Back to my regular lifting schedule.

i'm back from minnesota, for a little while anyway and some of you have been asking about workouts and eating habits i've recently started to form more seriously. a few of you might know my story from the past couple months but here it is!

for a couple years now i've been on again off again working out, and also starting changing what i eat but i wasn't seeing any change. i was completely stuck and because of that, i would get so unmotivated. As gross as this might sound, i always was feeling bloated, i wasn't getting anywhere and i had a few lbs to lose. (i still have a couple, but i'm well on my way!) My good friend Jordan has been a distributer of Advocare for a while and i saw the products he was using and how good he felt, i finally decided the last time i went to Minnesota, i was ready to change and try a cleanse.

I started the 24 day challenge in May and for me, discipline of food was the toughest part. yikes. it slowly has been getting easier to say no to junk seeing how my body is changing and how good i feel after eating better. i stuck as close to the diet as i could and by the end of the 24 days.. i felt GREAT! i lost a few inches, the food i was eating made me feel good and i was finally understanding the saying that "nothing tastes as good as fit feels" cause.. i didn't fully believe that before. 

I wouldn't have made it through the challenge with such enthusiasm if it wasn't for the Warren family and my husband. They have great eating habits, and helped me every step of the way with whatever i needed, they were there for encouragement. 

now that the cleanse is done, yes i have cheat meals but when i don't i feel how different my body reacts to food and how much better i feel when i stay away from a lot of dairy or gluten. i'm not completely gluten or dairy free but it gets more and more everyday. 

One of the days, i allowed more cheese than i have had since the start of the cleanse, and for the rest of the day, i felt sick. my stomach bloated and i could really tell how dairy affected my body. yuck. for those of you who don't know... i absolutely was in love with bread and cheese so not desiring it (as much) is a huge step. 

These photos are slowly showing progress and when i feel like i'm at my first big goal, i'll show before and afters. my workout is mostly lifting, a little cardio, and of course... as much clean eating as i can. I'm so excited to continue to see progress, and if any of you have questions or are maybe in doing the challenge, let me know! i'd love to help you out and start feeling good about YOU again! Want to see product i use, food i eat or more progress pics? follow me on instagram for all your stalking needs. :) 

Five things.

Get ready for mostly Health products! One blog i love too!

WOW happy sunday once again! i have to start by saying what an interesting weekend it's been! Work of course, but My husband and i got to spend a little more time together, we went to the drive-in on friday. (little chilly but top down in the mustang of course!) The adventure getting there was really what made the evening. We decided 50 minutes before the movie started to go on this date. we ordered some Capriottis, stopped at the gas station, and then the ridiculousness began. First Brandon got pulled over; and this was my first time being pulled over with him. He got out of it of course which i had to laugh at. Then we went by at least 5 fire trucks all rushing to the same area we assumed, which made us late, but we MADE IT! However the ride home wasn't as fun. Conner threw up. We can't complain, we had a fun adventure and it's one of our favorite things to do! 

Today was our celebration of Valentines since i work on Tuesday, and he got me the etsy pink minnesota necklace i wanted! BAH!! i was too thrilled. If you don't remember, the post on it can be seen here. We headed out to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant on the strip and had such a fun time! we recently decided we need to eat at some of these places once in a while so if we have to move, we're taking advantage of Las Vegas before we leave! Let me tell you, so far we've seen one show, a little over a month ago. We're a little behind, but MAN it can be expensive. I've really enjoyed the mini adventures in our own town.  

This weekend i downloaded a few things i wanted to share! First is Skinny B*tch. I'm not a fan of the name, but it's a FANTASTIC book to motivate you. It's $10 on IBooks, and completely worth it if you want a new perspective on food. Actually it's really blunt, so get ready to laugh, sometimes be offended and then feel bad for what you're eating. It's my second time reading it, and i already am again going to change some habits. It's technically a book about being Vegan, but you definitely don't have to eat that way or go to that extreme, although the first time i read it i tried going vegan for about 2 weeks, i really liked it but it can be a challenge to do! only on chapter two and i forgot how extremely funny it is. here's some blunt truth... "Soda is liquid satan." something i like to think about.

"If you can't take one more day of self-loathing, you're ready to hear the truth: You cannot keep shoveling the same crap into your mouth every day and expect to lose weight"

I've heard people get a little hurt by the book but just read it knowing they're blunt about not just what YOU eat but what we all eat, and how unhealthy it is. Because of this book the first time, i stopped drinking milk, and switched a lot of the food to organic, still not completely there and i definitely cheat and eat junk sometimes, but i feel much better and have been losing weight! There are small changes you can make to get to a healthier you, you can decide what to cut out and how to change it!  Click on image to to go their site. 

So i said i no longer buy milk. There are a few reasons for this. It started quite a while ago, i think i was still in high school. Milk started to taste old to me, even if it was brand new, i couldn't drink it. Then after reading this book i realized that maybe i wasn't crazy! here's a little blurb from the book...

"When a woman gives birth, her body produces milk and she nurses her child. Breast milk can grow an 8-pound newborn into a 24-pound toddler. Sounds pretty fattening, huh? It is. By design, it is intended to allow for the biggest growth spurt of a person’s entire life. Breast milk alone can accommodate for a 300 percent weight gain in a 12 month period. When her child is anywhere from 12 to 24 months old, a mother stops breast feeding. Her milk dries up. The child will never drink breast milk ever again" 

Obviously it's saying milk can be great for that growth spurt needed at the beginning of our lives, but after that, it's just fattening, i know lots of people have said to be "but what about the calcium!", but there are TONS of other ways to get the daily value. I started buying Rice Dream as a substitute, i love it! it tastes great, lasts longer (since i could never finish the milk that tasted old and this has a couple week life in the fridge) and it cooks practically the same so nope i NEVER buy milk. I'm still looking for GOOD substitues for cheese and sour cream since we use a ton of it, i think eventually, but it's just not great for your system, and there are better less fattening ways to get those daily needs! 

There's my milk, and here's my cereal! I admit i still have to buy cereals like "Fruit Loops" and "Pops" because my husband still likes them, but i only eat these delish cereals. I've been really enjoying Kashi brand cereal so i stick with those my favorite being Warm Cinnamon.

Thanks to Alyssa who showed me a new app i've fallen in love with... since yesterday. it's called Fooducate and it's free, so yup try it. It's a scanner you can use at the grocery store to see what "grade" each food is. 

So i tried my favorite cereal.. not bad! It got a B+ i then tried fruit loops, D+ then the app tells you why it's good or bad, calories, and has an alternatives button to help you shop a little healthier. Thanks Alyssa i'm hooked! 

So are you sick of hearing only health things... fine i'll share something else! Tara Swain is a photographer in Texas, and i've been following her work for a couple of years, and get TONS of inspiration from her blog and photos. Her images are bright, sharp, and gorgeous. i love her new ideas! Just by her blog, and photos you can tell she has such a shining colorful personality and i'd love to learn from her someday! click on the image below to go to her blog!

After blogging five things last week, i was telling my husband about it, and he told me he should've been on it by now, and the puppies. i told him he was my absolute favorite thing, and so were puppies, so whoops! they're mentioned now ;) 

A little longer post about the five things, but i might have been slightly passionate about these. Have a wonderful week, and i'd love to hear about your valentines day surprises! Oh!- and any healthy snacks, foods, or substitutes you want to share!