Wrapping up 2014......onto 2015

So it's been a while since I posted, well a month & a half but has been so much going on, family, friends, work....you know the daily grind turns into the weekly grind, then the next thing you know the month is over. So let me catch you up!

I have been doing great with my Clean Eating Lifestyle.  I am learning so much each day!  I have been able to get creative with the recipes and I have found that Clean Eating is a WHOLE lot easier than I ever thought it would be.  Don't get me wrong, I am not completely perfect 100% of the time.  There have been some dinners, events, get togethers, moments and such that have led to eating some good 'ol comfort food BUT now, when I do that, I get right back on the horse.  That is something I have never been able to do.

So how did 2014 end?

So during the month of December I continued making good choices, I implemented my Purium Master Aminos & Power Shakes into my daily regimen and I am PROUD to say that by the end of December I was down a total of: 

  With so much going on I forgot to measure myself BUT I know the inches just keep coming off.  How do I know? Duh, my clothes keep getting looser and I can shop out of the boxes of smaller clothes in my basement (good thing for those cause this chic does not have wardrobe $$ right now)  What is cool though is I have checked my weight records (I have them going back 3-4 yrs) and I am smaller now at this weight than I used to be. Did I say that right?  What I mean is I am wearing small clothes now at 246 lbs than I did when I used to weigh this amount.  Which means......thanks to Purium I am keeping my muscle mass and it is truly FAT that is going away.  That in itself is a BIG deal.  I have done SO MANY other programs and NONE of them were able to do that for me, plus none of them were so simple and easy to follow which is what I need right now in my life.  I just don't have the knowledge, time or desire to be making fancy or complicated meals NOR do I want to be eating out of some frozen meal box or a package protein bar.  I want real food, the kind that was meant for our bodies, the kind that heals them and bring them back to a proper functioning machine. How about you?

So what's going on for 2015?

Well thank you for asking, I am approaching this year with a whole new mindset. It's all about "Eating Clean in 2015", that is my first mantra.  It's how I want to approach food. This year is about my health & not about the scale.  I have focused on the numbers on the scale my entire life and look where I still am, so CLEARLY that is not working. 

Think for a moment: We value our cars do we not? We clean them, get oil changes, put in quality gas, would you say you LOVE your car? Some people do but we certainly do appreciate what they do for us and we take care of them. And if they are not 'working' efficiently then we look under the hood to see what is wrong. Do we put soda in the gas tank for fuel? Do we change the oil with crisco? If the engine is knocking do we just take a part of our a generic box labeled "will fix your engine" and place it under the hood?  NO WE WOULD NOT!!!

But yet every day we just put 'junk' into our bodies.  Do we LOVE our body? Of course we do, we wake up every day with a desire to live so we do have a level of love for our body....so WHY are we putting CRAP into them???  You may not like this reality but it's true. We want our body to work for us. We want to walk places, run sometimes, get up & down with ease, dance when our favorite song comes on, twirl when the breeze hits us just right, stop and pose when we see a mirror, jump when we see a puddle. All these things may seem small but they are EVERY DAY actions that many of us just can't do because we are not taking care of our 'engines'. This needs to stop people! And I include myself in this. I

want my body to be a Well Oiled Machine in 2015. I want it to perform in the top of it's class. I want the engine to purrrr and not spit & sputter to get going.

So everyone take this VOW with me:

If we go into 2015 with this mindset then we are all set up for success and failure will not be an option for any of us.  If you agree and vow to do this, please comment below with your approval and share this post with a friend who you feel could use the same encouragement. This journey DOES NOT have to be a lonely one. Together we can support each other to take back our health and really LIVE in 2015!

2nd 10 Day Cleanse, Check it out!

A 2nd cleanse? You heard it right. The 10 Day Transformation Cleanse is so healthy for your body AND safe you can do them back to back if you want.  I took a little break between as you know, 2 1/2 weeks to be precise 

(and went on a 4 nt cruise in those 2 wks).

WHY ??

What is your WHY ?

I was asked this recently about another area of my life and it was an eye opener, but after speaking with a beautiful woman on Sunday who is also in the process of her cleanse we discussed our WHY about this transformation. 
Why are you trying to loose weight?

If you answer this with 'because I want to be a size 6 or get into my high school jeans' I won't believe you.  Oh sure, I personally have said that a MILLION times to myself in the past, I still have my favorite pair of size 10 jeans packed away for 'one day' and some other favorite outfits but that has NEVER been enough.

How do I know it's not enough? Because I am STILL not wearing them and STILL trying to get into them!  If a smaller size was enough motivation to loose the weight then NONE of us would be overweight, 

so clearly it's NOT our WHY.

So you need to drill down, ask yourself questions and if you can't do that get a good friend or email ME and I will help you. There is a deeper reason you need to find in order to 'flip the switch' and transform your life.  You need to find out what it is that is truly bothering you and when you do find your WHY, it will make you CRY.  Mine certainly did.

 Whether you have 5 lbs, 25 lbs, 50lbs or 100+ like me we all want to be healthier and behind those skinny jeans (or a tailored suit for you guys) there are more substantial & deeper feelings, an intense burning desire for something else and when you figure out what that is the light-bulb will go off and suddenly it will click, and when it does....WATCH OUT!

It's clicking for me now. For over a year now I have learned a lot about the "D" word (diets), clean eating, eating green and a healthier life style and I FINALLY GET IT!  I have discovered what it is I want, not on the outside but the INSIDE and guess what.....it's the real motivator.  It all started with a wonderful friend introducing me to my cleanse and from there it exploded!  It truly was a TRANSFORMATION of more than just the body, but of my mind & heart of how I wanted to feel in so many areas of my life, taking control of it and MAKING IT HAPPEN.

How do you feel right now? I want you to stop and think for a moment, write your answers on a piece of paper to these questions: 

• How do I feel about my health?
• How do I feel about where I am in taking care of myself and my family?
• Am I truly happy with where I am?

Your answers to those questions are going to start your journey to taking back control of your health AND your life and when you do, you are going to be AMAZED at how good you feel and what you can accomplish.

I had a small victory this morning which inspired me to share all this with you.  I get it now and I don't want it to stop, but MORE than that, I want to help others get HERE. I want to share what it has taken me SO LONG to figure out so you don't have to suffer like I did. 

WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER and I hope you will let me help. Feel free to comment or email me at any time, take the first step to reach out and ask for help. Someone did that for me and it has changed everything.

Have a great day and LOVE YOURSELF!

My 10 Day Cleanse Day-by-Day

So one of the things I decided to do during my Transformation was to make a small video clip at the end of each day just describing it's events. My feelings, my emotions & my struggles so I could go back and reflect on how it was for me AND in case anyone else was curious about what it was like day to day, they could also see.

After each video I watched it back and a couple of times I found myself getting drawn into what I was saying and tears would form.  As I watched each clip I saw a woman that was foreign to me.  For a few years now every time I saw a picture of myself, most times I would delete it or just be the photographer cause, well, I hated the way I looked. So seeing myself talk back to me was more than I was ready for.  I saw my expressions and gestures (that my husband says I can't speak without) that I use on a daily basis but what was really difficult is I saw a woman who was of NO reflection of how I felt deep down inside.  So as I would watch & listen to myself speak it was like listening to someone else whom I could relate to and in the end, when she said "You can do this too" it was ME telling MYSELF that I CAN DO THIS.  

I'm so proud of myself for stepping out of the box and recording each day. I am not an elegant speaker and clearly I am not a "movie ready" kind of gal but who cares. It's just me.  It's just the most honest way this 41 year old woman could emotionally convey what I experienced each day and if just 1 person is able to benefit and find their inner strength to get healthy, then it was all worth it REGARDLESS of how unflattering the video is.  So please be kind, I'm not trying to win any Emmys here, just an honest & raw video of my 10 Day Transformation Cleanse.

10 DAYS WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

So I did it! I completed my 10 Day Cleanse and I feel amazing!  I haven't felt this good physically in a long time, all those things I listed at the 5 day mark are still hanging on and even better. (I am actually writing this 4 days post cleanse)  I have been eating clean since I finished and still loosing weight.

This transformation was the healthiest thing I have ever done for my body and the benefits are overwhelming. I feel awesome and will continue down this path from now on.

Ok, ok, I know, you are waiting to here the final results right?

Total lbs lost in 10 days:  15.2

Total inches lost in 10 days:  8

Can you believe that? I can't. It took me almost 2 months last year to reach those numbers and I did not feel as healthy & vibrant as I do now.  There is really something to this.  So now here are some of my before & after pics where you can see the differences:

Look how my face thinned & my cheeks "de-puffed" (is that a word) you can now see my ears, bring on the earrings!  Haha

Here is my favorite, I lost a lot in my neck (double chin) and my profile is leaner. Plus look how my skinned cleared up, really happy about that perk. This one made me smile, I though "now there's Donna, where has she been hiding". 

Bye, bye tummy, now it doesn't stick out further than my chest and my back smoothed way down too. The majority of my inches lost were from the waist up, and speaking of waist.........

While I'm not thrilled about showing off this shot (sport bra people) it really shows how my waist went down (you can see the wall through my arms) and look at my shoulders to my neck, more definition.

I realize that I am a large woman, so 15 lbs will not be as dramatic on me as someone who is a size 10 or 14 BUT HEY...I think it looks pretty darn good and my clothes fit so much better and also I FEEL better and isn't that what it's really all about?? 

I will be starting another 10 day cleanse on November 1st......Who's with me?  Don't you want to feel better? Don't you want to look better?  What have I been saying all along.....

"If you take care of the inside the outside will follow"

and that is what I am doing. 100% Vegan, 100% Organic, No GMOs, nothing but good for you.  So please, if you want to feel better on the inside and feel better about what you are doing for your body then comment below, send me a message, email me and tell me you want to join me on Nov. 1 and TOGETHER we can support each other and loose another 5-20 lbs.  A dear friend got me started & gave me a $50 gift card off my first purchase and I want to pass that along to you, so join me in November (even if you can make the 1st) cause I will be traveling this path for well.........forever!

LET'S  DO  THIS.........TOGETHER !

IT'S A GOOD DAY :)

Well today has been a good day thus far.  I made it to the gym for my workout with my trainer, he will probably have that video up soon on Facebook and I will try to post it here.  I was feeling really good today, got on the scale and lost a little which made me FINALLY  break through the 261.2 mark!!  So I got dressed and headed out the door and just focused on feeling good and getting out.  

That is how we have to look at this, we can't pick a date or event to loose weight by. We shouldn't even pick that "perfect number" we have

to reach on the scale.  Sure we have to be realistic and recognize a healthy weight for our bodies but it's about making good choices.  Every day I say, "today I will do my best"  even if I have something that may be...well....not the healthiest choice IT'S OK!  Cause 1 cookie, or slice of cake or bowl of chips is not going to wreck my progress.

It's the BAG of cookies, the HALF of a cake or the BAG of chips for day after day that will do it.  

So we have to quit punishing ourselves and just make small changes. Quit focusing on what the end results will be and FOCUS ON TODAY.  Focus on each and every little change you make, APPLAUD yourself for making it and look forward to the next. When we do that we WILL get results but more importantly we will learn to love and be proud of ourselves along the way.

Isn't' that what we really want, to be happy with who we are and what we do each day?  That is what I want, to be happy with me.

So I applaud all of you, I pat you on the back and say "Good Job" and I send you (((Hugs))) because I know how hard this is and I know how falling down sucks and I know what it feels like to "start again" ...  BUT  ...  we did start again, we did pick ourselves up and we WILL be successful .........

TOGETHER.......