Feels Good to Be Skinny!

Are You Proud of Me? I Am! LOL (Update Video)

Posted on 14 May 2010 by suzanne

Well … it’s been about 4 ½ weeks since I started working out and eating healthy and I couldn’t be happier with my progress! I’ve lost 13 lbs but that’s only part of the reason I’m so proud of myself. I am now totally committed to making life changes and I’m not just “losing weight to go on a vacation” LOL.

Here’s a video I made yesterday … it even made me a bit emotional to think about how great I feel … and honestly I wish I’d done this years ago.

If you’re struggling with weight or health issues I hope you’ll contact me so I can help support you in any way I can. I’m easy to reach and easy to talk to and if I could help just one other person feel the way I’m feeling right now it would be a blessing to me. *huGs* Suzanne

Here’s the video:



So … are you trying to lose weight? Do you have any health issues? Do you want some help? Please let me know what I can do to help you ok?

Food and Exercise Journal … Week of 5/3/10 – 5/9/10

Posted on 10 May 2010 by suzanne

Monday 5/3/10

10:30 eggs, brown rice, refried beans

Crystal light

1:00 Isa shake

7:00 Outback (small steak, salad, 1/3 potato w/tiny butter & sour cream)

20 oz water

Tuesday 5/4/10

8:15 ½ Isagenix shake

9:00 Class

20 oz water

10:45 Isagenix shake (1/3 banana and strawberries)

20 oz water

2:45 Isagenix shake

20 oz water

6:45 Chicken breast w/soy sauce, brown rice w/veggies, salad (some dressing)

20 oz water

Wednesday 5/5/10

8:00 Cleanse 1

9:00 Leg workout

20 oz water

12:00 Cleanse 2

20 oz water

4:00 Cleanse 3

20 oz water

8:00 Cleanse 4

20 oz water

AWESOME Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday 5/6/10

8:15 ½ Isagenix Shake

9:00 Workout

10:45 Isagenix Shake (with 1/3 banana and a few strawberries)

20 oz water

1:30 Isagenix shake

20 oz water

3:00 8 almonds

3:30 Isagenix shake

20 oz water

7:30 ½ steak, mixed veggies (zucchini, squash, peas, carrots) and salad (some dressing)

20 oz water

Friday 5/7/10

8:30 ½ Isagenix shake

9:00 Class

20 oz water

10:45 Isagenix shake (1/3 banana and some strawberries)

2:00 ½ chicken/grape sandwich whole wheat bread, chopped fruit w/small yogurt, crystal light

7:00 (2) chips salsa, corn tortilla w/salsa, 1 popper, salmon, salad small ranch

8:00 (4) vodka diet coke (ß- yikes!)

Saturday 5/8/10

10 oz water

9:30 Isagenix shake with 1/3 banana and some strawberries

2:30 Isagenix shake

7:00 Ghangis Grill – brown rice, chicken, steak, shrimp, veggies – kung pao sauce, glass of water, 2 sips coke

*super thirsty today – not enough water!

Sunday 5/9/10

11:00  waffle w/pure maple syrup, egg whites w/steak, salsa, crystal light

20 oz water

5:30 (3) 64 calorie beers

7:30 Red Robin – whiskey burger, salad w/some ranch, water

Isagenix 30 Day Cleanse – Watch Me Open My Box of Goodies

Posted on 10 May 2010 by suzanne

Last week I ordered my Isagenix 30 Day Cleanse program along with a couple of other goodies and I wanted to share what came inside my box with you. I got: (2) chocolate shakes, (2) vanilla shakes, (2) bottles of cleanse for life, a bottle of Ionix Supreme, a bottle of chocolate snacks, Isaflush, Accelerator, and I ordered separately some meal replacement bars and a bottle of Isawater.

There were also some reading materials and cd’s that explain the products, the 30 day program, and the Isagenix business.

I am so excited to be using the Isagenix products and to be using them the RIGHT way! In the past I have used the products but I’ve only done it when I felt like I needed to “drop 10 lbs” and I’ve never read about it or tried to learn anything about how and why they work so well. I would go online and look for the products on sites like eBay. After doing the research and the math … I’m actually saving money by becoming an Associate and now I know that my products have been properly stored, are not near their expiration date, and are fully backed by the company … so I’m pretty happy about that (and again, it’s cheaper!).

Because I signed up and purchased the 30 day cleanse program I can invite others to also purchase the 30 day cleanse as an Associate and the $39 fee to join is waived (so that’s a great savings to get the product at wholesale). This must be done within my first 30 days so let me know as soon as possible if you might be interested. If you’re reading this after May 2010 let me know because I will check to see if there are any other specials being offered by the company.

I wanted to say that I am very excited about what Isagenix has done for me … for my chronic pain, for my overall health and energy and for my weight. If you would like to know more please don’t hesitate to ask. I will promise you something … I am NOT a pushy salesperson and I will not stalk you or harass you if you show an interest in Isagenix! I will answer your questions and present the information. If Isagenix is a “fit” for you I will help you figure out what products would work best for you and help you get the order set up. If you could use some extra income then I will also explain the business opportunity to you too. What I can tell you from experience is that if you have weight to lose and you lose it using Isagenix the people you know will naturally ask HOW YOU LOST WEIGHT and when you tell them they just might be interested in what Isagenix can do for them too. I tell you that in case you’re just like me and don’t think you’d be interested in starting a business “selling” Isagenix. LOL … If you use it and you’re successful … it will “sell” itself.

A huge “thank you” to my daughter, Emily, for helping me film this video (I usually use a webcam or a tripod) and she was so cute about helping me.

Here’s the video:



Have you ever tried Isagenix products? What did you try? How well did it work for you? For health and/or weight loss? Would you like to learn more about nutritional cleansing for health and weight loss? I’d love to discuss any thoughts and/or ideas you have about Isagenix … nutrition and weight loss in general and of course I’m willing to help you in any way I can. *SmiLes* Suzanne

Happy Mother’s Day (Watch My Most Favorite YouTube Video)

Posted on 09 May 2010 by suzanne

I want to wish all moms a Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you’re doing something wonderful today … whether it’s exciting or relaxing … I hope you get to see or talk to your favorite people today.

I want to share my most favorite YouTube video with you … it’s my dedication to my own mom and to all mom’s in the world today. *huGs* Suzanne

P.S. She sings very fast so I chose the version with the lyrics included … Hope you get a great laugh … and it puts a smile on your face ;)

Update: How I’m Doing, My Weight Loss, and More (Video)

Posted on 05 May 2010 by suzanne

I wanted to do a quick update and let you know how I’m doing so far. I am doing really well actually. I’m sticking to my workout (4 times a week with Miss Melanie) and haven’t missed a single session (even when I really did NOT want to go LOL), I’m eating healthy food (I’ve only “cheated” a couple of times since starting on April 9th), and I’m in good spirits overall.

As for weight loss I’m not doing as well as I’d liked at this point but I do know what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong. I’m down 8 lbs so far and I’m OK with it. I did start that 9 day cleanse with the Isagenix products … but I didn’t stick to it completely “by the book.” After consulting with Dawn (my online buddy) we decided that I was actually a better candidate for the 30 day cleanse so I started that this week (we’re doing a 30 day cleanse together). In fact, today is my first actual cleanse day on this system and I’m super happy to be doing it. I will complete the 30 day cleanse right before we leave for our Mexico trip (June 5th) so I’m super excited to see how I do and how much I’ll lose in that time.

Here’s a video message:

So … how are you doing with your goals? What has gone right for you? What has gone wrong? Please share your successes and … the things you need some encouragement on too so we can support each other! *SmiLes* Suzanne

Starting Weight (April 9th) = 184.8

Weight Today (May 5th ) 176.4

Goal Weight = 158 … bikini … bikini … bikini!!!!!!!!

Food and Exercise Journal … Week of 4/26/10 – 5/2/10

Posted on 03 May 2010 by suzanne

Monday 4/26/10

8:00 Cleanse 1

12:30 Cleanse 2

40 oz water

4:00 Cleanse 3

7:30 Salad grilled chicken (some dressing & wing sauce)

20 oz water

Tuesday 4/27/10

8:30 ½ Isa Shake

9:00 Workout Class

10:30 Omlet w/tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, ½ slice whole wheat toast (teensy tiny jelly) water

3:30 Isa Shake

7:30 Grilled chicken breast (1/2), squash/zucchini, brown whole grain rice 1/3 cup, salad

Wednesday 4/28/10

8:00 Isagenix Shake

9:00 Leg workout with Melanie

10:00 20 oz water

11:00 Chicken, brown rice, egg whites, squash, zucchini, carrots, spinach (yummy)

2:00 Fruit plate, fat free yogurt, chopped nuts

20 oz water

7:30 Fajitas (cheat: one small flour tortilla and small guacamole)

Saturday 5/1/10

9:00 Isa shake

20 oz water

12:30 Momacks grilled chicken sandwich (w/cheese and wheat bun), salad, water

3:00 wine 2-3 glasses

6:00 vodka

7:00 grilled pork chop on a stick

20 oz water

Sunday 5/2/10

9:00 Isa shake

20 oz water

Crystal light

2:00 chicken meat, fruit, nuts

4:00 vodka crystal light

20 oz water

7:00 Beefy’s cheese burger and 3 french fries

I Quit Diet Coke! (2 1/2 Weeks Now) … Watch This Video

Posted on 27 April 2010 by suzanne

A quick post about my total addiction to diet coke *sigh* I love diet coke … not sure why … the caffeine … the cold bubble taste … it really doesn’t matter why but I was drinking anywhere from 1 to 4 or even 5 a day! Yikes! That’s horrible. I have some health issues (arthritis, fibromyalgia and chronic back pain) and I know better than to drink this poison.

It’s been two and a half weeks since my last diet coke and I am committed to staying off of it for good.

I’ve seen the pictures of the rats with tumors, I was told it was the direct cause of my fibromyalgia … and still I drank and drank.

Well … today I ran across this video that says it could also be one of the reasons I store fat! Whoa …. Hold everything! Now I’m done for sure. Can you imagine working your ass off (literally I hope LOL) to lose weight and all the while drinking a diet drink you thought would keep you skinny … is actually making you fat?

So I’m done! Please help me stay off of diet coke … Help!

Watch this video about acid and alkaline levels and maybe you’ll “quit” some things too. *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. I read somewhere that you have to drink 8 glasses of water to try to counter what one dark colored soda depletes your body of … hmmmm … not good!

So … are you a diet coke drinker? Or diet soda in general? Are you addicted? Have you ever quit? Do you think you’ve had any health related issues due to diet soda? Let us hear from you below so we can all learn together and support each other ;)

Food and Exercise Journal … Week of 4/19/10 – 4/25/10

Posted on 25 April 2010 by suzanne

Food and Exercise Journal … Week of 4/19/10 – 4/25/10

Monday 4/19/10

9:30 Isa shake (with ½ banana and two strawberries)

20 oz water

1:00 Nuts

3:30 Isa shake (with ½ banana)

20 oz water

7:30 Dinner out: salad bar (some dressing 5 croutons), salmon, shrimp, 1 bite baked potato with butter/sour cream, snap peas, water

20 oz water

Tuesday 4/20/10

9:00 Class

10:30 Isa shake (with ½ banana)

20 oz water

11:00 small amount of fruit smoothie

2:00 some almonds and walnuts

20 oz water

*Forgot to have my second shake!!!!!!!!!!! Darn it!

7:00 salad (dressing, tomato, avo, carrot) and rotisserie chicken … crystal light

20 oz water

Wednesday 4/21/10

9:00 workout w/Melanie (legs)

9:30 soy beans (didn’t eat prior to workout so Melanie gave me some)

10:30 Isa shake (1/2 banana & 4 raspberries)

20 oz water

4:00 Isa shake (1/2 banana & 4 raspberries)

20 oz water

8:30 omelet (tomatoes, some avo, salsa) whole wheat toast w/strawberries/splenda

Thursday 4/22/10

8:00 Akins shake

8:30 Workout

20 oz water

1:30 Akins shake

20 oz water

7:00 Lean burger (some cheese), whole wheat bread, lite condiments, salad, peas, vodka crystal light

Friday 4/23/10

7:30 ½ Isa Shake

9:00 class Abs/Core/Triceps/Biceps

10:30 Isa Shake (1/3 banana 2 strawberries)

20 oz water

3:30 Isa Shake

7:30 Mexican dinner out (chicken fajitas, small amount of beans & chips) 2 vodka waters

Saturday 4/24/10

9:00 Isa Shake

20 oz water

3:00 Soup or Salad – salad bar (some dressing and croutons) few sips of soup broth, small end of potato

5:00 20 oz water

7:30 Salmon dinner, green beans, spinach salad w/strawberries (some kind of dressing and nuts)

8:30 – party 2 shots of vodka

Sunday 4/25/10

10:00 Akins shake

20 oz water

11:00 Turkey jerky

12:00 Banana

2:00 – 5:00 4-5 shots vodka (small amount sugar free monster drink *sigh*)

20 oz water

7:00 Tuna steak, salad, 2 vodka waters


My Starting Point – My Goals and My Before Pictures (This is HARD!)

Posted on 22 April 2010 by suzanne

Wow … this is really hard for me …

If you’re here and you don’t know me then I’ll start by saying that I’m pretty much an open book … always have been and probably always will be.

When I decided to journal my journey to losing weight and getting fit at 44 I thought, “no big deal.” In fact, I was pumped because I figured the only thing worse than failing at this (again) would be failing publicly LOL so I knew it would really motivate me.

Now, I’m not normally a “negative” person but for some unknown reason every time I’ve set out to lose my “post pregnancy” weight (note: my oldest is 14 and my youngest is turning 11 on May 1st) I’ve done “ok” but I’ve always gained it all back (and it seems even more this last go around).

So let’s talk numbers *sigh* … I’m 5’9” and when I started this journey on Friday, April 9, 2010 I weighed 184 (more than I’ve ever weighed “not pregnant). I have a large build so fortunately/unfortunately I can put on weight and “hide” it … it tends to go on fairly evenly so I usually don’t know I’ve gained weight until I (a) get on a scale, (b) put on clothing that feels snug, or (c) see a recent picture of myself. This time it was a combination of these three but I will say that after getting on the scale I knew it was time to get serious.

On Saturday, April 10th I asked my husband, Ken, to measure me so I’d have a starting point and to take my “before” pictures. Now, I doubt there’s a woman alive who doesn’t understand how incredibly … horrifying … it is to stand naked in front of the man you love and adore and have every inch of your body measured … when you don’t like the way you look. For you men … hmmm … I’m not sure I can even describe this to you so we won’t go there for now (maybe I can address this in another post LOL). He seemed somewhat annoyed to be measuring me and I got my feelings hurt. It got worse when he came outside to take the pictures (it’s painfully obvious – you see the hurt/angry look on my face in the photos). It turns out he was stressed about something totally unrelated and I was just letting my own dislike of my body make me oversensitive. *sigh*

I bring this up because I’ve read a LOT of blogs where others have shared the hurt, anger, frustration, depression … the emotional rollercoaster … that they’ve gone through when they are not happy with their body. I’m now certain that I’m guilty of being sensitive and/or grouchy at times due to my body/self esteem issues … and that’s not OK.

As for my goals, I’m certain they will change as I get further into my journey but for now I have a weight loss goal to get down to at least 158 lbs. or less on or before June 30, 2010 (our 1 year wedding anniversary). I will add other goals at a later time but this will get me started.

My starting measurements are:

Left Arm: 12 ¾

Right Arm: 12 ¾

Chest/Across Nipple: 41 ¼

Chest/Underwire: 35 ½

Waist/Across Bellybutton: 38

Waist/3 Inches Down from Bellybutton: 40 ½

Hips/Biggest Part: 44 ½

Right Thigh: 25 ¾

Left Thigh: 24 ½

Note: I have NO idea how to properly take my measurements. In fact, every time we measured we got a different number (some were quite a bit different) so this will be a learning experience and could even produce inaccurate results. If you have any tips or suggestions or can point me in the right direction on this please do so.

So there you have it … my starting point on this journey. As I said, this was a lot harder than I expected and I appreciate you letting me share it. *SmiLes* Suzanne

I Made A Mistake Today!

Posted on 21 April 2010 by suzanne

Right now Ken and I are on a pretty good workout schedule … we workout at our local club and we’re lucky enough to have a personal trainer included with our membership dues. Her name is Melanie and she is actually a personal friend (our kids go to school together and we live on the same street). Melanie has gotten so busy over the last few months that she has developed two classes a week: Tuesday we do abs and core and Friday we do arms and shoulders. Ken and I also workout with her on Wednesdays (legs) and on Thursdays (chest and triceps). I might be leaving something out but that’s the general idea. LOL

Today was our leg workout and it really kicks my ass. Well … I didn’t eat or drink anything before our 9:00 a.m. workout and that was a huge mistake! I was exhausted, light headed … just knew right away that I wasn’t going to get in a great workout. *sigh*

So … now I have to decide how to divide up my food intake and my workouts. I was thinking I could always have 1/2 of my Isagenix shake before my workout, have a full one when I get done, and then have the other 1/2 later in the day as my late lunch time meal and then my healthy dinner.

I’d love to hear how you manage your food and workout schedule. What time are your workouts? What (if anything) do you eat before your workout and how long before your workout do you eat? Are there any foods you avoid before your workout? How long after your workout do you eat and what do you eat? Any information about your food and workout would be really helpful so please leave your comments below. Thanks! *SmiLes*Suzanne