Weight Loss

5 Tips to Stay On Track With Your Diet and Fitness Goals

01/11/2018 By Jenn 9 Comments

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You can Stay On Track With Your Diet and Fitness Goals this year!

It’s the new year which means a fresh start and time to make new goals. Most of us take this opportunity to work on health and fitness and I am right there with you.

Between balancing motherhood, family, and a career time is limited for me time. I made a choice last year to make more me time and have never felt better!

Sticking to my diet and fitness goals are not easy however here are some great tips I have found that help me!

Water

Water is the number one thing I struggle with. It’s bland, I’d rather eat food, I could come up with a bunch of reasons why I hate drinking water but water is good for you. Not only will it help your skin it helps with your diet. Drinking more water helps flush out toxins and if you drink a glass before a meal you will avoid overeating.

I find it helpful to add a lemon wedge in my water, gives it a nice flavor and lemon water helps your immune system and boosts your metabolism.

2. Get Enough Protein

Protein can reduce hunger and can boost metabolism. It also helps with building muscle. So this is a key ingredient to keeping those diet and fitness goals.

Having high protein snacks like Oikos Protein Crunch Greek Yogurt gives you more of the nutrients (protein + fiber) you want, with no artificial sweeteners, to help keep you going.

Oikos Protein Crunch Greek Yogurt has 17g of protein, 6g of fiber and no artificial sweeteners. 17g of protein in a snack is amazing and makes it easy for me to hit my daily protein intake.

I usually grab one as soon as I get home from the gym, they make a great post-workout protein snack!

You can find Oikos Protein Crunch Greek Yogurt at your local Walmart and come in 4 delicious flavors. My favorite is the vanilla yogurt with chocolate oats and peanuts, such a good combo!

Grab this ibotta offer to try them out for yourself.

3. Sleep

Our body’s need down time, time to recharge our batteries. When it comes to staying on track with our diet and fitness sleep is a very important factor!

It has been studied that when you don’t get enough sleep, your cortisol levels rise. This hormone is related to fat gain.

See where I am going with this?

Less sleep = more fat gain

4. Keep Moving

This one seems obvious but on days where you’re not feeling it, do it! A good mix of cardio and weight training will help you stick to those diet and fitness goals.

Once you get into a routine, it will become easier. You’ll be so glad you started as you see or feel the overall progress in your body.

5. Accountability Buddy

Having a friend going through the same things as you always make it easier to stay accountable. Grab your bestie and stick with your diet and fitness goals together this year.

Bounce healthy meal ideas off each other, go to the gym together and hold each other accountable to stick to your goals.

With these 5 tips staying on track with your diet and fitness goals should make it easier for you this year to make the progress you want!

Don’t forget to grab the ibotta offer to try out the Oikos Protein Crunch Greek Yogurt at Walmart.

Foods I Cut Out Of My Diet For A Healthier Lifestyle

02/22/2017 By Jenn 3 Comments

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A couple of weeks ago I talked about the foods I added into my diet for a healthier lifestyle. Today I am talking about the things I cut out of my diet. As you know, a healthier lifestyle begins in the kitchen so for me that meant getting very serious about the nutrients I was putting into my body along with my workouts.

Some I cut out completely others I eat in moderation. Moderation is key!

Foods I Cut Out Of My Diet For A Healthier Lifestyle

Sodium

Your body needs salt but I limit mine. Excess salt will make you retain water and for me I notice that right in my tummy area. The more sodium I eat the more bloated I feel and look. Things that contain higher sodium are often processed foods which contain more calories as well.

Sugar

This is something I completely took out of my diet unless it was natural sugar. Sure my morning coffee is not the same but I got used to that. I no longer add sugar to anything only natural sugars from fruits or even honey if I need a little boost of sweetness. Do I still eat sugar in sweets, yes but again its all moderation and I cut it out where I can.

Carbs

Ok confession I was a carb addict and if you asked me a few years ago to limit then I’d tell you exactly where to go because it was not going to happen. Now I have not taken this out of my diet your body needs carbs to provide energy, it is not healthy to take it out completely! Carbs are not bad for you if you choose the right ones. This was extremely tricky to me to figure out. I can do a whole post on good carbs but some examples I eat are fresh corn, beans and bananas.

It’s all about figuring out what works best for your body, there is no one size fits all here since all of us are not made the same. This is just what has worked for me for an overall healthier lifestyle.

6 Reasons I Hired A Personal Trainer This Year For Myself

01/02/2017 By Jenn 8 Comments

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Hiring a personal trainer was something I thought of on and off last year so I decided to bite the bullet. I gave myself a little early Christmas gift to myself last month and hired a personal trainer. I have been eating cleaner and working out at home for a few years now but I needed a change.

Hiring a personal trainer can be expensive but when I went over why I wanted to hire one I knew I had to give it a try. If I didn’t see results then I would quit after a month and go back on my own. I am on my second month now and I am LOVING every single change I see in my body.

6 Reasons I Hired A Personal Trainer This Year

Don’t Know Where To Start

I had done so much cardio to drop the weight from having kids that going into a gym blind sort of scared me. Hiring a personal trainer showed me training ideas I would have never thought of on my own. Having access to a gym is nice but I also wanted workouts I could do at home with little to no special equipment. My personal trainer went over my goals the first meeting and showed me exactly what to do to get them for realistic goals.

Take it To The Next Level

I hit the point where I wanted on the scale but I wanted to see real changes in my body. I wanted leaner and stronger muscles which I was not seeing on my own. I needed someone to show me different things to switch up my normal workout routine to meet these goals faster. I am already seeing huge changes in the definition.

Motivation and Accountability

So I am pretty bad sometimes at motivating myself to get a workout in. By the time I got to workout between kids, work and my household things it was always last. I felt that it would be best to hire a personal trainer so I HAD to be at the gym at my training sessions. She held me accountable since I could not say to myself “well I need to do these dishes or write a post” before I can workout. My personal trainer is amazing! She is not only so sweet she motivates me to push myself, something I just did not have in me alone on most days of working out alone. Here are other ways I stay motivated to workout.

Personalized Training

As I mentioned, my personal trainer went over what I was looking to improve the very first meeting. We went over my diet and talked about where I wanted to be with my body in detail. After that she was able to set realistic, pin pointed goals for me! You truly get one on one attention that’s right for you and your body in the most effective way possible.

Challenges and Getting Bored With Same Routine

Hands down she challenges me and pushes me to my limit. Now I am pushing myself harder than before and finally seeing results that I have wanted for years. I meet with my personal trainer 3 times a week for 4 weeks now and have yet to do the same routine. Switching it up keeps me challenged and I am never bored working out. This was the push I need to stay focused.

Knowledge

A good personal trainer should not only know his or her stuff but be able to teach you more than just how to do an exercise on a machine. Mine can work the same muscle groups using almost anything which I love and something I never thought about on my own. I plan on training with her for another 2 months but then starting to implement her teachings on my own.

If you are looking to hire a personal trainer I suggest you do your research and see if they offer a free session. It can get expensive but for me worth every penny since I plan on continue with a overall healthier lifestyle.

I am taking progress pictures and will post the start and monthly pictures once I am done training with her.

Have you used a personal trainer before if so what did/do you like about it?

Mostly Dieting Shopping Totals

04/03/2015 By Jenn 3 Comments

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Happy Friday!

This week just flew by for me. The kids have off today so we are headed out this morning to run a few errands and hopefully if all goes well…

Meaning they let me get what I need done without whining, pushing, back talking and allowing me to complete everything within a reasonable time we are off to Chuck E. Cheese. Fingers crossed!

This week I was able to get mostly everything I needed to done but just a few last minute things to finish like CVS and BJ’s. I moved my traditional big Publix shopping for the week to yesterday. I normally shop on Friday’s but since I knew they were home I figured I’d get that longer one out of the way.

I really only needed to pick up a few things for dinners to get me through until the new ad starts after Easter. I started Weight Watchers this week, MISTAKE starting it the week of Easter 😉 but I am hanging in. Easter day should be fun! The Easter bunny purchased a few candy items early ahem and a few extras for himself. I will not give into it though, or at least in moderation.

I decided after the second day of really struggling I would actually look at the entire app and figure out some fast very low point foods I needed on hand.

Most of my Publix trip consisted of diet foods like sugar free Jell-O and applesauce. I’m not going to lie though, I am still struggling. I will be making a separate post soon about my experience for those who are interested. If you are doing the program leave me a comment below, I’d love a few more buddies with me.

For the rest of the Easter weekend it’s going to be pretty low key here. Just some much needed unplugged family time. For those who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Don’t forget to print these Easter Activities for the kids that I posted earlier this week! Mine have been loving them all week.

Here are my mostly dieting shopping totals:

Spent – $46.12

Saved – $23.21

Feel free to link up and comment on your shopping totals too! Please when linking keep it to a shopping trip post all links to your homepage will be deleted.

You Can Shake the Crave

08/12/2014 By Jenn 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure.

Disclosure: I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

Let’s talk dieting and weight loss moms. I’m sure like most moms we all have the same problem losing the baby weight, even after your “baby” is almost {ahem} 4 like mine. I have went back and forth even before I had my kids but it has always been more of a struggle since my last was born. I go up and down, trying to see what works without getting bored.

I am always happy to try out new products to jump start my weight loss again, more importantly keeping it off and starting to build a routine to a healthier lifestyle. I was excited when I was approached to try out Shake the Crave, a lifestyle program that helps you achieve a healthier lifestyle. What I love about Shake the Crave is, it is not a meal replacement. I have been there done that and plain and simple this mom likes her real food.

The Features of Shake the Crave:

Thick and creamy – no gritty taste
Experience a “new normal” in the way you feel.
Feel more satisfied and full longer.
Boost energy levels and feeling of well-being.
Great to drink at breakfast or lunchtime, as a healthy snack or quick meal on the go.
100% pure ingredients.
One bottle has 15 delicious servings – about one week’s supply at two shakes per day.
Contains no artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, preservatives, or isolated/synthetic vitamins.
No gluten, soy, egg, GMOs, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, fillers or binders.
Available exclusively from Trusted Health Products.
Good source of protein.
Good source of calcium.
Low in fat – only 0.5 grams.
Low in sodium
120 Calories
30 Day 100% Money-Back Guarantee
Ships same day if ordered by 3:00 PM EST, Monday – Friday

At only 120 and 130 calories the shake is a easy snack that will keep you fuller longer in between meals. At 3 o’clock every day, I hit a wall, this is where I start to grab coffee or a snack but I am not satisfied. I found Shake the Crave to keep me energized enough without the harsh crash of coffee has on me. Made of pure ingredients this worked out much better for me than anything else I was grabbing on the go in the afternoons.

The taste of both the chocolate and vanilla was a sweet treat. It was not as gritty as some other shakes out there and no after taste. They were surprisingly delicious! After trying a few shakes like this in the past I was not anticipating this one to taste like an actual milkshake.

Want to try Shake the Crave?

You can order a FREE SAMPLE of Shake the Crave to try out for yourself. You will get one vanilla and one chocolate and just pay s&h.

Get social on Facebook and Twitter with Shake the Crave

What is your weight loss secret?

Re-Body Review

04/01/2014 By Jenn 16 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure.

Disclosure: I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

As many of you know I have been trying to kick this year off with a healthier lifestyle. That means eating cleaner, drinking more water and working out. I was doing pretty well until February. I was sick with the flu that turned into a horrible sinus infection. So I had to stop everything until I felt well enough.

Since then towards the end of February into March I started better than ever. Re-Body had contacted me awhile back to test out some of their products so I figured while I am going strong I would add them to my daily routine.

What I love most about Re-Body is they promote a healthy lifestyle, not just a fad get skinny quick diet. Better yet their products are made from natural products. It is like taking a multi-vitamin.

I tested two of the Re-Body products:

Meratrim Fruit & Flower Slimming Formula is a capsule to increase metabolism. Made from patented extract of a proprietary, synergistic blend of fruit rind (Garcinia mangostana) and flower heads (Sphaeranthus indicus) it promotes weight loss within two weeks. You are supposed to take 2 capsules a day 30 minutes before meals, one before breakfast and one before dinner. I used Meratrim for 4 weeks total never missing a day. Selling for $39.99.

Saffron Hunger Chews I have to say was my saving grace this month. They are a non-stimulant appetite control supplement to help to curb your appetite. Using Satiereal®, a proprietary extract of Saffron, which is scientifically shown to curb hunger and snack cravings. Same as with the Meratrim they are supposed to be taken twice a day before meals. I think the Saffron chews helped me from overeating. I felt like by the time I sat down for a meal I did not eat as much as I normally would have. Selling for $24.99.

How much did I lose? Month to date loss of 9 lbs! Now keep in mind I was working out on an every other day basis and watching pretty closely what I was eating but I felt amazing this month! Worth every penny.

Watching the scale go down every few days gave me the motivation to keep going. I think Re-Body had a big part in that.

Be sure to check out the products I was able to try out from Re-Body and kick start your diet! Or visit your local GNC or Whole Foods to check out their line of products.

Follow Re-Body on Facebook and Twitter.