A few before and after pictures!

Quick update: A few before and after pictures from day 1 to day 15! I don't feel like I can see much of a difference but I can feel a difference! I hate these pictures but I thought I would be brave and share my results so far!

 

Day 1

Day 15 Don't I look happy! ;) Down 4 or 5lbs!

Day 1

Day 15! I can see a difference in m face and tummy!

Day 1!

Day 15... I hate this shot! I've got a big butt and I can not lie! :)

Well...there ya go! I will do this again on day 24! I try not to let this discourage me as I don't see much change, I'm dropping inches, pounds and my clothes are getting looser! Not only that but I'm still not having those awful headaches that I was having everyday and I still have so much extra energy! I'm loving this feeling! It feels good to be good to my body!

Update:Day 16, after a good work out I was still feeling great so I decided to play dress up with some clothes that I haven't had on in a while. I have been in shorts all summer so my jeans have been hidden in the closet. At the beginning of the summer I was feeling uncomfortable in my jeans.... I wore jeans once a couple of days before starting the challenge and remember thinking..man..this sucks, I look awful! My muffin top was getting harder to hide!!!

So today I tried on my jeans and they all fit so much better!! So I thought I would be brave and try on some jeans that I couldn't even button 16 days ago..My favorite jeans-my fav. because when they fit right they are so comfortable! Well..ta da!!!!!

I can wear them! I can button them without sucking in too! :) I'm pretty excited! I might even have to wear them out in the heat of the summer just because I can! ha

Karah

DIY Preschool Educational Games!

Getting ready for the new school year!! 

At the end of each year we have to pack up our classrooms and all of our fun stuff goes into storage. Yeah...yeah..I get it..They need to paint the walls, work on the floors and so on over the summers but MAN...what a pain this process is!! 

But now we are at that time of the year where we got UNPACK everything AGAIN! This is also not a fun process. However, it is fun to get reorganized and have a fresh start. We will be back in the classroom on Monday and will be creating new centers, games, activities and so much more!

Here are some things that we have put together over the past couple of years... 

DIY games for preschoolers!

I hate hearing that children don't have any educational games around the house because it costs too much..Well here are some things that you can do on your own. You can pick up things from the dollar store, print pictures online or even draw them your self. We picked up a lot of these materials at teacher stores, target, dollar store..etc!

This color car game is a great game for those young preschoolers learning their colors and even learning their numbers! You just need to make a road, pick some colors and a car for each color! This book has about 5 cars and different colors in it and the first page of this book says, Who's in first? Here comes brown. Driving fast, he better slow down. You can have the child look for the brown car or look for the brown car with the number 1 on it! The second page goes on to say the same using different colors...

 

 Ten Little Daisies is a great game for your older preschoolers! Counting backwards from 10. You need 10 flowers and as you turn the page it takes one away, allowing you to count the remaining daisies on the pages that are left. 

Ten little daisies playing in a meadow, 2 walk off and now there are...Let you child count how many flowers are left and finish the story!

 A couple of Christmas books that we have made also! Five Little Gingerbread and Five Little Snowmen.

Color Match! Like the others, super easy to make on your own! You can crumble up some color paper if you do not have any pompoms around. But I took some colored pompoms, a close pin and colored spots on the spider! Let your child pick up the pompoms with the close pin and match them with the correct colors on the spider! Great game for working those fine motor skills that your kiddo will need to write their name and so much more! I like to store a lot of my games in these awesome zip bags!

You can find cards like these in the dollar section in the summer months before the start of the school year!

Again I used some clothes pins, wrote out a letter on each one to match with the letters below the pictures on the cards!

Here are a few other games we have made up! We took the 5 Little Monkeys book and put some monkeys in a tree for the kids pull off as we read the story! Just used a little Velcro tape! An ABC book where you can match the ABC's with the cup cakes by putting the cherry on top!

A couple of counting books! Both books go up to 10. These books are great for helping kids to recognize their numbers. You pull the paw print or popcorn pieces off at the bottom corners, again WE LOVE VELCRO TAPE, and lay them out for the kid to see. Let them count the number of sticks on each page and find that number on the pieces, matching them up!

 

 Here are some great things that I just picked up and target in the dollar section to make up some games for this school year! I also picked up some great books at Deals. All for just $1! You can't beat it! I laminate books that I find and use them with dry erase markers with all of my kiddos that I work with so I can use them over and over again!

 

I am also always on the hunt for great games that I can print up and make in the home with the kids I see too! I plan for my visits and pull from a collection of activity add on's. Last couple of years I have tried a few different ways of organizing these...My first year I tried to boxes that I found at target. I can use hanging file folders in these and move them around with me. My collection got too big and It became difficult to bend down under my desk to dig out hand outs and add on's!

Last year I used a folder organizer on my desk. It was just too much!!

Over the past couple of days I spend a few hours organizing all of my add on's/activities sheets in 3 inch binders! Each labeled and contains different things like actives for ABC's, numbers, colors, rhyming, classifying, matching, early cutting skills, early writing skills, animal sounds, etc.

I think I can place these next to my desk and grab a binder as I need something, find the hand out and grab a copy! Let's hope this is easier than the past two years!

And look!!!!! I found these cute pens while I was on a hunt for organization supplies!!

I think these will go just nicely with my NEW ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER!!!!! I think I have another week before this bad boy will arrive in the mail. I am going crazy waiting. I love all things organization and her stuff is amaze-balls! (Yes, I love Giuliana Rancic too!)

If you haven't seen these awesome life planners then you are missing out. It took me hours to pick out my planner! You can see them here at www.erincondren.com!

Well, that is all I've got for now. I have about 100 other games that I might add here and there. But wanted to share how easy it is to make some great educational games for your kiddos!! :) I'll be sure to post the great things we make up in the next couple of weeks!

Karah

Day 14!!!

Its day 14!! 

Everything is still going well and I'm still feeling good!

Weekends haven't been as bad as I thought they would be. This weekend we BBQ-ed with friends again and the boys ate pork steaks while Danielle and I ate salmon! I tossed some mushrooms in a foil bag and had that as well! It was so good!

I have been using my meal planner to keep track of healthy foods and meals each week. It has been working out really well. I have meals divided up by crock pot meals, main dishes, sides and I even put some healthy deserts in there too! I sat down with my planner and wrote down what meals we will have each day or if we plan on having left overs because of a crazy work day. This also helps me know if I need to make larger meals to have left overs for the week.
I sit down before hitting the store,  write in meals for a couple of weeks and use my meal planner to make a list of everything I need to buy.
This little meal planner just hangs out in the kitchen so It is easy to find!

One night this week I was busy but I had time to toss some chicken, green beans and potatoes into the oven and made sure I had enough for left overs too!

Another night I grabbed the meal planner again and made up another meal, again enough for left overs!

This recipe is super easy! Just chopped up some of my favorite veggies for flavoring, tossed in a can of diced tomatoes, vegetable stock and whole grain noodles! Placed in a skillet, covered for 10 mins and stirred every couple of minutes or so. Super easy and good!!!

I even tried a recipe out of the desert section! But..I didn't love these healthy cookies. I will have to try something different when I am craving something sweet because these didn't do it for me.

Lets see, I tossed in some natural peanut butter, old fashioned oats and natural cocoa! ehh.

People have been asking me what all I can eat lately... A lot of people seen to assume that clean eating means never being able to eat anything good!

I've actually been able to eat some pretty good stuff and It really hasn't been hard finding things to make! When I make a grocery list these are some of the things I buy but there is so much more you can buy too..I'm just a picky eater and I tend to stick to the same things. 

Vegetables

Leafy lettucee

  Asparagus

String beans

Bell peppers

  Mushroom-I could eat these with everything!

Cucumber

  Green and Red pepper

  Onions (green, red, yellow)

  Garlic

  Tomatoes

  Zucchini

  Squash

  Spaghetti Squash

  Corn

  Edammame

  Canned chickpeas

Complex Carbs

 Old Fashioned Oats -Not the instant oatmeal

 Sweet Potatoes or just potatoes 

  Black Beans

  Kidney Beans

  Lentils

Whole grain pasta

  Wild rice

  Brown rice

  Whole wheat pita

  Corn tortillas

 Whole wheat couscous

  Quinoa

Quinoa flour

Fruits

  Blueberries

  Raspberries

  Lime & lemon juice

  Apples

  Grapes

  Clementines

  Watermelon

pineapple

Healthy Fats

  Natural-style Peanut butter-no added sugars or salts

  Avocados

  Almonds/nuts

Proteins

  Boneless, skinless chicken breast

  Tuna

  Salmon

  Shrimp

  Extra lean ground turkey meat

 

Dairy & Eggs

Eggs whites

    I love my egg whites!

I really haven't been doing any dairy in this challenge and probably won't until I am done but I will add organic milk back into my diet, non-fat yogurt and fat free cheese.

Herbs & Spices

  Chili powder

  Mrs. Dash

  McCormick

  Cinnamon

  Basil

  Onion Powder

  Garlic Powder

  Red Pepper

  Condiments

  Balsamic Vinegar

  Balsamic vinaigrette

  Salsa

 Tomato Paste (low sugar)

  Stewed tomatoes (low sodium)

  Mustard (yellow or Dijon)

  Vanilla extract

  Almond extract

  Low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth

  Low-sodium, fat-free vegetable broth

  Reduced-sodium tomato sauce & tomatoes

 Sugar-free applesauce

Again, this is just what I typically buy, there's much more that you can buy and add into your diet while eating clean! 

While I know I still have a long way to go before getting to my goal weight, I feel good and I can feel a difference in how much clothes are fitting. I try to only worry about what the scale says on my weekly weigh ins but I do keep track of daily progress. Here is a look at how things fluctuate and where I have lost weight.

 I love seeing that 159! Obviously, I don't love being at that number but I have not been able to get past that stupid 160 number in a couple of years! I always just get stuck at the same number! I just have to keep up the hard work!!

I really am proud of myself for going so long without ANY cheating!!! However, yesterday without thinking about It I grabbed a handful popcorn while watching a movie with the kids I watch and I felt sick to my stomach after. I didn't know why because it was just popcorn but later when I looked at the bag I saw that it was movie theater style popcorn-extra freaken butter! I can't even eat that type of popcorn any other day because of the butter overload-makes me sick! But It really did not feel good on my stomach yesterday as I have really been watching my butter intake and I really try to not add it to anything when cooking.

So, I learned my lesson! I'm almost afraid to ever try to eat pizza or other greasy junk. If It makes my stomach hurt like that popcorn did Its not even worth it!

Day 24 will be here before I know it!!!!

I am excited because I will have a few days off from school and work at the end of this week. I'd like to get started on my diy headboard! Hopefully I will get to post about it soon. :)

But.....I will be back in my classroom at parents as teachers in one week,  which means my summer is quickly coming to an end & life is going to be super busy. 3 jobs and school... Good thing my Erin Condren planner will be here next week!  That's another post to come soon! :)

♡karah

Hey cancer, you suck!

Today is day 9!! 

 One more day to go and I am done with the cleanse phase of this challenge! I will be going onto the max phase for another 14 days.

These past 10 days have flown by! I think day 6, which was Saturday was probably the hardest for me. I knew I was halfway done, but I really wanted a bottle glass of wine!! We had some friends over for a BBQ both Saturday and Sunday. I pushed my want for some wine aside while Andrew and our friends enjoyed some yummy beers on the back deck... 

Andrew made me a turkey burger with grilled mushrooms instead of buns! It was actually really good. I LOVE mushrooms so I didn't mind skipping out on the bun. However, the boys (Andrews good friends, I always refer to them as the boys) had baked beans with their burgers...Yumm..I think I love baked beans more than wine..That was hard. But I decided to stay on track and it was worth the suffering! ;)

I have been getting somewhat bored with my meals. Mostly because I have been so busy that I haven't had time to get creative.

One night this past week I tried fish with onions and green beans. I loved the fresh green beans!

I was able to sit down yesterday and get a bit more organized. I got started on a meal planning system that will be very helpful in grocery shopping and planning ahead on our meals. (Post to come later!) For me this is really key to staying on track with my clean eating with such long work days.

So, now that this cleanse is coming to a close, I knew I wouldn't have time to post tomorrow, day 10 due to another 14 hour work day, but so far I am down 3lbs and I have lost a few inches between my tummy, arms and legs. I still have plenty of energy and feel great!

Am I sad that I'm only down 3lbs? Heck no, I know how my body works and for me to successfully lose weight and keep it off, I have to do it in a healthy way and dropping a lot of weight at a quick rate isn't healthy. I'm so excited to have rid my body of processed foods and everything that comes with it. I am now only 15lbs away from my goal and I've still got another 15 days to go on this challenge! I was stuck for so long, not being able to even drop a pound so I am pretty excited to see my hard work paying off.

My mom, as you might know from my first post, was told at the start of the summer that she has stage 2 colon cancer. They quickly got her in for surgery and did their best to remove all of it. As far as we know they were successful and she is on her way to recovery and we got the news that there's going to be no chemo for now!! 

Man, cancer really blows! 

 Yesterday my mom was telling me that she has had zero energy since her surgery. We know her body is still recovering, but even after the recommended recovery time has passed she can't keep up. 

If you know my mom....You know she is never down. She is ALWAYS GOING so for her this is really hard and its hard for me to see too.

I have really loved my results with this cleanse and how much energy I have now, so I think my mom too is going to try some Advocare products like Spark and really change up her diet with clean eating. I don't know that we will do a cleanse until we talk to her doctor, just because of where her cancer was but I really feel like Spark will give her a boost and she will love it. That is what we are praying for anyways... Add that to eating clean and ridding her body of processed foods-I am hoping it will do wonders for her.

Have I mentioned how much cancer really SUCKS!!? ..it sucks.

Karah

I feel nice, like sugar and spice!

So today is day 5 of clean eating and the advocare herbal cleanse! 

Yup, day 5! 

My tummy, legs and arms are shrinking!!

I still feel like I have more energy then ever and I have slept really well the last few nights. So much better than I have been. Sleeping all through the night and waking up not feeling groggy is a good feeling.

I've even been headache free for the past four days which has been a nice change!

I have found some new favorites foods/meals over the past few days!

Hummus, the artichoke and spinach flavor was my favorite with carrots and oatmeal with bananas in it, which reminds me of banana bread. Last night Andrew made some awesome shish kabobs for me on the grill which were loaded up with chicken, squash, onions, peppers and my favorite, mushrooms! He smothered his with BBQ sauce while I enjoyed mine plain. I like them better that way anyways! Also, I am still drinking lots and lots of water! 

Yum!!!

Andrew, as always has been great motivation! Especially when he knows that I am really working hard at something, he never fails to tell me everyday, multiple times a day, that he is proud of me, he tells me that I am looking great (even when I'm not), that he can tell I am losing inches or weight (even when I'm not) or that he can really tell that I have been working out (ha ha even when I'm not!)

 He always makes me feel good, especially on those days that I feel like I've had a set back, gained a lb back or haven't had time to work out or eat the best.

In one of his sweet pep talks last night he told me how setting goals and not giving up is really an attractive quality in me. If that isn't motivation to keep going in my 5 more days of this challenge, then I don't know what its! I'll take it!

 My mom, my friends, especially one of my best friends, Lauren and my advocare distributor, Tina Mulnix (I highly suggest you go through her as your distributor if you plan on using any adovcare products! She will take good care of you!) have also been a really big help and motivators these past 5 days too! 

When I first started hearing about advocare products and clean eating I jumped on pinterest-I don't know what I ever did without pinterest! I was looking at before and after pictures, products and stories when I came across Megan's picture!

I thought, UM WOW! Now those are some great results! So, I did what any normal person would do...ha ha I found her on facebook through the link on her pinterest account and added her! 

I was very curious to see if she had any information about her journey in getting these awesome results and getting healthy!

After talking to Megan she told me that she went from drinking 3-6 sodas a day to water and spark. That she was able to go from 233 lbs to 150 lbs., losing 73 lbs by changing her diet and eating habits! With clean eating, exercise and advocare products she reached her goals! I thought that was pretty awesome! She has also been helpful with any questions I've had!  

Yesterday, I even ordered more advocare products so that I could continue onto the MAX PHASE (you have to say it in a Hulk Hogan voice so it sounds really cool!) which is another 14 days, making this a 24 day challenge! Wooohoo!

I, I feel nice, like sugar and spice

I feel nice, like sugar and spice

So, nice!

So, nice!

(Don't sing it, it will get stuck in you head! Thanks James Brown!)

Karah