Here's to a new day and a new journey!

I want to share something new and exciting that I am taking on, as well as posting my progress and updates.

As I have already been shared with everyone when I started the blog, the medical issues continue as does the painful bloating. YAY.. Well, anyways, last year I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing woman who coaches in health and prosperity, in a grocery store isle of all places! It was soon after our chance meeting and my sharing my personal story with her that she introduced me to not only nutritional cleansing, but also the business opportunity to help others as well. I was somewhat familiar with the idea of cleansing in general, but what she showed me was definitely more than I had known of. I was impressed by what I’ve seen it do for people’s overall health, but I wasn't completely honest with myself when I initially signed on. My medical concerns still continue, but I know that I am more dedicated to feeling better, physically and mentally, and I want to be the best me I can be for my family.

As I have continued to watch others’ amazing life transformations in I am re-dedicating myself to completing my own (2nd) 30-day cleanse to kick start my journey to better health, wellness and personal growth. While my own personal goal is not to particularly see the number on the scale change, but healthier body and mind overall, I am nonetheless inspired to have my own before and after pictures. With all the incredible people I see making remarkable transformations in their lives with the nutritional cleansing program and with all the amazing team love and support; I’m ready to do the same! 

Here I am..

Hey guys! Well, I did the 21 DSD and felt amazing. In reality, I did like 19 days because I started using mayonnaise by then. I kicked coffee and had a bunch of energy. I lost a little bit of weight, but actually didn't measure myself after I was done.
Since moving and all that I've fallen off the wagon. Although I never vowed to fully give up my sugar forever, lol.. I know its bad for you and all that, but I'm human and I like my treats. That's that. My weight right now is not my issue (I don't even have my scale yet as we have not received our household goods from Italy yet) and I think I'm still pretty close to what my target weight was. That being said, I still am very self conscious about my post baby body. With jobs, transporting, kids in day care, I don't exactly have time for getting a gym membership. I've been complaining a lot to my husband about my body and decided today to start looking at T25 to help me tone my problem areas. I've tried P90X before but it hurts my joints (previous injury) so that was out. I read some good stuff about T25 and think it's actually going to be pretty do - able. Hubby even said we could possibly put work out stuff w a TV for the videos in our garage. 
So, I ordered the program. I already know what to eat to make me Feel better on the inside, so this seems like the logical step for me personally.
See ya'll in a few 

Days 6 & 7

Day 6:
I really wouldn't mind some coffee. With creamer. No, not plain half and half or heavy cream. Like the pumpkin spice creamer that I've been hoarding since the holiday season. Or a Starbucks iced white mocha. Yep, that's gonna be what I have first when I'm done with this. No crazy sugar binge, just some coffee that doesn't taste like coffee. Oh, and a real protein shake with flavor. :)

Weekends should be fun with the cleanse/detox, when everyone is doing dinners and whatnot. Today is my nephews birthday party, which means a bbq. At least there's always meat at a bbq, right?

Breakfast without a smoothie meant eggs and bacon. Bacon is always a winner for the toddler. And anyone else awake that early in the house.

I went to Whole Foods to load up on the protein powder and prosciutto that is slightly less than $11.00, and realized that I was hungry. I figured I'd take a salad with me from there to the bbq to go along with my meat. I also grabbed some steamed veggies, cottage cheese and hard boiled eggs and ate those within about 5 min so that I could get on with my errands. Whole Foods salad and hot bar never really disappoint. Even though there's a nice little bakery cupboard right next to it and I totally could have gone for a fresh rice krispy treat. Or even the Paleo cherry almond cookies I noticed at the register. Nope. I was good. Although, I was MIGHTY tempted to get a white mocha with almond milk from their coffee bar and justify it that at least WF's is healthy. I did not.

Off to the bbq.. I had a hamburger that I picked up from the store that was stuffed with jalepeno's, cheddar cheese and seasoning. Since I didn't take my homemade ketchup or mayo with me I had it plain. It was good, but I missed condiments. On the salad I had some wine vinegar.. then looking it up later, I think there is sugar in it. While everyone had cake and ice cream, I was occupied feeding the little one and chatting so I was fine. I don't actually like chocolate cake anyways.




Day 7!!!
Go me! A week!!!! I feel pretty proud of myself..  :)
Since Ive done Weight Watchers before and their weigh in's are weekly, I figured it was ok.. My weight this morning was about 145.5, but my stomach measurement was still about 37. I am not trying to lose weight, so Im hoping I can stay right where I am number wise. I am a little frustrated about the bloating still being there, but I feel different. Better. And I'm sure it will take longer than 7 days to see the bloating go down. Which is probably why the author of 21 DSD recommends you wait until it's completed. She doesn't know my lack of patience however.. lol.

Since I got more protein powder I was looking forward to my smoothie. I made it as I usually do, but it wasn't as good for some reason. IDK, maybe my tastes are changing or maybe the bananas weren't as ripe. Who knows. Since I wasn't totally satisfied I added bacon. Not to the smoothie, just to my breakfast. Everyone else had some too of course.

Sundays in Utah mean big family dinners, so I knew I wasn't going to eat much beforehand. Honestly, I don't even remember what I had for lunch as I sit down and write this.. I did make some "ranch dip" using my homemade mayo since its just been sitting in the fridge. Added sour cream and spices and its actually pretty good. Dinner was awesome. Roast, mashed cauliflower (everyone else had potatoes), green beans and ceasar salad. All 21 DSD approved :)

Oooooooooh, "ranch" :)

Bomb.com

14 days to go.. wooooo!!!!!

Days 4-5

Day 4:
Well, as the book says, you should experience face break outs, in addition to the flu-like symptoms, around day 3 or 4. Check. Luckily mine wasn't bad. I woke up hungry and in pain, but I think that's due to sleeping in the same bed with my toddler. His choice, not mine.
I made another smoothie and I'm starting to REALLY like them. Sadly, I only bought a little pack of the protein powder to taste before buying a big can of it, and I used the rest today. That was my breakfast really..
The day didn't consist of much besides hanging with the kiddos. Although, I did realize that I am starting to feel more calm when dealing with my little boy, and that in and of itself is Awesome!
My snacks continue to be the almonds or prosciutto and mozzarella. I've also added olives here and there. I realized I haven't had any grains really for the last couple days. Some are allowed in small amounts on the DSD level I'm doing, but I really don't like the "full" feeling they leave you with after you eat them. Lunch was another portobello pizza thing. I had to go buy more, I love them. For dinner I seasoned some shrimp in taco like seasonings, NOT from a package, and ate them with avocado, some zuccchini/parmesean "fries" and a salad.
My dad had a work lunch at Cheesecake Factory and brought his home... Yup, the red velvet cheesecake that's like 2 days worth of calories and Beyond amazing. So, I got to stare at that in the fridge (its still there... come on!!!). I had frozen banana slices...

Seriously?!?!

On to Day 5:
Being out of the protein powder powder, I decided I'd make some pumpkin pancakes. I did throw a few mashed up bananas in the mix to see if it would sweeten just a little bit. The paleo recipe I have is awesome, so I figured just taking out the pure maple syrup would be DSD good to go. The DSD recipe says to use some coconut butter with a little vanilla it it. OK, give that a try. But just in case I didn't like it I added a side of almond butter just in case. And some turkey sausage.

Well, they were pretty healthy tasting I can say that. I would not consider them a favorite of mine however. I think it's fair to say I should just stay away from all the raw coconut stuff... Unless its coconut milk/cream in an adult beverage :)
Plus side, my son ate the pancakes, but his had butter and syrup on them of course.

At the gym I noticed my body was pretty achy and tired, so I didn't do as much cardio and just did ab work until I was burnt out for the day. I know the body fatigue stuff is normal and is actually a good sign. On the plus side, today I actually went to the gym in a work out tank top though instead of a tshirt and I didn't feel gross and embarrassed. I left hungry.

Lunch was a big salad with artichoke hearts, olives, mozzarella and some prosciutto.. Starting to see a trend? LOL...

This afternoon we went to visit my friend, who just happened to be making cupcakes when we got there. Ughhhhh!!!! I really just wanted some frosting..

I didn't really snack today and realized that by the time I was starving at dinner. Trader Joes has these awesome little rolled up steaks filled with feta, spinach and red peppers. I'm not to keen on the feta, but it was actually pretty good. Didn't taste like feet like I remember from my childhood when my mom used to eat it. But, I don't know if I'm quite ready to eat it plain.

No cheesecake or cupcakes for me.. I tried to make a smoothie with the all ingredients besides the protein powder. No go. Apparently the powder actually has a flavor that makes it good... Dessert is overrated.. ???

Wow, it's almost a week down! Rad :)

Catherine

3 days in

Ok, so it's really not all that bad in all honesty. I was thinking about it, and even though I know could go for some gf goodies or super sweetened coffee, if I was told "eat whatever you want, one thing" I don't think there is anything I would really, Really want. Surprising actually. I do open the pantry here and there when Im hungry and think "there really isnt anything I can eat in here" so I just shrug my shoulders and have some more prosciutto, lol. Seriously, I could eat it all day. Which, like my husband pointed out to me, I really never ate a whole lot of it in Italy. I liked it, but couldn't eat very much of it. Strange. But there is an Italian deli in Salt Lake that has awesome stuff, so I got some there. Who knew good prosciutto cost $22 a pound?!?! I only bought half, lol.
I woke up again hungry, and actually looked forward to my new smoothie invention. Not sweet, but good flavor from the bananas. I could probably drink it everyday. So, I had that before going to the gym. Unfortunately my gym time was cut in half today due to trying to figure out my membership mess.. Amazingly Golds gym actually hooked me up and let me just do one more month since they know the military situation. Which btw, seems to be working out in our favor, and we "should" be headed to San Diego in about a month or so!! Im so happy :)
Anywho.. after the gym I was pretty much starving And was at the grocery store. That always equals a good time. I settled on a snack size bag of roasted almonds, and ate almost the whole thing as I shopped. And then a little more in the car. At the store I found these huge portobello mushrooms stuffed with mozzarella and spinach. Now usually, portobellos are on not exactly on my "like" list, but I figured Id try them out one more time. They were Awesome! I put a couple of pepperoni's on them (not sure they're exactly on the DSD...) and dipped it in sugar free pizza sauce. So good.

I kind of wanted the other one in the package for dinner, but decided that would be kind of lame. So, since "noodles" are always a go-to for my son, I made him some gluten free spaghetti and made myself some zucchini noodles ( I over cooked them and they were mostly mush, still good though) and threw together a sauce with plain tomato sauce, some stewed tomatoes and a bunch of seasoning. Of course the boy ate his up, as usual.. Complete with his mound of Parmesan cheese.. Gotta love toddlers :)

Zucchini noodles are awesome, but always super watery.. 

Of course I was hungry again at like 8, so I cooked up some bananas in some coconut oil with cinnamon. Worked for me. And my son liked them too, always a plus.

As I mentioned before about the sick feeling most people encounter, I did notice that I had a few waves of nausea, but they passed pretty fast. I was a little tired around that 3:00 slump time, but not exhausted by any means.
So far I'm feeling pretty good about this :-)

Catherine

Day 2

So, I weighed and measured myself this morning.. even though I know it's not a good idea to be stuck on the scale. Much to my dismay, still the same, lol. Although I did wake up pretty hungry (and was hungry before going to bed last night too) and mad that I couldn't have coffee or chai or even some gluten free toast (I Finally found an awesome gf bread from a local lady, so I froze what I had left of the loaf). I kind of just threw some things together for a protein smoothie (pic below). It actually turned out pretty good. I also make a 21 DSD approved "treat" that is supposed to be like that frozen banana "ice cream". The recipe called for a whole can of coconut milk so I used half that and half unsweetened almond milk, in addition to some of my frozen bananas, vanilla, cocoa powder and almond butter. It wasn't ice cream, but it certainly wasn't anything bad. My 2 year old ate it up, "Ice cream!!!!". Good to know I can make it for him when we don't live in a house full of sugar and treats :)

I slept pretty good last night, but even better, my daughter (7 months) slept thru the night! It happens on occasion. I read that the sleep thing does improve pretty quickly, so assuming Im not being woken up every few hours I think Im on track. The book (and pretty much everyone Ive read who has done this) says that by about day 3-4 you start to get flu like symptoms.. Should be interesting. I don't have a Ton of energy just yet, but Im also not fighting to keep my eyes open like I was on Sunday.

So after breakfast of a basic smoothie.. Snacks for the day included roasted/salted almonds and pistachios or prosciutto and mozzarella. I finished off the prosciutto, it was from Whole Foods and Awesome. Ive got to go get more. And some coconut butter, which Im a little scared to try as I'm not a fan of coconut really. I used another recipe from the 21 DSD book which is for some crackers using almond meal. They actually are pretty good and super easy to make. I had them for lunch with some egg salad that I made with the homemade mayo. Pretty good! After an afternoon with the kids (mostly picking up after them/him, chasing down dogs that the toddler let out the front door, more cleaning...) I figured Id marinate some steak pieces in balsamic. Until I opened the package and it had gone bad.. Seriously though, I just bought it! Boo.. I was looking forward to them so much. I then decided to make some tacos (for the fam)/ taco salad for me. Of course taco seasoning has sugar and of course I couldn't for the life of me find any chili powder in the cupboard. And the tomatoes had gone bad..Life, I tell ya lol.. No one was even home for dinner anyways to eat the tacos that actually had the taco seasoning in them. Doesn't that just figure? ;)
Today I actually had 2 pieces of approved fruit (you should really only have one), the banana in my smoothie and a green apple with almond butter after dinner. Don't judge me, at least I haven't given it to sugar.. Or anything remotely calling my name :)
 

Catherine

I got the protein from Whole Foods.. Also very hard to find protein powder that has no flavorings or sugars. l

It's not every day you get to look at a bowl of homemade mayo :)

It sufficed... But Ive got to make something better tomorrow.

21 DSD has begun!

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Hey guys.. Well, I started today on the 21 Day Sugar Detox (I bought the book by Diane Sanfilippo, fyi). Mid afternoon and I feel fine, seeing as how I actually haven't been without it very long, lol. I figure I'd share my stats and even my before pictures. Only those absolute closest to me have seen them. Even though I know there is something 'wrong" with me, I have spent several days/ nights crying because Im so embarrassed. I haven't gained weight like you would think by looking at me, it's just SO weird and frustrating. My clothes fit really odd now, uncomfortable. Surprisingly, I can can still get most of them on... Anywho, after I lost my baby weight from my daughters birth in September last year, I have been between 146-150. Since today is Day 1 of the detox, Im starting with todays weight and stomach measurement. First thing this AM I weighed about 149.5-150 and my stomach measured just over 37". So, I'll call this my starting point. In the book, she recommends not weighing yourself or measuring until its completed, which is going to be extremely hard for me as I usually do it daily.

Utilizing recipes from the book is how Ive started the day. I actually made homemade mayonnaise yesterday (it takes some getting used too, lol) and have all the ingredients for an unsweetened ketchup in the crockpot right now. Its "sweetened" with green apples. Which by the way, I realized as I was dicing them, I like them more than I remember. You know what I'm not a huge fan of though? Canned coconut milk. Now THAT takes some getting used too. I made a coconut milk smoothie this morning that consisted of the canned milk, a greenish banana, some vanilla, ice and some water. Well, it wasn't my favorite, but I drank it, took my supplements and went to the gym. Just a side note, I do try to go to the gym appx 2-3 times per week when I take my son to pre-school. I usually do some cardio and have been pretty much just doing ab exercises, but I really can't help but wonder if it's doing more harm than help to my already hardened stomach..??? On the plus side, I have not had any caffeine or sugar crash today and that is awesome! I noticed it big time yesterday, but I had also had the worst nights sleep the night prior, so it was totally a combo of the two.

Making more of the recipes from the book, I made a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but so much oil in a dressing and thats all I can taste. Living in Italy, where no such thing as salad dressing besides oil and vinegar exist, I wasn't bothered by it. Odd. So, for lunch I made a salad with romaine, some plain chicken, some full fat mozzarella and some artichoke hearts with said dressing. It was a salad, so you cant really mess that up, lol. As long as I didn't eat a huge bite of oil-y-ness, it was good. I may have also had a few bites of prosciutto and mozzarella as well. OK, I did. I was really good. I think Im going to try an "avocado ranch" dressing recipe next.. Just a thought. Oh, and I totally just burned some cinnamon almonds. I don't even know why I was expecting them to be somewhat sweet, as the whole idea of "sweet" anything is out. Instead, Im eating plain ol' almonds as a snack.

With Dr Oz on tv in the background, I think I'm going to write him a letter about my issues and see if I might get a trip to the show. :)

Catherine

Thanks to tshirts and hoodies, I can hide it.. But it's going to be Summer soon! :(

It took A LOT of courage to put this up. Day 1 (After 2 months of this) of Detox. Here's to hoping it works!

I spend most of my time just sucking in so people don't notice, but it's pretty painful.

My daily supplies: Natural Calm Mag powder 2-3x a day, Miralax when I remember, 3 Magnesium gel caps per day, No Bloat digestive enzyme 2 per meal and 2 probiotics at night. 

Isn't salad SO exciting?? :)