I don’t know about you but giving up sugary drinks is one of the hardest things for me to do during my weight loss journey.  I just get so bored with drinking plain old water!  I recently had to tell Daddy Michael that he was only allowed ONE glass of juice when he came home at night!  Yes, I had to tell a grown man that if he wanted to lose weight that he should cut back on all of the juice. 

Here are some things that I think help curb your craving for sugary drinks.

• Drink Some Tea- If it is flavor you are needing this should help.  I prefer cold tea so it is like I am drinking a beverage and not tea.
• Try Sparkling Water- This stuff is tasty and will make a good pretend pop if you are looking for carbonation.
• Try a Lemon or Lime- If it is flavor that you are craving then adding fruit to your water spices things up.
• Distract Yourself- It sounds weird but if you don’t think about how much you want that tasty sugary beverage you will forget that you ever wanted it.
• Document Your Drinks- This is one of the most shocking things I think you can do because when you see the total calories and sugar you are drinking alone it makes sense why it is hard to drop the weight.  To me it makes drinking anything besides water painful because it is just not worth it to me.
• Try Flavor Packets- Things like Sqwincher’s Qwik Stik packets give you a sugar free alternative to juice and pops.
• Celebrate Small Victories- Reward yourself for doing a good job because it is hard work to form a habit! I think people get too hung up on weight loss, numbers and inches and they forget that you need to accomplish little things to get the big goal.

I was stoked to see that the Sqwincher Qwik Stik LITE Powder Concentrate has 100% of my Vitamin C for the day since Baby Michael gave me a little cold and there were no Vitamin C products in my house at all.  You mix one packet with 20 ounces of water so you are getting a big drink.  A lot of sports drinks are moving to a sugarless drink because it seems a little silly to be drinking sugar while being active.  A little counterproductive perhaps?!

I reviewed the lemon flavor and I was surprised that it had more of a green color than yellow.  It tasted just fine and I actually couldn’t tell that is was a sugarless drink.  I think it will be a good alternative to drinking a pop.  The bag has 50 packets in it that make 20 ounce drinks.

I received this product in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Can you believe it is the FINAL week of my 30 day Cinch kit?!!  I am going to do a normal weekly check in for this post and do my final evaluation of everything in the following post.  Can I get those last 2 pounds to make it to my goal of 150?  I guess you will have to read to see!

Here is my final food diary:

Wednesday 2/8/12:

• 10:30 am: vanilla protein shake
• 4:00 pm: vanilla protein shake
• 9:00 pm: chicken and broccoli meal

Thursday 2/9/12:

• 10:30 am: vanilla protein shake
• 2:50 pm: banana
• 9:30 pm: chicken, rice and broccoli dinner.  This time I spiced it up with some cheese on top.
• CHEAT ALERT: I had a handful of peanut M&Ms.  I haven’t treated myself in a while so I enjoyed it

Friday 2/10/12:

• 9:30 pm: banana
• 11:45 am : vanilla protein shake
• 5:30 pm: some colby jack cheese to snack on
• 10:00 pm: a chicken and broccoli dinner

Saturday 2/11/12:

• 9:00 am: banana
• 11:15 am: vanilla protein shake
• 8:00 pm: 2 pieces of pizza and bread

Sunday 2/12/12:

• Vanilla protein shake
• blueberry protein bar
• plain cheeseburger (for work)

Monday 2/13/12:

• 9:30 am: colby jack cheese
• 2:30 pm peanut butter snack bar
• 5:00 pm: peanut butter snack bar
• 8:00 pm: eggs with cheese

Tuesday 2/14/12:

• Vanilla protein shake
• I had a moment of weakness and ate some of the leftovers from Michael’s dinner Monday night

• Vanilla protein shake

• eggs and cheese

Here is what I did for the gym this week:

• Wednesday: 35 minutes of cardio, 100 crunches, 30 reps on my delts and 50 reps on my rear delts
• Thursday: 30 minutes of cardio (on level 2 now!).  All exercises were on the stability ball today: 150 crunches, 20 reps using free weights for a shoulder move at 10 pounds, 20 reps using free weights for my chest  and 50 reps with just my body weight for back extensions.
• Friday: I am sad but there were so many car accidents from the weather that I didn’t go to the gym.  I guess I will just use 1 of my 2 free days even though I am already dressed
• Saturday: 30 minutes of cardio, shoulder reps on the ball, chest reps on the ball, 200 crunches on the ball
• Sunday: 30 minutes of cardio, 200 crunches on the ball, 60 reps on a pull down machine.  It was a light day because my leg was killing me.
• Monday: 45 minutes of cardio at level 2, 50 crunches on the ball, 100 reps at 30 pounds for back extensions, 50 reps at 50 pounds on my chest and 50 reps at 37.5 pounds rear delts
• Tuesday: 45 minutes of cardio at level 2, 200 crunches on the ball, 3 sets of 15 for the Thruster upper body, 45 reps with a 10 pound weight on my triceps

I am going to do a final evaluation post of my Cinch kit and that is going to include my final numbers!  We shall see what the results are!!

I received this product in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

After last week I really needed to get back into the groove to make up for lost time.  I felt terrible about my days off because YOU GUYS are holding me accountable!  Now this week I am battling a cold that I was gifted after the couple of days I did not take care of myself at all.

After reflecting I realized that when you eat something you aren’t supposed to eat you don’t enjoy nearly enough.  I LOVE pizza and when I ate it last week, it just wasn’t tasty enough for me.  I wish my Husband would stop eating cake everyday but he still enjoys his indulging! 

Wednesday 2/1/12:

• 11:40 am: vanilla protein shake
• Afternoon: large honey bell orange
• 9:00 pm: 3 eggs with milk and colby cheese

Thursday 2/2/12:

• 11:15 am: vanilla protein shake
• 3:30 pm: blueberry almond meal in a bar

• 9:30 pm: 2 tacos that had fat free refried beans, fat free cheese, whole grain tortillas and sausage.  (sausage was on sale so no beef tonight!) I am sure it wasn’t the healthiest but it tasted good!

Friday 2/3/13:

•  10:10 am: vanilla protein shake
• 1:00 pm: blueberry almond meal in a bar
• 3:20 pm: peanut butter snack bar
• 5:45 pm: I was starving so I ate a handful of baby carrots and some dip
• 9:45 pm: I ate 2 leftover tacos

Saturday 2/4/12:

• I felt terrible all day so I just snacked while I was grocery shopping.  I sampled cauliflower, 1/4 bar of a Balance Bar, 1/4 of a Snickerdoodle and 2 mini Reeses bites.  I know crap.  This is in addition to the bag of cough drops I consumed.  I promise I don’t feel good

• 9:00 pm: I figured I should eat something of substance since it had been 12 hours since I ate last so I made eggs again but this time I added broccoli!  Why didn’t I think of that earlier?!

Sunday 2/5/12:

• 1:00 pm: plain cheeseburger
• 5:00 pm: plain cheeseburger.  Why you might ask?  I had to do some work so I was required to eat them.

Monday 2/6/12:

• 12:30 pm: vanilla protein shake
• 4:44 pm: blueberry meal in a bar
• 9:00 pm: a chicken breast, broccoli and rice dinner that I made a lot during week 1.  I love it!

Tuesday 2/7/12:

• 11:30 am: vanilla protein shake
• 4:00: blueberry meal in a bar— my last one *GASP*
• 9:00 pm: eggs and cheese for dinner

This is what my gym routine looked like this week:

• Wednesday: I did 45 minutes of cardio, 200 crunches and 50 reps on my back at 30 pounds.
• Thursday: I did 45 minutes of cardio, 200 crunches and 30 reps each position on that Thruster machine I talked about last week.
• Friday: I did 45 minutes of cardio, 200 crunches, 50 reps on my back at 30 pounds and 30 reps each position on that Thruster machine.
• Saturday: I took the day off in hopes of getting over this head cold!
• Sunday: I am feeling better today but I had to do some work today so I had to stay home from the gym.
• Monday: 45 minutes cardio, 200 crunches, 30 reps on my back, 30 reps each Thruster position, I tried the pullover machine and hated it, I did 30 side to side ab work with the medicine ball.
• Tuesday: 45 minutes cardio, 200 crunches, 30 reps each Thruster position

Weight: Back down to 152 pounds

Measurements:

• R arm: 12.375 inches
• L arm: 12.25 inches
• R thigh: 25.25 inches
• L thigh: 25 inches
• Waist: 32.35 inches
• Hips: 37.75 inches
• Neck: 13.5

I really don’t think that Michael and I are accurate at measuring people!  I still am including the measurements so I am 100% transparent but Idon’t think we really know what we are doing! 

I really don’t think abs exist after a baby!  You would think I am an infant learning about muscle control again by what I am able to do at the gym.  I am also stoked to burn 200 calories during my cardio and my cardio is the most of a leg workout that I can do without triggering my leg pain.  Make sure you take that into consideration when you are evaluating weight loss while using the Cinch Kit.

I am not the ‘perfect candidate‘ for deciding if you will get results.  I am a real candidate who has demons to overcome to get any sort of results.  I am sure most of you would fall into that category though.  Never judge a book by it’s cover that is for sure.  I was asked last night if I had a handicap sticker since I was parked in the handicap spot.  “uh yeah, why else would I be parked here?”

I received this product in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

This is a terrible post about my progress!  I was only able to work out 2 days this whole week and for 2 days of this week I ate the absolute worst foods!   This is a prime example of what stress will do to your perfectly healthy eating/work out routine.

I had every intention of eating properly while we were at the hospital but it just didn’t happen.  I left everything back at the housing apartment in a rush out the door before the surgery.  Then when were were leaving on Sunday I forgot my milk to drink my shakes while we were gone too.  It was just a mess of not planning and you can see I paid for it!

Wednesday 1/25/12:

• 12:15 pm: vanilla protein shake
• 6:30 pm: giant antipasto salad
• 9:00 pm: half a bag of baby carrots and some dip

Thursday 1/26/12:

• 10:00 am: vanilla protein shake
• 2:00 pm: peanut butter meal in a bar
• 9:00 pm: giant antipasto salad (Yeah I know I ate this 2 nights in a row but I am eating leftovers!  I can’t let food go to waste!)

Friday 1/27/12:

• 10:10 am: vanilla protein shake
• 1:30 pm: I had some Colby cheese for a snack.  It just sounded good!
• 4:30 pm: peanut butter meal in a bar
• Dinner: chili

Saturday 1/28/12:

• 10:30 am: vanilla protein shake
• 1:45 pm: Blueberry almond meal in a bar.  I finally tried this bar and it is very blueberry.  It isn’t bad and doesn’t taste as much like a protein bar as the peanut butter one does.  I am a huge peanut butter person so I will stick with that one as my favorite but I think others would prefer this bar.  It very much tastes like a cereal bar that you would buy at the grocery store.
• 8:30 pm: Chili again for dinner!

Sunday 1/29/12:

• 12:00 pm: vanilla protein shake
• 9:30 pm: roast beef sandwich from Arby’s on our way to the hospital.  I had a couple drinks of Mt Dew but I made my Sister drink it.

Monday 1/30/12:

• 1:30: turkey and cheese sandwich and  Sobe water from the hospital vendor.
• 5:30: 3 pieces of Jet’s bacon pizza

Tuesday 1/31/12:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces of leftover pizza
• Lunch: a snack bag from the vending machine of Goldfish crackers
• Dinner: 3 eggs scrambled with some Colby cheese (I was finally home can you tell?)

Here is what I did for the gym this week:

• Wednesday: I did not go to the gym because I was exhausted from being my Sister’s DD for her birthday and waking up early with a baby!

• Thursday: I did 30 minutes of cardio, 100 crunches and tried this new Thruster machine for 20 reps on each position.

• Friday: I increased my cardio to 45 minutes and did 200 crunches and 2 sets of 10 on that Thruster machine in each position.
• Saturday: I was unable to go to the gym because it is a really busy weekend.
• Sunday: no gym so I could do my running around before the hospital
• Monday: no gym because we were at the hospital
• Tuesday: no gym because we were still at the hospital and once I got home I was a zombie

My Weight: 154 pounds

My Measurements: These will have to come next week because there just wasn’t time to get them.  It was a hellish 3 days and I paid for it with my progress.

I received this product in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Thursday 1/19/12

I start off my mornings with a Cinch vanilla protein shake about 9:00 am followed by my Cinch 3in1 Boost pill.

At lunch, about Noon, I had some leftovers from the previous night’s dinner and my Boost pill.  For lunch I eye balled it and I would say I had 3 servings of lean protein and 1 serving of a starch.

I tried their Cinch Energy Tea Mix in Pomegranate and it isn’t bad.  It taste like Pomegranate flavored water.  I mixed my tea packet with 8 oz of cold water since you can choose hot or cold.  I am not sure if I should be drinking this tea because I did get a headache from it later in the day.  I don’t drink caffeine at all and I am very very sensitive to it.  For the rest of the week I am going to continue without it and see if I still have a headache or not.

At 4:00 pm I started to get a little hungry again so I tried one of their Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Meal in a Bar and it was so yummy!  I couldn’t even tell that I was eating a protein bar.  It has 270 calories, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber and 20 grams of protein.

For dinner I ate another well rounded meal very similar to my lunch. This meal had 2 servings of vegetables though.  So overall it was a good eating day.

Click HERE to see the rest of my week 1 journey!

I just got my Cinch kit in the mail from Shaklee Corporation and I am so excited to get this journey started!  I am not someone who needs to lose a lot of weight because I dropped 55 pounds after my pregnancy.  Don’t ask me how but I did!  Now I am to the point where Baby Michael will be 6 months tomorrow and I can drop him at the daycare and workout!  So far I noticed that is can be nearly impossible to eat properly when you are taking care of an infant.

My goals:

1. Tone back up… EVERYWHERE
2. Lose these annoying love handles
3. Drop about 7  more pounds to reach 150 pounds
4. To stay healthy

I am a big inches person versus watching the scale even though I put 150 in my goals.  When I was 150 pounds I was technically still over weight according to the BMI but my doctor and I both agreed that I looked very healthy.  I had a lot of muscle mass which is probably why the charts said I was overweight.

Protein shakes can be gross!  I have tasted some pretty ragged shakes so when I made my vanilla shake I was nervous to try it.  Typically I make Daddy Michael try things before I will!    Surprise surprise that this shake tasted very close to cookie dough!  It was great and I can’t let Daddy Michael know or he will drink it all!

So I started my weight loss at about 1:30 pm with a 270 calorie, 16 grams of protein and 24 carbohydrate shake at 1pm with my vitamin that comes in their kits.  I can’t really count today as apart of my true journey because I totally failed and ate some scrumptious Snackwell cookies, drank a cherry Kool-Aid Jammer and had a Motts Applesauce cup!  Hey, I didn’t know it would arrive today!

I went ahead and grabbed a Cinch Peanut Butter Crunch Bar about 5:00 pm before getting ready for the gym.  It didn’t as good as the shake but it wasn’t bad.  It tasted like a protein bar and protein bars aren’t made to taste like a delicious bowl of ice cream.  Does that make sense?  It didn’t taste bad and yes I will continue to eat them.  It has 130 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 10 grams of protein.

I am the most interested in the Cinch products because it preserves your lean body mass so I am not losing my muscle mass.  Gaining muscle is my overall goal so that is important to me. Based on my starting weight they tell me that I should consume 1500 calories a day.

My Starting weight: 157.4 pounds

My Measurements:

• Right Arm: 12.25 inches
• Left Arm:  12.625 inches
• Neck: 13.25 inches
• Waist: 30.5 inches
• Hips: 38.5 inches
• Right Thigh:  24.75 inches
• Left Thigh: 24.875 inches

Here are my pictures for a before and after.  Again, I am going for an overall toning/muscle gain not as much weight loss.  I want my muscles back!  I am not unhappy with my body but it can be improved upon.

If you want to buy your own Cinch Starter Kit is it $193.80 for members or that is less than $50 a week.  Follow Shaklee Corporation on Facebook.

I received these products in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Have you ever heard of Yum Yum Dishes?  Did you know that normal plates are 11-13 inches?  I did a review back in November 2010 for their 4 ounce bowl, which was perfect for multi tasking snacking.  This time I got to review their 9Plate and I must say that the reminder of portion control actually works!

I took a second picture without the flash to help you see the yellow words that divide up the plate.  The plate is divided into three sections with half of it for veggies, 1/4 for protein and 1/4 for starch.

Do you see the difference in my plate and Michael’s plate?  Michael eats a lot and we are working on that but my plate is the perfect size!  I think that we eat what is put on our plate and end up eating too much and being ‘stuffed’.  Sometimes he doesn’t eat it all but 80% of the time he does even though he is full. (He ate his whole plate tonight and had a handful of cashews afterwards!)

Even before I received this plate to review I had switched from using the normal dinner plates (on the left) to using the smaller plate (on the right).  I rarely get seconds and still feel full afterwards.  I am sitting here 2 hours after eating my meal, pictured above, and I still feel pleasantly full.  I feel so much better when I don’t overeat.

I use my plate regularly and think it is a great addition to people who made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or to be healthier.  You can buy your own set of plates online for $29.  Follow Yum Yum Dishes on Facebook or Twitter.

I received a 9Plate in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions are 100% my own.