Sunday, June 2, 2013

THE RESULTS!

So here I sit. Day 31. Feeling happy and healthy but exhausted because it's almost midnight again (it's just how we live most nights).

I woke up this morning feeling a little apprehensive about the day. Not knowing quite how I would react to life "off" the detox. But because I loooooooove the protein shakes so much, I made myself one for breakfast. Because of the self discipline I've learned over the past 30 days, I said no to the bread last night and also to the donuts at church. Because I have learned how badly dairy and gluten effect my system, I asked for the Gluten Free menu at Hacienda Colorado at lunch.



 Because we still have left overs from this week, I ate an almost detox friendly meal at dinner. And because soda just didn't look that good this evening at small group, I drank water. BUT.......there is one thing I indulged in this evening...can you guess what it was?

Yep :) the purple cow :)
This kind as well. I shared the whole block with our small group, because I knew if I had opened it while I was by myself, I probably would have eaten the whole thing. So I made sure they would help me finish it tonight! I ended up having 4 pieces, but I think I could have easily stopped at two. A little bit after it had settled I felt heavy in my tummy, and kinda regretted eating it! I can count the number of times I've regretted eating chocolate in my life on one hand. It didn't have the same thrill as it used it, it didn't satisfy my desire like it used to. Chocolate sadly/thankfully has lost a lot of pull in my life....wow!!!!! Now that's progress!

So I shall get to our stats now, because you are all probably wondering by now!! :D

Over 30 days, Scott lost a total of.......drum roll please............and scroll down ;)






































TWENTY POUNDS!!!!!!!!!  and 8.5inches over his body!!!! Well done Scott!! I know you are determined to lose more, but WOW what an incredible start!! I'm so proud of how well you stuck to this detox with me :D I couldn't be more thankful having you to go through it with!


And for myself I lost a total of...........................











































TEN POUNDS!!! and 7.75inches over my body. All of my baby weight is gone, and I'm actually back to the weight I was when we got married at 19. I can hardly believe it! I never thought I'd get back here after 2 kids! Ladies!!!! IT CAN BE DONE! Do not settle!

So combined we lost 30lbs and 16.25 inches :D I'd say this detox was a HUGE success! Thank you Arbonne for your 30 day feeling fit kit. Don't be alarmed at the $$, you never pay full price! If you have any questions about this detox, please don't hesitate to ask me! I'd love to share this experience with you! It honestly was a lot easier than we both thought it would be!

So here's a pic of us then:




And here's a pic of us now :)




And here's a pic of my favorite outfit I bought at GAP the other day (sorry it's blurry! ;) Can't wait to wear it out! Here we come summer!


Thank you so much for journeying with us the past 30 days! You've all been such an encouragement and terrific supporters and I hope that we have been a little bit an of inspiration to you along the way too!  

Friday, May 31, 2013

29/30



This is going to be super short because it's late and I'm exhausted but I wanted you all to get excited with us as we are heading into our FINAL day of this detox!!!!!!!! I truly can't believe I was able to stick with something for 30 days!!!! The results have been AMAZING (and would you believe I've only gotten my lazy bum to the gym 5 times this month?!?!) and I can't wait to share the results with you Sunday afternoon! I'm so curious to see how many inches Scott and I lost in total. We've both been keeping track of our weight, which has been motivating and delightful watching the numbers go down and down!

We've been eating a lot of left over this past week because we had SO much food in the fridge! But the left overs are almost gone, so tonight we made turkey tortillas again :) it was really yummy! Mom and Dad Custer are home and they enjoyed the meal just as much as us!!

 
                                                The three of us made dinner together :)

This morning we went to the Castle Rock Outlets. I have been waiting for this day for the whole month, when I could finally go and buy clothes that FIT me! I've been trying to get by with baggy jeans and loose shirts for a couple weeks now. Which is a great problem, but a discouraging one too, I haven't felt comfortable in my clothes for a while, so I was so ready and so excited to get to go shopping! And shop I did!!! I said yes...yes...yes...yes...yes...yes...yes...to several items at the GAP outlet. Their sales were awesome! I also got a couple cute things at Aeropostale. So you'll probably see me in new outfits over the next few month or so till I've worn everything once :P I had barely used any of my 'fire' money to repurchase clothes since we lost the house. I was given all of my maternity clothes (as I was 15 weeks preggo when we lost the house and all of our belongings), which was SUCH a blessing. Then after Megan was born I bought a few shirts, dresses and a few jeans that fit my post preggo body, but now I no longer fit anything I own. I'm not exaggerating one bit. So it was pretty fun being able to shop, I don't think I've owned so many new clothes in my life! Though one thing I know, I've always been a thrift shopper and I always will. My Tampa, FL friends knew about "my thrift store" where I always bought my clothes. There must have been a rich person who wore my size, because I could always find super cute clothes for a few dollars every week! One time my best buy was a 'GUESS' dress that till had the tag on it, it read $54, I bought it off the rack for $2.50 :D Ok, now I'm totally off topic and this was meant to be short, never trust me when I say that! ANYHOW! All of that to say, new clothes are wonderful (and pricey) but you'll always find something in my closet from a thrift store, no doubt!

OK I completely rambled, I guess I had more to get off my chest than I thought :P

Here's one last pic of Liv helping me this morning. She's such an encourager! I gave her a fashion show of my new clothes, and every time I came out wearing something different she'd always say "oooooooooooo that's cute!" I foresee many mommy/daughter shopping spree adventures as she gets older!


Saturday, May 25, 2013

7 days to go!


I want chocolate. I want chocolate really really badly. We have MILKA bars in our pantry up stairs that I haven't touched this whole time. I'll see them every few days when I'm getting something from near them. I look at them longingly, then shut the door. Chocolate is the only thing I have mentioned every single night that I want to eat. And now if you've never tried Milka Chocolate, then you've never tried chocolate. I didn't used to like Hershey chocolate, but over time since it was the only one I was eating I began to enjoy it a lot. UNTIL I have a Milka again, and then I remember that Hershey chocolate is a far cry from it. We are so spoiled by Scott's parents as they regularly bring back bars for us from Germany. We know we can buy Milka here, but it's so dang expensive for a little block of it! Kinda like Cradbury chocolate. I grew up on Cradbury in Australia and I still LOVE it!!! Especially the Caramel filled Cradbury chocolate...yum!!!!


Ok this is now pure torture! I should change the subject...and quickly!!!!



7 days!!!! YES 7 days left of this detox!!!!! I can hardly believe it! This month has flown by. In my first post I wrote that I wanted to blog daily, but obviously that didn't happen. But I don't regret  not blogging every day. I wanted to still enjoy blogging during this month, not for it to become a hassle, which it hasn't..so success! :)

One unfortunate thing has happened, though, over the past 10 days. Something is upsetting Scott's tummy daily. And we have NO clue what it is. We've tried eliminating different things but the nausea keeps coming back. It'll stay for a couple hours, then leave. Scott keeps wondering if his body is needing something that he used to eat? Like he isn't getting enough of a certain something right now? He says the first 15 days flew by for him, but since the nausea has begun, time has slowed down a lot for him and it's like he's crawling to the finish line :( poor guy, I hope we can figure it out soon! I keep telling him he's pregnant. Sounds like morning sickness to me ;)

We've invited a few different people over for dinner during this detox and it's been so much fun sharing our delicious meals with them! I think they have all been so brave to accept our invitation! If I was invited over to someones house who I knew was on a detox, I'd be afraid they were going to serve me Kale soup (which is a thing, but not something I'm about to make)!

Remember my first meal disaster? Chicken Ole? Well I finally made it again and this time it was just the way it should be!


Seasoned grilled chicken, over sauted spinach, with a scoop of salsa on top with a side of Broccoli :) it tasted as good as it looks :)

There are a few meals I forgot to take photos of, but just believe me that they were yummy too :)

One last thing before I end this, today I made Kale chips (yep, I just became that weird detox woman). A friend told me a bake Kale, that had been tossed in Olive Oil and garlic, on 250 degrees for...well however long it took to make them crispy.


Well I did just that.....and they were gross. So I won't be doing that again! I'm glad I now have an excuse to throw the Kale out....we really weren't enjoying it! Back to spinach in our shakes! Yay!

One more week! We've got this!!!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Less of a detox, more of a way of life

Now that we are 19 days in it's beginning to fell less like a detox and more like a new way of living.

Not having lots of snack food around the house feels normal. Not eating after 7pm seems more normal. Waking up hungry and ready for the day is normal. Often times before the detox I could go without breakfast because my tummy still felt full from the day before. But now I can not wait to make my shake and drink up it's goodness! It is like a treat every morning now! We love using the Vanilla Protein powder, fiber, digestive plus, almond butter, spinach, almond milk and frozen berries in our shake. It's the prefect way to get our day off to a good start!

If I do find myself hungry between meals I'll munch on Nearly Naked popcorn, you can buy this at Costco.


Or I'll have some fruit and mixed nuts or even a fit chew (a salt water taffy type looking thing, in either a caramel or chocolate flavor, it hits the spot when I'm craving something sweet) .



 Since I'm still breastfeeding, I want/need to keep up my calories for Megan. So if I'm hungry I normally eat! I haven't felt like my supply has been affected by this detox, which I know a lot of nursing mothers are always curious about! The truth is, we have never eaten so well in our life!

We've enjoyed some new meals over the past few days. One being A black bean and vegetable soup, which we served over brown rice.


It was very flavorful and Livvi enjoyed it just as much as we did. It's been so encouraging watching Olivia switch to this diet. We were pretty bad before in giving her veggies, so she didn't really love them. Honestly for the first week of the detox she ate like a bird, not enjoying anything. But she quickly learned that that was whats for dinner, there was nothing else, so she started eating. Now she's always wanting second helpings of the meals I make. Makes my heart glad knowing she's eating very nutritious meals every day!

A couple nights ago I made a Chicken Jambalaya. The recipe made so much I've been eating it every meal since! lol It gave me a break from cooking for one night :) Good thing it tastes great!


I'm not sure what's on the docket for dinner tonight, so I better check and get working on it. But one thing I do know, it's going to be yummy!

Before this detox people used to think I didn't like cooking, which was a fair assessment because I never made proper meals. But I always knew my real issue was that I didn't like, or maybe just didn't see how meal planning could change everything. Having the right ingredients in the cupboard or fridge and having a daily plan for what we would eat has changed my life! And it could change yours too at the drop of the hat! I have never made such a huge adjustment in an area of my life overnight, like I have from day one of the detox. Scott can be a testament to that!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Half way there!

I'm falling behind!

I was planning on posting our half way results yesterday, but I was out of the house most of the day, then we had some sweet guests for dinner and overnight, so I never got on the computer.

So! I'll get right to it, because I don't have much food news as we've had a lot of left overs recently and I've started recycling recipes from the beginning of the detox, so nothing new yet. But I am making a new Black Bean soup tonight, so I'll let you know how that turns out!



In 15 days with only going to the gym 3 times and simply eating right I have lost a total of 6lbs and around 7 combined inches all over my body!! I started as a size 6 in pants and size MEDIUM up top. Now I am a size 4 in pants and a SMALL on top :D that is SO exciting for me!! I wasn't sure I'd be a SMALL ever again, I figured I had become a mom so naturally I needed to be an M now. NOT THE CASE! I look and feel better than I have in 4 years :) Also I've reached my pre-pregnancy weight! But my ideal weight would be 5lbs less...I guess we'll see over the next 15 days what happens!

And for Scott, only going to the gym once so far, he has lost a total of 11lbs and 7 combined inches all over :) He has tightened his belt by 2 buckles.

When a friend asked Scott if he was doing the detox with me, the friend joked "My wife wanted me to detox with her, but I said no, I wear the pants in my family" haha Well Scott wears the pants in our family too, he just doesn't like what size those pants are! So he's joined me on this 30 day journey and he's been nothing but supportive and encouraging! I think he's loving it as much as I am! We are both still feeling great and we are committed to seeing these final 15 days through! If you've ever considered doing a 30 day detox, quit considering and ACT! The time is now to gain control over your weight gain!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Day 12 Complete!

Sorry that I've been MIA for a few days! I've been choosing bed over writing a post those nights. You all LOVED Scott's post, I joked about turning the blog over to him :P He didn't bite, so you're stuck with me for the remaining 18 days! Maybe he'll do another guest post or two before the time is up!

Time is flying and we're still having fun! The meals have been great and our bodies continue to thank us with clear minds, energy and continued weight loss! Several of you have started asking about this detox and it makes me so excited to watch you want to get on healthy paths along side us! It's so funny how the tables have turned. I used to watch "healthy" friends choose better options than me when around food and I always felt bad for them because of all of the good and yummy things they were missing out on. But WOW I couldn't have been more wrong! I am now excited to choose the healthy option and actually know what's going into my body and how it is nourishing my entire being, not just satisfying a craving!

My eyes have been opened and my life has been changed...in 12 short days! I hope my posts encourage, and excite you to consider choosing the healthy option for yourself and your family (if you have one ;)). Ask me any questions you have, please, I mean that. If I don't have the answer, I'll find it for you.

Here's what we have been eating:

Saturday: Chicken Stir Fry (was meant to be over brown rice, but I forgot and brown rice was going to take too long to cook, so we just put it over already made Quinoa. Man, we LOVE quinoa!!!!)


Sunday: Scott made an awesome Garlic Roasted Chicken for Mothers Day dinner!

                                                                        Before


                                                                               
                                                           After...YUM! Well done babe!


Monday: Turkey Tortillas (we missed the cheese and sour cream but they were ok. I don't recommend gluten free Corn Tortillas, they fall apart if not heated correctly. And the correct way to heat them is way to much drama for me, haha, so I just crumbled gluten free tortilla chips and ate my turkey, lettuce and tomatoes with them instead. Also, we added a little bit of salsa to our meal to give it a little moisture. Sadly this salsa did have a little bit of vinegar in it (my first and only cheat) but all of the other ingredients were pretty much fresh! It helped a lot! (this pic does not include the salsa)


Then finally tonight one of my favorite meals yet: Turkey Chili. It was AHmazing!! This was the very first chili I've ever made and it was perfect. Wouldn't change a thing! Besides putting a slice of avocado on the top next time! The recipe even mentioned to do so but I totally forgot!


We did have salads on the side of most of these meals, just didn't get a photo of it :P But we do put a good bit of spinach in our protein shakes in the morning to help with our green intake for the day ;)

So there you have it, you are all caught up, whether you wanted to be or not! Sorry there are no deep spiritual lessons in this post. I am learning a lot, I'm just not that good putting into words my journey like Scott is. We've been having some great conversations, though, about lessons being learned. We are getting way more out of this detox than we could have ever imagined!!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Guest post by Scott!

It’s an honor to fill the role of “guest-blogger” on this Mother’s Day. Sorry, I won’t be giving you a rundown of what went into my tummy today. Fiona has taken the day off, but asked me to post about an ongoing conversation we have been having about “appetites.” I pray that these rambling thoughts might encourage and inspire you in some way. And if, at the end, you think I’m crazy, you can just tell me so. Not all of these thoughts are original to me, but it would take too long to thank and mention everyone who has helped me learn bits and pieces of this. :)

Appetites. Appetites are natural things. God has designed our bodies to have appetites and for them to be satiated. They are good, healthy desires to have – in moderation and in the right circumstances.

There is a story in the Old Testament that puzzled me for a long time: the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob in Genesis 25:29-34. I’d suggest you give it a read if you haven’t in a while. Here are the highlights: Esau comes back from work really hungry. Jacob has been cooking a stew. Jacob offers him the food in return for his birthright. Esau agrees.

Jacob and Esau essentially traded places. Jacob would now function as the first-born in a patriarchal society. That was incredibly huge! The greatest part of the trade was probably that Yahweh would become the God of Abraham, Isaac, and… Jacob. Perhaps that could have been Esau – if it weren’t for his decision to trade his birthright for a bowl of stew.

WHY?!? What could possibly make Esau do this?
Answer: His appetite.




His body told him that he was hungry and that he would die if he did not receive sustenance that very minute. Was that true? Probably not. But he apparently didn’t have the power to tell himself – his own appetites – what he needed to. He couldn’t say, “NO!”

Esau did not manage his appetites well. He did not control them – they controlled him.

On some level, I think we all can relate. As foolish as Esau’s actions appear, I know that I have done and said the same as he when my appetites have raged. I have made foolish decisions just to satisfy an out-of-control desire.

We all have our appetites. I am not just talking about food, though this can be a real challenge for a lot of people as it has sometimes been for me. And these appetites when constantly fed and never controlled, grow larger and larger until they dominate our lives! Suddenly, you wake up one morning to find that you aren’t in control. Your appetites own you.

How are you and I doing at controlling our appetites? Are we in control of what we eat or do we just put in our mouths whatever our appetites crave? Is our appetite for sex out of control? Is it leaking out of the proper boundaries of our marriages? Do you crave money, power, influence, a career, a relationship, acceptance, value, beauty, respect, etc.? How close are you to waking up one day realizing that you have traded your life for a bowl of stew?



You see, our appetites have tremendous power. And they can have immeasurable consequences.

We are who we are based on how we have managed our own appetites and how others have managed theirs. We make decisions that hurt ourselves and others have made selfish decisions that have hurt us too. Anyone who has been the victim of abuse, divorce, rape or any other form of betrayal knows what I am talking about.

Are you and I controlling our appetites or are they controlling us?

There is a true story of a former missionary who had been invited out for breakfast and coffee by a pastor. The missionary thanked him and said, “I’ll take you up on the food but I’ll decline the coffee.” “Oh, you don’t like coffee?” the pastor responded apologetically. “No,” said the missionary intensely, “I love coffee! But I have learned the value in saying ‘no’ to things that I want have. I often practice this with food and drinks, like coffee. That way, when I am in a much more serious situation and my desires are wanting to rage out of control, I will have hopefully practiced saying ‘no’ to myself often enough.”

That story moves me. What a wise and insightful man!

Let me bring this discussion back to normal life for Fiona and me. Like this missionary, we have recognized a connection between our desires for food and other appetites.

We have realized how untrained our appetites for food have been. We haven’t practiced saying “no” to ourselves in… ever. We just ate what we wanted to when we wanted to. And you know what? A lot of our other appetites experienced the same free reign!

But as we have been saying “no” to all kinds of delicious foods over the past week and a half, an AMAZING thing has been happening. We have felt more control and power of our whole bodies and desires, not just over our food cravings. Our will has reemerged. Our overgrown appetites are shrinking. Practicing saying “no” has caused more of our sumo-sized appetites to go on a detox diet as well.

We obviously attribute this to the incredible work of God in our lives! His Spirit has graciously empowered us for this development of discipline!




By learning to control one of our wild appetites, we are gaining control over other areas as well. By not eating candy, we are more able to tell our eyes that they can’t have “candy” either. By not allowing chocolate into our bodies, we are learning to keep more junk out of our minds too. Our appetites are shrinking. We feel a sense of control coming back to our lives. This is wonderful! Praise God!

If you haven’t thought about this before, I hope you take some time to think about your appetites. Where are they under control and where are they not? To what do you need to practice saying “no”?

I am still learning much of this. I DO NOT have this down. I still want go to eat a giant bacon cheeseburger with fries. But my eyes have been opened to my unchecked appetite for food and how it affects the rest of my life. Our appetites are incredibly powerful desires that will shape and control us, unless we learn to shape and control them.

All the best,
Scottland

P.S. I'm sorry if this all sounds a little sermon-y. I'll blame the preaching class I took this semester. ;-) Trust me, if anyone needs to be preached at here, it's me.