Does Your Shake Measure Up?

I will admit: I am HOOKED on Shakeology. I will admit something else: I didn't get hooked on it right away. "Did she just say that?" I did, and let me explain. You see, when I first tried Shakeology it was being sold along with a program that I was wanting to try. I was really excited to get my program. The Shakeology and meal plan didn't excite me as much as the exercise programs did (and still do because they are FUN!), so when I purchased the shake along with the program to save the money I was skeptical of the benefits of Shakeology. I finished the program (P90X3) but had only stayed on Shakeology for 14 days. And it wasn't even a consistent 14 days, either. Needless to say, I canceled that first bag, was happy with my results at the time and went on my merry way. But I kept hearing so many people, coaches and customers alike, raving about how they've noticed certain changes in their bodies since starting to consistently drink Shakeology. That's when I decided to give it another chance, but this time I joined as a coach. I have honestly noticed that I have more energy, especially if I drink it right before that afternoon slump time. When I was under stress I would break out in a giant cold sore on my upper lip. So gross! In my first 3 months of drinking it I was under a HUGE amount of stress. I'm talking a beloved family member died, another one underwent major surgery, my cat died and our finances were beyond tight. I'm telling you, my life was like a country song! One thing I did notice was that during that whole time I did not have one single outbreak. Not even a hint of a cold sore. Coincidence? I think not. Now, I'm not saying I was cured of anything, which I'm not. But I am just sharing with you my experience and how Shakeology just so happened to be consumed during that time of emotional and mental stress.

Am I trying to sell you Shakeology? Not exactly, although it would be nice if you decided to whirl up a shake for yourself to see what this is all about. I thought I would show you a little about the beneficial ingredients in this amazing nutritious shake. Don't get it confused with it being "just a protein shake" because seriously, it isn't just to get in some protein. Take a look at what it can do for you.

If you're in the market for a delicious nutritional drink that will satisfy your cravings (it makes for a great after dinner drink, especially with almond butter and half a frozen banana), you should try drinking Shakeology. If you're currently drinking a health shake from another company, make sure that the ingredients in yours doesn't contain any of the ingredients on the What It Doesn't Have list. Why? Stay tuned for a future post. After all, I need as much content as I can get.

If you're interested in ordering, here is a link http://www.beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/darlin55

This is me

I'm a 30 something year old housewife. I home school my 2 kids, ages 10 & 7. I'd like to think that I'm a savvy business woman, but in all reality I'm quite scatter brained and not surprisingly, lack time management skills. I'm overweight, have a food addiction and the amazing irony to it all is I'm a Beachbody Coach. Yup, that's me, in a nutshell.

I wish I could say that I never struggled with my weight, but I'd be lying through my almost perfectly straight teeth. I was a chubby child until high school, when I joined sports, ate somewhat healthier, and enjoyed the company of my friends doing what normal teenagers do (before technology took over). I never had an eating disorder, I just tried to not over indulge on fast food and my achilles, sweets. I weighed about 125 back then and thought I was chunky for my size. Looking back at old pictures, oh, how I missed being that thin and fit. In my early 20's I seemed to hover around the 128 pound mark. I blame being on birth control, which helped with my irregular and painful periods.

Flash forward to meeting and marrying my husband. After our wedding, I found myself putting me on the back burner while I got my house in order while working full-time as a hairstylist. I put on 20 pounds that year. Wow! 6 months after our 1 year anniversary, my gynecologist suggested at my well woman visit that I lose some weight before I decide to try to get pregnant. A friend of mine was doing Atkins, so I thought I'd try that as well as start a workout series put out by Beachbody called Slim in 6. I lost 14 pounds in my 1st 2 weeks! I ended up losing those 20 pounds and then a couple more. Not too long after that, I became pregnant with our daughter. I had a previous miscarriage 2 months before my daughter was conceived, so in my mind I figured if I started to show then maybe it would help my mental state with this second pregnancy. So I ate. And mind you, it was not healthy. I ballooned to 187 pounds by the end of that pregnancy! People in the office building that I worked in at the time swore I was carrying twins. Looking back, I can't blame them. My daughter was a healthy 8 pounds and delivered via C-section.

After a light bout of post partum (and my daughter weaning herself), I was able to get back to eating healthy and losing weight. I went from 176 back to 128 in 4 months! Yup, doing Atkins and Slim in 6. By then I was also doing Turbo Jam (another Beachbody workout program) and I looked and felt so much better. A couple years later, my son came along. He was something else. There were multiple reasons as to why he was such a difficult baby, but back then I just thought he had colic and hated sleep. Again, I was up to 170 pounds after having him, miserable with myself (again) and stressed beyond belief. We had just moved to our house 50 miles away from friends and family, I missed my parents, the housing market crashed, my husband's job seemed like it was in jeopardy, my newborn hated to sleep by himself.....believe me, it was a stressful time that I don't like to remember. I cried, prayed and ate. Food is a comfort to me. It always has been, since I was a kid. I ran to food first, God second. It's funny because as I type this I know that God should be the first one I run to. At least that way I won't pack on extra calories. The summer of 2008, almost a year after having my son, I went on a family beach trip. I wore my maternity bathing suit because that's all I had that fit. My mom captured a picture of me and my daughter on the shore and that's when it hit me: I looked like I was still pregnant. I didn't want my kids to see me like that, so I went back on Atkins and, yes, you guessed it, Slim in 6. Three weeks later, I had lost 13 pounds and was getting compliments at my son's first birthday party. That good feeling snowballed into me being so motivated and on target that I was down to 121 pounds by that Christmas. That was the lightest I had been as an adult. That might have even been the lightest I had been since I weighed that much back in the 5th grade!

In 2009, we needed a little more cash flow in the house. I started Lil' Darlin' Accessories. That sucked up all my free time, whether it was designing, making inventory, marketing my products or vending at shows. My weight slowly started to creep back on as I, once again, put myself last. I kept up with that for almost 5 years, slowly burning myself out. Then the Beachbody opportunity came into my life. Long story short, here I am, a coach, still struggling with a healthy diet and making time to exercise. What's my point in all of this? I decided to step out of my comfort zone and share the real me. Yeah, sure, I post motivating posts and fun selfies on my Facebook, but behind it is so much more that I don't show. The ugly side that I try to hide. The side that hurts, that still medicates with food and finds excuses to not exercise all the while trying to get others to find their healthy side that lies within them. Once again, I put myself on the back burner in hopes to help others. I'm exposing this other side in hopes for me to be able to heal, to put my struggles out there for others to see that they aren't alone, that it is work and that it really IS worth the sweat and sacrifices. There is a way to health and being fit for life. It takes that first step; consider this my first step to a permanently better me. THIS IS ME.

Retromama Reviews: Homemade Deodorant

I have no shame in talking about personal matters. I don't know if it's a generational thing, or if it's just me, but if you ask me most any question I will probably answer you in all truth and honesty. So, I am not embarrassed to admit that I've always had issues with deodorants and antiperspirants, whether it be them leaving horrible yellow stains (thank you, body chemistry) or worse, not working. It seems that as soon as I had hit 32, my body decided to play a cruel joke and thought it would be funny to make it so that no matter what deodorant or antiperspirant I used, at some point it would stop working altogether. I thought it was just in the hot summer months, especially while wearing sleeveless tops; but then I found that I was smelly in the cooler winter months, too. I reside in beautiful sunny Southern California, so winter is not too far from Spring weather here. Around that time I also read about how dangerous all the antiperspirants and deodorants were due to aluminum salts. I am studying about detoxification and had read plenty about aluminum as a toxic substance, so that solidified my decision to switch to deodorants that do not contain aluminum salts. I tried the natural ones from the health stores and I was left with wet, stinky pits. Yeah, gross, I know, not to mention frustrating! I even tried rubbing lemons on my armpits, which I do NOT recommend doing after shaving. I was determined to find something that worked. I stumbled upon this recipe through another blog and thought I would try it. I was skeptical fo sho, but hey, I was desperate. I watched the video that was in the blog (I HIGHLY recommend you watch it so that you can make it correctly), gathered my ingredients and BAM! I had me some deodorant. I will admit that the first week there was a bit stinging and redness in the crease of my pits, but I stuck it out and that feeling disappeared. I can use it straight from the shower even after I shave and it doesn't sting any more. It also took my body about 2 weeks to detox from the other products I was using; during that time I was using it after my evening shower and in the morning before I got dressed. Now I only use it once after my evening shower. My daughter is at the age where she is starting to smell, so I have her using it. No more smelly pits for either of us! Seriously, this stuff is miraculous! Oh, and another tip: I have really oily skin, so I thought I would slather some on my face at night after my evening shower and before I rub it into my pits. Let me tell you, my face is happy. The baking soda acts as a natural exfoliant, the cornstarch acts like a mattifier, tea tree oil is a great antibacterial and the coconut oil is the moisturizer. I may just make a huge batch and start using it as an all-over exfoliant/moisturizer. I think I will start using it on my elephant knees and crusty elbows, too. Ooh, I bet it would also work as a great foot treatment after a nice foot soak or pedicure. IDEAS! Any way, here's a list of the ingredients I used, which are a combination of the other blog that I read as well as the one that I'm including in this post. By the way, I give this recipe 5 out of 5 aprons (I developed my own rating system). Ingredients: 1/4C baking soda 1/8C arrowroot powder (I found a bad of Bob's Red Mill at Sprouts for $6.99 I believe. Don't quote me on that) 1/8C cornstarch 6-8Tbsp coconut oil 5-7 drops tea tree oil Cute glass or ceramic jar Grab your ingredients, read the other blog for more info and watch the video for instructions. Seriously, it's key to the success of this stuff.

Helpful hints: If you notice the deodorant is starting to get a little melty in the warmer Summer months, be sure to refrigerate it. Make sure you bring it out about half an hour to an hour before use so that it's not solid. If it ends up turning into a liquid, I suggest that you stir it really well before placing in the fridge. Once you have brought it out of the fridge, make sure you stir completely, or else the oil will have risen to the top and the powders will have settled to the bottom, leaving you with oily pits and once that's through, a clump of powders, which will only be good for a body scrub. I made that mistake and my pits were BURNING! Yeeow!

This is about how much baking soda I used. I decided to use about 3 Tbsp less than the 1/4 cup that was called for.

I found that my skin is a tad sensitive to the full amount of baking soda. You can always play around with your ratios to make it true to you. After all, we're all different, right? Also, I couldn't find organic corn starch, but you may want to look for one to make it a GMO free deodorant. I'm hoping the Sprouts brand is, but it doesn't read that on the label, so I guess I will have to find out. If you find one, leave a suggestion in the comments.

Here is what the mixture starts to look like. I used a glass bowl and a metal spoon. You can also use a wooden spoon just as well. The consistency when you first start to blend it is that of a pie crust. I mixed each tablespoon in one at a time to make sure that I didn't make an oily mess. This was after 5 Tbsp and thought that maybe 4 would work just as well. Again, play with your oil to powder mixture.

And this is what it looks like when thoroughly mixed. Kind of looks like mashed potatoes, don't you think? Mmmmm, now I want some mashed potatoes. Ha ha! Carefully spoon it into your jar and slather on your armpits after your shower. And yes, those are my diva slippers. Happy deodorizing! http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2013/01/homemade-all-natural-deodorant.html

My 21 Day Fix Extreme Ultimate Meal Planner and Grocery List

Let me start out by saying I LOVE this program. Those little containers are amazing, the workouts are phenomenal and the support I received from my coach was what I needed to help me to lose 8 pounds in 21 days. I loved it so much that I almost exploded when I found out that Beachbody was going to come out with another program just like it only extreme. I am ALL about extreme workouts. You may not see the changes in my body (yet) but I can feel them and I love how strong I am becoming.

The key to this program (well, to any program, really) is the meal planning and prep. Especially for busy home schooling/internet class attending/Piyo instructing/accessories making/work from home mom such as yours truly. If I don't plan, I will cheat. BAD. As in if I don't have junk food in my house I will straight out go and buy some. And no, that's not good when you're trying to be a good example to your children and others that you are trying to inspire and work with to succeed to accomplish their goals. I was already writing down my meal plan/grocery list like this for years, but I decided to actually sit down and prepare this gem of a planner to help out my current 21 Day Fix Extreme group. This works for both programs, but I added it for the Extreme followers to help those who are following the Countdown to Competition meal plans (which are no joke!).

Any way, I don't like reading long winded blogs, so I'll cut right to the chase. Here's what the planner looks like:

The boxes are for you to fill in your container colors. The arrows are for you to fill in your teaspoons for the day. I don't mind eating leftovers, so I have a space to input which days I'm eating which meals. I even put a space for you to fill in your meal times, too. Also, I don't know if you will be able to see from the following example, but you can also write in the number of containers that you are allowed each day. In my example, on my carb depletion days I am allowed 6 red containers, so I filled in a number 2 in my morning plan so that I allow myself 2 red containers in the morning. Simple, right? After I plan my meals, I then create my grocery list with prices that I usually round up (I hate being short - on funds, that is) and total out so that I will have an estimate of what I'll be spending. On my example I didn't have time to total it up, but you get the picture. Any way, this is what it should look like when filled out:

Was this helpful to you? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below. Also, let me know if there are any ways that you feel I could improve this planner. Thank you and happy planning!