What? 42? For real?

Four months ago today I set off on a new adventure, a life-changing journey.  Four months ago today I began to follow the LeanGreenMama blueprint.  I joined the LeanGreenMama 6 Week Weightloss Bootcamp.  I decided it was MY time.  I decided I needed to finally make the commitment to do it for ME.  And I agreed that, for at least 6 weeks, I'd share my journey with all of you!

And it's been 4 months.

And I'm still sharing with you.

Which means I must be doing SOMETHING right, right?

I want to remind you (and me!) of where I started.  For those of you who don't know me, I'll quickly share a little background.  I'm mama of 3 kids, ages 6, 4, and 19 months (yes, already)!  There have been losses of children, losses of jobs, (maybe a little loss of sanity?), medical diagnoses, 9 surgeries in 4 years, 5 houses in 7 years (and we've lived in this one for over 5)...a lot of stress.  This mama is a stress eater, and she had the hips...thighs...belly...booty...to prove it!  Here, let me show you:

Yep, that's me in all my chunky glory.  I'll admit it to you now, I was "obese."  Eeek.  See that belly?  Ugh.  Not a pretty picture!  But I followed the LeanGreenMama blueprint and started dropping pounds!  Just changing my eating made a HUGE difference!

Then I started adding in exercise.  I increased my "workouts" to WiiFit step on a 4" step, 30 minutes a day 3 times a week.  And then I added in Zumba classes 1-2 times a week.  And then I found FitBit.  This handy little tracker was like a pedometer on steroids!  Amazing little device that made me want to move more!  It tracks steps, miles, sleep...you can use online tools to track your calorie intake and exercise.  This is a great tool for anyone who is interested in being healthy!

Pounds started falling off.  They took inches along with them!  Pounds and inches just plunking down all around me!  I promise some days I could feel them disappearing.

And today?  Today, my friends, I am 4 months into a lifetime of change.  4 months into a lifestyle change that has already made a huge difference in the way I think and feel.  4 months into forever.  What has 4 months earned me?

4 months has earned me a THREE size reduction in pants size!  (Girly pants are funny.  I was a 16 then, and I'm a 10 now!  That's 3 sizes.  Go figure.)  It's earned me the need for a new blender because my blades are dull and not blending anymore.  It's also earned me the need for a new food processor, because the little 3 cup cheapo just doesn't cut it!

4 months has earned me a 25.5 inch reduction in my overall body size!  That's just measuring my chest, waist, hips, and thighs!  I wish I had measured my arms.  I know there's a difference.

4 months has earned me a firm spot in the "healthy weight range!"  That's right.  I am now .2 pounds below the very top of the healthy weight range for my height!  (Maybe that's not so "firm" but hooray!)

So, again, here I am, 191.8 pounds:

And here I am today, 149.8 pounds:

Friends, 4 months has earned me a 42 pound loss!  Forty two pounds!

I have LeanGreenMama and FitBit, in huge part, to thank for that huge change!  Thank you so much, both of you, for all the help and support you've provided along the way!  I can't wait to be able to tell you I've reached my goal (14.8 pounds to goal!) or that I've surpassed that goal and set a new one!

You've got LeanGreenMama and FitBit to thank as well.  You knew it was coming, didn't you?  That's right!  It's giveaway time!

LeanGreenMama has agreed, VERY generously, to give EVERY ONE of my readers a 42% discount on her LeanGreenMama 6 Week Weightloss Bootcamp in celebration of my 42 pound loss!!  If you've been thinking about joining, now is the BEST time to do it!  It'll be a while before you see another deal like this!  You'll need to follow THIS LINK and enter the coupon code THISNTHAT (all caps).  Hurry, though!  You only have through Tuesday, Oct 11, to take advantage of this amazing offer!

FitBit has agreed to send one of my super lucky readers one of the brand new FitBit Ultra trackers!  The FitBit Ultra was JUST released on Monday, so you'll be one of the very first to try it!  It's just like the original FitBit, only with a ton of new features!  You'll love it!  (I'll be reviewing it next week.  What I can say so far is that it is AWESOME!!)

We're going to make this a quick giveaway, because I think 42 pounds in 4 months is pretty quick.  We're going to run this thing for 4 days, in honor of the 4 months of hard work.  And we're going to make it an easy giveaway, because I think 42 pounds in 4 months has been pretty easy.  We're going to rafflecopter it, and we're going to have just 2 entry options.  Are you up for that?

Enjoy, my friends!  I'll update you again on November 8th!

Fitness Gear: Fitbit Review and Giveaway

CLOSED

On June 1, 2011 I officially jumped on board a lifestyle-changing mission toward weight loss and fitness.  I gathered my "gear," switched my brain over to "motivated," went to the grocery and bought all the necessary "healthy" foods, and got started!  Following the LeanGreenMama bootcamp blueprint, the pounds started FLYING off.  After a few weeks, though, the weight loss sort of began to taper off.  It was still coming off, of course, but much more slowly than at the very beginning.  Desperate to pick up the pace, I began searching for the perfect pedometer to help motivate me to take more steps each day and slowly boost the calories I was burning.

After tons of searching, online review reading, store browsing, and finally giving up, I stumbled across a review for the Fitbit fitness tracker!

The Scoop

Fitbit is a California based company "dedicated to helping people lead healthier, more active lives."  Their monitor looked amazing!  They claimed to be able to track your calorie intake, your calories burned, your steps, the distance you walk...even your SLEEP patterns!  Fitbit agreed that their monitor would be a great addition to my weight loss and fitness process, and they agreed to send me one of their monitors.

The Good

The size.  The Fitbit monitor is small.  In fact, it's so small you don't even notice it when you're wearing it!  The monitor itself is about 2 inches long, but only about half an inch thick.  I love how small it is compared to other pedometers I've tried!

The website.  When you purchase a Fitbit monitor, you automatically receive the basic website membership at no additional cost.  The website has tabs to log your food (so it can track your caloric intake), your activities (so it can accurately track your calories burned) and a weight tracker!  There's also a Fitbit community where you can log in and talk to a mentor or just generally chit-chat.  You can view today's progress or go into "historical" mode and see results from any date you choose.  There are charts and graphs of all the activities you've done today!  The whole website is really amazing and has so much to offer.

The durability.  Granted I've only had the Fitbit for a couple weeks, but so far it's holding up really well!  I was a little concerned that it would snap in half, but so far it's held up and still looks brand new.  I'm pretty careful with it, though.

The versatility.  Mostly, here, I'm talking about the ways you can clip it on.  The Fitbit comes with a holster that you can slide it into to hook it onto thicker clothes.  You can slip the monitor itself directly to thinner clothes.  Fitbit says many women will clip it directly to their bra.  I personally clip it to the waistband of my underwear.  No matter where on your torso you decide to clip your Fitbit tracker, it will work just as well!

The motivation.  The Fitbit monitor does a great job of tracking my steps each day, and I try to increase my steps.  It tells me how many calories I should burn each day (2394) and how many I have burned (so far today? 1007).  It tells me how many hours I've been lightly active, fairly active, very active, or sedentary.  (Today the pie graph isn't pretty.)  Each day I strive to do better than the day before.  On the first day I just went about my "normal" day to see how many steps I took.  The results were scary...only about 3500 steps!  Eeep!  Since then, I've strived to increase that number each day.  I've had as many as 12,000 steps in a day, but am currently striving to hit at least 7000.  I know I SHOULD be aiming for 10,000, but that's a huge leap that I'm working up to!  As I said, it's helping to keep me motivated!

The sleep tracker.  This, my friends, is one of my favorite parts.  I guess I can't say for sure how accurate it is, but what I can tell you is that on days when it says I didn't sleep well/much, I am tired and draggy all day.  On days (like yesterday) when I have a good night's sleep and get at least several uninterrupted hours, I'm much more perky.  The Fitbit comes with a wristband.  The idea is that you will strap the band to your non-dominant wrist (I don't know why) and slide the monitor into it.  I tried it for a few nights, but since have been leaving it on the waistband of my underwear and I think I'm getting a more accurate measurement (for me anyway).

The Bad

The wrist strap.  I think it's uncomfortable.  It makes my wrist sweat.  The velcro scratches my arm.  The Fitbit tracker doesn't always stay in the wrist strap.  I don't use the strap.

The holster.  I don't use it either.  In fact, it sits on my bathroom counter.  I don't mind it if I clip it onto my pocket, but I'm afraid the monitor will fall out, so I turn it so the monitor is into my pocket.  I figure if I'm going to have it in my pocket anyway, there isn't a lot of point to even using the clip!  I tried hooking the holster to my waistband but the edges are "sharp" and it's not comfortable.

The sync.  The Fitbit is supposed to wirelessly sync automatically to its base every 15 minutes, as long as you're within 15 feet of the base.  I think 15 minutes is a long time, especially if you are near it right at the beginning of that 15 minutes but miss the time.  In that case, you either have to wait or you have to put the Fitbit onto the base and force it to sync.  It's not a huge deal, but it IS annoying, especially first thing in the morning, to have to wait.

The customer service.  Every question I've asked has been answered.  The trouble is, ever question's taken about 48 hours to answer.  When I have a question, I expect it to be answered quickly, particularly if I ask during business hours.  The answers I've received have been VERY helpful.  The just haven't been quick.

The Outcome

I love the Fitbit fitness tracker!  There are some things that I don't love, but they're not really monitor issues, they're more peripheral issues.  The tracker itself and the website that accompanies the tracker are great!  I think the monitor would be a fantastic asset to anyone who is trying to lose weight or become more physically fit.  If you purchase a Fitbit monitor, you won't regret it!

The Giveaway

Are you trying to lose weight, get fit, or know someone who is?  Do you love having the newest cool gadgets?  Are you curious to see how well you're sleeping?  You'll want to jump on this giveaway!  ONE of my US readers a Fitbit monitor of your very own!  (Retail value $99.95)

US only.  Contest will end and a winner will be drawn Monday, August 15, 2001 at 11:59am EST. 

How to Enter:

*Leave a separate comment for each entry*

*Leave your email address with each entry*

(Mandatory)  Follow My This N That Life with Google Friend Connect.

Like Fitbit on Facebook.

Visit the Fitbit website and tell me something you've learned.

Tell me why you deserve to win a Fitbit tracker.

Like My This N That Life on Facebook.

Subscribe to My This N That Life via email.

Follow My This N That Life on twitter.

Comment on any ONE non-giveaway post and tell me where you commented!  (Must be a new comment.)

I received this products at no cost to me in order to facilitate a review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

LeanGreenMama 6 Week Bootcamp Wrap-Up

I've been married for 8 years, as of yesterday.  It's hard to believe!  What's sometimes even harder to believe is how much I've changed in those same 8 years!  When we got married, my drivers license told the truth.  That's right!  I weighed in at right about 150 pounds.  I wore a bikini on my honeymoon.  (I didn't look great in it, but then again I didn't figure there'd be too many people in Cancun that I would ever see again!)

A little over a year later, when I got pregnant with Little Lou, I weight 175 pounds.  I thought I was HUGE!  I couldn't believe I'd let myself gain so much weight, and vowed to get all the weight off and then some.  I didn't.  And then 15 months after she was born, I found myself expecting Bugsy.  I weighed 185 pounds.  Then a little over a year and a half after he was born, voila!  We found out Stinky was on the way.  193 pounds.  Do you see a pattern here?

It seems like the busier life got, the more hectic things were, the bigger I got.  Now, I want to point out that life hasn't been a bowl of cherries these 8 years.  We've dealt with a lot...a LOT a lot...of stressful situations in eight years.  You don't need to know all the details, what you need to know is that I am (was?) a stress eater.  My pacifier when I was feeling low was a cookie (or 5), a bowl of ice cream (a big one!), a handful (or 3) of chips.  I earned that weight.  I didn't wear it proudly, but I deserved it!

The Scoop

A couple months ago I was reading blog review opportunities on a Business2Blogger email.  There were a few opportunities I knew right away I wanted to try.  Then there was the one that said something along the lines of, "I'm looking for 10 bloggers to review and give away my new 6-week weight loss bootcamp."  (I don't remember the exact words, but it was something similar to that.)  I skipped that one because I didn't want to do it.  AT. ALL.  You see, I was "comfortable" doing what I had always done.  I didn't WANT to make big changes.  Now, granted, Stinky had just turned one and I was definitely thinking about weight loss.  What mom isn't?  But I knew I'd have to make some changes if I applied and was accepted. 

When I found myself opening the email for the third time, looking for that one opportunity for the third time, I realized I was ready enough to at least apply.  I knew I wouldn't actually get the campaign, but it was certainly worth the shot!  Something about my application piqued the interest of Jennifer at LeanGreenMama, and I can not TELL you how glad I am that she chose me as one of her "bootcampers!"

 Here I am, friends.  Before.

Not pretty, but it's me.

The Good

I truly can't think of enough good things to say about LeanGreenMama! 

I'll start with Jennifer McCay herself.  Jennifer is a hard working mama of two herself who has been there.  When she first started developing her plan, she was 53 pounds overweight.  She had a lot of ground to cover, but she covered it--in under a year!  She developed a plan for her own life and found that it worked to keep her healthy.  Only after she'd had personal success on this same plan did she decide to roll it out as a way to help other mamas!  Jennifer McCay has been nothing but kind and helpful throughout the last 6 weeks.  She's answered every question I've had.  She's been a real coach!

The tools.  There are SO many videos and tools provided in the 6 week bootcamp!  I created a binder to house all of my information.  A 2-inch binder.  I printed out everything Jennifer provided, most of it 2 pages to a sheet, and still had enough to fill most of a 2-inch binder!  As a part of the program, Jennifer not only coaches you through your weight loss, but she gives you important papers to help.  There's everything from a weekly progress sheet to a cookbook!  There are just so many tools at your disposal.

The FREE videos!  If you're not sure whether LeanGreenMama is for you, check out these videos.  Jennifer has created four totally free videos to get you started on your journey!  Through these videos, you can get a lot of the same information that's included in the bootcamp itself.  The videos are great tools themselves, but sadly don't include all the tools you'll really want to get yourself going.  (She couldn't possibly give ALL of it away, though!  How would LeanGreenMama be profitable??)

The plan itself!  You all are going to think I'm crazy here, but I have already, in just 6 weeks, grown to love the (mostly) vegetarian way of eating.  Not only have I lost weight and inches, but I have seen some changes in other health symptoms as well.  I haven't had nearly as many headaches.  I don't wake up shaky in the mornings.  This month, I didn't have my typical "hormone-induced" acne issues!  I eat until I am full.  I know when I'm full!  I wish I could go into tons of detail about the eating plan, but then why would you need LeanGreenMama?  

There are so many more good things I'd love to say, but I'll leave it there.  For now.

The Bad

  

Though there are a million things I LOVE about the LeanGreenMama 6 week bootcamp, there are a few things I wish were different.

Exercise.  Jennifer at LeanGreenMama emphasizes that exercise is a vastly important part of living a healthy lifestyle.  She even has great ideas in her plan for how to execute a great workout.  What I wish were different, though, is that I wish there were more.  More information.  Specific exercises listed.  Something.  Anything!  It would be great if LeanGreenMama could partner with a fitness coach or gym and really amp-up the exercise portion of the plan.  I think it'd make it so much easier for moms like me to get into great shape if we had more of a blueprint for our workouts as well!

The time commitment.  I feel silly even mentioning this one.  I'm a busy mom of 3, who sometimes babysits or has other kids in the house for fun.  We have doctor appointments, grocery shopping, cleaning, learning time...all the "regular" mom stuff.  Some weeks the videos are a little long.  I fully understand that Jennifer McCay wants to convey all the information she can to the bootcampers, but sometimes I think the videos could be shorter.  I often have to break a video up into small segments to get it all in!

The price tag.  Again, I hate mentioning this.  I know in my mind that you really can't put a price tag on your health.  I've never priced similar programs, so I can't say how this one compares.  What I can say, though, is that as a paycheck-to-paycheck stay at home mom in a family that is making huge sacrifices so I can be here with my kids, the bootcamp would be impossible for me to afford.  That said, LeanGreenMama HAS done what she can to make sure every mom has a chance!  Don't forget, she's created an AMAZING free four-video program that you can find HERE!

The Outcome

I'm pretty sure this is the only reason some of you have even read this far.  Yep, that's right.  You want to know how well I've done.  I'll get to that in a second.  First, I want to tell you that if you can afford it, I absolutely, 100%, support LeanGreenMama's 6 week bootcamp!  There are some other coaching tools available as well, which I also highly recommend.  If you can't squeeze the cost of the bootcamp out of your budget, I highly recommend those four FREE videos!  They won't give you ALL the tools you'll really want to have, but they'll be a great start to finding your mojo again!  I am a believer.  I have already seen changes in the way I look and feel.  In fact, I emailed Jennifer McCay earlier this week and lamented that I don't live closer to her, because I'd love to work on her LeanGreen Team!  Like I said, I have become a LeanGreenMama cheerleader...and am well on my way to becoming a LeanGreenMama myself!

Alright, so you want to see the results.  Here's the breakdown!

June 1, 2011 (1 week before the official start of the program, but the beginning of my LeanGreen Journey, via those 4 free videos):  

191.8 pounds

July 20 (7 weeks later, at the completion of the LeanGreenMama 6 week bootcamp, but not at the end of the LeanGreen Journey!):

169.0 pounds!

I have lost 22.8 pounds in the last 7 weeks!  YAY!

Not only have I lost almost 23 pounds, but I have lost TEN inches from my body!  (I didn't even measure my arms.  I should have.)  Do you want to see pictures?  Here they are!  I'll post my "before" picture again, and then my "now" picture.  I'm not calling it an "after" picture yet, because my journey isn't over, but I want you to see the progress!

Front view before

Front view now

Side view before

Side view now

As you can see, friends, it's working!  I'm not where I want to be.  I still have about 34 pounds to go before I'll be where I want to be.  But thanks to Jennifer McCay of LeanGreenMama telling me it's okay if I don't do the plan perfectly, I'm getting there!  You can too!  I could go on all day about my experience with LeanGreenMama's 6 week bootcamp, but I won't.  I do, however, encourage you to, at the very least, give the 4 free videos a look!  If you can, though, take part in the next session of Jennifer McCay's LeanGreenMama 6 week bootcamp!  It'll help you make changes in your lifestyle that you won't regret!

I was provided with this service at no cost to me in order to facilitate a review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are strictly my own.  Thank you SO much, www.leangreenmama.com, for allowing me to participate in your program!

What was that sound?!?

I jumped out of bed this morning, eager to start my day.  It was 4:46am.  As my feet hit the floor, I was startled by a funny plopping noise behind me.  I turned around just in time to see a pound fall off and bounce across the room!

Okay, okay, so the only thing true about that entire story is that it was 4:46am.  Have I ever told you I'm NOT a morning person?  That's a whole different story, though.  What I'm here to tell you about right now is that mysterious pound that plopped.  

A quick catch-up if you've missed out...

I am two full weeks into a 6-week bootcamp with Jennifer McCay of www.leangreenmama.com.  The bootcamp is designed to coach mommies like myself into healthier lifestyles.  Jennifer encourages *gasp* healthy eating as well as exercise to revamp your body, regain your mojo, and generally feel healthy!

As I said, I'm two weeks in.  This last week's challenges were to eat at least 2 healthy meals a day and get moving!  Easy peasy.  I knew I could do this!  Overall, I rocked this weeks challenges!  Almost every day, I had 2 (or 3!) healthy meals.  I got moving a few more times than normal.  I'm trying, folks, I'm trying!  In fact, yesterday at the grocery I bought less than a dozen items from the "inside aisles" and that included several cans of beans!

I'll be totally honest, here, and tell you that Saturday I stunk at the challenges.  My kids were out of town, which means the hubby and I go out on a date!  YAY!  This time, we hit up Olive Garden.  I did choose relatively healthy.  I had salad and minestrone soup, no breadsticks.  BUT then he remembered that a local (delicious) ice cream shop had free scoops for dads in honor of father's day.  So, I had a single (read: ginormous) scoop cone of deliciousness.  Then, my cousin got married!  (Congrats, Britty!  Love you girl!)  Wedding food is not notoriously healthy.  I only ate fruit during the appetizer round.  I loved the spinach and strawberry salad!  I kept myself to green beans and chicken with spinach and mushrooms during the main course.  But the cake.  Ah, the cake!

Did you know that when your body is out of the habit of having a lot of sugar, you get a headache after you eat a lot of sugar?  Did you know that when you eat a lot of sugar, you wake up SUPER hungry the next morning?  NOT pretty.

I quickly want to mention, too, that Jennifer and I have been communicating individually in addition to my participation in the bootcamp.  I'm blessed to be able to take advantage of her Personalized Web-Coaching program and it's super helpful already!  In one recent "session" she coached me a bit extra on meat/dairy intake.  She addresses this briefly in her information anyway, but for certain health conditions, she suggests a totally meat and dairy free diet.  Honestly, I thought that was crazy.  It does seem, however, to be working well for me!  (I am not TOTALLY meat and dairy free, but have almost completely eliminated both from my diet for nearly a week.)   

So, I know you all want to know whether I'm seeing results.  Two weeks in, surely I've noticed SOMETHING, right?  

Right!

Last week I weighed in at 186.0.  If you remember, that was 1.6 pounds down from my "official" start, and about 5.5 pounds down from my "unofficial" start at the beginning of June.  Today, I can proudly tell you that scale read:

181.8!!

That's right, folks!  I am down an official 5.8 pounds from the start of the 6 week challenge, and 9.8 pounds this month!  I promised myself I wasn't going to take measurements until the very end, so that I could wow myself with the results...but I lied to myself.  I took measurements last night, and I have lost almost 

5 inches!!

I know this will all slow down.  Soon I will be reporting to you that I lost 2 pounds, or 1 pound, or .4 pounds in a week.  I know that and understand that.  I also know that some of you are thinking the weight is falling off too quickly and I need to eat more because I'm starving myself.  I want to remind you that in the beginning of any "diet" (although this isn't a diet) weight tends to drop quickly and then slow down or level off.  I assure you that I am eating well...and a LOT...but it's healthy food.  I'm satisfied, and occasional stuffed.  I don't like the stuffed feeling.  I'm still learning.  But it's healthy and it feels good!

If you haven't already, please PLEASE check out www.leangreenmama.com!  If you're interested, there are 4 FREE videos that will certainly help you start your weight loss journey at http://www.leangreenyou.com/!  I highly encourage everyone to at least give health a try!

My journey to becoming a LeanGreenMama!

Someday I'm going to be a LeanGreenMama.  Someday.  For now, though?  This:

Pretty, huh?  Or not!  These snaps were actually taken a few weeks ago.  Some of you have seen them before.  We're using these as the "before" pictures.  

Before I found LeanGreenMama.

Before I got serious about my eating.

Before I started on a new life adventure, a journey to create a healthy lifestyle.

Before.

And now?  Now, it's week 2.  I weighed in at 186.0 yesterday morning.  Hey, that's about 5 pounds in the last 3 weeks, folks!  Five pounds since I found Jennifer and LeanGreenMama.  That's 1.6 pounds down from last week when I officially started the program.  That's progress!

I'm loving the program.  Jennifer is dedicated to helping her clients change their lives.  She's not there to teach you a great diet secret.  She's not there to give you a quick fix.  She's there to change your life!  And so, each week of the Six Week Bootcamp challenge, she proposes a new challenge.  Last week?  Eat ONE healthy meal each day.  ONE!  I don't know about you, but I though one healthy meal a day was easy!  This week?  This week she's challenged us to eat TWO healthy meals a day.  Just two meals.  And get moving.  Just a little.  A little more than normal.  A little harder than normal.  Push just a little.

Today I had a smoothie for breakfast.  Strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, mango, banana, spinach and (eek!) just a little bit of broccoli.  The broccoli somehow didn't make it into my lunch bag, so I just threw it into the blender.  I didn't taste it, but my body appreciated it.  For lunch, I had a couple handfuls of grapes, about 10 baby carrots, and a bunch of broccoli.  Yay!  Two healthy meals!  And then, dinner time.  Salmon patties.  Usually we make homemade macaroni and cheese.  Tonight I grilled potatoes, onions, green peppers, and green beans!  See how I healthified my dinner?!?  Go me!

Thank you, Jennifer, for allowing me to participate in your 6 Week Weight Loss Bootcamp!  What an amazing program.  Thank you, thank you, for your weekly videos and downloads!  I've printed everything and created a binder.  I'm working on reading through.  I'm working on watching the videos.  I'm trying my hardest to make changes.  I've tried to diet so many times before, but your lifestyle changing program seems to be a perfect fit for my (imperfect) self!

I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you readers my progress over the next 5 weeks (and beyond)!  I can't wait to see where this journey takes me!

Mama Mojo ~ (Giveaway)

CLOSED

Mama Mojo.

Have you seen yours lately?

You know what I'm talking about.  Your sparkle.  Your zing.  Your zazzle.  Your pizazz.

I haven't seen mine lately.  I'm pretty sure I know where it is, though.  I think I left it at the bottom of too many empty ice cream buckets.

Truthfully, it's been missing for quite some time.  My zip, my drive, my spunk, my energy...my self...they're still there, somewhere.  I can feel them trying to get out from time to time.  But overall?  Overall I've become dull.  I'm not shiny anymore.  I want that back.  I really really do!

A huge part of the problem for me (and I suspect for some of you as well) is that I am not happy with myself.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist, to be honest.  If I can't do something right the first time, I tend to give up.  If it isn't going to be done well, I'm just not going to do it.  I haven't been happy with the way I look, the way I feel, the way I clean, the way I...  You name it, I'm probably frustrated about it!

Lately (and by lately I mean for the past 5 or 6 years) there have been a lot of "imperfections" in my life.  Incidentally, that time roughly corresponds to the length of time I've been a Mama.  Now, I'm not saying my kids are imperfections by any means!  Quite the contrary.  God has created some pretty amazing little humans for me to grow!  But life circumstances have been challenging over those 5 of 6 years, and I tend to be a stress eater.

I was recently contacted by Jennifer McCay, the founder and weight loss trainer of Lean Green Mama.  Jennifer has recently published videos 1 and 2 of a FREE 4-video series on healthy weight loss called "Get Back Your Mama Mojo and Lose the Weight for Life!"  Here's her first video: Success Factors!  If you're like me and haven't seen your own Mama Mojo in a while, I encourage you to check out the videos.  As I mentioned, videos 1 and 2 have been published.  They're great!  There are tons of great tips and ideas in each of the videos.  You'll want to be prepared with a pen and paper, and (if you're like me!) a video for the kids and a set of earphones for yourself, so that you can have 30-45 minutes of hopefully uninterrupted time to watch the videos.  They're worth the time, though!  I've picked up and used some of the tips already!

You know what I think my favorite thing is, so far, that Jennifer has said in the Lean Green Mama videos?  She told me it's okay if I'm not "perfect" at it.  In fact, she understands that I won't be, and that's okay!  Even that is a huge encouragement for someone like me!

I'm super excited to tell you about the Lean Green Mama program that's getting ready to start: 6 Weeks to a LeanGreenYOU!  I have to admit, I don't know much about it.  I know that it's going to be awesome!  I know that it'll be a 6 week program that includes a combination of videos and live phone chats.  I know that if it's anything like the video series, it'll be full of amazing ideas to help you regain your mojo!  (I'm pretty sure you won't find it at the bottom of an ice cream tub...but I'm hoping she'll let me have just a little dish every now and then!)  This 6 week program kicks off on June 8th!  You'll want to read about it on the site, Lean Green Mama, and get connected through her free resources that are already available!

Jennifer from Lean Green Mama would like to send one of you on the 6 week journey with me!  Who's ready?  Anyone?!?  This program is a $497 value, and she'd like to GIVE it to one of you!  Isn't that awesome??  I'd like to have the support of one of you on the journey as well.  We can do it together!

Are you interested in joining the 6 Weeks to a LeanGreenYou program?  You can read more about it at http://www.leangreenmama.com/.  If you're ready, REALLY ready, to get your mojo back, I'd love to have you enter to win!  (Contest will end and a winner will be drawn June 1, 2011 at 11:59am EST.  That's soon, so get ready!)

How to Enter:

*Leave a separate comment for each entry*

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Tell me why you would be a great 6 Weeks to a LeanGreenYOU candidate!

Enter Jennifer McCay's OWN giveaway for the program, here, and tell me you did!

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