7 Simple Tips to Losing Weight

1. Portion Control - This is such an important concept when trying to lose weight. Stop supersizing your plate! Eat proper serving sizes and eat the correct portion of each food group throughout the day for a healthy balanced diet.


2. Clean out the pantry - Get rid of all the junk, the ready made meals, processed foods, and stuff that is NOT healthy. If it's not there, you can't eat it.


3. Drink plenty of water - It's plain and simple. Drink water. Your body NEEDS water. Drink water with your meals. Drink up before, during, and after your workout. Carry a refillable water bottle with you to drink throughout the day.


4. No nighttime snacking - Make it a habit of eating your last meal at least 2 hours before bedtime. It is so easy to turn into a couch potato at the end of the day and starting snacking, and it's usually not something healthy OR portion controlled. If you're really hungry and really need a late night snack, keep it healthy and portion it out. Eat veggies!


5. Veggies first - Just like when you were kid, and just like I tell my kids today, eat your veggies first. They're healthy! Get them out of the way and done. Then you won't be too full on other stuff before you get to your veggies and hopefully you'll be less likely to overfill on the other food on your plate.


6. Skip salt - It's just not that great for you. It's not good for blood pressure, makes you retain water, will make you feel bloated. There are other tasty spices and herbs to flavor up your foods. Prepackaged foods containing lots of salt are not things you want to be eating anyway.


7. Cut out sugar - Cut out all the sweets, the desserts, all the processed sugars. You don't need it! 

If you want to see results, you've got to start in the kitchen! Don't let your hard work and sweat be ruined by a bad diet.

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Greenberry Shakeology Review

If you asked me a year ago what I thought of the Greenberry Shakeology, my honest answer would have been "Blech!". I did not particularly care for it. I could have sent it back since it does come with a money-back guarantee (for 30 days), but I kept it anyway. I did eventually drink the whole 30-serving bag, but it took some work to make it taste good, as it didn't taste so great by itself or even with just 1/2 a banana (my usually addition to my shakes). It had a chalky texture and a very strange after-taste. Doctored up and blended with 1/2 a banana, some pineapple, other fruits, sometimes juice, it was better and just okay, but not something I would rave about. I didn't like putting my whole daily fruit allowance into my shake either; I like to save a portion for another meal in the day.

The Greenberry got a "makeover" quite some time ago, but I have been hesitant to try it out again. I have heard that it is much smoother, not at all chalky, and tastes like Fruity Pebbles. SO, I finally gave in and decided to try it again after a year now. Before throwing in a bunch of stuff like I used to have to do, I started with just water, ice, and half a banana. I took a little taste, slowly, still remembering what it used to taste like. Believe it not, it really does taste like Fruity Pebbles!

I like to add spinach to my shakes as a quick and easy way to get in one of my veggie portions for the day, so I tossed that in too... after the initial taste test. The spinach blends in great and you don't even taste it. Still tastes good and fruity.  Honestly, no joke, the new greenberry stuff is SO MUCH better!! It is now in the running with Chocolate for my top faves. I let my extremely picky 8 year old try it, with spinach mixed in even, and he LOVED it! That's saying a lot coming from him. So can something green and healthy actually be yummy? Heck yea it can!!

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My Brazil Butt Lift Results

I'm just a LITTLE bit behind in posting this. Behind... Ha! No pun intended. So here are my results from the Brazil Butt Lift program that I completed last month. Making some progress in my journey!! Slow and steady wins the race, right?! I've been pretty consistent in losing about 5 months a month since starting New Year's of this year.

With Brazil Butt Lift and Shakeology, I am down another 10 pounds! Started at 145 pounds on Day 1 and finished at 135 pounds on Day 60. Lost 3.5" in my waistline, 2" in my hips, 2" in my booty, 1" in each thigh, 1/2" in each arm, and down 5% in body fat.

While I am pleased with and happy of my accomplishments so far, please know that I am not sharing this to boast or brag. This is not all about me and "Hey, look what I did!". I struggled to get to the point where I am now and to find what works for me and to find the motivation and support to do it and stick with it. Shakeology and Beachbody workout programs have been my success tools and have really improved and changed my life for the better. But I didn't do it alone. I had help along the way; LOTS of motivation and support! I too, am just a customer using the products and have a coach that has inspired me to reach my goals. My group of challengers continue to push me and encourage me and help me stay accountable.

I share my journey and my stories and my success because I know I am not alone. I know there are others that also struggle and need help, need that extra push and need someone to hold their hand... and maybe even drag them along and kick them in the rear from time to time. So all of this that I share, is to HELP others, and to also help keep myself accountable and to keep going. Thank you to all of you that have helped me and encouraged me along the way, and to those of you that have joined me and given me the privilege to be on YOUR journey with you.

To fitness and better health! :)
~Sandy

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Tidbits

1. I have three kids -- a daughter age 10 and two sons, ages 8 and 2.
2. I am totally a night owl, not a morning person.
3. I love coffee, all kinds of coffee, at any time of the day.
4. I am left-handed, but mostly only for writing. So I'm ambidextrous actually.
5. I dislike being cold and would rather sweat.
6. I pierced my tongue when I was 20. Piercing is gone now but I still have a fatty tissue scar from it.
7. I pierced my belly button when I was 18. 3 kids later, that piercing is gone now too.
8. My ears ARE still pierced - 3 in my right ear and 4 in my left.
9. I love the ocean but sometimes get sea sick. 
10. I had braces on for 2.5 years in my late 20's. Yeah, I had some not so fabulous times in my 20's; like those awkward pre-teen years.
11. I wear contacts, sometimes glasses, and would seriously bump into walls without them.
12. When I was 5, my neighbor's dalmatian bit my cheek and I had to get stitches. I still have a faint scar.
13. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio but I have never lived there.
14. I played the clarinet in junior high, and was pretty good at it. Cool band nerd.
15. I got hitched at the age of 18, during Spring Break, my senior year of High School. Don't judge! We're still married. ;)
16. I first "met" and "talked" to said hubby over AOL chat, over dial-up connection. 
17. My husband and I have lived at 12 different addresses together since 1998.
18. I have two tattoos. I'm itching for another one.
19. I got to go on a class trip to London when I was in 6th grade.
20. Adding on to #19, I was living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the time. Crazy adventures, huh?!
21. I have a Bachelors of Arts in Visual Communications / Graphic Design.
22. I don't like wearing closed toes shoes. Flip flips lover here!
23. I have terrible memories of orange gatorade, relating to sea sickness, and will never drink it again.
24. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder that causes the thyroid gland to be attacked.
25. I'm not a fan of talking on the phone. But feel free to message me or talk to me in person!
26. I absolutely love living in Key West and I dream of having a retirement home here.
27. I am never bored.
28. My to-do list is forever longer than I have enough time for. 
29. I like to crank the radio up, loud, when driving by myself.
30. I do not like onions.
31. I am not afraid to get dirty or use power tools. 
32. I am an introvert.
33. I seriously love me some Jack Johnson tunes.
34. I love gardening and having pretty flowers on my porch.
35. I used to move our furniture around a lot. A LOT! I haven't done it much in this house, but it's about time. 
36. As a child, I was a witch for Halloween so many times that I lost count. 
37. I like wine, especially zin or moscato. 
38. My favorite junk food: PIZZA!
39. My middle name is Jean. So no, I am not Sandra Dee. I am Sandra Jean.
40. Not gonna lie... I think there's something sexy about Johnny Depp. 

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