It’s official!

Okay guys, I’ve included another before and after of myself… this is the one that I am actually going to include in the before and afters that I share at my Arbonne events. I think it’s pretty impressive. I can’t believe I looked like that before I started this great adventure less than a year ago. It’s been such a life changing experience and I’ve learned a lot about myself along the way.

As I mentioned before, my skin has also cleared up a LOT during this process, but I haven’t been home to Nevada recently to get my camera cord to download the pictures from my camera to the computer. Fear not, though. I will. And prepare to be impressed.

Sorry this cleanse blog was so boring. I’ve been really busy and of course it’s just not as exciting to blog about the cleanse the third time through. It’s just become such a routine for me that I didn’t really know what else I could share that I didn’t share in the first blog. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… and my first experience through was gold! So if you’re curious, read the older blogs in this section.

Stay tuned for one final blog regarding my skin issues. I think you’ll like that one the best…

Back From Vegas!

So as most of you know, if you are following my blog, I’m cleansing again!

I’m on day 18 this time through and I haven’t actually been weighing myself everyday. You’re actually not supposed to do that anyway, so I’m trying to stick to the rules. If I had to guess I would say I’ve lost probably 8-10 lbs at this point, just based on how my clothes are fitting and the fact that people have noticed.

The one thing I can tell you is this: my skin has really cleared up. It’s not 100% yet, but I haven’t been as strict this time through on the program as I have been in the past. Since I really no longer need to lose as much weight as I have had to lose in the past, I have been really trying to find a middle ground on the program… something that I can feel comfortable being on consistently.

I just got home from the Arbonne conference in Las Vegas, and as I’m sure you know, it’s not easy to stay on a program when you’re on vacation or away from home for any length of time! Needless to say, I wasn’t perfect, but you would be surprised. I got my veggies, I had at least one shake a day, I stuck to my fizzy tabs and I didn’t eat sugar, salt, gluten or most of the other things. I did break down and have some cheese here and there, and I did have one soda (my weakness) and finally, I did eat a small roll of bread. So I guess my point is, no one is perfect. Sometimes it’s hard to stay on track, but the best thing you can do when you get off track is forgive yourself and move forward. I got right back on track when I got home and I would be surprised if it affected the weight loss. The point is you need to learn to find a middle ground, which is what I’m trying to work on. Be good most of the time so that the times when you stray, it’s not so bad! 🙂

And I do believe my original assumption was correct… I have a dairy allergy. TERRIBLE! And it shows up on my face! I’d almost rather it upset my stomach or something. Cheese is my favorite!! But I guess, now that I know, I can get away with having it on one of my meals and not all 3! Or maybe even once every other day! Or even just as a treat if need be, but there is just no way that I can give it up completely. But my skin is bad enough that I do have to make some kind of a change.

I’ve determined that it’s the hormones in my food as well, which includes a lot of dairy. OOOO I just had a thought! I wonder if I can eat organic cheese!! That might work out! Just occurred to me. But yes, hormones are the cause of most cases of adult acne. And clearly it’s food that is causing my particular problem and so I know that it has to be the hormones in the foods that I’m consuming. It’s really very alarming the amount of crap that’s in our food!!

Anyway, I have decided that I will in fact put the before and after pics of my face up on the blog once I’m done. I’m definitely seeing enough of an improvement that it will be worth it to embarrass myself to show you guys just how impressive the products are!

And on that note, Arbonne has taken things a step further. They have taken everything great about the Cambiati program and they have put all the products you need, plus recipes, plus a food guide all in one kit. It’s really easy! And it’s so much more affordable, so let me know if that is something you’re interested in learning more about. I’m definitely going to be using that program exclusively from here on out… so as soon as I finish this 28 day, I’m going to move to the Arbonne 30 day kit so that I can blog about that one and compare. Since it’s cheaper, I think that’s going to be the one stop shop for me.

Stay tuned…

For ideas on meals, so far I have had my classic vanilla shake with spinach and berries and for lunch I had some organic chilli. Brand: Amy’s. It’s delicious! Trader Joes is the place!!

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…

Day 5 ladies and gents!

If you have never gone through the program before, this is where it starts to feel more like a routine, and less like torture. If you have been through the program before, like myself, you can hardly believe you’re already 5 days in! It’s flying right by. And I have to say, I really do feel great!

I’ve lost 4 lbs in my 5 days, which pretty much puts me back on track to where I was BEFORE the lovely holidays. But yet again, I am noticing a lost more slimming than the scale is telling. My stomach is already much more flat than it has been over the past few months of eating. I’ve noticed a significant amount of the bloat has gone away. Bloat that I didn’t even really realize I had, mind you.

And I also want to point out that I think it is pretty incredible that I was able to keep off most of the weight loss (I only gained back 4lbs!!) through the holidays! I did it by way of Ti Caudron’s magical formula:

Once off the program, we should live in week one 80% of the time. Week one basically means one shake a day, and as little gluten, dairy, sugars, caffeine, and other harmful yet fun things as possible.

The other 20% of the time should be broken down as follows:

10% of the time, make the best decisions you can with what you are given.

And the last 10% of the time, throw the entire diet out the window and eat and drink whatever! Now, this is my favorite 10% of life and I think most of us would agree. BUT, if we lived 100% of our life this way, we would end up very overweight and very unhealthy. This is the curse of the DIET!! If we diet and then go OFF a diet, we basically don’t do much for our body or our health. Often times it is simply a weight loss goal that has been met, and shortly there after will need to be met again. We always put the weight back on when we diet.

Diets are not the answer!! And this is coming from someone who has dieted a good majority of her life!!

If we live in week one, we are not dieting… we are eating healthy! We are making good decisions. We are treating our body well. And all of this will ultimentaly end up helping us to live a fuller more healthy life! This program is not a diet. It’s a life changer. And you have to be ready to make some serious changes in your life. But it’s easy too. You still get to eat. You still get to eat good food. And you still get to go crazy once in a while. Life is about compromise and although I’m willing to compromise with what I’m eating, I’m not willing to compromise my life. This is the answer.

I have been living life in week one since I got off the last program. I got off the program at the end of September and I went on a cruise in Oct!! We are talking buffets and all you can eat dinners and deserts and alcohol… the whole works. Then I came back just in time for Thanksgiving and we all know what that means! And then Christmas and New Years and parties and eating… it didn’t go well. But 80% of the time, I had my one shake a day and I ate right throughout the day. Now, I want to make sure you realize that 20% of the time I drank, I ate a lot of cream cheese, and I ate well past my portion size. But that’s okay.

And you know what… that’s why I only gained 4 lbs and that’s why my waist size didn’t change.

And now that I’m back on the program, I’ve already lost that extra 4 lbs and I am prepared to continue my decent into the lower sizes. I look and feel amazing and I am so excited to see what’s coming this time around. I have to tell you that I have taken before pictures of my face. Yes, my face. As I mentioned in the previous post, this time, my goal is to really figure out what is causing my break outs. The only time my skin clears up is when I am on this program. It HAS to be something I’m eating. I don’t care what the dermatologist says! He has peeled my face off enough times with enough products that I know better than to trust him anyway. But alas, after only 5 days I have noticed a VERY definite change in my skin. It’s ALREADY starting to clear up in a major way! I can’t believe it. I’m going to have to take pictures throughout this 28 days I’m afraid because I just can’t believe it.

And I fear that I’ve already figured out what the problem is: Cheese.

MY THIRD FAVORITE FOOD!!

Even when I am living in week one, I eat cheese. It doesn’t cause weight gain on me like it might on other people and it doesn’t upset my stomach, but it does appear to be the only thing that I usually eat (daily I’m sure), that I’m no longer eating. This is really, very sad to me. I have to say. But cutting back to cheese only 20% of the time and in more moderation is SO MUCH MORE WORTH IT to me than fussing over my horrible skin every single day. So if that is what it turns out to be, and I won’t know until I can test it in 23 more days, then so be it.

Sometimes it’s hard to face the truth.

Back on the wagon

Okay guys, I’m officially cleansing again. It’s 4:15pm on day one and I am enjoying my second shake of the day! I know that in week one you only have to have one shake a day, but I actually really enjoy them and I find that they are just a lot easier. I’ve never been much of a cook anyway. My husband is going to make a delicious cleanse friendly meal tonight so I’m looking forward to that!

My favorite shake, which I will generally make every single day because I am a create of habit is:

2 scoops vanilla Arbonne protein

1 scoop Arbonne fiber booster (If you are new to the program, you are only taking about 1/2 scoop, but I take fiber every day!)

3-4 servings of spinach. (I never get enough veggies in my diet. The only way I do is if I add them to my shakes. It may sound gross, but you can’t taste the spinach at all. It just makes the shake a weird color!)

3-4 frozen strawberries

1 cup of water

You can use Almond milk instead of water, but I’m boring. You can also add healthy fat, but I like to save all my healthy fat for my meals. 🙂 And of course, there are oh so many shake recipes that you get when you do the program, but that one works for me. I use the chocolate too, but I have come to prefer the vanilla.

As for my cleanse friendly meal tonight, Burny is making a spaghetti sauce out of fresh tomatoes and garlic and basil, as well as organic canned tomato sauce. He mixes that with ground bison meat. If you’ve never tried bison, it is absolutely fantastic. I prefer it over ground beef any day, and it’s leaner than chicken, loaded with good stuff and naturally organic.  It’s so flavorful.

We put that over corn meal spaghetti. You can find it in the organic section of your grocery store. Take it easy on the spaghetti though. You don’t want to have too much corn… it’s a starchy veggie, but oh so delicious. You get plenty of veggies, a little carbs and your lean protein. Not to mention it’s soooo tasty!

A little local tip: Burger’s in Brew in Davis serves Bison burgers. You can get that wrapped in lettuce with a side of veggies and it’s cleanse friendly!

More before and afters from Cambiati!

Tiffany lost 78lbs, her husband lost 30lbs.

Me on the right before both cleanses… (161lbs)

Me 25lbs down at the end of last year… (136lbs)

I’m going for it again folks. I did it twice last year (2010) and had great success. I kind of got off track over the holidays, as I know we all do, and I am armed with the tools and the products to make 2011 a fully successful and skinny year!! I start cleanse class number 3 tomorrow. I am going to blog my way through again. It helps keep me on track and my blog stats from last year tell me that people want to know about this program! So here we go guys… one more time.

My goal this time is to fully blueprint after the 28 days. Blueprinting is reintroducing food into your diet slowly so as to see what foods you react to. For example, since 2008 I have not had clear skin. I never struggled with acne until I moved to Texas in 2008 and ever since then, I have been battleing severe acne. It’s terrible. No matter what I use and no matter what doctor I go to, nothing gets rid of the problem fully. Arbonne has been my only saving grace. Although I don’t always have clear skin, I do have soft and younger looking skin. The Clear Advantage line is the only acne product that I’ve ever used that does not dry out my skin! But acne is my final problem.

The only two times that I have had completely clear skin sinec 2008, no joke, has been when I’ve been on the cleanse. About 5-8 days into it, my face clears up and stays clear until I return to my normal diet. That tells me that it is something I’m eating. I can not tell you the difference in my skin when I am on the program. So this time my goal is to find out once and for all, what is causing this acne… and once and for all, I am going to cure it! God I hope it’s not cheese that is causing the problem… I think I’d take the acne if that’s the case, but we shall see. Wish me luck kids, and follow along if you’d like.

Diet starts tomorrow!!

Know how I know I’m old?

Today is my birthday.

The big 2-7!!

It’s going to be a big year, I’m sure of it. If you are a reader of my blog you know that this is officially the age that I thought I would be having children. LoDown reminded me today that 27 is the age when our eggs start to die off. Women actually start to become infertile at the age of 27. Great. I guess I better get on that. But I can’t help but feel that I am doomed before I’ve even began… 

Just had a thought… what happens when I turn 30? Will I have to change the title of my blog? Hmmm…

Anyway, because it’s my birthday and I am officially turning old, I thought that I would share my day with you. It’s the start of a very important chapter of my life… I can feel it. And I can promise you that being in my LATE twenties will still provide both you and I with many laughs and many adventures. It’s not over yet. I may be approaching 30 but I am still a twenty something.

Today, was a very lovely birthday. And because TODAY was a lovely birthday, I know that I am getting old. Today I woke up at 10am to 13 text messages and 2 voice mails… all with wonderful birthday wishes. Now, again, if you know me you know that my work day does not start until 10am so if you did not get a response… that’s why.

Side bar- I feel like this might be the last year that my day is able to start at 10am. Once kids are in the picture, I know that’s out the window.

First item of business as a 27 year old: Pick up dog poop. Wednesday is the day our lawn mower people come and to be honest, I haven’t been so kind to them in the pick-up-the-poop department so I figured I would do them a favor and clean up after my little man.

Second thing I did was make a protein shake. Yes, I am officially old when I have to get myself on a cleanse diet just to get my body working the right way again. Trust me, I can’t eat like I used to. And I certainly can’t drink like I used to. I really feel like I put my SDSU education to shame when I get these hang overs now… Sad times.

Next I watched two episodes of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’. I love this show. It’s a weakness I have. Even though I am already married and quite happy to have all the wedding mess behind me, I still enjoy watching other women try on their white dress and spend WAY too much money on something they will only wear once. It’s like a drug. Usually I limit myself to one episode before I get to work, but hey… it was my birthday today.

After two episodes, which put me right around noon, I headed up stairs to the office. As I walked up the stairs I found a very unexpected birthday gift from my puppy Harper. He had chewed up my pillow case and brought it out to the top of the stairs so I would be sure to see it. How kind. Of course he was nowhere to be found… and this was quite unexpected considering he hasn’t chewed up anything in at least 3 months… hmm… I guess to a dog, that would be quite a gift. So I forgave him that. I felt much better about the situation when I checked my email and facebook where I had 64 waiting birthday wishes!! 64 by noon!! Thank goodness for facebook reminding everyone that it’s my birthday! I really felt quite special! I was very touched by the amount of people who took the time just to write a happy little note. Lovely start to the work day.

Then I made all my phone calls… the one’s I had been putting off… but I figured that on my birthday I wanted to feel accomplished. And yes, after checking off ALL the items on my to-do list, I closed up my business day around 3pm. I had showered somewhere in between calls and invite making… so by 3 I was already ready to hit the road and run some errands.

I hit up the dry cleaning across the street only to find out that they are closing in 2 weeks! Sad day!! Now I will have to go all the way across town for my dry cleaning… strike that… for Burny’s dry cleaning. So that was kind of a bummer. On the way across town, I stopped at the post office and mailed out some samples (I guess the work day wasn’t done after all). And then I headed home to find that Harper had left me yet another birthday gift, that thoughtful guy. This time he had chewed up the plastic piece on the corner of my bed. What was going on?? But again, I felt much better when I returned to my facebook page to see that I had at least 20 more birthday wishes. I have to say… this birthday in particular was the most widely recognized it would seem. EVERYONE sent me their love. It was wonderful.

At around 4pm, I turned on a recorded call for work (okay… so work wasn’t done at all) and swept and mopped my floors. I also dusted, and cleaned the burners in my kitchen. And after the call was done, I vacuumed. It was at this point that I realized Harper had ripped up 4 new holes in the lawn. He was really on a roll with these birthday gifts for mom… Kind of over kill really.

At 5 I got the mail where 2 birthday cards were waiting… with money!! Got to love that. Nice timing too… I’m terrible at that. And then I got a delivery from the UPS man with ALL of my Holiday products for Arbonne. It was like Christmas on my birthday. I knew it was coming of course, and I had paid for it so technically it wasn’t a gift, but man did it feel like one.

At 6pm I came downstairs to find Harper chewing on one of the brand new Arbonne product that I had just taken out of the box. By then I was livid!! I mean come on!!!!! It was time for the crate. We haven’t been crating him for some time now, and ironically enough, we had taken the crate down and put it in the garage THIS morning… but alas, it didn’t last long out there. He is still a puppy it would seem.

At 7pm I crated Harper and took myself to a movie: Eat Pray Love. It was great. It really got me thinking about traveling and how lucky I am to have been where I’ve been and seen what I’ve seen. It left me feeling very content with where I am, which is good because where I am is oldsville!

So how do I know I’m old?? Well… today was a great birthday. Getting work done, cleaning, eating absolutely no mexican food or drinking any alcohol… and still it was a good day. That’s how I know I’m old.