So I am 10 months into my Shakeology journey and have nothing but wonderful things to say about it. I have lost 50+ lbs since I started in July 2013, I have more energy than most people I know, am excited to be able to be a "WHAM" which is a work hard at home mother, and just have my health back. You don't really notice these things until one day you wake up and say, "Wow. I notice I feel AWESOME...every...single...day." How does this happen? One word: CONSISTENCY.
Consistency is something I am really good at. One I commit to something, I am ALL IN. Many people say that, but do they mean it? That is where the difference lies. Last July I started drinking Shakeology and we had a 10 day road trip to visit my husband's family, which I stopped taking Shakeology for those 10 days. And I noticed, right away. And I thought I prepared too because I bought at least $50+ worth of protein snacks, bars, and drinks to make up for not having Shakeology. I honestly thought I could just "supplement my supplement." Didn't work. I ended up snacking every two hours on my healthy snacks, like bars or nuts or a protein drink. But I would ask my husband around 11am on the long 1000+ mile drive, "Hey, if you see a Starbucks at the next rest area..." And thankfully I was tracking my calories on MyFitnessPal so I didn't go over bc I was tremendously excited that I had lost over 10+ lbs at that point. To someone who just had a baby 4 months ago, those 10 lbs were a big deal.
Once we got back from vacation and my Shakeology delivery was waiting at the doorstep, I said never again. Not skipping it, not worth it. That is when I made up my mind that I REALLY AM ALL IN. And I have been drinking it everyday ever since. Without fail. (Well, I made Shakeology cookies for my son's birthday party so I ate my Shakeology instead of drinking it that day.) And all I can say is that I get up, have mental clarity, do not feel dependent on coffee to get me going, have tons of energy to be with my family and ENJOY that time and the list goes on and on. I never run out of energy, I run out of time in the day to do everything that I want to do. That is a good problem to have.
My observation though in both my fellow coaches and my challengers is this: when they are inconsistent with Shakeology, things start to fall a part. If they are on a weight loss journey, the scale stops moving. Why? The cravings come back and they make poor food choices. And then when they get back on the band wagon, the needle moves down. If they take a break for a holiday or special occasion like a vacation, they feel sluggish and don't sleep as well. So the special time you set aside for your family, you feel like a deflated balloon. Does that make sense? Not in my book.
If they took a break because of financial reasons, which is the one excuse that most people will say, what I notice is they go out to eat more and when they do that they overeat because have you seen the portion sizes in restaurants these days? They are HUGE. They think they are too busy to make a shake and yet run through the drive thru for the convenience. How again does this make sense? I remember in my family as we weaned our family off of the drive thru how the bill got less and less as I chose not to order anything and drank my Shakeology instead (and of course felt better afterwards...never said that after hitting McD's) and then my husband stopped ordering extra food to just skipping his order too because he started drinking Shakeology. My husband and I just saved $10-12 just by not ordering and yet Shakeology is just $4/per serving.
So when someone asks me, "How can you afford it?" It's simple. I just can't create a meal for $4 that contains the amount of protein, vitamins, nutrients and excellent resources that my body needs. I know. I tried. I failed. I came to the realization that the EASIEST thing for me to do was to just be consistent with drinking Shakeology. Much easier for me to budget Shakeology than those "emergency drive thru runs" or going out to eat and paying for food that was way too plentiful and not as healthy as this.
So what is my advice here? Stay consistent. The simplest meal of the day for me is my healthiest meal of the day. Why would I trade that? I like feeling healthy, happy and whole. I hope you choose to stay consistent too. In the long run, it is easier.
Please stay tuned for the next two months as I explain some of the exotic ingredients in Shakeology and what they do for your body and your health. Some things you will have maybe heard of before like pea protein or chia seeds, but others like maca root or ashawagandha (say what?) are foreign to us. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Say Buhbye Coffee! How Shakeology Kicked my Caffeine Addiction
I used to be the kind of person that would say, "Don't talk to me. My personality is in the cup." Meaning my coffee cup and many times, I was not able to really move and do things til the second cup. Only when I was pregnant with my children did I give up coffee completely and switched to decaf.
As I was in my 3rd and 4th month with my Beachbody Challenge group, several of the people in the group said how they felt less cravings for coffee. Hmm, strange, I thought. I love my coffee. It's my morning ritual, my little special something for me. Why would I give up coffee? As I was working through my sugar addiction, I was looking to decrease my calories and my coffee the way I made it was easily 300+ calories. As I adjusted the ingredients with less sugar, switching from sweetened almond milk to unsweetened almond milk, I thought, can I do this? Can I really give it up? My creature comfort that helped me survive motherhood in the morning? Alright, Shakeology, let's see if you can live up to the claims that people make about you. I am a sceptic by nature as a science teacher, so many times I need evidence to believe with cold hard data.
As I was investigating clean eating, I found a menu plan from one of my upline coaches. And right there on page 1, it said , "NO CAFFEINE of any kind." Yeah, right, like that is going to last. But it was only a week and I said, well, I am on Shakeology and this is one of the BIG CLAIMS TO FAME about it. So I said, Why not? I had just become a coach and I really wanted to be able to say that I was a great resource for nutrition. "Clean eating" is the new trendy word that basically means eat nothing processed, which in this case included coffee. Let's see if the magic of Shakeology will power me through this week.
So I put my big girl pants on and dove in to a clean eating challenge. At first it was weird, not having my warm mug in my hand in the morning. So I made peppermint tea (caffeine free) just so I could get over the hump of the mug. I had my Shakeology probably around 10am that morning as my midmorning snack. I will admit that I had a headache later that day but I was terribly proud of myself and popping a couple ibuprofen worked. Then I got up on Tuesday, and did it again. No headache this time. Waited to have my Shakeology a little later in the afternoon to see if that would help in case a headache returned but it did not. Wednesday came and this time I did not even have the peppermint tea. Just a glass of water with a little Himalayan sea salt in it. I had my Shakeology with lunch and felt great. And then it dawned on me that my addiction to the coffee was totally mental and as I become more familiar with the ingredients of Shakeology, like the Maca root, I was amazed that this was going to be my solution to kicking my caffeine addiction. It was true. These ingredients really gave me the energy I used to think I got from coffee or should I say, caffeine.
Do I drink coffee today? I have on occasion. Especially nights when the baby wakes me up 2-3 times with teething or a diaper change, but for the most part, no, I don't NEED COFFEE the way I used to. It's a nice treat, kinda like a Saturday morning breakfast would be. What was once a huge part of my diet was able to quietly disappear in the night. How do I feel today? My personality is not in the cup, it's in the shaker.
As I was in my 3rd and 4th month with my Beachbody Challenge group, several of the people in the group said how they felt less cravings for coffee. Hmm, strange, I thought. I love my coffee. It's my morning ritual, my little special something for me. Why would I give up coffee? As I was working through my sugar addiction, I was looking to decrease my calories and my coffee the way I made it was easily 300+ calories. As I adjusted the ingredients with less sugar, switching from sweetened almond milk to unsweetened almond milk, I thought, can I do this? Can I really give it up? My creature comfort that helped me survive motherhood in the morning? Alright, Shakeology, let's see if you can live up to the claims that people make about you. I am a sceptic by nature as a science teacher, so many times I need evidence to believe with cold hard data.
As I was investigating clean eating, I found a menu plan from one of my upline coaches. And right there on page 1, it said , "NO CAFFEINE of any kind." Yeah, right, like that is going to last. But it was only a week and I said, well, I am on Shakeology and this is one of the BIG CLAIMS TO FAME about it. So I said, Why not? I had just become a coach and I really wanted to be able to say that I was a great resource for nutrition. "Clean eating" is the new trendy word that basically means eat nothing processed, which in this case included coffee. Let's see if the magic of Shakeology will power me through this week.
So I put my big girl pants on and dove in to a clean eating challenge. At first it was weird, not having my warm mug in my hand in the morning. So I made peppermint tea (caffeine free) just so I could get over the hump of the mug. I had my Shakeology probably around 10am that morning as my midmorning snack. I will admit that I had a headache later that day but I was terribly proud of myself and popping a couple ibuprofen worked. Then I got up on Tuesday, and did it again. No headache this time. Waited to have my Shakeology a little later in the afternoon to see if that would help in case a headache returned but it did not. Wednesday came and this time I did not even have the peppermint tea. Just a glass of water with a little Himalayan sea salt in it. I had my Shakeology with lunch and felt great. And then it dawned on me that my addiction to the coffee was totally mental and as I become more familiar with the ingredients of Shakeology, like the Maca root, I was amazed that this was going to be my solution to kicking my caffeine addiction. It was true. These ingredients really gave me the energy I used to think I got from coffee or should I say, caffeine.
Do I drink coffee today? I have on occasion. Especially nights when the baby wakes me up 2-3 times with teething or a diaper change, but for the most part, no, I don't NEED COFFEE the way I used to. It's a nice treat, kinda like a Saturday morning breakfast would be. What was once a huge part of my diet was able to quietly disappear in the night. How do I feel today? My personality is not in the cup, it's in the shaker.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
How Shakeology Helped Me Kick My Sugar Addiction
So I started my Shakeology journey in July 2013. I was about two months into drinking it everyday (less my vacation in August) when the people in my challenge group started discussing other sweeteners or talked about how their cravings decreased. It was September and I noticed that I just stopped joining the kids in their afternoon snack around 3-4pm, usually something like animal crackers or pretzels or some other carb/sugar thing. And I thought to myself...hmm, maybe there is something to this claim that it decreases people's sugar cravings.
Now at this point in time, I was a neophyte in terms of changing my diet. I was just mostly sticking to dairy free as per my son's intolerance, but not changing much else, just keeping to the diet that I grew up with and cooked for my family. But what I loved about my challenge group was the exchange of ideas and what people ate and what helped keep them satisfied. I knew I was a huge snacker and I most definitely had a sweet tooth. Between you and me, I could eat a whole package of Reeses in one sitting and not blink.
And I really thought about that... I was addicted to sugar. I loved it. I would buy the Domino 5 lbs jug and I realized I was really the only one in my family who used it, mostly in my coffee in the morning. Sure I could blame baking and other needs, but those were rare and just a few times a year. But on a daily basis, I used at least 3 TABLESPOONS of sugar in my coffee every morning. Per coffee cup. I had already done the calculation in My Fitness Pal app and realizing that each coffee cup I drank ranged between 200-300 cal and that is me underestimating it because I didn't really want to know how bad it was.
So I decided I would start there. But I liked the way my coffee tasted, sweet and mellow with vanilla almond milk (the sweetened kind.) So I did some reading and I downloaded some books, "The Complete Sugar Detox Program," "Five Simple Steps to Cut Down on Sugar" and a few other articles. Sugar withdrawel is AWFUL. Painful. As bad if not worse than a caffeine headache. So my first step was to switch to the unsweetened almond milk, which changed from 90 cal/serving to 30 cal/serving (not that I used an entire serving in one coffee cup but over 2-3 cups a day.) Then after a week or so, I tried 2 tablespoons instead of 3 tablespoons. Not bad. Didn't really notice a difference. Then by the end of the month I went to 1 tablespoon of sugar. A difference yes, but worth it and I still felt like I get my sweet in my coffee.
My next step was researching "other sweeteners." I had tried honey, not great in my opinion for coffee, though nice with some teas. Maple syrup was just weird and really flavored the coffee in a certain way and didn't give it the right sweetness. In my research though, the sweetener that came up over and over as natural and safe because I was breastfeeding was stevia. So I started with 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1 packet of stevia. Brilliant. Kept at this til I acclimated to the taste of it and eventually one day I jumped off the ledge and completely stopped using sugar altogether. Just the stevia. And I had crossed the finish line of knowing I did not crave the sugar anymore, it was just a bad habit. So I packed up the sugar and stored it in my freezer (bc I do use it for baking on rare occasions.) And it has stayed there ever since.
So then how do I know that Shakeology helped make this happen? If I was having my coffee at 7-8am, I knew for certain that I would get my sweet kick in again with Shakeology sometime between 11am-2pm, which worked perfectly for me. And the fact that the afternoon snack just disappeared on its own was just easy that I didn't even notice. But what it takes is having Shakeology in my system everyday at a certain time that works for me. That time is anywhere between 10am-2pm so that my day flows. It works for me and I am so grateful to have kicked this habit. See, it is critical for me. Diabetes II runs in my family and I have seen first hand what it can do. So my priority this past year was to make sure I change my diet, get rid of this addiction so I prevent to the best of my ability this horrible affliction. A healthy diet creates a healthy weight which in turn lowers my risk for diabetes II.
So take a moment to think about your sugar addiction and the long term affects it could have on you... what would you be willing to change right now today to prevent the horrible health issues associated with it so you can enjoy every decade of your life? If I told you this shake would help you, would you drink it? I would and that is what I am doing on this journey with Shakeology.
Now at this point in time, I was a neophyte in terms of changing my diet. I was just mostly sticking to dairy free as per my son's intolerance, but not changing much else, just keeping to the diet that I grew up with and cooked for my family. But what I loved about my challenge group was the exchange of ideas and what people ate and what helped keep them satisfied. I knew I was a huge snacker and I most definitely had a sweet tooth. Between you and me, I could eat a whole package of Reeses in one sitting and not blink.
And I really thought about that... I was addicted to sugar. I loved it. I would buy the Domino 5 lbs jug and I realized I was really the only one in my family who used it, mostly in my coffee in the morning. Sure I could blame baking and other needs, but those were rare and just a few times a year. But on a daily basis, I used at least 3 TABLESPOONS of sugar in my coffee every morning. Per coffee cup. I had already done the calculation in My Fitness Pal app and realizing that each coffee cup I drank ranged between 200-300 cal and that is me underestimating it because I didn't really want to know how bad it was.
So I decided I would start there. But I liked the way my coffee tasted, sweet and mellow with vanilla almond milk (the sweetened kind.) So I did some reading and I downloaded some books, "The Complete Sugar Detox Program," "Five Simple Steps to Cut Down on Sugar" and a few other articles. Sugar withdrawel is AWFUL. Painful. As bad if not worse than a caffeine headache. So my first step was to switch to the unsweetened almond milk, which changed from 90 cal/serving to 30 cal/serving (not that I used an entire serving in one coffee cup but over 2-3 cups a day.) Then after a week or so, I tried 2 tablespoons instead of 3 tablespoons. Not bad. Didn't really notice a difference. Then by the end of the month I went to 1 tablespoon of sugar. A difference yes, but worth it and I still felt like I get my sweet in my coffee.
My next step was researching "other sweeteners." I had tried honey, not great in my opinion for coffee, though nice with some teas. Maple syrup was just weird and really flavored the coffee in a certain way and didn't give it the right sweetness. In my research though, the sweetener that came up over and over as natural and safe because I was breastfeeding was stevia. So I started with 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1 packet of stevia. Brilliant. Kept at this til I acclimated to the taste of it and eventually one day I jumped off the ledge and completely stopped using sugar altogether. Just the stevia. And I had crossed the finish line of knowing I did not crave the sugar anymore, it was just a bad habit. So I packed up the sugar and stored it in my freezer (bc I do use it for baking on rare occasions.) And it has stayed there ever since.
So then how do I know that Shakeology helped make this happen? If I was having my coffee at 7-8am, I knew for certain that I would get my sweet kick in again with Shakeology sometime between 11am-2pm, which worked perfectly for me. And the fact that the afternoon snack just disappeared on its own was just easy that I didn't even notice. But what it takes is having Shakeology in my system everyday at a certain time that works for me. That time is anywhere between 10am-2pm so that my day flows. It works for me and I am so grateful to have kicked this habit. See, it is critical for me. Diabetes II runs in my family and I have seen first hand what it can do. So my priority this past year was to make sure I change my diet, get rid of this addiction so I prevent to the best of my ability this horrible affliction. A healthy diet creates a healthy weight which in turn lowers my risk for diabetes II.
So take a moment to think about your sugar addiction and the long term affects it could have on you... what would you be willing to change right now today to prevent the horrible health issues associated with it so you can enjoy every decade of your life? If I told you this shake would help you, would you drink it? I would and that is what I am doing on this journey with Shakeology.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
My 10 Day Vacation from Shakeology
Last year, I started drinking Shakeology on July 1st. And I was all in. Except that I didn't order it on HD (that's Home Delivery.) I just did the one time delivery, you know the 24 packet box. Why did I do that? I knew I was going on vacation and not just any vacation, a road trip, half way across the country. And I knew I wasn't going to be drinking a shake on the road. At this point in time, I had not even told my husband about Shakeology or Beachbody or anything. I was just a few months post-pardum after having my 3rd child, Noah, in April. Shakeology and Beachbody (Body Gospel) is just another one of my attempts to exercise and get healthy.
So I am 30 days into the program (Body Gospel) and drinking Shakeology and everything is going really well. I am finding balance in my life with 3 kids, happiness in my home and developing the most awesome connection with God as I am being mindful about taking care of myself so I can take care of my children. I mean, I am getting, like no sleep, 2 hours at a clip at best, and just figuring out life with 3 kids ages 4, and 2 and 3-4 months. But I found everyday as I drank Shakeology, which was usually at lunch, I had all this awesome energy. I can take care of the kids, myself, the house, my husband and I still found time leftover to workout and eat right. This stuff was amazing but I didn't realize it. It's like when your vision adjusts slowly to something and then you realize you can see with clarity and acuity.
I really remember dragging after Megan, especially because I returned to work at 12 weeks. It was so hard to get through the day and I used to drink 3 cups of coffee, spaced throughout the day just so I could function. She was a C-section and the physical recovery was just awful and exercise never felt right. That is why I was determined to have Noah as a VBAC. But I remember the many months after Megan that even when I got home, from 4pm-8pm was the longest stretch of the day. It made me sad bc I love being with my children. But they always had a way of taking what little energy I had left and it felt like I was being sucked dry. They were usually not at their best at that time of the day, my mother often called it the "witching hour." And I was desparately looking for patience and was often not finding it. I had very little to give when I was spending "quality time" with my husband that I often fell asleep on the coach before 10 pm.
But this time, it was different. Everything got easier and I had the energy to get and STAY organized with all the new chaos. I can see that now with 20-20 hindsight. And then we got in the car for the road trip to Missouri for a family reunion with my husband's family. And I was all out of Shakeology. I prepared myself with probably $50 worth of nondairy protein drinks, energy protein bars that varied from $3-5 each, and tons of snacks like nuts, fruits, etc. to make-up for what I was not getting since I had stopped Shakeology.
We are about 2 days in and I am tracking all of my calorie intake on MyFitness Pal app, and I realize that I am starting to get hungry about every 2 hours as I keep logging into my smartphone to keep a running total of my calories. And I am being super mindful of my calorie intake, because in those first 30 days, I lost 10 pounds and I was very excited about that. (Though I had not told anyone that I was doing Beachbody or Shakeology. I was so afraid to fail.) I did not want the scale to go in the other direction. I wanted to lose this baby weight and keep it off for good. But I was always looking for something to keep me satisfied. Thankfully I could blame the kids to say we need to take a meal break (potty break) and find something to eat, whether it was from our packed food or something else.
My husband was great accomodating me with runs to supermarkets wherever we were on vacation since I had a dietary restriction (no dairy bc I was breastfeeding Noah who clearly had a dairy intolerance.) He was always aware that I needed to have good HEALTHY food, high in protein to keep my energy up. Needless to day, I felt like I was eating all day long. Thankfully I kept my water intake up so I would not overeat.When our vacation was over and we were back home, I checked the scale and WHEW! No weight gain occured. No loss, but no gain. I did not like how much I needed to eat and the energy protein bars, though nice, were not always tasty (think nutty cardboard with a glimpse of honey) and didn't keep me full for long.
It was then that I realized, I needed to be on Shakeology and it needed it on Home Direct (HD) because I did not want to be off it again. I was able to keep my energy up but I kept feeling like I had to eat and then an hour later know that I needed to eat again and make all these decision about that to eat and keep repeating that pattern 4,5 or 6 times a day. In July, I liked having my "normal" schedule of breakfast, lunch, dinner with maybe a snack or two if I needed it. Who wants to feel like a ravenous animal all day long, looking for the next kill? Not me. I need easy. I need simple. I need good nutrition. Shakeology answered all that and it was delicious. I can't say that for the $50+ of healthy snacks I bought. Since mid-August 2013 when we returned, I have been on Shakeology ever since and I haven't missed a day. It feels good to be healthy and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
So I am 30 days into the program (Body Gospel) and drinking Shakeology and everything is going really well. I am finding balance in my life with 3 kids, happiness in my home and developing the most awesome connection with God as I am being mindful about taking care of myself so I can take care of my children. I mean, I am getting, like no sleep, 2 hours at a clip at best, and just figuring out life with 3 kids ages 4, and 2 and 3-4 months. But I found everyday as I drank Shakeology, which was usually at lunch, I had all this awesome energy. I can take care of the kids, myself, the house, my husband and I still found time leftover to workout and eat right. This stuff was amazing but I didn't realize it. It's like when your vision adjusts slowly to something and then you realize you can see with clarity and acuity.
I really remember dragging after Megan, especially because I returned to work at 12 weeks. It was so hard to get through the day and I used to drink 3 cups of coffee, spaced throughout the day just so I could function. She was a C-section and the physical recovery was just awful and exercise never felt right. That is why I was determined to have Noah as a VBAC. But I remember the many months after Megan that even when I got home, from 4pm-8pm was the longest stretch of the day. It made me sad bc I love being with my children. But they always had a way of taking what little energy I had left and it felt like I was being sucked dry. They were usually not at their best at that time of the day, my mother often called it the "witching hour." And I was desparately looking for patience and was often not finding it. I had very little to give when I was spending "quality time" with my husband that I often fell asleep on the coach before 10 pm.
But this time, it was different. Everything got easier and I had the energy to get and STAY organized with all the new chaos. I can see that now with 20-20 hindsight. And then we got in the car for the road trip to Missouri for a family reunion with my husband's family. And I was all out of Shakeology. I prepared myself with probably $50 worth of nondairy protein drinks, energy protein bars that varied from $3-5 each, and tons of snacks like nuts, fruits, etc. to make-up for what I was not getting since I had stopped Shakeology.
We are about 2 days in and I am tracking all of my calorie intake on MyFitness Pal app, and I realize that I am starting to get hungry about every 2 hours as I keep logging into my smartphone to keep a running total of my calories. And I am being super mindful of my calorie intake, because in those first 30 days, I lost 10 pounds and I was very excited about that. (Though I had not told anyone that I was doing Beachbody or Shakeology. I was so afraid to fail.) I did not want the scale to go in the other direction. I wanted to lose this baby weight and keep it off for good. But I was always looking for something to keep me satisfied. Thankfully I could blame the kids to say we need to take a meal break (potty break) and find something to eat, whether it was from our packed food or something else.
My husband was great accomodating me with runs to supermarkets wherever we were on vacation since I had a dietary restriction (no dairy bc I was breastfeeding Noah who clearly had a dairy intolerance.) He was always aware that I needed to have good HEALTHY food, high in protein to keep my energy up. Needless to day, I felt like I was eating all day long. Thankfully I kept my water intake up so I would not overeat.When our vacation was over and we were back home, I checked the scale and WHEW! No weight gain occured. No loss, but no gain. I did not like how much I needed to eat and the energy protein bars, though nice, were not always tasty (think nutty cardboard with a glimpse of honey) and didn't keep me full for long.
It was then that I realized, I needed to be on Shakeology and it needed it on Home Direct (HD) because I did not want to be off it again. I was able to keep my energy up but I kept feeling like I had to eat and then an hour later know that I needed to eat again and make all these decision about that to eat and keep repeating that pattern 4,5 or 6 times a day. In July, I liked having my "normal" schedule of breakfast, lunch, dinner with maybe a snack or two if I needed it. Who wants to feel like a ravenous animal all day long, looking for the next kill? Not me. I need easy. I need simple. I need good nutrition. Shakeology answered all that and it was delicious. I can't say that for the $50+ of healthy snacks I bought. Since mid-August 2013 when we returned, I have been on Shakeology ever since and I haven't missed a day. It feels good to be healthy and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
What is so awesome about Shakeology?
This is just a quick blog to let my friends, family, and fans know about what is so awesome about Shakeology. In 2013, I lost 50 lbs drinking Shakeology and doing Beachbody workouts. Which is an awesome task in and of itself. But the MOST amazing thing I really love about what Shakeology has given me that money just can't buy: ENERGY. I am one of those people who can just keep going. And going. The things I have been able to do in the past year because of my energy just simply amazes me. And it is because of Shakeology.
I remember vividly this winter the energy I had to help gather wood. See, I live in a log home with an open floor plan. And we heat with wood as our main source of heat. I live on about 3.5 acres of property. Most weekends you will find my husband in the yard either with a chainsaw in his hands or sitting next to the wood splitter making our firewood. And we have lived in this house for about 5 years. And for the past five years, I gave birth to 3 children. So every winter I was always pregnant (shouldn't lift heavy things) or nursing an infant (which wasvery time intensive.) So I was never able to really help except maybe to stack some wood every now and then.
This winter here in NJ it was super cold with many days falling to zero degrees and about eight snowstorms. And we have had several machine problems with chainsaws, our wood splitter and the quad breaking down on us, which really slowed down cutting and moving the wood. One week in particular I remember Scott telling me, if you can get any wood up to the house, that would help. It was going to be a cold spell. So after I got my son onto the bus, got the baby down for an early morning nap and my daughter nestled in the house, I went down with serious determination to get some wood up to the house. Now, my front part of my property is a hill and of couse the wood is at the bottom and the house is at the top of the hill. And the quad is broken, not that I know how to drive it anyway. So I grabbed the wheelbarrow and went down the hill, filled it up with about a dozen pieces of wood and then pushed the full wheelbarrow up the hill and dumped it by the porch. And then repeated that over and over and over again for the next hour. After that time, I saw how big the pile was, I threw the logs onto the porch, which if you have every thrown wood about 5-7 feet, not that easy. After I got it on the porch, I then stacked it on our wood cord holder against the front of the house. Definitely got my heart rate up as I got almost a week's worth of wood up to my house.
Now I had never done this before. And it's was about 9:45-10am. Then I went in the house and took care of my infant and daughter, and my oldest son when he got home, cleaned the house, cooked all our meals and went about my routine, which of course, included my Beachbody workout. At the end of that day, of which I am glad I took some pictures, that is when I realized that I am a Log Cabin Mama and we are some tough women. But I wasn't able to do this before. Not for 5 winters. What was the difference this time?
That is when I realized how much energy I had. Like Superman energy. And I knew, just knew, it was because I was drinking Shakeology every single day. The nutrition it provides that aides my muscles to work harder than they ever have before. To do all that before 10 am AND still do all my regular responsibilities. The fact that I didn't get sore or winded or fatigues. Shakeology. The vitamins and minerals really make a difference in how your body can handle all sorts of challenges. And I just kept realizing over and over, that what you reap, you sow. What you put in your body changes what your body is capable of doing.
I feel so amazed and blessed that I can do all this and more... because of Shakeology. Thank you God!
I remember vividly this winter the energy I had to help gather wood. See, I live in a log home with an open floor plan. And we heat with wood as our main source of heat. I live on about 3.5 acres of property. Most weekends you will find my husband in the yard either with a chainsaw in his hands or sitting next to the wood splitter making our firewood. And we have lived in this house for about 5 years. And for the past five years, I gave birth to 3 children. So every winter I was always pregnant (shouldn't lift heavy things) or nursing an infant (which wasvery time intensive.) So I was never able to really help except maybe to stack some wood every now and then.
This winter here in NJ it was super cold with many days falling to zero degrees and about eight snowstorms. And we have had several machine problems with chainsaws, our wood splitter and the quad breaking down on us, which really slowed down cutting and moving the wood. One week in particular I remember Scott telling me, if you can get any wood up to the house, that would help. It was going to be a cold spell. So after I got my son onto the bus, got the baby down for an early morning nap and my daughter nestled in the house, I went down with serious determination to get some wood up to the house. Now, my front part of my property is a hill and of couse the wood is at the bottom and the house is at the top of the hill. And the quad is broken, not that I know how to drive it anyway. So I grabbed the wheelbarrow and went down the hill, filled it up with about a dozen pieces of wood and then pushed the full wheelbarrow up the hill and dumped it by the porch. And then repeated that over and over and over again for the next hour. After that time, I saw how big the pile was, I threw the logs onto the porch, which if you have every thrown wood about 5-7 feet, not that easy. After I got it on the porch, I then stacked it on our wood cord holder against the front of the house. Definitely got my heart rate up as I got almost a week's worth of wood up to my house.
Now I had never done this before. And it's was about 9:45-10am. Then I went in the house and took care of my infant and daughter, and my oldest son when he got home, cleaned the house, cooked all our meals and went about my routine, which of course, included my Beachbody workout. At the end of that day, of which I am glad I took some pictures, that is when I realized that I am a Log Cabin Mama and we are some tough women. But I wasn't able to do this before. Not for 5 winters. What was the difference this time?
That is when I realized how much energy I had. Like Superman energy. And I knew, just knew, it was because I was drinking Shakeology every single day. The nutrition it provides that aides my muscles to work harder than they ever have before. To do all that before 10 am AND still do all my regular responsibilities. The fact that I didn't get sore or winded or fatigues. Shakeology. The vitamins and minerals really make a difference in how your body can handle all sorts of challenges. And I just kept realizing over and over, that what you reap, you sow. What you put in your body changes what your body is capable of doing.
I feel so amazed and blessed that I can do all this and more... because of Shakeology. Thank you God!
Why did I start Drinking Shakeology?
My story begins with having my third child, Noah, this past April in 2013. I was so happy. I had a great pregnancy, great birth, great baby. Now, it was time to get back into shape. After my first two babies, I pulled off most of the weight, not quite all of it, hanging on to 10 or more pounds each time. I was always trying to find ways to get some more exercise in my life. Small attempts that never seemed to be the right answer.
During this pregnancy I had switched to a low GI diet based on the advice of one of my midwives, which helped me keep up my energy with my 3 & 2 yr old. at home. Eating small meals frequently, high protein, and keep moving worked well for me. I barely gained any weight at the end of my pregnancy, which was important since I was trying to have Noah via VBAC. And then Noah came along. He was beautiful and perfect. I loved breastfeeding him. It was so important to me since I breastfed my other two children. It wasn't long before I realized that Noah reacted to things that I ate. After your pregnancy is over, most women are glad to be able to not be restricted any more in their diet. I went off the GI diet back to how I used to eat. Instantly, I could tell Noah did not like it. So I switched back to almond milk, which I discovered during the last trimester of my pregnancy. Still Noah had issues of skin breakouts, gas, and painful bowel movements, that would often explode out of him. Poor little guy. Then it sunk in, dairy of any kind did not agree with him.
Deep breath, OK, I can do this. I love him and breastfeeding is so important to me. But now I needed to do some research so I could not only eliminate dairy but adjust family recipes, many of which contained butter or cheese. So I knew I still needed protein but did not want to eat meat or nuts at every meal. Meat is too much for my taste buds and nuts have a lot of fat with the protein. Without an easy protein like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc., i realized I would need a protein drink. That's when I kept seeing Millie's posts on Facebook about Shakeology. She also kept posting about her weight loss journey after baby #2.
So I put my skepticism aside, which is strong for me. I have a strong science background so I, of course, needed to review all the evidence, do all the research before I came to my own conclusion. I went to the Beachbody website about half a dozen times trying to read up on all their products. It sounded good from all the evidence I saw.
Then I contacted Millie, who is my coach now, and asked about the exercise program (Body Gospel) she used and also Shakeology. It was so clear that I felt God prompting me to do this. Here I am breastfeeding my infant at 3 am and trying to find something that would help me so I could help him. He's my son and he means the world to me. But sometimes God talks to you in whispers at 3am, its not really maternal exhaustion. And this time I did listen to His whisper.
Why do I use Shakeology and Beachbody products? My "why" is my family. I love them so much and I want to give my all to them. I want to have energy all day long, I want to be able to play and do any activity the kids wanted to try. I want to be kind and loving to my new child, not a run down mother who would keep thinking I should just give him a bottle. I want to be healthy for them. I want to enjoy these years with my husband and be a good wife to him. He's my best friend and desrves the best of me. In addition, Type 2 diabetes runs in my family, which concerns me and I don't want that to limit me. I don't want to be on dozens of medications. It was time for me to get healthy.
So I signed up and got Body Gospel and vegan tropical strawberry Shakeology. The shake gave me energy instantly, which is awesome for a mom of 3 children ages 4 and under. Body gospel allowed me to worship, exercise and focus on my physical and mental health. I loved the journal that came with Body Gospel, with just a nugget of scripture to hear God cheering me on everyday kept me going. Writing my goals helped me. I was feeling great. Everyone around me could see it, sense it, feel it. The weight loss is a huge bonus. Feeling good because I got in a good exercise routine makes me personally happy. I got in my "me time" while being with my kids. Win win for everyone.
As I got more educated, I realized to my chagrin, I wasn't overweight, I was obese. I kept kidding myself, that I was fine and skinnier in my mind than in the mirror or on the scale. So I kept at it. Trying to get some exercise in almost every day. Trying to eat better on a dairy free diet, which at times felt so limiting. I also prayed to God. I knew that He would help me be successful. It was such a strong feeling that God was for me, especially in this year of my life. Every month, miracles would happen for me and my family, things that I can't explain other than knowing it God behind it all. My faith is so strong now.
And so here I am today, over 33 pounds lighter, kicked a sugar and caffeine addiction that I had most of my adult life, happier than I have ever been before and confident that God has me right where I am supposed to be. My family is completely reaping the benefits of my transformation. I am so grateful that I heard God's prompting to take a chance, to make a change. Thank you, God!
As for you, just take a chance, especially if you feel God's prompting. =)
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