22, is my first day of the 40.  So far, nothing new in me yet...just eating way better again.  Sort of slacked off this weekend for our anniversary...wine and pasta!  So, I'm starting with the 10 little bottles shown.  Right before bed I'll take one to cleanse my system for 10 days.  During this process, I'm staying away from a lot of diary, grains and processed foods as reccomended.  This is an Aloe Herbal Cleanse.  I read the ingredients and it's mostly plant-based, root extract type stuff.  Yum right? lol.  Actually they are supposed to have a citrus taste...I'll let ya know ;)

For food, I'm trying to go by a guide it comes with that says how many servings of carbs, protein and fat I should have based on a 1,000 calorie diet.  If I feel that's too little, I'll go back to my 1,200 I'm comfortable with. 

 

So I won't be listing every meal routine on here because no one wants to read all that...but I'll check back in weekly at least, unless something interesting happens or if I discover a really good recipe!

 

But to give an idea, so far today I've had:

 

Breakfast: a scrambled egg and 1/2 banana (129 cal)

Snack: half green bell pepper and a wedge of Laughing Cow garden cream cheese (75 cal)

Lunch: Lettuce, 1 oz turkey and 1/4 avocado with fat free ranch (164 cal)

Snack: 1/2 banana, 1 oz peanuts-grounded into peanut butter (243 cal)

Dinner: salmon and not sure what else yet!

 

...AND a crapload of water!  Did you know you should drink HALF your body weight in ounces of water?  That's 80 fricken ounces...another reason to lose weight.  Water bottle officially attached to hips...I'm on my 65th ounce right now and it's 4pm.

 

Oh, and I activated my program online and today had 2 short videos...one on how to properly measure (oops, did that last night!), and the other was their lifestyle coach giving me a pep talk.  He's an interesting fellow to say the least...

 

 

 

It Works!

Every heard of that crazy wrap thing?  Well my lovely hair stylist just started selling It Works! Wraps because of the results she got.  She's using them once a week to prep for a Vegas trip, but says once a month would maintain results.

So you basically put this large cloth over your belly (or thighs, arms, wherever you want) and it's coated in lotion that smells like icy-hot.  You wrap seran-wrap around it to keep the mess in and go to bed.  I wore mine for the full 8-hrs. 

I measured before and again right after I took it off.  No change yet.  I measured again at 24, 48 and finally 72 hours and there actually was a slight difference.  The measurement across the belly button had shrunk an inch, and right above and below it shrunk a half inch each.  Apparently you get can get bigger results with repeat use, but I'm not quite ready to go fully into this yet.  But if I can drop this last 20 lbs and notice my skin is a little saggy, these wraps would be great to tighten that up.

So I purposely wore a good pair of "muffin top" shorts for this little project.  I would like to add that with a loose shirt and some heels, these shorts are quite the attention grabber.

I hope it isn't just me who sees the difference.  The bulge on the sides are much smaller on the right picture!  And I noticed a bigger difference while wearing the shorts that they were much more comfortable.  Now it's the 22nd and the jeans I'm wearing today are looser than normal...I would have worn a belt if I had noticed this morning!  My skin is also super soft from that smelly lotion.

So that's my little piece on the It Works! Wrap...would I go to a wrap party and try it again?  Sure would!

Say Hello To My Little Friend

Meet Zip:

He's a feisty little bugger who likes long walks and runs.
See that face he's giving me?  Means "get off your ass little girl, you're not impressing me right now!"

This is a FitBit I've mentioned earlier.  Tracks my steps (rather accuratly by the way), miles walked and calories burned...I can view all that from the screen.

From the app and website profile, I can see a whole lot more.  Not to get all techy-confusing on you, but I actually use an app and website called MyFitnessPal.com (link to my profile is on the right side of this blog page) to track my workouts, food log, weight logging and water consumption.  It is synced to my fitbit profile so I don't have to enter anything twice. 

In a nutshell:

• I log my morning weight, then my food and water throughout the day in my FitnessPal app on my phone.
• I walk around and Zip tracks my steps.
• I enter my aerobics (or whatever) in Fitness Pal (I tell it exactly WHEN I did the workout too, say 5-5:30pm).
• If I've walked enough steps to burn enough calories, FitnessPal is synced to FitBit (Zip) and shows a calorie "credit" on my food log...so walk more = eat more!  AND it won't count any steps during the times I've recorded exercise (no double dipping!).
• If I ever open my FitBit app, all the stuff I've entered in Fitness Pal shows up...weight, water, food, exercise.

Why do I even bother using FitnessPal if I have a FitBit?  Because I can link with friends via FitnessPal who do or don't have FitBits as well- so look me up!

Walgreens Step Program
Another thing I just learned today actually (Thanks April!) is that you can sync FitBit devices to the Walgreens Step Program (once you register) and get points that track automatically.  These points convert to Walgreens rewards (aka money on your Walgreens member card to use in the store).  So if you already have a Walgreens member card like I did, and a FitBit, you might as well sync them for free money!

What did I buy?

Here is what my $275 got me for my 40-day program:

Product:

• 10 Herbal Cleanse servings (for 1st 10 days)
• Appetite Control pills
• Meal Replacement Shake mix
• Lights On, berry flavor (mix with water for an energy boost)
• Lights Off, citrus flavor (mix with water an hour before bed)

I was also told that I'll get a code to access a different video each day that will have some sort of coach to guide me...they have a medical life coach, personal trainer life coach, nutritional advisors and a personal development life coach.  This should help keep the motivation going if I'm learning new info along the way.

I also love that DynaMaxx is mostly about enhancing your well-being and health, while helping you get the physical results you desire in the process.  Health should always come first people!

My Intro- DMX Life Coaches' Challenge System by DynaMAXX

STATS:

• Female
• 5'7"
• Highest after baby: 197 lbs (BMI  30.9- Overweight Range is 25.1-31)
• Lowest: 155 lbs (BMI 24.3-Healthy Range is 18.1-25)
• Goal for Challenge: 145 lbs (BMI 22.7) Make that 140 lbs (BMI 21.9), going balls to the wall here!!

June 2009- Baby Day.  Weighed 215 this day and only gained 25 during pregnancy

June 2010- Alan's 1st Bday and I'm almost to plus sizes at 195...Time to do something!

My main goal is to be smack-dab in the middle of "Healthy" BMI range, not to be a size 6 or whatever. I lost 30 lbs after I had my son using Jenny Craig meals in 2010-2011. My first goal with Jenny was 150 lbs. Sadly, I got to 155 and fell off the wagon. I don't know what it is about being so close to your goal that makes you slack off, but it never fails! Plus it got too expensive and the monthly phone calls were annoying.

Dec 2010 - down to 160 with Jenny Craig...stopped early 2011 at 155 :(

I gained most of it back by the end of 2012 so I started Nutrisystem because it cost half as much and I wouldn't have a rep calling me all the time. Results were 10 lbs lost and 5 lbs gained after. I got tired of the food...I didn't want to pay extra for the frozen meals that probably tasted better. I needed something different.

Oct 2012- My 30th Bday and around 170...I hit 175 in March 2013

In March of 2013 (after a Vegas trip that kicked our butts), my husband and I started counting calories with myfitnesspal.com. We even cut out alcohol for nearly a month...sounds dumb that that is a big deal, but I love to have a glass of wine with dinner at home and try different drinks when we go out.  Erik enjoys his whiskey/coke nightly as well and beer when friends were over.  We changed how we ate together and learned a lot on our own. I did all 30 days of Jillian Michaels 30-day shred workouts, and he did the P90X program...all of it except the last week! So proud of him! I lost 18 lbs and he lost 25. I think he's lost another 10 lbs while not working out and I've gained 5. Boys! :P

So I'm stalling between 157-161...story of my life recently. We are still eating better...tons of grilled meat and raw veggies. We throw in some brown rice or noodles once in awhile but quit buying those box dinners all together! Those are bad news!

July 2013 - 161 and ready to break my plateau!

I not only want to reach 150...I want to break free of it and prove to myself that I can get to 145. That won't quite get me to the "middle" of Healthy BMI, but it would make a world of difference to my attitude and wardrobe!  (As of 7/22, I'm upping my goal to 140!  That's my dream weight so might as well go all the way!)

So why the DMX program? I want to be able to maintain our healthy eating as an example to our son and I want to exercise some so I can tone up a little in the process of losing weight. I wanted a tool that would work with how I'm already living and DMX seems like it will do that pretty easily. I don't want to be popping pills left and right or subbing all my meals for shakes or microwaved food. That's not a healthy example for our son in my opinion. I also want to be included in the same family dinners as everyone else and not be doing my own thing all the time.

I'm going to track my progress on here and be as specific as possible as to what I eat and how often I exercise and what the program actually requires me to do. We'll see how it goes!