That damn wagon!

I have fallen off the wagon....again.  What is it about that wagon that makes it so slippery?  I'm talking about food.  I have been eating all the wrong foods for a few weeks, and it's taking it's toll.  Am I addicted to food?  It's possible. I read a study (click here to read it ) that measured the brain activity and the result is that food addiction has brain reactions that they see in drug addicts.  Uh oh.  

I have to say that the more unhealthy food I eat... THE MORE I WANT!   And, the more I eat, the more I feel my control and will power slipping away.  

I've even had some (gasp) fast food!  I've had pizza, chips, cookies, cake, wine, fried foods, goodies (I'm getting hungry again!).

Here is what I have noticed over the past few weeks.  It's way more than those pounds that have shown up or that my clothes feel tight......

*The more I eat the hungrier I get.  Right now, I'm hungry ALL the time. Even when I'm full.  

*The more I eat (unhealthy) the more susceptible I am to suggestion, tv commercials, invites to eat out etc.

*I have lost my "mojo", I don't have the energy I'm used to, and I don't even care.

*I don't have my "happy".  I miss feeling really happy and excited about life.  Now that I am living off the wagon, I don't have that anymore.

*My sleep is not as restful anymore.  I wake up tired.

*My food doesn't taste good.  But, that doesn't stop me from eating it! 

The one saving grace I have kept up with having my protein shake (Isagenix) every morning.  I can't imagine where I would be without it. 

NEWSFLASH!  As I was typing this, hubby came in and invited me to brunch.  I felt like saying yes.  But, I just can't do it anymore.  I need to get back to feeling good.  So, NO it is.  He looked disappointed, but we both need to get back on track.  Life is so much better when we feel good.

I think about how many people never eat healthy.  Somebody is eating all that fast food.  And, people in general, are getting heavier and heavier (and sicker and sicker)...(and tired-er and tired-er).  I wonder if they even know what it is to really feel good.  To feel excited about life.  To have energy and happiness.  I'm sad to think that they are missing these feelings and don't even know it.  This is way more than what size a person is or how much they weigh.  It's about having a zest for life and preventing illness.  Being healthy.

I'm lucky to have tasted that good life and I know that it's worth the discipline that someone like me has to employ to get there.  My daughter teased me and said I need to go to "rehab".  I know that there are many people who can't relate to what I'm saying.  Food has no hold on them.  But, it does on me.  Always has.  

So, now that I told hubby "no" to eating out,  I feel like I've taken that first step back to normal.  Plus, I told YOU about it, so that should keep me honest, right?  Thankfully, I have the Nutritional Cleansing Program that is Isagenix at my fingertips and I can bounce back quickly.  It's such a blessing.  I can remember when I didn't have this healthy simple solution to fall back on.  Those feelings of frustration are still fresh in my memory even now 8 years later (read about it here).  So, Isagenix to the rescue!  Whew.   Isagenix is my wagon and I want back on!

P.S.   Two (Isalean) shakes today and 30 minutes on the treadmill....and I'm feeling sooo much better!  Ah.

My favorite beverage

I just spilled my FULL glass of my favorite beverage on my DESK.  

  

Yep.  Got it on my keyboard, a little on my phone.  It got on my "to do list" and just made a mess.  I jumped up and tried to rescue as much as I could.  

And, that's when I realized how glad I am that my favorite beverage is ......WATER!  

 

This situation could have been a sticky mess.  It could have been a smelly mess.  But, all I had to do was blot it up and dry everything off, then good as new.

I didn't always like water.  In fact, I can remember a time when I NEVER drank water.  When I was little I used to drink milk, kool aid, juice and soda (we called it soda pop).  Water, YUCK.  

When became a bonified grown up, I started reading about healthy eating choices and I kept coming across information that led me to believe that water was the best choice.  

I'm sure that I could find a bunch of studies and reports to share with you about why water is so good for you, but for me it's just common sense.  Water is natural, so it's natural for us to drink it.  If I drink lots of water, I'm not hungry all the time (a huge bonus!).  Water washes the outside of our bodies, I think it does the same thing to the inside.  In fact, it was when I discovered nutritional cleansing by Isagenix that I really started to enjoy (and crave) water.  (read my thoughts about cleansing here.)

Water is good.

It's free.  You don't have to "make it" or mix it.  You don't have to open a can or wonder if it's spoiled.  No calories. No sugar.  No salt.  Unless you buy the bottled water that has actually gone to the trouble to add those things to it.  Why would they do that?  Yuck. 

I like to filter my water.  Actually, I have two filters (is that overkill?).  My filtered waters tastes better than any other water I've had.  I like to pour out water in a water bottle and fill it with my own clean water.  

It makes me feel good to drink water.  I try to get in the recommended amount, which is half your body weight in ounces.  Or 8 glasses, that's good too.  

Yes.  I do drink other things. Yes, I do enjoy a glass of wine sometimes.  But, my go to drink, is water.  How about you?

All this talk of water has made me thirsty!

A case of the Blahs

Do you ever just feel "blah" for no reason?  I was feeling that way this morning.  I would way rather feel happy.  I don't have any reason to feel blah.  I have lots of reasons to be happy.  But, sometimes you can't reason your way to feeling good.  Can you?  

I started thinking....  What can I do to switch the channel and be happy?  Then it hit me.  Happy Chocolate by Isagenix.  So I ate one of these.  

Wait 10 minutes.  Happy?  Happy-er?

actual time....Twelve minutes later.  Yep.  Much happier.  I think I will have another!

10 more minutes.  Wowzer.  I banished the blahs and got so distracted that I don't remember finishing the second Isadelight.  I might have set it down.  I walked in to my office that I'm redecorating and decided to "tweet" about it.  (my first one! find me: luluscottage)

Happy Chocolate. How cool is that?  My BFF eats these everyday.  She goes crazy if she runs out.  No wonder she is always happy!!

Where do I get these?  I get them from my online Isagenix store.  Check it out: click here.  And if you want some, don't buy on my website, I can get you a better price if you email me!

Blessings

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What a wonderful morning. As I was waking up, I was counting my blessings. If you have ever clicked on my button “My Skinny Story”, you would learn that I am an associate with Isagenix. This was the blessing that was on my mind this morning.

First of all, I am blessed to have a mentoring call that I attend every morning right here from home. This morning’s call inspired me in so many ways. Not just for my business, but for my personal life as well.

Just a few thoughts that I took away were: I attracted everything that is in my life right now. Walls and obstacles are not there to stop us, but to strengthen us. Fall in love with what you are doing and fear will go away. There was sooo much more, and I am left with MUCH to ponder.

I am so grateful to have found a way to earn my living from home, on my own time and in my own way. And, in addition, I get to be around people who help me to grow in a personal way. I never want to stop that. It’s like food for the soul.

Here is another blessing that came to mind, also an Isagenix blessing. Yesterday, I thought it was going to be warm (wishful thinking). So, I rummaged through my summer clothes (that I still haven’t brought out!), and I pulled out a favorite pair of capris. I slipped them on and felt so happy and delighted.

You see, in my adult life, I was always changing sizes (usually just getting bigger). I used to joke that my clothes would “shrink” when I put them away for the season. Ha Ha. Well, they don’t shrink anymore.

I have been on the Isagenix Nutritional Cleansing food (usually my breakfast) for 5 years now and I have stayed the same size all that time. Each time I feel my weight begin to creep back up on the scale, I simply follow a “cleansing schedule” and just like magic, I’m right back to the good size.

Another Isagenix blessing is the health benefits. I can’t even remember the last time I was sick. I just love that. And, I get to watch as the people I coach get their results. It’s the funnest part of my job. I love to hear the excitement and amazement in their voices. I’m hooked on that.

This Isablessing is a BIG one. We are getting ready to go on our Annual family vacation. We missed it last year because of the wedding, so our family really needs this to reconnect and catch up. We go to Yosemite for about a week.

I was feeling concerned about money and paying for our cabins. Then I remembered that I have a good deal of money built up on my Isagenix card. They pay us on a Visa card each week. Yippee. I will use that. How’s that for a blessing?

Today I am grateful to Isagenix, for my freedom, for my health and for my personal growth (and for my vacation!!). What a true blessing.

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Coffee vs. Chocolate

I used to have coffee every morning. It was my ritual. I felt like I needed it to wake up and start my day. I came across things every so often that made me think that coffee wasn't such a health way to start the day. Could that be true? When I first found my Nutritional Cleansing Program, I gave up coffee for a week. Well, it just never tasted good to me after that. I still have a cup every once in a while, but the morning cuppa ritual was over.


Now, I have a NEW morning ritual. I have an IsaDelight. Mmmmm. Just typing the word makes me want one!!


This is a yummy dark chocolate from my company. From my very first bite, I was hooked. And, I am not a "chocolate" person. You may be wondering WHY I would want this as my morning ritual, yes?

This is not just yummy chocolate. No no no! It's a Healthy HAPPY chocolate. It's got ingredients that do wonderful things.....3 wonderful things....


First thing....it's called HAPPY Chocolate for a reason. I notice that in about 12 minutes after eating this, my mood is vastly improved! If I am super grouchy....I will have 2!! Can you imagine having a happy mood just from a small piece of chocolate?


Second thing is....energy. Not the hyped up stimulant type of energy that I used to get from coffee, it's the good kind of energy. I just feel more focused and I manage to get more things done. And, that's a wonderful thing!!


The Third thing this little treat will do is.....decrease the appetite. And, it REALLY does this! I'm not hungry after eating it and when I DO eat....I want to eat LESS food. That's pretty handy, dontcha think? I'm a "clean my plate" kind of gal. I just LOVE to eat. What can I say? These come in handy for me and keep me from over eating. Yay!!


What? Why? How? Yep, it's not just "chocolate". It has HEALTHY things that are in there that work on the brain....brain "food" I guess. I can tell you that everyone I have shared them with, falls in LOVE with them.


MMmmm..

Almost hate to have that last bite.....

If you would like to check it out, you can visit my website and watch a short video that explains all about it. If you would like to buy some, please let me know....I can save you money!

http://stephaniefarrell.isagenix.com/us/en/isavideos_isadelight_intro.dhtml

In fact, just leave me a comment with your email and I will get your address and I will send you one to try for yourself (just in case I get too many.....let's limit this to the first 10).

Chocolate anyone??


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I ate too much over the holidays! Now....

I gave myself permission to eat and cheat over the holidays. It seems like everyone sent us baskets filled with all sorts of goodies to eat. I have NO willpower. None. I got a box of Baklava and I made an attempt to eat the whole box! Mmmmm, I want some right now just thinking about it.


My daughter ate just one and said it was so rich that she could not finish it. I could not admit how many of those lovelies I had eaten, it would seem humanly impossible. Maybe if I had eaten one more, I would have had to go to the emergency room!! Seriously...they were THAT good!!


And, there was feast after feast. Yummy rich HIGH carb, loads of sugar. After a while I stopped feeling as great as usual. I'm so glad that I don't eat like that all the time. No energy, hard to sleep and even my mood wasn't as happy (except when I was eating the goodies...then my mood was GREAT!).

And, NOW

I am going to have to pay the price. Yes. The clothes are too tight. Darn. I hate that feeling. On the good side, my clothes still fit me, so I CAN fix this.

I can remember many times in my life when I started to gain and just ignored it or justified it. I clearly remember putting on my jeans and believing that they shrunk (ha) in the dryer. They didn't. It was me that got larger!

And, when I looked back, I WISHED that at that very moment, right when it first began, I wished that I had done something about it. So, NOW I am going to do something about it. For me, gaining weight is a slippery slope and when I slide down it....it can be a fast ride. At least now I have Isa Nutritional Cleansing, it's truly a life saver. I went from a size 18 to a 10-- 5 years ago...and I am NOT going back there. No Way.

Okay. Enough. New Year's Resolution...lose the holiday weight gain! I'm following a Nutritional Cleansing schedule, and it's already working.

And, I exercised 2 days in a row so far! Yay!

A friend of mine has a new program with her church to walk 10,000 steps a day. I'm going to do that too. I have a new pedometer.


I've only had this for one day, and it has made me think a lot about walking. I went over to my daughter's house and I usually take my car, instead...I walked. And, when I walked the dog and we took a longer walk than usual. Even with all that, I am only at HALF the goal. Wow. I've got work to do!

Anyone else have a Resolution to lose weight?

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My Skinny Story

I have a website that I named "My Skinny Story". What started out as a personal (VERY personal) journey...ended up being something that I felt compelled to share with others. The number 1 reason I felt "led" to share my weight loss story, is the fact that I have never forgotten how I felt, how I suffered and what it cost me. I searched for solutions, tried so many things, that I think I was in a place of "lost hope". I wasn't even praying for a solution....I was too far gone for that. Maybe you think that the words I am using are too serious. And, I suppose that they may be. But, that is how I felt. My sadness wasn't all about my weight or how I looked, I would have thought that it was, but I know in retrospect that my sadness was an accumulation of so many things. Old tapes playing in my head from people and times past. Probably age catching up to me.

Like so many things in life, the solution...found me. Isn't it funny how it happens that way sometimes? I have a new button on the right hand side of my blog, if you want to read the "whole" story, click on it.

Lest you think that losing weight made my life perfect, allow me to relieve you of that erroneous thought. My kids still cause drama in my life. I still have insecurities. I still have plans to better myself. And, I still have to work at keeping that weight from coming back. It's just easier now.

Maybe there is someone out there in blogger land that is looking for me and my story, the same way that I was once looking....well...I'm here.