Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween!!! And Random Musings...

Today is Halloween!!! We decided that since Brennan isn't quite a year old yet that we would just take him around to a couple of people's houses so they could see him in his costume and coo over how cute he looks! He's going to be a garden gnome. There is just something so adorable about a baby with a beard. He is way to young for candy so we will not be asking for any of that, and plus also, I'm on day 19 of my 24 Day Challenge and I don't need that in my life.

I am so glad that he finally got over his illness, and now we are just dealing with him being an unhappy camper over his teeth, which are about to poke through any day now. I need them to come through. I cannot live another day of my life with him being a cranky pants and waking up every 20 minutes during the night. Does anyone have any good tricks to help get him over this? Or will I just have to ride out the storm and pray that he gets over it soon?

On another note I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this Challenge. It has been surprisingly more easy than I thought it would be. I have issues sticking with things, especially diets because I just want to eat all the food in the WORLD. Sadly, I can no longer afford to keep gaining weight, after all I want to be around for many many more Halloweens, Birthdays and Christmases. Who else is going to embarrass the crap out of my child if I'm not around to do it? 

I am down 15 lbs, and can finally fit into the jeans I abandoned to the back of my closet 2 years ago which is a major achievement! I call them my old new jeans. I feel great which is also a bonus and my skin looks amazing if I can brag a little. Here is a no make-up, no filter, selfie for ya!

Silky smooth!!!! Like butta!!! Don't mind the bags under my eyes, it's been a long 10 days. I will definitely be getting some Sleepworks in the next couple of days! 

Here is a little inspirational somethin, somethin for ya to get you through the day!


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Max Phase Low Down

As promised here is the low down for the Max Phase of the 24 Day Challenge.

What you will need:

1. Spark (super duper important)
2. MNS Max 3(great for those with caffeine sensitivity), MNS Max C (appetite control), or MNS Max E (Energy)
3. Meal Replacement Shake (my favorite is the Chocolate Mocha!)
4. Tupperware
5. Blender Bottle
6. Tote Bag
7. Go-Stak (I live and die by this thing!)

Optional Add-ons:
Catalyst
Omegaplex
ThermoPlus
Muscle Gain
Leptilean

You can find all of these products here: https://www.advocare.com/140959085

The first thing you need to know is that there are 2 options for this phase. You can choose to do the Max Pack Phase or the Lean-In-13 Zig Zag Program. The Max Pack Phase is more simple and I highly recommend this for first time Challengers. You will get to continue to eat just like you did during the Cleanse Phase with the option for a 6th meal if you've had an intense workout or are very active on a particular day.
The ZigZag Program is a little more complicated. Your days will consist of Burn Days and Refuel Days. On Burn Days you will eat no carbs at all and no fruit (except for breakfast). Refuel Days will reincorporate carbs and fruit back into your diet. It's recommended to do 3 Burn Days to every Refuel Day, but you can do 2:1 or even 1:1 if you need to.

I decided to go with the Zig Zag program for my Max Phase since I have already decided to cut out the carbs from my Challenge all together. Although, I have had a tough time sticking to the regimented time frame for eating my meals due to my poor sick baby. I am trying to get back on track and stick to the meal plans as best as possible, which is much easier now that we are back to a normal schedule! So, every night I pack up my tote bag with my blender bottle, meal replacement shake, snacks, lunch and my GoStak!

The most different thing about the Max Phase from the Cleanse Phase is the MNS packs you will take every day. There are 4 separate pill packs that you will take throughout the day and they look like this:

And here is my GoStak packed with all that awesomeness:

That pretty much sums what you will be facing in the Max Phase of the Challenge. So Far I am down 14 lbs and I feel amazing! I only have a few days left on this challenge and I am so excited to see what changes my body goes through! Comment or email me with any questions you might have.



Monday, October 27, 2014

Catch up!

I cannot believe it has been 6 days since my last post... Life just got a little crazy for a minute there. Brennan was super duper sick, and overall not a happy camper. Sick kids make life infinitely more hard. Watching my poor helpless baby be sick for almost a solid week was the worst thing ever. You don't want the details, let just say it was BAD! I basically turned into a kangaroo last week. Brennan is apparently a very needy, sick child. Think Man-Flu but on a more intense level, maybe now you understand... This was his first major illness, and it scared me a little. So I have been MIA due to the exorbitant amount of time it takes to nurse a baby back to health.

Lets just say that the last 6 days have been a roller coaster. I was so focused on my little one that I had a hard time sticking to the challenge guidelines. It was rough. I missed a few meals and snacks through out those few days and had no energy to workout. I have a lot of making up to do! My plan to get back on track is to up my workouts over the last 10 days of this challenge and to really, really, be strict with my food intake times and amounts. I know how well this challenge can work, I just have to get myself back in the right head space to complete it with confidence and trust in the system AdvoCare has set up. I know this works, I just have to work for it!

I am finishing these last 10 days strong and proud that I have accomplished what I have. I am down 12 lbs and I feel great! I would probably feel much better if I had followed challenge structure exactly, but life happens and I am picking myself up and dusting myself off and preparing for a better tomorrow. I am in the Max Phase of the challenge, this the the part of the challenge where you have prepped your body for successful weight loss and you can see and feel the pounds fall off. I already know that my body is changing and that my pants are getting looser and my stomach is getting flatter. I love the results I am seeing and it only makes me want to see more.

I will update you on the in's and out's of the Max Phase of the challenge tomorrow with a walk through of my day and all of the changes from the Cleanse Phase, but for today, this is all I got!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

24 Day Challenge Day 7 & 8

Sunday Funday! Sunday was day 7 and another prep day for me. Since I have my routine down really well the prepping was pretty easy. I made it a little harder on myself due to the fact that I didn't cook enough chicken on the first round. I only made it to Thursday's lunch before I was out of protein. So I had to cook another chicken breast which added 20 minutes on to my prep time.

While I did nothing outside of the house on Sunday I still managed to mess up my eating schedule. I made a mental note for next weekend to set timers on my phone for every 3 hours to remind me. At work it's easy to remember that I am due to eat, or take a supplement because I keep my paperwork right in front of me all day. At home it sits on the kitchen counter waiting to be looked at (which obviously never happens)!

I am on the slow count down to the Max Phase of the Challenge, which is the weight loss part of the Challenge and I am so super duper excited about it! Days 11 through 24 are the Max Phase and it's the part where you are supposed to lose all the weight and inches!!!! I am so freaking excited! Already at Day 8 I can see a difference in my body, and for sure I can feel the difference! As of the morning of Day 8 I was down 9 lbs! Being a big girl means that the weight will come off more quickly for me than for someone who has a normal BMI, That is probably why I am losing so much weight from the get go. I have a LOT more of it to come off than the average person. Do you know your BMI?  


Basically my BMI right now is 29, right on the cusp between overweight and obese! I never looked at myself and thought obese, but apparently science has this thing down and that's where I'm at. Like it or not.... I am determined to change this. My goal right now is to lose 80 lbs. That would put me at my the same weight I was when I stopped getting taller and started getting wider, I know it looks like a huge number but I can do it! With the help of this 24 Day Challenge and the rest of the amazing support I get from Advocare, I know I have the tools to do it!

So Monday was Day 8 for me and it was back to the fiber drink once again.... Now that I have unlocked the secret to the fiber drink I can take it like a champ! Mix it with a 1/4 scoop of spark... It does wonders!! Did I mention I am down 9 lbs? I did? Well, it feels awesome to say that! AHHH!!! So happy to see the scale moving in the right direction!!! Everything was great at work. I got my workout in. T25 Cardio and 40 minutes of Weight Loss Yoga. Basically my day was great. My night on the other hand, not so great. Sleeping next to a fussy, whiny 11 month old sucks!

Brennan sleeps in his crib very well, but lately has been waking up 4-8 times a night. I usually cave and bring him into bed with me in order to get a few precious hours of uninterrupted sleep. That didn't happen last night. We were up ever 40 mins for at least 10 min.... still not sure what's going on, but it was rough. Here is a picture so you understand just what I mean by fussy and whiny....



Monday, October 20, 2014

24 Day Challenge Days 5 & 6

This weekend was crazy!!! So much to do and so little time to blog about it. Brennan has been in rare form lately adding to the craziness, but it was good!

Friday was Day 5, half way through the Cleanse phase of the Challenge!!!! No fiber drink, but everything else was pretty much the same. My day was really crazy at work so I delayed my lunch until almost 2 and then promptly forgot my afternoon snack, whoops! Hey, I'm human, I forget things. Usually not food things, but crazier things have happened. Because of my spectacularly crazy day I was exhausted after coming home and declared it a "Fend for Yourself" dinner night. Basically that means, I didn't cook and ate left overs. I steamed some fresh broccoli and ate left over chili. It was so good, chili usually get better the longer it sits, well at least for a couple of days afterward. Lets no tempt fate here. I was also lazy when it came to my workout that night, I let the exhaustion get the better of me and only ended up doing 30 min of Yoga. I did however promise myself that I would take Brennan on a 5 mile walk in the morning, since what else is there to do when your child wakes up on your day off at 5 AM?

Well, that walk never happened. We were up at 5 (totally called that!) and we deep cleaned the house. By we I mean, I cleaned the house while Brennan went right behind me and messed everything up again. He's walking now, so he can reach a lot of things, which in turn makes my life entirely more difficult. Day 6 was a mess!!! A complete and utter failure on my part! I got up, drank my Spark and took my Catalyst. I managed to get in my Pumpkin Spice meal replacement shake (YUM!!!) and then everything went down hill from there. I drank my shake at about 7 ish (pretty on time...) and didn't remember my morning snack until almost 12. Ate my snack and then had to leave to go to a reception (bad, bad, bad idea). I should not have gone! In the back of my head I was all like "Who doesn't serve reasonably edible food at a reception. They will for sure have lean protein and veggies!" NOT!!! It was BBQ food, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, and of which I could eat nothing! I am talking pulled pork sandwiches and brisket, beans, potato salad, pasta salad.... The Works! Everything looked delicious and smelled even better, but I was unable to partake in the awesomeness. I ended up being that weird girl in the corner eating a dry salad (the only dressing available was ranch), and drinking bottled water. Everyone was boozing it up, stuffing themselves and I looked a little out of place. Due to the mass amounts of food I was unable to eat I missed my afternoon snack as well and came home at 8 PM to eat tuna and green beans. It was the fastest option available and therefore easiest decision to make. I still managed to get in about 40 min of Yoga before I collapsed into bed, hoping that Sunday would be better!

Friday, October 17, 2014

24 Day Challenge Day 3 and 4 Recap

Day 3 was really easy for me! I weighed myself when I got up and I am already down 4 lbs!! It's so exciting to finally see that number start going down! I also get a 4 day break from the fiber drink, so that's a plus!!! Overall the day went well. I switched up my snack from almonds to avocados, because really, who doesn't love avocados? If you are one of those weird non-avocado-loving people, we can't be friends. I'm pretty serious about them if you can't tell.

Anyway, It seems like each day that passes I get more and more energy. My body is finally adjusting to the lower calorie intake and I feel really good. I'm still on the no carb train which is going really well. No breakdowns, and I kinda feel like at this point I've made it over the hump. I'll never say never, but at this point I am not missing the carbs at all. My workouts lately have been intensive yoga. Faster movements that are geared toward weight loss and muscle tone. I have been hurting the last 2 days. My abs are so sore and my legs are a little shaky. I have always been pretty quick to start seeing muscle definition and I can tell just from the 4 workouts I've done this week that the toning is already happening. I am so excited to get my body back to where I feel more comfortable in my own skin.

Day 4 (yesterday) was the best day so far. I will probably just keep saying that every day until the end of this Challenge. I am 20 days away from the end of this and in total, I am down 7 lbs! I finally got to try the new Meal Replacement Shake flavor, Pumpkin Spice, and it is so so so good. My favorite by far, but I am a pumpkin fanatic!



The Cleanse phase of this challenge is designed to help you rid your body of all the toxins we ingest on a daily basis from all of the processed foods we eat. Just take a mental picture of your shopping cart when you go to the grocery store. How much of that cart is filled up with items from the middle aisles of the store? If you are anything like me then is was probably looking like about 80%.  By cutting out all of the unneeded extras like sodas, chips, fruit bars, sugary cereals, and dips you are helping your body learn how to operate uninhibited. By eating all of those bad things your body has to use up what little fuel it gets from those foods just to process them through your system, which can leave you feeling sluggish and tired.


Just a few days of clean eating will show you just how well your body can work if you just give it the fuel that it needs! To learn more about how you can supplement your diet you can visit my Independant Advocare Distributor page here!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

24 Day Challenge Day 2 Recap

Yesterday was my Day 2 of the Cleanse Phase of the 24 Day Challenge. I pretty much just did a replay of Day 1 with the exception of moving my meals a little farther apart. I was really full after lunch on Day 1 so I moved my meals and snacks on Day 2 to about 3 hours apart (the farthest apart they should ever be). It worked out great! I felt sated after each snack/meal and not overly full. After dinner I did have a moment, staring at my son's box of plain Cheerios, where I almost ate one.... My reliance on carbs since birth (pretty much) has become seriously evident now. I know that if I can just make it through Day 5 with no carbs the rest of the challenge will be a breeze.

I had my second Fiber drink yesterday. I mentioned my issues with texture, so I mixed it with a 1/4 scoop of Spark (my best friend in the world!!), thanks to a tip from a veteran of the cleanse. It was amazingly 1000% better than Day 1. The flavor made it much easier to get it down, with none of the gagging that occurred on Day 1 (I didn't mention the gagging?). Yeah, there was gagging on Day 1.... Don't judge! This time though, I took it like a champ!!  I even did a happy dance, in my underwear, in my kitchen at 5:00 AM. I'm pretty awesome like that!! If you must know, the sound track to my happy dance in my head was "Run the World" by Beyoncé

My day was great! I felt I had a lot more energy and my 27 trips to pee were reduce to about 15 which in my book is a plus. The last time I had to pee that much in one day I was days away from giving birth. At least then everyone could just chalk it up to me being the giant pregnant lady. Now, I am the giant AdvoCare lady on the Cleanse. It's pretty awesome!

I made a really great turkey meat loaf last night for dinner and paired it with some fresh green beans and sliced tomatoes! So so so so good! I didn't get my work out in until 9 last night, but I did manage to squeeze in about 35 minutes of yoga poses before Brennan woke up and needed to be put back to sleep. Hopefully tonight will be much better in terms of a good workout.

I know I haven't posted any of my "Before" Pictures so I guess I will share those with you now, just so you know I am a real human being and not some weird computer bot. I don't know if bots can have blogs, but if dogs can, I suppose it's possible. I'm not as cyber literate as I should be for being a 20 something year old in 2014. So without further ado...


***Warning: These photos were taken at 10 PM on Sunday night, I am makeup-less and bloated, not pregnant***

  
 BAM! Yeah, I can already feel your judgy eyes on me! It's cool though. All for the sake of bettering myself I suppose. I keep telling my husband that he just needs to remind me that I am getting bigger every time a beg him to pick up some ice cream on his way home, but he is just too nice. Ice cream used to be my treat for being an awesome wife and mother. Now my treat is getting healthy and being around longer to be an even better wife and mother. The added bonus is that eventually, with time, I will also be able to not feel as self-conscious as I do right now!

Ok so now on to more important topics, like new products! Let me present you with the new holiday goodness that was just released:

Purchase here: https://www.advocare.com/140959085

 So excited for this! I love all things pumpkin and cannot wait to try this one!! It's already in my shopping cart!You can get it here! Yey for fall!!!!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

24 Day Challenge Recap of Day 1

Ok so yesterday I had a great start to my 24 day Challenge! I was pretty nervous that I was going to be starving all day long because, lets be honest.... This girl likes to eat! Surprisingly, I was pretty sated throughout the day. So here is the breakdown of how my day went:

5:00 AM: Wake up, take 3 Catalyst, and drink the fiber drink. I have issues with texture so the fiber drink was a little hard for me to get down. It starts to thicken after about 30 seconds so you have to drink it fast. I add more water to my mix just to help stave off the thickening for a little bit longer.

6:00 AM:  Leave for daycare drop off and work with Spark in hand (I enjoy sipping on this, like you would a coffee). I like to mix mine up in a blender with ice and make a Spark slushee! So freaking good!

7:15 AM: Got to work and mixed up my meal replacement shake. It says to mix with 9 oz of water, but I usually just do it with 12 oz since that's the next marking on my cup from the 8 oz mark (still tastes great!). Plus mixing it with more water adds to my water intake for the day (see what I did there? Two birds, one stone). I also took 2 OmegaPlex pills.

9:30 AM:  Ate my morning snack of an apple and 1/4 cup of almonds. It took me a good half an hour to get through my snack, what with working and eating at the same time. I am such a multi-tasker!

11:30 AM: I took 3 Catalyst, and mixed myself up another Spark. If your co-workers thought you seemed overly chipper when you first arrived they are in for a real treat after your second spark kicks in!

12:00 PM: Ate my lunch of grilled chicken and asparagus. 5 oz of chicken and a cup of asparagus.

2:45 PM: Ate my afternoon snack of an apple and 1/4 cup of almonds

6:00 PM: I ate dinner which consisted of chicken burritos, brown rice and broccoli. My husband was lucky enough to get to eat everything I made while I stuck with the chicken and broccoli. Again only 5 oz of chicken and one cup of broccoli. It was super delicious. After dinner I took 2 OmegaPlex.

8:30 PM: I was finally able to get a workout in. I did T25's Stretch video (since I am super out of shape that was pretty intense) and I also did about 20 min of yoga poses.

10:00 PM: Bedtime! I took my Herbal Cleanse Packet and hopped in bed.

!!!!!Be prepared to be running back and forth to the bathroom about 27 times to go pee all day long. If you are like me and don't drink anywhere close to what is recommended on a daily basis, your bathroom breaks will be more frequent until your body get used to having the appropriate amount of water in its system. Just remember that all of those bathroom breaks are cycling out all of those toxins from your body, and allowing it to absorb more nutrients from your food. That is why it is so important to do this cleanse.



Our bodies are designed to do exactly what we need them to do, we just have to care enough about them to give them the tools they need to actually do it. Clean eating is such a great way to get our bodies the nutrition it needs to work appropriately for us. All of that processed food does nothing but clog up our systems and make it harder to absorb nutrients. If you can't pronounce it you probably don't need to eat it!



Monday, October 13, 2014

24 Day Challenge Prep

I spent a few hours over the weekend prepping for my 24 Day Challenge. I gathered up everything that I thought I might need from around my house and kitchen and here is what I ended up actually using out side the box with my AdvoCare Challenge goodies in it:

1. 2 Blender Bottles
2. Large water bottle ( mine is 32 oz which means I only need to fill it up 3 times during the day to ensure I get enough water)
3. Go Stak pill container (I have an aqua colored one)
4. 10 Small Tupperware containers
5. 10 Medium Tupperware containers
6. 5 Large Tupperware containers
7. Food Scale
8. Tote bag

Not too much stuff, but it helps to have them all in one place. I decided to do my 24 day challenge sans carbs (I'm hardcore like that). I just thought it would be easier for me to stick to the meal plans if I wasn't so focused on when I would be able to eat my next sweet potato or rice. I rely very heavily on carbs regularly and thought taking them out all together would be better than allowing myself to have them and be tempted to eat more than was recommended. Because hey, who only eats a 1/4 of a potato? 

I spent about an hour yesterday cooking my lunches for the week. They are all the same, grilled chicken and asparagus. I lightly seasoned my chicken with salt, pepper and a little bit of garlic, and then steamed the asparagus. 2 large chicken breasts and a bundle of asparagus was enough to make my lunches for the entire week. I portioned out the chicken into 5 oz chunks and added my cup of asparagus to my large Tupperware containers. The snacks were easy, I chose almonds and apples for my snacks for the day so I filled up all 10 of the small Tupperware containers with my 1/4 cup of almonds. I only cored and cut up 2 apples for today since fruit tends to brown after its cut into. I figured it would be pretty easy to only need to prep my fruit for the next day instead of making everything, every night on top of dinner. 

Next I filled up my Go Stak with all of the supplements I would need. It looks like this:

Dont worry you aren't taking all of these in one day!

I also decided that instead of trying to make breakfast and eat it every morning that I would just do a meal replacement shake instead. I have a tendency to roll out of bed each morning and need to walk out the door about 15 minutes later. So, physically making breakfast is hard for me. The meal replacement shake is a great way to get your body going in the morning if you can't squeeze in a breakfast. Doing that also helps cut down on the prep time. I just put a packet of the meal replacement shake in the blender bottle I am going to drink it out of and throw that in my tote bag. 

Basically my tote bag is filled with my GoStak, one blender bottle with a packet of my meal replacement shake in it. One blender bottle with a packet of Spark in it, my water bottle, lunch and snacks containers. Everything else I can do at home before I leave, i.e. the fiber drink and my morning spark. 

Last night I also took all of my measurements. I did it at the end of the day to get the most accurate reading. everyone always looks much skinnier in the morning before you've eaten anything so I didn't think it would be fair to take my measurements first thing in the morning. You can record your measurements on this sheet and keep somewhere safe for the length of the challenge. 

If you have any questions about the Challenge you can email me or go to: Advocare 


Friday, October 10, 2014

Body Image issues?



So I have been mentally preparing myself to start my 24 Day Challenge on Monday. I am hyped up about it. I have spent far too long accepting the fact that I will never be the size I want to be, and then I realized that if I continue to do nothing about it, nothing will happen. I spent my childhood as the tall, lanky, string bean girl. I was super active all through school and into college. Once I joined the real world and got into the routine of  working 60+ hours a week my activity level dropped tremendously. Sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer screen is doing nothing for my waistline.



I won't give you all my stats just yet, but lets just say I am about 80 pounds larger than I would like to be, and about 50 pounds heavier than my doctor finds acceptable. I started to gain a ton of weight right before I got married. I don't know if it was the stress or the knowledge that I was getting married and therefore had free reign to let myself go... whatever the case, that's when it started. Michael and I were engaged for about 21 months before we got married and started trying for a baby about 3 months before the wedding. We had been together for 7 years prior to getting married and we were ready to have a baby. Michael is a few years older than I am and had this irrational fear of being an old dad (weird!). After 9 months of trying to have a baby and about 10 extra pounds of weight gain we finally got a positive pregnancy test! Yey!! Let the morning sickness begin!

I lost about 34 pounds in the first 6 months of my pregnancy. On the day I gave birth I weighed 1 pound more than I did before I got pregnant (not bragging, that was the worst thing I have ever been through). Needless to say it was a rough pregnancy. Most people gain a bunch of weight while pregnant and then try to work it off after the baby is born.... I apparently live in opposite world! I lost a bunch of weight, gained it back, gave birth started out with a clean slate and continued to gain after B was born. It hasn't stopped. It just keeps piling on.

Cleaning out my closets was the worst thing ever!! Going through and finding that the clothes I was just wearing a few months ago have found a comfortable home in the back of my closet now is really sad. I was just griping to Michael that I have no jeans that fit me. I am down to my last 2 pairs that I can squeeze on, only first thing in the morning, and before any food has entered my body. I actually have about 20 pairs of jeans in various sizes of "before I got married". The worst part is that I can't fit into them, the part that makes me angry is that I probably have about $10,000 dollars worth of jeans that I cannot wear. Unfortunately, I was born super tall, and with a penchant for cute jeans. I do not have the ability to walk into any store around and pick up a pair of jeans that fit well. It's just not my reality and it sucks (thanks mom for the amazon genes)!. Shopping is the worst!

About a month ago I changed all of my eating habits, tried really hard to stick with a "home cooked meals only" plan, but I am still slowly creeping up the scale. It seems like no matter what I do I continue to gain. They say that weight loss is 75% diet and 25% exercise, so I figured that by changing the way I eat I would at least see some shift in the scale... I guess that doesn't work for me. No shift has been seen to date. I am now starting this journey with AdvoCare and committing myself to the 24 Day Challenge that they offer. After all it's only 24 days of my life. That's not even a whole month.... I am super excited to see where this plan will take me and ready to see the changes in my body!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Stay At Home Mom's


I just want to give all of my SAHM (Stay at Home Mommies) a big round of applause. I feel like a lot of the time you don't get recognized for how hard your job is. Yesterday I took the day off of work to run around to a couple of doctors appointments and a dentist appointment for Brennan and I have never been so exhausted in my life!

Our day started at 6 am (we could have slept in until 9:30), cause yeah, days off are not sacred to my son. Apparently every day is a work/daycare day for him. 10 months of up at 6-ish everyday really sucks. But anyway, back to my original point... you SAHM's are amazing. I was beyond overwhelmed yesterday with all of the running back and forth from home to doctor's offices for naps and snacks and lunches and all other miscellaneous stuff you have to remember as a mother to a not self sufficient human being. I don't know how you do it, but just know that I am in awe of you.

I started my day off with great intentions. We were going to get up, eat breakfast, play and hopefully Brennan would go down for his morning nap at around 8:30/9-ish. That would give me enough time to shower, dress myself, do hair and makeup, the whole kit and kaboodle (really wish they still made those!). You know, all of the things you should probably do if you are going out in public and don't want to look like a complete disaster and forever be known as "that mom who let herself go". I must admit I am no fashionista, my daily wardrobe consists of jeans, flip flops, and a t-shirt. I am lucky enough to work for a company that allows casual dress all the time, but I still make an effort to do my hair and makeup, most of the time. 

Unfortunately Brennan decided he was going to have a bad day yesterday. His world was apparently crumbling around him and he was having melt downs at every turn. I couldn't leave his side without him screaming at the top of his lungs. He refused to eat anything for breakfast, all he wanted was a bottle. He doesn't get a bottle for breakfast. He eats food for breakfast and then gets a bottle before nap time. He definitely had other plans yesterday. No breakfast, no morning nap, crying, meltdown, tantrum.... I was pretty close to tears. I mixed myself up a Spark, and held fast to the thought that it was only one day. Screw the shower and the cute hair and makeup, we left for his first appointment in sweat pants and tank top, I don't even know if I brushed my teeth.... not one of my finer moments. 

Once we were out in public though, he was a complete angel, best behaved child on the planet. I could feel the judgmental eyes of the other mothers looking at me in my sweat pants, frizzy hair, and bagged eyes. They were probably wondering why, if my child is so well behaved did I look like I just spent the night riding the train rails of Texas in an open cargo car like a hobo? If only I could have recorded my morning for them to see.  

I feel like days like this never happen to me when we stick to our normal schedule. He gets up when I need him to and goes down when he is supposed to. Stray too far from the rigid schedule he has adapted to and all hell will break loose. I am talking screaming banshees, fireballs, lava pits.... It will get messy. I have always dreamed of being a SAHM, but after yesterday I don't know if I have it in me. How do you deal with your little one's when they are having a bad day?

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

AdvoCare


So, I have this girlfriend. She is the exact opposite of me. She is super little, cute and happy all the time (like her world is quite possibly full of rainbows, and unicorns, and glitter) and she makes friends in EVERY situation. Me, I am an amazon, I can be super introverted (hence the blog), and my happiness ranks somewhere with the likes of the masses. All in all I am an average human being. This girlfriend of mine is one of those people that makes you want to be a better person. She is a great motivator, dedicated mother and wife, and all around has a good soul. Needless to say, I want to be her. Well, not really, but kinda. I want to be LIKE her for sure. 

I got to talking to her about how she does it. How does she keep it together, looks fabulous, and stays happy all at the same time? These are things I have never been able to master, especially not all at once. I can usually manage one maybe two at a time, but certainly I am severely deficient in all three. She introduced me to my favorite new thing on the planet!!! SPARK! 
AdvoCare
 I am officially obsessed with this stuff. I drink it every morning with breakfast and every afternoon after lunch. This stuff is what makes my world go round. I am not just saying that because I sell the stuff now (which I now totally do! You can get it here), it is 100% the truth. I am a better mother, wife, employee, and friend with this stuff. The fact that I only got 4 hours of sleep last night has not phased me one bit. It is the best source of energy and mental focus I have ever found! Trust me, after the birth of my son I tried them all! Yes, even Bawls (ironically in a blue bottle), why I would even think about drinking something named bawls is beyond me, but I tried it. Along with the usual suspects you see in every gas station cooler. None of them were able to sustain any type of long lasting energy for me, then I would get the shakes. I was a mess. It was probably not a good idea to keep pounding down energy drinks when you are having heart palpitations and your head is spinning (I think people have died from that stuff), but I was desperate enough to do it. 

Spark for sure gave me exactly what I needed. No shakes, no head spinning. Just great energy with no crazy side effects. I love it and will never look back. That first sample of Spark was enough to hook me into the AdvoCare world. I am so fired up about this company and all it has to offer me and my family. I am now an Independent Distributor for AdvoCare and will be starting a 24 Day Challenge with them on Monday! I am so excited!! I need something to help me get my sexy back! After a baby, and the exhaustion that follows I have for sure let myself slip into the world of "I am too tired to care that I gained 50 lbs AFTER I had a baby". Something needs to change and I know the 24 Day Challenge will help get me there! I will keep you posted on the prep I will be doing for the challenge this week/weekend and hopefully some of you will do it with me too!! For more info on the challenge or any other AdvoCare products just visit https://www.advocare.com/140959085 or email me! 

Yey for Rainbows, Unicorns and Glitter!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Introduction

Hey You.....


I guess the concept of typing out this weird blog thing is super new to me, but it seems to be all the rage so I figured I would give it a shot..... Well here goes....


Hi, My name is Sarah, and I'm an alcoholic... oohh wait, wrong thing. Shoot! I forgot that this isn't an AA chat room (do those still exist? chat rooms I mean, not AA. Does AA even have chat rooms?). Anyway, back to me!! I am a married, working, mother of ONE, currently (hopefully for a while), but eventually more if its written in the stars. I am pretty much your average person, my life is not overly exciting, unless you count the Gilmore Girls marathons that have been happening at my house lately! Oh yeah! I am not overflowing with witty comebacks, or even particularly funny (especially if you ask my husband). I love him dearly and yet, would like to use him as my own personal punching bag most of the time, but that's not nice, we don't hit ( I say this to my son at least 25 times a day, he's 10 months old). 

Awww, yep that's us... before kids and marriage... when we still really liked each other. every time I look at that photo I think "What is Michael pointing at????!!!" So annoying, but that's about the cutest picture we have together. So there you have it, pre-jaded glow still falling around us.

And then came this one...

Isn't he just the cutest kid ever??? I happen to think so. His name is Brennan and he is a handful! He is 10 months old and the love of my life. At least when he is stationary. He has the ability to upend everything within a 30 FT radius in under a minute. I must take lessons from him when it's Michael's day to clean.... in about 20 years. 

Well there you have it, my little family. Love them to pieces even though they make me nuts!!! Hopefully this blog will become interesting eventually. I just wasn't sure if this whole blogging thing needed to start off with an introduction, kinda like an internet handshake, before I just let you come into my life and read all of my most intimate thoughts and desires. So I guess it's nice to meet you. I should probably get back to work and do something productive with the last 20 minutes of my day.