Beach Body Challenge, go!

Guess what I got today...!

As promised, I'm trying out the Slim in 6 Beach Body Challenge! Super exciting! I don't go back to work until Wesnesday, so I was lucky to be home to check the mailbox! A bag of Shakeology alone would have ran me around $130, the challenge seemed to be a good idea. It came with a bag of Shakeology and the Slim in 6 DVD set. In total I paid $155. Let's open the box and see! 

The Shakeology bag lasts about a month. You can opt to get individual bags of one flavor or mix and match them. As y'all know, vanilla never works out for me and I'm sad to say strawberry doesn't really either. I'll stick to the chocolate. I'm sure I'll probably get bored with it, just like I do with every other shake I'm on. There are ways to change it up, but at least this brand doesn't have a nasty after taste.

You're supposed to use each DVD everyday for two weeks at a time; three DVDs, six weeks and you're done. It includes some start up guides, diet tips, a measuring tape and the exercise bands to go along with the workouts. 

Of course it recommends to take measurements and before photos. It's easier to see your progress in terms of photos. Your clothes getting loose is nice, but seeing is believing and photos make a huge impact. Here's a quick pic of where to take measurements on the body.

I'll be starting the Slim in 6 today, and report back on my thoughts in the next blog post. I started networking a bit with this challenge and made a new friend. Her name is Alexis, and she's been with Beach Body for a while now. She's a real person, with real success stories and experience. It's not a secret that I'm super fucking suspicious with some of these people, but she's legit. She's a young woman around my age, and I really felt like she was relateable. Either way, I'm on her facebook group for support in working out, and I have access to the beach body website too.

Honestly, it seems like tracking all this might be a pain in the ass. With two years experience of eating pretty clean and on a steady diet I'm not so much concerned with what I eat. The exercise is what I'm most interested in. I've already conditioned myself mentally and need a kick start back into fitness. I downloaded my fitness pal, to keep track of things. I'm hoping to keep on the reg with logging shit in and posting on the support group page but we'll see how that goes. 

I'm aiming to blog more, and keep you all posted on all my experiences with this. I'll post as I go, and tag my results in them. As for now, I'm off for walk it's too fucking nice out to stay in! Enjoy your day all, make the most of it! 

Formation

I am such a SUCKER for formation.

Maybe not "a sucker for", more like I'm anal and have OCD when it comes to some things. I'm really feeling the itch to blog again, but I'm blogging from my phone. I recently moved and haven't had time to hook up with wifi yet. I know, I know, I'm such a heathen right?! I'm old school grandfathered in through Verizon, and come hell or high water I'm not giving up my UNLIMITED DATA. That's right kiddies, I'm hitting an average of 10 gigs a month and I'm getting my monies worth damnit! 

Anyway, sorry to the app creators for Blogger but this app royally sucks. I can't change my fonts, change my paragraphing, center things, add links and I'm about to find out what my pics look like when I upload them. Gah! 

Anyway, so this blog entry is focused on format. We are all creatures of habit. As much as we all think we like change, we really don't. Even the slightest change in our everyday lives takes time to get used to. I spent most of my time off preparing for weddings, getting myself in shape and working on my new house. I found myself using up almost all my free time at Lowe's and doing butch manly man work. Secretly so emopowering by the way! I traded in my time at the gym, and did some serious work. Painting, re surfacing my hardwood floors, gutting the kitchen and bathroom, it was a major work out and really good mentally.

We all like to physically see our goals coming to life. When you decide to lose weight, you may not always see it. This is why I love taking before and after shots. All those blog posts of me whining that I hadn't seen any big results...seem like nonsense now! Behold:

The picture to the left was in 2010, and the one to the right was taken in September 2013. What a difference right? I am SO much happier, and I think you can definitely tell. It's strange when I look back, and see a bloated version of myself. I've always loved dressing up and going out, but I noticed in my fat phase I didn't care anymore. I just let myself go. Nothing looked right on me, so I wore things to hide in. I didn't even really invest any time into my hair or makeup. Let's face it, when you're fat there isn't much to look great in. Sure you could probably find something cute, but you would still feel insecure.

My best advice to anyone out there, is to stick to your goals. Set goals that are attainable, and not too far out that you'll never reach. If you put your mind to losing 5lbs a month, that is TOTALLY doable! Treat and reward yourself! I've gone over this many times on here, so I'll keep it short. Reward yourself with something non food related. Do something fun, buy a nice dress to go with your new skinny self! 

Change is hard. Reworking your brain, is not an easy task. You'll shock your system mentally and emotionally. But if it brings out a healthier version of you, freaking do it! Trust me when I say, if I can do it you can too. I know that sounds like such a farce, but believe me. Coming from a girl who has been down that road to self loathing, literally drowning, her whole world caving in. I pulled myself back out, took control of my life and it has made ALL the difference.

So make up a new format for your everyday life. Turn that OCD into some big positive, like getting off your ass and exercising! A healthy mind and healthy body is a serious force to be reckoned with! 

As always, I'm always here if anyone needs help in weight loss support. I'll answer questions as best I can! I may not be posting as frequent as I should, but I promise I read all my emails! Good luck!