A Moment of Weakness

I have been doing so well with my diet but, over the weekend, I had a moment of weakness that turned out to be a real eye opener.

I ate dinner pretty early on Friday and then went out to celebrate a friend's birthday at the bars.  By the time I left to head home, it was already almost 2:00 a.m. and I was absolutely starving!  My boyfriend mentioned that he was pretty hungry too and that's when the weakness hit.  We would always stop at taco bell after a night out drinking and we decided that one time would be okay.  Besides, we would just get up and go work out in the morning to get rid of everything we ate so it would have no effect... not so true.

I woke up the next morning and felt TERRIBLE.  My stomach was upset and I just generally did not feel well.  We went to the park and worked out, but my stomach still felt a little weird.

I used to eat at taco bell in the middle of the night all the time.  Yes, I would feel gross the next day, but I didn't blame it on my late night fast food run because I was always feeling gross.  But, after 3 full weeks of eating healthy and working hard to get my meals on a schedule, I really felt the difference this late night snack made.

While it made me feel horrible and I regret giving in to the deliciousness that is a taco bell bean burrito, I am glad that I now understand the effect that just one bad meal can have on your body and your digestive system.  I will most definitely not be having a midnight run through a drive again!

After Week Two

So, I know that I am pretty late in getting this post up.  I have been pretty busy with the end of the semester, but I will try to post more often!

After week two, I was once again nervous to get on the scale.  When I finally did weigh myself, I was down from 148.8 to 148.0.  I know its not a whole lot, but I was so excited!  I was down almost 5 pounds in just two weeks.  After weighing myself, we took some pictures and I could actually see a difference in the size of my stomach!! It is a slight difference and probably not noticeable by anyone but myself, but it is for sure starting to flatten out a little.  

I was also happy with the weight that I lost because I can feel myself gaining muscle.  I can tell that I am getting not just skinner but also stronger and more fit.  I'm not looking to get extremely ripped and becoming a body builder or anything, but I do want to become toned and have an extremely noticeable nice body. Ha.  I have been working out and being active every day and it is definitely starting to take effect!  

Herbalife has changed my life completely.  It's crazy to think and even say that a meal replacement/diet system has done this for me, but it's sooo true.  I have energy to get up and get out and do things.  I feel awesome and for the first time in my entire life I WANT to go work out Every. Single. Day.  

I wanted to share some meals I have been making and exercises I have been doing!  The lunches I have made are DELICIOUS and the exercises feel awesome.  

Some Recipes:

Homemade Salmon Cakes and Dressing on a bed of lettuce:

What you Need:

For Salmon Cakes:

1 can of water-packed pink salmon, drained

1/4 cup of whole-grain bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

A Pinch (to taste) of:

     - Salt

     - Pepper

     - Dill Weed

     - Ground Cayenne Pepper

For Dressing:

3 tablespoons original greek yogurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon (or so) Old Bay seasoning or seasoning salt

A pinch of Cayenne 

What you Do:

Combine all ingredients for the salmon cakes in a bowl and then form into three patties.  In a medium skillet, coated with approx. 2 teaspoons of olive oil, cook patties over medium heat until they are brown (3-4 minutes each side).

Combine all ingredients for dressing in a small bowl and mix).

Place salad greens in a bowl and top with salmon cakes (I ended up only having two of the cakes!).  Drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad and salmon cakes and ENJOY!

These exercises kick my ass and leave me super sore but I love it because that means I am working hard and pushing to achieve a better me.

This work out was amazing.  I made my boyfriend do it with me yesterday and we were both dying afterward.  My chest is sore, but my armpit fat is gonna go away and my boobs are going to look AMAZING!

I found this work out on itsjoherbalife's blog!  I didn't run with it, but I did repeat it 5 times! I was sore in places I havent never been sore before and that made it all work the pain of pushing through it.

This lifestyle change is amazing and I never regret starting it for a second.  In fact, I am so glad I did every second of the day.  Join me in feeling amazing and give Herbalife a try!

Because I Couldn't Take It ANYMORE!

I have never been a real big dieter or even really cared about what/how much I ate.  While growing up I was always involved in sports and stayed fit by being involved in this way.  I never had to make myself go to the gym or get up and run because I was required to during practice.  With all this mandatory exercise, I always remained fit.  But, upon entering college, I stopped participating in sports teams and as a result I stopped working out.  I gained about 10 pounds or so in the first few years, but nothing to really push me to work out.

Last October, I found out that I had gallbladder failure and that I had to have it removed if I wanted to stop experiencing pain and sickness with everything I ingested.  I had surgery in the beginning of November and was stuck on the couch for two weeks as I recovered.  After my surgery, I went back to eating whatever I wanted (since before I could eat and I would just get sick and lose it all right away, not retaining anything to add weight).  My appetite had grown because I ate almost every meal with my boyfriend... my 6'4" boyfriend who is a full foot taller than me and can eat whatever he wants and however much he wants of it without any real consequences.  When we first started dating he finished almost half of every one of my meals but now I had started eating almost as much as he did!   This did not tun out well.

When I finally weighed myself in mid-March I was appalled.  Since only November, I have gained 20 POUNDS!!!  My weight had sky-rocketed from 135 lbs to 153 lbs in a few short months.  On top of all this excess weight, I was always getting sick.  I was either constipated or having issues with the opposite of that everyday.  I had started getting daily heartburn and I had really bad issues with internal gas all throughout my abdomen.  I felt sick all the time and that made me not want to go out and enjoy myself because I was just going to get sick.  I would try on outfit after outfit and never like how my body looked in ANYTHING!  It was so bad it often brought me to tears.  I had grown so self-conscious that I didn't even feel comfortable with my boyfriend of over a year seeing me without being fully clothed.

I knew that I had to do something to get my weight back down and to feel better about myself but I have always hated dieting and was never very good at sticking with it.

That is when I came across an instagram post by someone I had known for almost my entire life.  They had a similar experience with being horrified by their weight and they had taken action.  I saw pictures of her before she started her new "diet" (its barely a diet at all because it's amazing!) and where she was that day.  She looked amazing and had dropped a ton of weight in just 2 months!  I decided to visit her blog, itsjoherbalife, and I was inspired!  She had been taking the HerbaLife Challenge and was looking awesome.  I was really interested to find out how this worked and if she truly felt that it actually worked.  I contacted her and asked her ALL about it.

On Sunday, April 7, I started Herbalife!

HerbaLife is not a diet, but a LIFESTYLE.
It includes:
Breakfast - a morning breakfast meal replacement shake, energy detox tea, multivitamin, cell activator, tonalin, and fish oil pill.
Lunch - the four pills and a healthy lunch of your choice.  Keeping it COLORFUL with lots of veggies
Dinner - a dinner shake and the same four pills again.
And if you get hungry between meals you can have a healthy snack!

I have been taking the HerbaLife Challenge for 9 days now!  I am not worried about eating too much or too little and I never find myself hungry and thinking about the next time I can eat.  I get to pick my own lunch and therefore still get to eat really tasty food.  The HerbaLife shakes are also delicious!  I mix the powder with water or vanilla soy milk, ice (to thicken it up a little) and a banana (because I love them!).  I cannot complain about their taste at all!  I don't need coffee because my morning energy detox tea gives me all the energy I need for the day.

This past week I have felt  better than I have in my entire life.  I have not gotten sick or dealt with constipation at all.  I have not had any problems with gas and I have more energy and drive than ever!  My body feels good and I am AMAZED!

My first week I was so inspired to really get myself healthy again that I did not only start HerbaLife, but I also started working out.  I only worked out 5 of the 7 days but it felt awesome.  From now on I am going to get at least 30 minutes of exercise in a day.

After week one on the HerbaLife Challenge I have lost FOUR pounds!!  

I was so nervous to step on that scale on day 7, but I am so glad that I did.  I know results will vary each week and that it will not be a fast process, but I am getting healthy and I am doing it in a healthy way.  Each day I feel better and better and each day I gain more energy.  After seeing the results from just one week I am more motivated than I have ever been and I cannot wait to see what the next week brings.  I am excited to work out, eat healthy, lose weight, and feel better!

Following the lead of itsjoherbalife I will be updating this blog every sunday with my weight and some pictures of my progress (I will get week one photos up as soon as I can).  Public humiliation at what I have let my body get to and who I have become will give me the boost and motivation I need to keep going.

I feel AMAZING and I want everyone to experience the way that I feel for themselves!  If you want to know more about HerbaLife and start the challenge for yourself, contact me and I will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know.  I will be here sharing my story and like itsjoherbalife does for me, I will be here for 24/7 support for you!  Get HerbaLife and get in control of your body and your health today!