So the juice cleanse sucked, but here's a few awesome protein shake recipes!

Okay, so the juice cleanse was terrible. It didn't strengthen my mental clarity or make me feel fresh and new. I felt light headed, hungry and sad. Like I was being punished. And I only lost 2 lbs last week, the same on average I lose during a normal week of eating and working out. So unless you are feeling disciplined enough practically fast for three or four days, stay away. Now, it did give me an opportunity to try out some different protein shake recipes. So here's a few to try! *These shakes are between 300-500 calories. They are meant to replace meals, not accompany them. I like to have one before a work out then a small snack afterwards made of fruit or veggies. Whats really great about these is how versatile the recipes are. Add instant coffee to a chocolate shake for a mocha treat, add fruit to a vanilla for something more refreshing. Frozen fruit is perfect for thickening shakes.

Basic Protein Shake Ingredients:
Protein powder
Almond milk
Agave nectar (Replace agave for any sweetener you choose or go without depending on your preference.)
Greek yogurt
Ice (amount varies if using frozen fruit)

"Thin"mint 
2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
1 cup ice
1/2 teaspoon mint extract (found at most grocery stores near the vanilla, almond, orange and other extracts. I found mine at Target)
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup Silk dark chocolate almond milk
A few hefty handfuls of spinach

Blend ice, milk and yogurt until smooth. Add protein powder, agave nectar, mint extract and blend. Add spinach until completely minced. Add ice to thicken.

Mocha Raspberry 
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries (not the smoothie kits, just the berries)
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup dark chocolate Silk almond milk
2 scoops of instant coffee (decaf if after 12pm)

Blend ice, almond milk, raspberries and yogurt until smooth. Add protein powder, agave nectar, coffee, blend. Add ice to thicken. 

Blueberry Muffin
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (again, not the smoothie kit)
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

Blend ice, milk blueberries and yogurt until smooth. Add protein powder, agave nectar, vanilla extract and blend. Add ice to thicken. 

Pumpkin Pie

2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 cup ice
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (substitute 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, cinnamon and clove in equal parts and a 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie filling; but pumpkin pie spice has no calories)


Blend ice, milk and yogurt until smooth. Add protein powder, agave nectar, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice and blend. Add ice to thicken. 

Try your own combination and let me know if you come up with something new and yummy!

And here's a little yogurt humor...

Cleaning Out

Okay. So I slept for nine hours and feel way better. Coffee. Coffee good. Weight Watchers has been going so well, the meetings are uplifting and fun. These ladies are great, so full of motivation and positive energy. It's really moving when someone reaches their goals. I've lost weight every week, and when I announce my number for the week I'm met with applause, congratulations, a sticker! It's pretty awesome. But yesterday, I the scale gave me bad news. I gained 2.6 lbs. And while that sounds kind of minuscule in the daylight, it was tragic at the time. So, to get back on track, emotionally and physically I'm going to clean out house. I'm doing a cleanse. Essentially I'm making up my own cleanse based on a few I liked and researched. And it goes like this:

As soon as I wake up; Liver cleanse: Warm water, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. I know, tasty. About 10 oz is enough. (Also, I'm still going to have coffee, I know some cleanses require a full commitment to veggies and fruit, I need my coffee.)

9:00 a.m. Green Machine time! 20 oz of Naked Green Machine; sipped over an hour. It's soooo yummy.

12:00 p.m. Homemade protein smoothie. I normally prefer vanilla greek yogurt for added sweetness. But I sometimes add vanilla extract to plain greek yogurt in a pinch. So here's the recipe for the smoothie:

1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup greek yogurt
2 scoops of the Biggest Loser brand protein powder (chocolate flavored)
1/4 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 banana (peeled and frozen preferably)
2 big heaping handfuls of baby spinach
1 cup ice

1. Crush ice, almond milk and yogurt until creamy
2. Add cocoa powder, protein powder and sliced frozen banana
3. Tear spinach and add
4. Blend until completely mixed

It's going to look like a funky green-brown, but taste like a chocolate banana milkshake.

12:30: First work out. I'll walk on the treadmill, do 45 minutes of Zumba or walk outside. Just something to get my blood pumping. 2:00 p.m. More Green Machine! Here's a few of the ingredients: 

7:00 p.m. Dinner: Veggies! Lot's of veggies. They're a freebie. I love squash, zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots and broccoli. Toss them in olive oil with garlic, parsley, basil leaves and salt and pepper. I could eat this every day. 

9:00 p.m. Work out number two. Stretching and flexibility. This is my quiet time. A little soft music, but no internet, phone, TV or husband. Just me and my thoughts. I've had trouble sleeping so I think I need this.

Before bed: If I need a little something to appease my sweet tooth, I'll make some blueberry detox green tea.
This tea tastes sweet without sugar, like blueberry muffins.

Also before bed: Now I'm not going to say this is an obvious side note because for a lot of women I know who live with their husbands or boyfriends, sex is this whole new world of stress. When you live with someone, and see them in every light, their messes, mood changes and the grossest version of each other, sex isn't as natural as it was before. When we were dating, we couldn't keep off of each other. It was great. But now, it's like it needs to be planned. And as I've gained weight there's been a definite lull in our sex life. But frankly, I'm married and I like it. It's the best work out, best cleanse and best way to feel close to the love of my life.

In addition; I'll consume water. Loads of it. The recommended daily intake is 0.5 ounces x your body weight in pounds = daily water intake in ounces. So I'll need about 95 ounces a day for now. So roughly 12, 8oz servings a day. Plus the liver cleanse and additional water from fruit and juices.

There you have it! Granted, I'm still on summer break and will go back to work in September, and when that happens I'll rework my work out routine completely. But for the next four days this will be the routine. I'll check back in with details and let you know how it goes!

Gettin' skinny,
Lauren

Feeling sad and fat at two a.m.

It's late, almost two a.m. and I should have been asleep hours ago. It's time like these I crave all that stuff that's bad for me. This is when I want a cigarette, a drink, junk food; and I sit up and just writhe with disatifaction. I feel trapped in my body. I have a vision in my mind of what I look like and when mirrors come into view I am always dissapointed. Like my mind has this false sense of confidence. I swear I was hot once. I have these memories of being a person people stopped to look at, and I guess those memories expanded into vanity. Now I'm just fat. I have this really cool birth mark on my belly that I used to love showing people. No hesitation or shame, I'd just lift my shirt and show it to people. But nowadays I'd be too embarrassed to show it to someone I'm close too. I feel a little less valuable as I gain the weight. I gained two lbs this week. It was a hard, hard thing to hear. And maybe in the morning I'll feel motivated, but right now, in my still and quiet home I feel sad. And hungry. I look at photos of myself from a few years ago at times like these. I see how skinny I was. I know I can be there again. But in the mean time, am I just going to be a little sad? I think so. It's a sad process! I'm choosing to be a different version of myself because the old one wasn't good enough. I think I'll take a bath to try and get sleepy.

Your Kitchen is a Sanctuary

I truly attribute most of my excitement about weight loss to my lovely kitchen. It's just a nice place to be in. I have always loved to cook, and the longer I've lived on my own the more adventurous I've become with recipies. It's fun! It's a great creative outlet. The kitchen just relieves so much of my stress. Hand washing dishes in hot water, chopping veggies, eye-balling measurements and obviously great food is a constant form of therapy. (The husband appreciates that last one a lot) And while my diet has been a target for major change lately, I still love my kitchen. 

 Chopping veggies for dinner

 Where I hand wash dishes

 There's a dry erase board that hangs there normally

 These adorable Method brand cleaners are at Target right now

 DIY dry erase organizer I made 

 Butternut squash! So ready for fall!

 This guy was here when we moved in. Love it. It's an intercom that's connected upstairs, the basement and outside of the front door. 

 Time for these yummy veggies!!

Thinspiration

All the greatest weight loss stories I follow have a single great tool in common: thinspiration. Photos and stories of other's who have completed their journey, or an old picture of yourself and the way you used to look. It's a little painful to see myself looking skinny and beautiful, but frankly what better motivation is there? I know full well I'm capable, after all it is...me. So here's some thinspiration!

 2006. Granted no one looks like they did at seventeen, but good gracious this plus 20 lbs would work for me. 

About three months after I met Brian, 2007. Look how small my arms are! (check out Brian's sweet 90's boy band beard) This is a more reasonable goal. 

Two-ish years ago trying on wedding gowns. A little bigger than the previous picture, but frankly still much thinner than the present. This is when I started rocking the Marylin belly. Squishy but sexy. 

Annnd this is me circa two days ago. Work to do! 

Seeing what my body has been gives me confidence that it can go back there. I think I'll print out that bikini picture and hang it over my treadmill. 

Time for lunch...veggie stir-fry. 

It has been entirely too long since my last post. 

Quick and dirty catch up: 

1. I joined Weight Watchers two weeks ago and have so far lost four pounds

2. I have sworn off sugar and apparently it's not something I needed. 

3. ZUMBA IS THE BOMB. If you want to look awesome buy it and do 45 minutes a day. Buh-bye fat. 

4. Summer is coming to an end which means back to work. 

While I love going back to work and seeing all my babies again, there's an anxiety hovering. A whole new set of issues like packing lunches while counting points, scheduling work outs, managing my stress and the wardrobe. Plus the full time college course load. So, I need a few things. Recipes for healthy lunches, like these, or perhaps these. A fall work appropriate wardrobe that can support my weight loss; i.e. a lot of cardigans and belts. 

And finally, work outs will probably happen right after work, and as I stated earlier, ZUMBA! I bought Zumba 2 for the Wii. It came with this crazy fitness belt that looks like a tiny version of a UFC championship belt. 

Super cute right? 

Stay skinny but never be hungry,
Lauren