Feeling so Good these days!

         I saw a post on Instagram of someone in our oil upline who was doing a 30 day "challenge" to eat better and lost some weight. and I thought "that doesn't seem horrible" so I figured I'd try it :) The holidays are coming, we're fixing to go on a 5 day cruise and I could stand to drop a few pounds and feel better at the same time! So, starting on Halloween Day I started a Challenge of my own. I stuck to it faithfully from Halloween until November 21 (3 weeks total) and can't believe the difference I've felt!!
         I'm a bit stubborn (no surprise there) and REALLY don't like to be wrong, but I must admit that other people in my world who have taken out sugar, gluten, etc are most definitely RIGHT in that we feel SO much better when we eliminate those things from our world. I feel like my head is clearer, I have WAY more energy, and losing pounds and inches aren't terrible either!

Here's what I've done
    In the morning:
          2oz Ningxia Red (just shoot it and go)
         Coffee (because I'm not willing to give it up) but with no sugar only almond milk
         then start drinking water

Mid Morning
        A Protein Shake
        Weight Loss Trio of YL oils (grapefruit, lemon and peppermint) 2 drops of each in a capsule
              The Slique SlimCaps are also an option but I already had the oil.

Lunch Time
      Half an apple or a handful or grapes
     Water

Afternoon Snack Time (2:30-3:00 or whenever I get hungry)
   Another Protein Shake and another capsule of oils

Dinner
     A regular meal just watching my portion size and also making sure to have more protein and vegetables than carbs
Water to Drink

After-Dinner Snack
      A bite of something sweet or another piece of fruit
      Life5 Probiotic (thank you Young Living for making such a great ProBiotic)
     Multigreen Supplement (these supplements are already a part of my world)
     SuperB Capsule  (these supplements are already a part of my world)

THEN One day out of the week would be a Fast Day
     on Fast day I drink water, coffee (without sugar), and do 2oz of NingxiaRed 4 times throughout the day. Ningxia gives you energy helps about everything in your body from regulating blood sugar to blood pressure and ALSO curbs your appetite so that's helpful on a Fast Day :)
I found that drinking it at 10, 2, 6 and 10 works best for me.

About Fast Day - I'd be lying if I said they're awesome. I learned after the first Fast Day that I really need to make sure that a Fast Day is one where I can go to bed early. Because no food makes me tired! So, on a Fast Day I'd try to shut down between 9 and 10 at night (we're usually up much later than that).

*A FEW OTHER THINGS*

The first 3 days overall were hellish. Detoxing from sugar is NO JOKE!! The headache and dragging all day made it hard to push thru but day 4/5 i started to turn a corner and never looked back. So, getting thru those first 3 is tricky...but worth it!!

I'm not much of a health nut but I've learned a few things. 1) Protein Shakes are not my favorite thing. I tried several that made me gag. Some I had to straight pour out or add so much stuff to that I felt like I was making a meal :)

We love most things Young Living but their Slique Shakes are NOT on the list of things I love from them. They're nasty (to me) and hard to get down - even with banana and stuff added in. Balance Compete (a meal replacement shake from YL) is delicious. I already knew this but it was confirmed in the last 3 weeks. I drink it twice a day most days and still am not tired of it. Add a spoonful of PB and it's even better!  Shakeology is not my favorite shake.... the chocolate ones are bearable but the other flavors not so much. and chocolate only if you add yummy stuff like cinnamon, bananas and Peanut Butter to it :)    Young Living makes a new protein powder that WAS very good. I preferred the Chocolate (almost like a dark chocolate)  to the Vanilla Spice.  But any protein shake would work for this.

I usually drink lots of water anyway but this really helped my water intake. i drink out of a glass quart size mason jar (so I can add a drop of oil to it) and drinking 4 a day keeps me at a gallon of water. It's an easy way to make sure I'm getting enough.

Each week on weigh/measure day I was surprised at the lbs and inches starting to come off. But on the 3rd week when it was 13lbs and 18 inches I was SO SO surprised! and that mixed with feeling great definitely makes it a win/win. My energy levels are up, my attitude seems to be better, I'm just really surprised at the difference in how I feel. To be able to get up in the morning and not be dragging for an hour or more makes such a difference in our homeschooling 5 kids world!

I'll definitely do this again after the holidays! and I'm NOT going to add sugar back into my world so much. I had a chocolate chip cookie last night and couldn't believe the difference in how I felt this morning (dragging again). So, if I can live 3 weeks without sugar, I can live longer :) I like myself better when it's not in my world.