Mission Accomplished

So the 10 day drought (cleanse) is over and it has been pretty successful.  The results are a testament to the book and detox's instructions.  If you follow thru the recipes everyday and make sure to consume only healthy snacks you too should be successful.  I have lost an inch in each area measured (bust, waist, hips) and a total of 12lbs.  I also leave with some other benefits mentioned in book like a clearer mind and less of a craving for unhealthy foods. Here are my before and afters

Didn't have as big of an affect on my skin as I had hoped for so not much change there.

Abbage please? Lol I see a sliiiight difference.

Men lie, women lie, numbers don't lie ;)

#FIT

Halfway Observations (10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse)

So yesterday was Day 5 of the cleanse, and it wasn't an easy day... well part of it.  Part of it was full of nausea, diarrhea, and feeling faint.  I don't believe it was all due to cleanse, but miss mother nature and maybe the cleanse just heightened these side affects that I sometimes get around that time.  I felt better at the end of the day and set out to get my shopping list for the last five days, which brings me to my first observation:

Observation #1:  I didn't really need much off of the second shopping list.  I still had greens and frozen fruit leftover from the first five days shopping list.  The only thing I needed to get was frozen pineapples, which were not on the first shopping list.  I bought mixed fruit which had strawberries, peaches, mangoes and pineapples, with more of the former than the latter of course so I will need to go out and get frozen pineapples again... by themselves this time! lol.  However I am now with a surplus of strawberries and peaches.  I'm pretty sure I'm using all the right amounts, because I measure ingredients according to book.  I may need to buy some more spinach before it's over, but I'm going to play the rest of the days out and see; perhaps the shopping list is written with a "better safe than sorry" mentality, which is great because that means this cleans will cost less than I expected.

Observation #2:  I don't find myself extraordinarily hungry.  When I am hungry I eat my snacks.  Now don't get me wrong I do miss food, I mean I am a foodie after all, but it;s not like I'm starving.  I find that my organic/all natural peanut butter is great for curbing my appetite and is probably something I will keep up with even when the cleanse is over.  Peanut butter is something that I eat a lot of and often, so it;s important that I choose the most healthiest option.

Observation #3: As of yesterday morning I had loss 7lbs.  The book's cover promotes lose 10-15lbs in 10 days, so being down 5-8lbs halfway thru seems right on target.

Observation #4: Day 6 Smoothie is actually green (ones so far have been like a baby poop green or muddy burgundy/brown) and actually looks appetizing and looks like this picture off of group Facebook page.

10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse Day 1 and 2

Been gone for a minute now I'm back with the jump off!!

Haven't done a post in a while, but decided to revisited to tell yall about this green smoothie cleanse. Since my last post my weight has crept back up to 189lbs, I try not to worry too much about scale numbers, but I also noticed the belt wasn't being pulled to that last hole anymore lol; but hey that's why they call it a journey right?  Lately I haven't been eating as clean... Ok I was eating straight junk lol and I haven't been as disciplined when it comes to working out.  All that being said, when I came off of vacation yesterday I started JJ Smith's 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse.  All info for the cleanse is found in Smith's book of the same name.  A lot of helpful information is also on the Facebook group page found here, a huuuge group of us all started Monday, July 6th (Post 4th of July Cleanse).

I think it can be found on Amazon for $8, I got it from target for $12 (since I just decided Saturday I was doing cleanse I needed it immediately).

Day 1 Prep

Day 1 went pretty well. I'm doing the full cleanse (3 smoothies=3 meals) with healthy snacks in between. I ate boiled eggs (2) and 100 calorie pack all natural almonds as my snacks.  I got a little hungry at the end of the day yesterday so I bought some all natural peanut butter (no sugar/non processed).  I will be eating that with celery sticks as another snack.  Day 1 smoothie was pretty ok and today's smoothie tasted even better (the book contains a different smoothie recipe for each of the ten days).  I got all ingredients for first five days (shopping list is broken down into first 5 days and last 5 days) mostly from Aldi's of course and a couple of things from MOM's Organic Market.  The total I paid for necessary ingredients was around $50.  Outside of smoothies the cleanse also advises participants to drink plenty of water (duh!) and to drink detox tea each morning.  I was hesitant on the tea (not really a tea drinker) and didn't purchase until the end of day 1.

Yogi brand DeTox tea mentioned in book (I got from Food Lion for $5 and some change).

It's the end of Day 2 and I'm still going strong, it's not too bad if you're eating snacks (remember HEALTHY snacks!).  One thing is I feel like I haven't used the bathroom (#2) as much as the book encourages, this is the reason why I decided to go ahead and get the detox tea.  I actually used the bathroom more with my regular eating (TMI? lol).  Another option from the book is to take Mag 07 (spell check?) to encourage bowel movement, but I'm not currently using that.

The recipes are simple enough and many people have had much success with this cleanse; other than weight loss other benefits found are clearer skin (yas gawd please if that result could happen to me :D), increased energy, better sleep, reduced cravings, and mental clarity (oooooh). 

Welp 2 days down, 8 more to go. I will TRY to check back in before the last day. Here are my befores (what book tells you to take photos of and to measure):

I woke up like this... no seriously I had just woken up in this photo that's why my eyes look tired lol

Darn you belly fat!!! I feel like I have abs, but the fat just don't want them to succeed lol.

39" bust 

32" waist

40" hips 

189lbs

#FIT not so much #FOODIE :( ... Meanwhile I'm having some serious hot sauce withdrawals :P 

Goal Achieved

Today I hopped on the scale and saw that I have reached my goal weight of 180lbs.

I have officially lost a quarter of myself (from 240 to 180!) Setting goals is a great thing, it makes you push yourself, gives you something to look forward to, and helps you to stay on track.  Are you goal digging? #FIT

Progress Day 365

Yea it technically was yesterday, but wow here it is a whole year later from where I started. Started out last January 29th obese and wanting to make a change, now I'm more fit than I've been in my whole life. To anyone who set any type of new year's resolution or any goal this year whether it be health/weight related, to quit smoking, whatever; I want to encourage you to stick with it. You're already almost 30 days in!! The time is gonna go by anyway. You may slip up (I know I do lol), but never give up. As I get older I see more that time really does fly by. This will probably be my last "official" weigh in post, but no worries I will still be posting updates of my progress... Just not officially lol. Stay in the race fit fam. #FIT

Day 365 (366)- Jan 29 (2015)

187 lbs

31” waist

39” hips

23.5” thighs

12” upper arms

33” under bust

Progress Day 330

Well technically it's day 329, but tomorrow's Christmas Eve and well... aint nobody got time for that lol.  Anyways... wow day 330 already only 35 more days to the one year mark. #FIT

Day 330 (329)- Dec 23

187 lbs

31” waist

39” hips

23” thighs

12” upper arms

33” under bust

Progress Day 300

So much life has been happening.  Missed my Day 270 update, her's Day 300.  I've actually only lost 2lbs over the last 60 days, but no worries here.  The scale may not have changed much, but I continue to see changes in how my clothes fit and how my muscles appear.  I've pretty much met my inches goals and my weight goal of 180 is only 9lbs away, I'm already in 2015 with my new goals shawty!!! #FIT

Day 300- November 24
189 lbs

30” waist

39.5” hips

23.5” thighs

12” upper arms

32.5” under bust

50 Pounds and Counting

I've been tap dancing on being 50lbs down for like the past 2 months.  However today was the first time I stepped on the scale and it read 180 something, thought that was epic enough to take a pic lol. 9lbs away from goal and happily packing on the muscle (using the 20lb free weights for arms). #FIT

Day 240

Just ONE lb away from that 50lbs down mark... and just 11 away from my goal of 180. #FIT

Day 240- Sept 25

191 lbs

31” waist

40” hips

24” thighs

13” upper arms

33.5” under bust

Progress Day 210

Fitness update: after working out at home this whole time I've recently joined a gym and started weightlifting. Down 6lbs this past month #FIT

Day 210- August 26

193 lbs

31” waist

40.5” hips

24” thighs

13” upper arms

33.5” under bust