Tuesday, June 27, 2017

sweet summery drink recipes - plus a few little tips and other tidbits

Another week and I'm still stuck, but I have hope that things will change soon.
Never Give Up!
(that's one of my personal mottos)

It can be hard sometimes, when you are stuck and the scale won't budge,
but the important thing is to never give up.

Keep trying
(stay motivated - ask family and friends to help motivate and encourage you)

Change your diet a bit
(try eating your larger meals earlier in the day
or in the case of Nutrisystem food - switch your lunch with your dinner)

Walk a little longer
(try to go a little farther each day - or 5-10 mins. longer than the day before)

Find a partner or a workout buddy
(because everyone needs some encouragement and it's harder to say no to exercise if you have someone else counting on you to show up)

Drink more water
(caffeinated drinks can dehydrate you.  water helps make you feel full)

Eat a little more
(sounds crazy, but increasing some of your calorie intake
sometimes shakes your body up - giving it the boost it needs)

Now saying that - I'm not talking about eating that huge piece of chocolate cake you had your eye on
(although indulging once in a while is fine)
What I mean by increasing calories is eat another serving of veggies or something like that.

The point is, if you don't meet all your calorie requirements, your body may go into starvation mode.  Which means it will start storing fat because you body thinks you are starving it.


One such way to add a few extra calories - although I need to add a disclaimer here
normally, you shouldn't drink your calories....however, if you need a calorie boost now and then
you can do it by mixing up a fun, fruity drink.


Here are a few delicious drink recipes that were recently shared on Nutrisystem's website - the leaf.


Energy Smoothie

Photo is property of Nutrisystem


Servings: 2
Counts as 1 Smart Carb and 1 Extra

Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup strawberries
1/2 banana
2 tsp honey
6 ice cubes

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender.
Puree until smooth.

My review: 
* This drink was delicious.  I really liked it.  As far as energy though, I'm not sure if it was this drink or the coffee that I had around the same time that gave me a little boost.  I will definitely be making this one again.


Kiwi Strawberry Slushie

YouTube Video property of Nutrisystem and can be found on the Nutrisystem channel



Servings: 1
Counts as 1 Smart Carb

Ingredients: 

1 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 medium kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 packet Truvia natural sweetener

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients into a blender or food processor
Blend until ice is completely crushed and fruit is blended

My review:
*While, I enjoyed the flavor of this drink, all the little seeds from the fruit made it a bit too gritty (texture wise) for me.  Overall though, I liked it, but those darn seeds - ugh!! 



Here's a link to a few more refreshing summertime slushies....I haven't personally tried all of them, but they look super yummy!


Kiwi Strawberry Slushie (recipe posted above)


Photo is property of Nutrisystem




Photo is property of Nutrisystem




Photo is property of Nutrisystem




Photo is property of Nutrisystem


I haven't personally tried the last three slushies that I mentioned,
but they sound really good and they are added to my list of must tries.

I haven't shared any recent pictures of myself lately....mostly because I just feel so uncomfortable with how I look (as I know most you who also struggle with weight loss must feel at times).

But, here goes....

All I can say is I'll share this and others in the hopes that better ones will come soon enough!
For now, I'll keep celebrating the little victories, such as in total so far, I have lost
15 pounds on Nutrisystem and 23 pounds overall.

It hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it.



My Stats:

Starting weight -   Jan. 16, 2017 ---  212
                             Jan. 23, 2017 ---  207
                             Jan. 30, 2017 ---  208
                             Feb. 06, 2017 --- 207
                             Feb. 13, 2017 --- 206
                             Feb. 20, 2017 --- 204
                             Mar. 08, 2017 --- 204
                             Mar. 29, 2017 --- 202
                              Apr. 24, 2017 ---  200
                             May 17, 2017 --- 197
                            Jun 19, 2017 --- 197
                            Jun 27, 2017 --- 197


**Disclosure ~ I will be receiving access to the website and food in exchange for reviewing the diet plan.  All opinions herein are my own and not influenced by Nutrisystem.   #ad #sponsored



Monday, June 19, 2017

catching up

It's been a few weeks since I last checked in.

I haven't lost any weight during that time,
but I did manage to score a job right out of college.
which in these days is no easy feat.

It feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
And because it's a job that I really love
being surrounded by happy smiles and lots of hugs
(aka - teaching pre-k kids)
A lot of stress has evaporated from my life.

Which hopefully means that less stress will help make it a little easier to lose weight 
as stress is so horrible when it comes to your health, not just when you are trying to lose weight.
Everything can get out of whack when you are dealing with stress.

Also, now that I'm no longer in college and I'm off work until this fall, I can totally
concentrate on relaxing (well, at least as much as a mom of 6 can relax )
and work on my physical health (more exercise).

Until next time here's my tally so far.

Starting weight -  Jan. 16, 2017 ---  212
                             Jan. 23, 2017 ---  207
                             Jan. 30, 2017 ---  208
                              Feb. 06, 2017 --- 207
                              Feb. 13, 2017 --- 206
                              Feb. 20, 2017 --- 204
                              Mar. 08, 2017 --- 204
                             Mar. 29, 2017 --- 202
                             Apr. 24, 2017 ---  200
                             May 17, 2017 --- 197
                            Jun 19, 2017 --- 197


**Disclosure ~ I will be receiving access to the website and food in exchange for reviewing the diet plan.  All opinions herein are my own and not influenced by Nutrisystem.   #ad #sponsored