So, it’s time to come clean. I fell off the wagon. I was doing great for the first 3 weeks on the program with sticking to my healthy eating plan, exercising, and getting my water in. Then vacation happened.

You know the whole I’m out of my routine and I’m going to try to be so good attitude. It lasted for about 3 days. Then vacation mentality started. I mean, my FitBit was logging me at over 10,000 steps per day so I deserved to eat whatever I wanted all day long, right? Um, no.

The last three weeks I’ve done horrible. I have many excuses. We’ve been busy with sporting events, practices, and the like. It’s been rainy out. I’m stressed out. I left all of my meal plans and snack bars in our condo on vacation so I don’t have my convenience go to foods. (I did do this but it’s not an excuse since I still had my smoothee mix!) “So many others are having success and now I feel like a failure” type of mentality. I could go on and on about my excuses for not getting back with the program.

I’m honestly afraid to step on the scales at this point. I don’t want to know if I’ve gained back the 5 lbs I lost at the beginning of the program. I’m guessing yes based on the way my ring fits!

I’m sure many of you have been there and done this circle of shame. Actually for the last week, I’ve done decent until about 5 p.m. every day. Then it all goes downhill. There is something about my complete lack of control as soon as I pick up my kids. It is so easy to stick to my plan when I’m at the office where I bring my snacks and lunch and don’t have unlimited access to the refrigerator and pantry and I don’t have kids screaming and fighting with each other, which makes me want to reach for the comfort of my Reese’s cups.

So today, Monday, April 29, 2013 I resolve to stick with the plan. This means:

• No more fancy coffees. (I started back up on this habit. I’m now 4 days without caffeine so I think I can stick with this one!)
• No more soda/pop.  Yeah, I started back up on this one again too. Something about the ballpark makes feel like I have to have a fountain drink.
• Get back to walking/jogging 3-5x per week.  I feel better when I do this so it will help me stick with the plan!

This month is about motivation. I’m going to motivate myself right back into this program…..

Read more about my fitness and weight loss journey as well as specific posts with the Shaklee-180 program.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week. This Post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor.  Read more on my Disclosure Policy.

I completed my first Shaklee vlog. There is always room for improvement but please be patient with my vlogging skills. I HATE, HATE to watch myself or listen to my own voice, which I why I never watch myself when I do a news segment. AND, I always say, when I lose weight, I’ll do more vlogging…the time is now folks….

Read more about my fitness and weight loss journey as well as specific posts with the Shaklee-180 program.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week. This Post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor.  Read more on my Disclosure Policy.

Last week, I shared photos of me that I really don’t want to share but I did. Knowing that I had posted these photos motivated me throughout the entire week along with the rest of my #Shaklee180 bloggers!

This past week I stayed within 1200-1500 calories every day. Closer to 1500 calories I would say. In the past, I’ve always tried to stay at 1200 calories and I would go over that allotment. Then I would get discouraged. Staying at the 1500 calorie plan has really helped me to stay on track.

Here’s my typical day on Shaklee180:

Breakfast

Smoothie: 2 Scoops Shaklee Smoothee Mix, 1 cup Almond Milk, 1 cup fruits or veggies

I’ve been using spinach, bananas, frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries, frozen bananas, PB2 in my smoothies. See more of my Shaklee 180 Recipes here.

Morning Snack

Apple (most of the time I skip the morning snack as I get busy)

Lunch

Shaklee Smoothee using one of my favorite recipes or a Shaklee meal replacement bar. I prefer the a smoothie but in a time crunch the meal replacement bars are very filling.

Afternoon Snack

Shaklee Snack Bar, apple, cucumber, orange, carrots, greek yogurt & Shaklee Tea

Dinner

Veggies, Rice, and a vegetarian protein…one night I made this awesome Zucchini Spinach Lasagna (no noodles) which was absolutely delicious and only 277 calories for 1/8 a pan!

After Dinner Snack

An occasional Benita Frozen Coconut Bar (ALDI) :)

Lots of water! 

I’m getting plenty of nutrients and I’m feeling very satisfied during the day. Carrots are starting to taste good again! Crazy, I know.

The results have been encouraging – down 4.2 pounds and 3.5″ in my waist, hips, arm, and bust . I know much of what you lose the first week on any new change is water but it’s always encouraging to see the scale going down.

One thing I did not do and haven’t been doing for the past couple of weeks is exercising. This upcoming week, I’m going to transition exercise back into my daily routine. I wanted to get settled with the new eating plan before adding in exercise. With me, exercise makes me incredibly hungry – one step at a time!

Read more about my fitness and weight loss journey as well as specific posts with the Shaklee-180 program.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week. This Post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor.  Read more on my Disclosure Policy.

At the beginning of the year I told you about my new year fitness and healthy eating goals. January was great. February I started to slip off track due to the extremely cold weather here in Indiana but that doesn’t excuse my eating binges. March is a new month and I’m starting it with the Shaklee 180™ program with a great group of bloggers, which is gonna keep me on track!

As part of the blogging program, I will be sharing my experiences with you. This is going to include pictures.  Pictures are a great motivating tool. Since, I’m going to get it all out on the web, this should give me some really good motivation to stay on track. I was considering not sharing these right away. However, I think I need to just get it over with and not wait until the after picture to share because in the past waiting until the after photo just hasn’t worked out.

There are certain elements to a good before picture that you must know including:

• No makeup. Makeup is for after pictures only. In fact, the greasier and oiler you are, the better of a before picture you will create.
• Hair messy or in a ponytail. Have you ever seen a before picture where someone has done there hair?
• Tight clothing that exposes every fat roll possible. Many people go for the sports bra, swimsuit, or bra pose.  I will spare you that as I’m not ready to be that open here and people that I have to see everyday do read my blog – like the parents of my kids’ friends or their teachers. I’ll spare ya’ll that mental image!
• No smile. In fact, look as miserable as you probably feel.

The best before pictures, people look like they rolled out of a dumpster after a long night of binge eating. True story. ;)

Knowing these things about before pictures, I really wanted to make sure I look my worst. I mean really, really bad. Keep this in mind when I share these photos! I wanted to get this so right I even tried a couple different outfit combinations to see which one was a more accurate depiction of my actual profile.

As you can see, you get a better before picture if you don’t wear black pants. They hide too much. In real life, that is exactly why I love to wear black. I also noticed that a certain famous reality television star – Kim something or another often wears all black.

Over the next few months, this is the outfit I will be wearing in these poses to show you exactly how the Shaklee 180™ program is working for me. This is going to keep me motivated and accountability to the entire internet.

My goals: 

• Eat healthier to feel healthier.
• Exercise 3-5x a week for 30 minutes+.
• Follow the Shaklee 180™ program every single day, which includes two protein smoothies or meal replacement bar a day, healthy snacks, and a healthy dinner with lean proteins, grains, and fruits and vegetables.
• Lose weight focusing on mini weight loss goals. 1st goal – 10% of body weight.
• Feel comfortable actually wearing the above shown tank top that hopefully doesn’t get stretched out with these photos since it is 2-3 sizes too small.
• Post my updates here every two weeks to let you know how things are going. If you don’t see a post from me, CALL ME OUT ON IT!

Read more about my fitness and weight loss journey as well as specific posts with the Shaklee-180 program.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week. This Post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor.  Read more on my Disclosure Policy.