When you feel like quitting...

When you feel like quitting...think about why you started!

Because I wanted to be myself again.
Because I wanted to learn how to eat healthy.
Because I wanted to feel confident and comfortable in my own skin.
Because...who wants to feel heavy? Not me....But I did.
Because I didn't want to feel trapped.
Because I didn't want to be limited to what I could do or feel like I was being held back in any way!
Because I was having daily headaches and health problems more and more as I got older. (Due to the foods I was consuming)

Why allow yourself to feel any of those things when you can make simple choices to change it all?

For me, having this weight on me was not ME. This isn't what I knew or what I was used to..I still have a lot to lose, but in those pictures I was almost 200lbs.

Between 2009 and 2010 I've lost 60lbs since. Gained back 45lbs, lost 20, gained it back...so on and so on..

LOVE those yo-yo-diets! Sure, you can find an easy way out, but you better believe its going to be easy to put it back on too!

When I feel like quitting, I think about being almost 200lbs and the types of foods I ate.. I think about how much I have learned since then...Even if I don't get down to a size zero (AND THAT IS NOT A GOAL OF MINE! HA) I know how to live a healthy lifestyle. I know how to give my future children healthy choices one day too.

Today, I can't believe I ever thought it as ok to eat fast foods all week, every week. Don't have time to cook? Order a pizza...Didn't pack a lunch? Grab some fast food. Skipped breakfast? I'll grab something at QT.

YUCK!....

Here is what that will do to you after you....
It only took me a year to gain those 60lbs...scary, huh?

Those are my senior pictures....And the last two are ME a year later! Yup...hiding behind everybody and everything! ha

I was living on my own, eating more fast food and I was out of high school, so I wasn't dancing anymore.
Yikes.

My journey with AdvoCare from July to now! I am still going!!!

I stopped my yo-yo diets and got busy doing it right---It has been a journey, but a fun one at that! I'm so happy I made the lifestyle change! I feel great, I have energy and confidence again and I know this is something that will last a lifetime..No more crazy diets...no more crazy weight gain or weight loss.. I know how to keep this in check! :)


Karah

Hello World!!!

HELLO JAZZERCISE WORLD!!!! How have I gone 24 years without you? 

So, I HATE HATE HATE HATE (I could go on) HATE HATE (okay you get it) working out. I love feeling like worked my butt off, but I don't like how boring it would be to get there. I don't like getting up early, going to a gym full of people I don't know and counting down the minutes until I got enough time on the treadmill to feel productive enough to go home. Blahhh

So, what did I do? I begged for a treadmil and couple weights for Christmas a few years ago. I GOT ONE! Andrew surprised me and I convinsed myself that I enjoyed that SO MUCH MORE than going to a stupid  gym. ha. Well, I would get my booty on the treadmil religoiusly for....3 weeks at a time every few months and then I was over it.

AND REPEAT....over it.

AND REPEAT......over it. So on and so on for a few years.

blah.blah.blah.

Well..I wasn't losing weight (nor was I eating right), I was gaining weight. Clearly this was not working for me. ha.

So...20lbs heavier, I found AdvoCare (yea, you've heard this story already, I wont go there!!) and I started eating better and losing weight. YAY! BUT, I did not start working out. 

I just hadn't made that commitment yet. Yup, I still despised the gym and the treadmill.

Once we got engaged (right before the holidays of course!!!) I knew I needed to get seriously serious about this health thing! For serious guys! :) I have to pour myself into a very form fitting beautiful wedding dress in October! AND I will be the center of attention for a whole day. 

Awesome. Not.

So...here we go. I set new goals and Im going to make this happen! I am now on a mission and when I get something in my head I am obsessed until I reach my goal!!

I looked into a few things and found Jazzercise through my AdvoCare coach who is an instructor! I tried it, it loved it and now Im addicted! 

Were going on 3 weeks and I go religiously 6 days a week! I would go 7 days a week but Andrew really gets on me about giving my body a break because I can be a FUN SUPER CRABBY BIATCH when I am exhausted! :) 

Let me just tell ya, Jazzercise makes me exhausted! It feels great and its so much fun, but it kicks my butt! :)

Since I have started working out after new years and then adding in Jazzercise I am dropping inches like crazy! Its a wonderful feeling and I am hooked!

 Which is how I have gotten from here to here in a matter of months now!

I'm not where I want to be just yet, but I am getting there!!!

June 2013

Jan. 2014

Jan. 2014

So, I wanted to share a little bit about what I am doing, what AdvoCare products I am using and foods I'm eating eating to help my friends who are doing the AdvoCare challenge too!

I upped my protein intake each meal from 4oz to 5/6oz. 3x's a day.

Upped my veggie intake. Unlimited and at each meal. ALSO my night time snack.

Cut my carb intake in half. I will do 40z of carbs at breakfast and lunch only.

I cut my sugar intake as well-I will do 4oz of fruit 2x's a day. Fruit at my first two snacks of the day.

I had to increase my healthy fats because I really wasn't doing enough. (Surprised? Me too) 2oz. of healthy fats 2xs a day. So I do this with my fruit/snacks.

NO carbs at dinner and NO fruit after dinner. :)

The only things I allow myself to have after dinner are veggies and or proteins! 

Can't forget my gallon of water each day too!

NOW for AdvoCare!!!! What am I taking?? MY FAVORITES!

meal replacement shakes, chocolate mocha being my favorite right now! You can find this here as well as the product information. I will do one for breakfast a couple times a week as well as half a shake before a work out as a snack! :)

Catalyst! I LOVE this stuff!! Its like liposuction in a bottle!!!!! You can find it here along with the product information. I take 3, 9xs a day! Most only take 3, 2xs a day. Did I mention how much i LOVE this stuff?? Its great for maintaining/repairing muscle during work outs!

MNSMAX3! Its another must have! I use these 3 combined (plus spark) and I feel so wonderful!! You can find it here along with the product information.

OH! Can't forget my spark! You can also find it here! I have been in love with the fruit punch flavor lately!!

I've also added in some OmegaPlex and ThermoPlus each day! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT ALL! :)

I'm feeling great and can't wait to see where I am at in another month! Its been pretty neat to see my hips, legs, arms and everything else shrinking away since I started jazzercise!!!!

Karah

What I learned in 2013!

So its is a new year, there will be many new things to come over the next 12 months! I have been reading SO MANY Facebook posts about what 2013 meant to so many people and my post was about what 2014 will bring...So...2013....

When looking back over the past year 2012 and 2013 seemed to have blurred together. I have to go back and really look at time to see just have much things have changed and how much time has passed!

2012 kinda sucked--a lot, mainly for one reason, but I wont go there...So 2013 was something for me to really look forward to and I'm happy to say It was wonderful and awful all at the same time!

In 2013, I learned....

I learned how to truly compromise, how to make somebody happy while making myself happy at the same time.
I learned how much work a relationship truly can be and that I am happy to do the work for the people I love.
While I had already learned the importance of exercise in 2012, but couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting into better shape-in 2013 I learned that what you eat is even more important than how you treat your body in the gym.
I learned that my mother had cancer. Again.
I learned that I really really really hate cancer! Even though her surgery went well and all was removed, I also learned that my sister and I have a higher risk of getting colon cancer now as well. Which led me to eating clean!
I learned how to eat clean! I've learned that I love it!
I learned about AdvoCare and the wonderful products!!!
I learned that when you eat like crap, you will feel like crap! I also learned that I don't want to eat like crap or feel like crap anymore. I want to be healthier! I want the people I care about to also be healthier!
After my moms cancer diagnosis, I also learned that I have an odd way of dealing with things-I like to hide away in my home, by myself.
Again, I learned the importance of eating clean.
I learned how awesome I am at being a social work student and how much I truly love my classes!!
I learned that I can do anything I put my mind to-even college!
I learned that I can set goals, work my butt off and do things on my own.
I learned that my spontaneous side is actually sometimes a good thing and causes me to take risks-good risks that help me attain my goals.
I learned that I might be very different from my mother and sister and that's okay.
I learned that I can't and don't care to please everybody.
I learned a new found joy in working with elderly.
I learned how to slow down, listen and advocate for my elderly clients. They need me.
I learned to step off the scale and trust my body. Go with how I feel, not what the number says!
I learned that the man I love, loves me-every part of me, even the things I don't love about me.
I learned that he had been putting a lot of planning into proposing to me for a long time and I said yes!

I learned that a lot can happen in one year!

The cancer sucks, the 4.0gpa rocked, my love for being a social worker is great, being engaged to the man of my dreams is even better, losing weight and being a healthier me is awesome!

2014 is only going to get better and I can't wait! Graduating college, our wedding and so much more! Ahhh!


Karah
.

299 Days Until I Say I Do!!!

Since my last post, I have finished my second 24 day challenge, dropped a few more lbs, GOT ENGAGED, had Thanksgiving, gained a couple lbs back (wahhhhhh!), finished my LAST fall semester of college (1 semester left before graduation!!!!) and had Christmas!

Did I mention that I got ENGAGED!?!?

With all the engagement excitement and the holidays my last 24 day challenge, which came to an end about the time that Andrew popped the question was a bust...I felt amazing after the cleanse, as always but I gained back the 2 of the 4lbs I lost during the challenge after all the yummy holiday food!

While eating all of that crap was fun and tasty in the moment, it is so not worth it. By last week I was really seeing the bloat that came with it, the 2lbs I put on and that yucky sluggish feeling....I wasn't going to start back on my AdvoCare products until after new years, (aside from my carbease and spark that I used to get me through the holidays) but I really missed them!! Yesterday I focused on eating clean, no cheats and getting my body back in gear. I stuck with veggies, fruit and my proteins for the day...I am already feeling better!

Today I got up, took my spark, MNS and got in a great work out! I have 15lbs left to go (now that I gained 2lbs back) until I reach my goal weight and 299 days until my wedding!!! Like the last two New Years resolutions, I am going to meet my New Years resolution for 2014 to lose weight and be healthier! 2014 is going to be a great year, I am getting closer and closer to where I want to be health wise!!!!

I also wanted to share a book that my Mom found and gave me for Christmas!

I have spent the last couple of weeks (it was an early Christmas gift) reading, marking and loving this book! Dolvett talks about eating clean and how to use foods to fuel your body in the right way! Some of these things I have learned from changing my eating habits with AdvoCare, through my awesome AdvoCare adviser, Tina and also through my good friend, Lauren. But this book would be very helpful for somebody who wants to learn how to eat clean and what to eat!

Not only doe the book teach you how to eat clean, but it also teaches you what to eat on cheat days to help you continue to lose, has awesome meal plans that come with WEEKLY grocery lists already planned out for you (this is my favorite part-I don't have to meal plan for the 21 days that I follow this!!!!), daily 48minute work outs that you can do at home, a place to log your daily work outs, a place to log your progress, a chapter on staying motivated and even a section on the maintenance phase for when you reach your goals!

I have already started back on my last 14 days of the 24day challenge, added back in my morning work outs (I stopped working out at Thanksgiving-ooops!), increasing and tracking my water in-take, but I am SO excited to start this 3-1-2-1 challenge along with my AdvoCare products!!!! I am EVEN MORE EXCITED to have my work outs, meals and shopping list laid out for me in this book! All I have to do is flip to that chapter and the day (21 day challenge!) and follow what is planned for me on that day! All of the hard work is already done for me!

I really think I will see results that I have been craving with these meal plans, work outs and of course my AdvoCare!!!! Hopefully all before my first dress fitting!!! I can't wait to get that dress back on!! I would probably wear it around the house while Andrew is at work if I had it! ha


Okay....I gotta get off of here! I have an order to place with AdvoCare-I need to stock up on my favorites and I have two pups on the couch who are ready to snuggle and a kitchen to organize before my Christmas break is over!

Spark makes me happier than a camel on hump day!

Haha! Yes, I sure do love my spark. Actually, I am enjoying some spark right now! I have to another night class tonight, so I have to be on it! I am also using catalyst now too! I LOVE CATALYST!!!!!!!

About three weeks ago I decided to challenge myself to get my butt up earlier and on the treadmill in the mornings! I can't believe the results I am seeing and feeling within these short three weeks! Eating healthy and using my Adovcare products- Spark, catalyst, thermoplus and sometimes carbease!! I can feel a huge difference in my clothes yet again.

As Andrew says, I look "tighter" in my stomach, arms and legs! ha.

I just can't believe the difference I am seeing in my stomach with adding a morning work out and catalyst into my routine this past month. Its a great motivator to keep working hard! My friend "the pouch" (you know-that wonderful lower stomach area!!) is shrinking away before my eyes!!!!

Ohhhhh yeah!! BUH BYE! :)

Anyways, I was looking at some pictures from today and this past couple of weeks to those from the past couple of years and just thought I would share!

One word comes to mind after I saw these-- YIKES! 

Here are some more recent pictures-I have even lost since my 24 day challenge ended!

 My Beautiful little sister-who is ALWAYS cute and little! :)

  

OK-so just a comparison...Here are pictures from the start of my 24 day challenge, mid challenge, and today.

 OK-So I hate these stupid selfies, but I want to show the difference from the first picture to these last two pictures. 

Thats 10lbs down and about 7inches down in my hips. I've got so far to go still but I feel like I am finally getting there!

Well, that was a quick update! My Mom is on her last 14 days of the 24 day challenge and is loving it! She is also learning how to eat clean and do so well!!! So proud of you Mom!!!!!

Karah

Want to learn more about advocare?

You can find my product page by clicking here!

 :)

I have had many ask me about advocare products and where to start.
If your goals are to gain more energy, learn how to eat healthy and lose weight/inches then the best way to start is the 24 day challenge!

 The first 10 days of this challenge would be the 10 day herbal cleanse. The Herbal Cleanse is part of advocare well line of products

The cleanse is a good way to jump starting your weight loss, it really helped me to get past my plateau in weight loss...My body just stopped losing after 25lbs on weight watchers.

The 10 day cleanse helps to rejuvenate and cleanse your digestive system to aid in removing accumulated toxins that may contribute to weight gain.

With this cleanse you are cutting out processed foods, dairy, carbs like breads/pastas, added salts and added sugars. You want to eat clean.

The last 14 days of the challenge would be the MAX phase. You will continue to eat clean. You would be taking the MNS MAX3 which is appetite control, energy booster, and core nutrition.
You can also add the meal replacement shakes into the mix if you'd like.


A typical day of eating on the 24 day challenge would be something like this:
Within 30mins of waking up a spark drink
Breakfast: a complex carb and protein
Mid morning snack: fruit
Lunch: complex card, protein and salad
afternoon snack: fruit or veggie
dinner: complex carb, protein and veggie
evening snack: veggies or a protein



There are a couple of different ways you can go about purchasing the 24 day challenge.

You can buy the challenge as a whole for about $190 OR you can buy the items separately-

Spark: A canister of (42 servings) $52 or 14 pouches for $23 The Herbal cleanse: $32 MNS MAX3: $45
You can add these onto the challenge if you would like-they can help with weight loss and muscle gain:
Catalyst: $31 Shakes:$45 (they come in the pack if you buy the whole 24 day challenge package)


Please let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to help! :)
I can also help you to find the most cost effective way to get started.

You can find these products under my page here!

Offically an Advocare distributor!!

Ok, after a month of no blogging, I am back!

Phew... These past 4 weeks have been a bit overwhelming!!!

With the start of the fall semester, new school year at work with Parents as Teachers AND my practicum as a hospice social worker, I feel like I never get a break to do the things I enjoy doing....

I have finally been able to get a half day off on Wednesdays after putting a lot of time into my practicum, too much time actually, so now I have to slow down so that I don't do too many hours before mid November..Well that's fine with me, I will take a half day off to do homework! No problem! :)

So.....everything with classes and all is going well! I am LOVING my role as a hospice social worker and have even found myself thinking about getting my masters as a MSW specializing in gerontology! Yup, I am loving it that much.

What am I learning in hospice?
Well..a lot! But, what I feel like I have found the most is just how important it is to take that extra time with the ones you love- even if they just need somebody to sit and listen, how important my mother is in my life and how fast time goes by, also, that I will never leave her in the care of anybody but myself when that time comes.

Sorry mom-you are stuck with me! ;)

Speaking of my MOM!! We just placed an order for her to begin the Advocare 10 day herbal cleanse!!!! Yayyyyyy!!!!! I just know that she is going to see such great results and I am so excited to see her take the steps in becoming healthier!!! She is going to see just how great and easy it really is to eat clean!

Hopefully this will become a lifestyle change for her and she can forever eat clean, only putting healthy food into her body.

She recently had a check up and it appears that she is cancer free too! :) She is so strong and so amazing, its about time she heard some good news! God is watching over her and putting his hands on her. I just know that my crazy mother who is so full of life will be here to make us laugh for years and years to come. Cancer isn't going to bring her down! She has beat this twice now!

I am still trying my best to eat clean! I am eating clean 85% of the time, which I don't feel like that is something to brag about right now..Not where I am at...I am still trying to lose weight-not maintain! 

I ended my 24 day challenge about a month ago and have lost another 4 inches!

Here is an awful picture of me a year ago last month! Check me out, rockin that double chin! haha 

Here is another AWFUL picture of me..but a year later and 10lbs down! Bye bye double chin! ;)

 

I have not weighed or measured myself in a few weeks...I think I will do this in a couple of weeks after using some different Advocare products that I just received in the mail today. I might be 10lbs down from a year ago, but I am still 13lbs away from my goal weight...! I knew that I wanted to continue to use the Advocare products because of how great I feel when I am on them so I decided to become an Advocare distributor!

 Please check out my Advocare site and all of the wonderful products here!

So, what did I order this go round? ok, I love my spark and the MNS Max 3! Those are great products that I know I will be ordering again.

I wanted to try to new stuff so I ordered Carb-Ease Plus, ThermoPlus and Chocolate Meal Replacement Shakes with my Spark!

I was using pink lemonade spark, which I love, but this order I got Mango Strawberry! Yum! I love this stuff! It is so good!

Carb-Ease Plus: helps to reduce absorption and to breakdown carbs and fats, supports healthy blood glucose and helps to reduce negative effects of carb consumption! Well..Im a carb lover, I am working really hard to stick to my good carbs, but I wanted to give this a try!

ThermoPlus: Helps the body to convert fat into energy, promotes a healthy metabolism, works to help suppress appetite and contains oolong tea and sage extracts to support weight loss! I will continue to use this along with MNS when I reorder if I love this product-I have a feeling I will!

I ordered the meal replacement shakes also, I thought these might be helpful during night classes. I have been coming home to eat dinner at 8:30 three nights a week after being super hungry during class.. I hate eating so late.

With my night classes and LONG works days I have become the crock pot queen!!!! Mostly all the recipes that I have tried have turned out really good, a few...not so great! But I am learning and Andrew is getting a cooked meal when he gets home from work even without me being here.

Also, just a random thought...but I am really looking into and thinking about doing a vegetarian challenge! It will take some more research as I want to be sure I am still getting what I need without eating meat, but after mastering clean eating, this is another thing I would love to do! If you have any suggestions or ideas on ways to still be healthy while cutting out meat, please share! I have been looking at a great site for some help.
Chooseveg.com

OOOOH! I also got my wonderful thirty-one bags in the mail today along with some of my Advocare products! I had to share... I ordered one for my and one for my momma!

Alright...back to the homework before class tonight! :)

Karah

A day in the life of a clean eater!

While I have been working really hard to stick with my clean eating, I do allow myself to do a bit of dairy again! Here are some things I have been loving to munch on lately and some healthy meal options!

For breakfast, I am still loving my old fashioned or steel cut oats! I like to do this with a splash of cinnamon and sometimes I will toss in some blueberries! As always, my egg whites on the side! 

I have also really been doing monkey shakes in the mornings. 1 banana, a spoon full of natural nut butter, 1cup of organic almond or soy milk and a few ice cubes in a blender! I can take this and go! Keeps me full until my mid morning snack.

What have I been doing for a mid morning snack? If its not a handful of strawberries with string cheese, its an apple or my favorite right now, cottage cheese and blue berries! yummmmmm!!!

This is something I tried for the first time recently and love! CC and fruit!

Lunch....what to do for lunch... Actually, there are so many more options than I thought there would be!

I've been doing my leafy green salads with a little cottage cheese, nuts and dressing with every meal at lunch.

With my salad on Monday, I had some left over grilled salmon over some whole grain rice! 

Another day I had a salad with tuna on a slice of whole wheat bread! Very good!!!

Today's lunch was really good! I had some left over chicken, onions, mushrooms and peppers from last nights dinner. I ate this over some rice with a salad!

My midday snacks are usually a few carrots with hummus or a handful of nuts!

Dinners....It has been fun cooking up new and different meals lately. I sat down on Monday evening and planned out dinner for the next three weeks and then hit the grocery store! This week I have been able to be home by 5 to cook dinner, but next week on, I will be taking advantage of my crack pot, A LOT! I've never been much of a crock pot user, so....hopefully everything turns out well.

One night last week I tried a new recipe that didn't turn out so great... It was couscous, tuna and zucchini.
It was.....not so great! Andrew could tell that I have really been trying to make new things for us and always have a great meal prepared for him when he gets home from work...He tried his best to convenes me that it was ok and he ate it! Poor guy, even I didn't eat it. He loves me....

So far, his favorite meals have been green beans, potatoes and chicken bake and last nights meal, chicken fajitas! I have to agree, the fajitas were really good!

It was really easy to make and did not take long! I chopped up some chicken, cooked it in the skillet while chopping up some onions, peppers and mushrooms! After the chicken was cooked, I tossed in the rest of the veggies, taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water. Covered and simmered until veggies were cooked!

I made a small burrito using whole grain tortillas, a pinch of cheese and sour cream with steamed whole grain rice on the side. I figured there would be some left overs for tonight dinner, but I was wrong, Andrew ate is all up and I put some in our lunches for today!

Tonight, Andrew had to work late and I didn't feel like making a big meal. I knew he would be making a stop by Taco Bell (YUCK!!) for dinner on the way home too. Don't ask me why, but he has been wanting some Taco Bell and I have been feeding him every day at lunch and every night for dinner- so today he had an excuse to eat it. I wasn't cooking dinner!

I have been craving some PIZZA so I made the next best thing a cleaner version! Whole grain English muffins, no sugar added pizza sauce, a small chuck of cheese and lots of mushrooms!! It was really yummy!

Eating clean majority of the time has really been easy! I am loving cooking up some new meals and for the most part, Andrew is enjoying it too! I cringe every time he asks me to pack his lunch with processed packaged junk food. haha I try to always toss in some raw veggies an fruit on the side with his crap food. He might not know it but, for the most part between me cooking every meal and trying to fill his lunch with healthy foods, hes eating clean majority of the time too! But shhhh, don't tell him! ;)


One thing I did find to be a problem with being back to my busy work schedule is I do not like the water in other county's!! Also, I don't have a way of refilling my water bottles with fresh cold water during the day. So I went to the store and found large BPA free water bottles. They were really cheap too, like a few bucks! So I grabbed two of the 74.4oz bottles.

I fill them both up the night before work while packing mine and Andrews lunches. Stick one in the freezer and one in the fridge. Drink the cold one the first half of the day and the frozen one the second half of the day. With freezing it, it will stay cold without a fridge and is ready to drink by the time I am done with my first 74.4 ounces! :)

I still have to run to the potty every 20 to 30 minutes, but luckily I am able to do so with my job. However, on the days that I will be working from my car and traveling to clients homes all day...that will be a tough one! I will be doing a lot more dancing...the potty dance!


One a side note, can I just say how AWESOME it has been to have people- friends and strangers, emailing and messaging to telling me how excited they are to start eating clean and how my blog has inspired them to get healthy!?! I like putting all of these things out there for the world to see because like all of the people who have contacted me, I had to start somewhere too. I found a blog that showed me how easy it can be! How to jump right in! Before reading about it from everyday, normal people, I felt very overwhelmed at the thought of changing my lifestyle when it comes to my diet. It seemed like a lot to learn and maybe even too much to take on by myself. But I did it and It seems so easy and simple!

It is fun to challenge myself to drink enough water and to eat the best that I can everyday!

Karah