It's Not About Selling Stuff (but I'd like to sell stuff)

I just realized something right now.

Along the lines of me caring about your health, I realize that some might think I'm just trying to sell stuff. While I would love to sell you something, I primarily care about you. So when one of you reached out to me and asked me to simply pray for her health goals I offered some advice on how she can achieve those goals without having to buy a thing. I get nothing out of helping her. I can't wait to see her succeed.

Her goals are not your goals and are not  my goals. We each have unique goals and paths to those goals. There are TWELVE days left to fulfill those New Year Resolutions you made 353 days ago. What can I do to help you reach those goals? What are you goals for next year?

Lack of success can often be attributed to lack of accountability and a plan.

Do you want to read the entire Bible next year? Make a plan and get accountability.
Do you want to lose 40 pounds? Make a plan and get accountability.
Do you want to run a marathon? Make a plan and get accountability.

Do you see the theme?

Let me know how I can help you.

If you want some good health-related Christmas or Chanukah gifts, consider purchasing a Shakeology flavor pack or a Challenge Pack! (I suggest Insanity Max :30 which is new and hot! I can't wait to try it!) Buying from me, supports me. And I love you.

Happy Chanukah (starts tomorrow. Read about it here and here.)

Can I lose 4 pounds by Saturday?

So that's the question. In general, I would say that's frowned upon. If you lose weight that fast it's because you're doing something wrong. Maybe starving yourself or over-exercising. Neither of which I am interested in doing.

I'm going to update this exact blog post for the next few days. I have the Santa Run on Saturday which I am utterly unprepared to do. But it'll be fun anyway. I don't have to run well; I just have to run.

This isn't a sponsored race. So if you want to sponsor me, instead just donate money to your favorite charity. I recommend Compassion International.

Back to me:
This morning the scale said 143.8. For Breakfast, I'm having Shakeology, but I made it differently. I used 4 oz of heavy whipping cream, 8 oz of water, a tsp of turmeric, a tsp of cinnamon, and half a tsp of ginger. It tastes amazing. Consider purchasing some from me through the link.


12:45- I have eaten about 2 ounces of rotisserie chicken and plan to make an actual meal. I'm baking cookies, my kryptonite,  and to keep from eating the dough I'm chewing a stick of gum.

2:00 - I had some salad with steak and avocado as well as a Bento box. I *may* have licked the spoon of the cookie batter...oops! I tried. Why does it have to taste so good? I feel like I shouldn't be held responsible for this. Whoever invented cookies should be to blame.

6:00- I had a large serving of something very similar to meatloaf.

Today I drank a little less than half a gallon of water. Some of it was carbonated.

So, that seems good to me. 4 "meals" throughout a very trying day. My kids didn't sleep well last night and, as all you mamas out there know, that means mama didn't sleep well either.

But we did decorate the tree!

He's saying "look it's so pretty" when dada got home he said the ornaments were "so cool."

A photo posted by Lauren Mulford (@happywifeandmama) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:19pm PST

Friday morning 5:30AM - just wok-up. Weight is 142.8 Breakfast will be Shakeology, of course.  I need to drink more water today.

11:30 update - I had a Chik-fil-a chicken wrap with a few potato wedges and an unsweet ice tea. And one cookie. I can't believe I only had one cookie!

5:30PM - I had Shakeology mixed with 12 oz of water. It was delicious! And now I'll just be
drinking water until tomorrow morning. I'll be curious what impact Chik-fil-a had on my weight. One of my biggest bummers this week was that I did not exercise once and I have a race tomorrow. The kids were just out of control or sick the entire week. Then today we went on the North Pole Express (HUGE waste of money). I think the kids were just reacting to Thanksgiving week away from home. And who knows? Maybe I'll get some exercise in this evening. I did jump on the trampoline for a little while.


AND SATURDAY MORNING WEIGHT IS....... 141.8 That is only 2 pounds, which is great! Not the goal weight but in four days, I'll take it!

As for the race...it sucked. I don't want to talk about it ever. Seriously, don't ask. On the plus side, I am not in any physical discomfort at all!

>.< angry face >.<

We shall have calamari and pizza from Pellegrino's for dinner. Then back to smart eating on Sunday. 

Thankful for This and So Much More

I totally snacked on cucumbers on the road trip.

This awkward photo brought to you
by my poor selfie skillz.

The beginning of this week started with me waking up at 5AM to cross state lines to get to Tammie and Keith to do what *I* called crossfit because I've never done crossfit...apparently it wasn't crossfit, but just something that was very hard. And it was hard. Very hard. My obliques were crying the next morning. So I did P90X Stretch. It was the perfect solution. Not a bad way to start Thanksgiving week.

Did you know that the majority of Americans gain about a pound between Thanksgiving and Christmas and never lose it? And that's about 5 pounds for obese Americans according to this study. You don't need to wait for January 1st to make a resolution. Resolve to be healthy starting today. Or tomorrow after pie!

better selfie with Keith and Tammie

I dragged my husband out this chilly morning for a brisk 5k. He has the sniffles but graciously went with me anyway. What a man! We jogged in about 35 minutes and we did NOT give it our all. We have our Santa Run coming up next weekend and I'm not too nervous about it any more. It isn't like we have money on the race!

After our jog, we got lost driving in the city. That was interesting. But we finally found a great Italian restaurant for dinner and I ate my long-sought after cannoli! YUM! Completely authentic and homemade. I should have taken a picture.

Upon arriving back at the house I was overwhelmed with guilt at my indulgence and promptly started P90X Cardio. Man, I was sweaty and stinky after that! But now I can have no regrets!

Not bad for the day before Thanksgiving!
And then I checked out the specials we're having at Beachbody! Check them out! http://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/holidayspecials?referringrepidlaurenmulford

Also, free shipping on clothing! I'm thankful for all my friends who use my referal link to support me! I'm very pleased to help all of you and support you as you make decisions to step toward health.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Worst Salesperson Ever (with lots of hashtag #fun)

This should be short. But it isn't. And it might be seen as a pity party, but it isn't. haha! #notapityparty

I hate selling people things. I hate it when other people try to sell me things. When I want to buy something I contact the seller and if s/he is selling that something at a price I like, I buy it. If not, I wait or find another seller. I do not like pressuring people. I hate it when people try to pressure me to buy their bags, or manicures, or oils, or kitchen supplies, or candles, or anything else. I don't do that to my friends. And my friends don't do that to me. (Thanks, friends!) #bestfriendsEVER

If I can be very candid: I feel like there's a group of gals and everyone is happy and selling things to each other and supporting each other. I'm buying things from them and encouraging them. And then I say, "oh me too" and suddenly everyone is silent and just staring at me. No one wants to buy something from me, and I see a friend of mine hand her money to someone else to purchase the same thing I was just selling. I feel like maybe there's just something wrong with me and no one is telling me. Maybe I'm too honest. But I always get such positive feedback and watch other people profit off it. I don't understand. (I even just had a friend last week write to me and let me know she was inspired by me to get PiYo...from someone else. And I'm like, "um. okay. thanks?") #unlucky

But then I started selling Beachbody products and it's pretty much the same thing I've been doing for free for awhile now - just encouraging people to eat healthy and exercise. I started a group a long time ago on facebook for married women with this goal; long before I started selling Beachbody products. I have always encouraged my friends and prayed for them and tried to motivate them. I share this because I suck at selling these products too. Every time I encourage someone to buy something, they buy it from someone else. I feel personally responsible for selling about a dozen products in my first month, for which I have received credit for only one. #stillunlucky

I don't care. #lies

Well, I care a little. #oralotidontknow

Yes, I wish I was a better salesperson. But what really matters is what's between me and God. And I just don't have the peace to pressure my friends and I don't feel like people want to be pressured. So I just encouraged my friends to eat right and exercise in whatever form that looks like. #spirituallife

Because God's got my back. And the following story is just one example of how God is repaying me for serving my friends without pressuring them to do anything for me in return. #faithfulservant

This is random and might make you uncomfortable-
I was at Academy Sports and Outdoors in Denton for their opening day sales promotion where the first 150 people got gift cards ranging in price from $20-500. BUT A HUGE GROUP OF PEOPLE CUT IN FRONT and I didn't get a card. #cheaters

My husband suggested I write to the company and explain what happened thinking that maybe they would be kind enough to give me a card anyway. So I wrote hoping he was right. And then I got a call Thursday, Oct 30, from the regional publicity guy saying that he read about my concern and he'd like to just go ahead and give me a gift card. I could go get it whenever. #giftcard

he's tuning my guitar

I show up the next day, Friday, Oct 31, and he gives me a $20 gift card. I love Academy already and was very excited that they decided to be so gracious. Since we were already in the store, I took the boys to the bicycles and found one that I think will work well for Christmas gifts for both of them. And then we keep wondering. We pass several promotional drawing tables, and one was for a guitar signed by a musician, George Straight, with a $500 gift card. I don't know the musician but have heard of him before. And who wouldn't want a $500 gift card to Academy. I just felt like the Spirit saying, "If you enter that drawing, you'll win." And I was like, "Okay, sure." #Spiritlead

Okay, so jump ahead, I win. I got a call around 4:30 and I was like OMG, WHAT, WHAT, OMG, OMG, OMG. I had been really hoping to get my husband a guitar because we were dirt poor in the past and he sold his guitars so we could exist. Recently I've recognized the longing in him for a guitar again and was hoping and praying that I'd be able to get him one. #‪iwonfivehundreddollarsandaguitarsignedbygeorgestraightfromacademy‬

Bam! #bam

You guys, I'm going to keep encouraging you to pursue natural ways to health and fitness. I'm going to keep praying for you. I'm going to keep caring about you. I'm going to keep being happy when I see you get fit; I don't care if it's through Beachbody or Crossfit or running or some competitor. If you're healthy and inspired by me, I've done my job. I'd love for you to buy something from me, but if you don't, God's got me covered in unique and special ways. I wanted my Beachbody business to take off. It isn't and it probably won't because I'm not willing to pressure people (even though it's healthy and useful unlike so many other things. okay, enough pressure.). I believe in my product, but it isn't a cure-all and it isn't for everyone. Or maybe you just have someone else you want to buy it from. That's fine. Just get healthy. #becauseIloveyouguys

#BestHalloweenEver

Finished PiYo (this is very late)

I did it!

I finished PiYo a few weeks ago. While I only lost about 5 pounds, I've lost a lot of inches. Yay! But I also just feel better. I think that's thanks to the Shakeology forcing me to eat healthily!

Ready for a 5k!

After the 5k!

I turned in my stats to the PiYo success page. And they're sending me a shirt!

I started P90X with The Wolf Pack; affectionately named after Rose Tyler/Essay Hood and their Doctors. We're all too busy to do it with too many distractions, but together we will make it through it all!

Also this past month, I RAN A 5K!!!!! One weekend I saw a poster for a 5k around the lake the following weekend. So without any training, I decided to do it. I had ten days. That night I went out and walked a 5k while pushing a double stroller with baby on my back. Yep, I had all three kids with me. It took almost an hour! The next day it was 48 minutes. Once I was finally able to go without the kids, I got my time to be just over 40 minutes. And my official race time was 38:27.6.

Mid- P90X video

jogging jacket I love

At first I thought I had twisted my ankle slightly while running but shrugged it off thinking I was just looking for an excuse to slack-off. Turns out, I full-on sprained my ankle complete with cramps, swelling, and bruising. Bummer. I think it was the shoes. I was using Vibrams. I'm just going to use regular running shoes next time.

Find PiYo and P90X (AND P90) here. By purchasing through this link you support me and my endeavors.

You know you do.

No More Excuses (video)

Life is getting back to normalcy here. Food intake is good. Exercise is happening. I'm optimistic about the future. There's a lot going on and there's always something unexpected...perhaps that's the new normal.

Here's a short video I made of me exercising piyo. I meant to upload this a LONG time ago, but with the weeks that I've been having it just did not happen until now. Enjoy (it's short, one minute):

Start-Disaster-Repeat

Get fit for Fall!

I am really optimistic that things will finally calm down this week and I can get into a rhythm. So far in the past month I have had so many kids get sick and re-sick. My plans keep failing. There are so many things that I don't have control of and it could make me crazy. Instead I like to look at my comfortable life and praise God for all the blessings he's shared with me. Jesus died to save my soul and that was more than enough but He also gives such lavish comforts.

I won't complain and I won't lament and belittle myself for my week of failures. You guys know what life is like. Sometimes stuff just gets in the way. I get it. You get it.

I should have already finished PiYo but because of all these illnesses, I still have two weeks left. Tomorrow I start over! You're welcome to join me. Make yourself a Shakeology drink and get your butt off the couch.

so many options!

With all these failures I remind myself of my daughter. No matter how many times she climbs the back of the chair (and give me a heart attack) and then realize she's stuck and needs help, she still goes right back up there. She cries for help. I get her down. Repeat. I keep needing a restart. I'd like to be able to make it the entire week staying on track. I mean, seriously, how hard is that? It shouldn't be hard, right?

I'm not going to beat myself up. I'm just going to embrace God's grace that's new every morning.

Tomorrow's a new day and I will again pursue my faith, family, and fitness.

The look of sheer terror at the realization that she's done it again.
The compulsion to climb cannot be denied this little one! 

Strength and Fitness is Beautiful

If you're friends with my on facebook you know I've had a rather eventful weekend with all three kids along with myself getting a stomach virus. It was not fun. I got an okay workout done on Saturday and Sunday my abs were killing me as I stood over the toilet.

I've had tons of great conversations this week with friends about body image and health and daughters. I previously shared an article that spoke about getting fit for the purpose of being able to outrun a mugger or lift a boulder, and this article has 10 Things I Want My Daughter to Know About Working Out which furthers my belief that while vanity certainly plays a part in wanting to lose this pregnancy weight being able to live a better life has an even greater pull.

These conversations remind me of this pictograph I saw awhile back of all the Olympic ladies who each achieved greatness within their fields and none look alike. Strength and fitness is beautiful! So go be beautiful today! I'm trying to get my kids healthy while trying to grasp some appearance of normalcy in my life.

and a funny comic

Trial Week

So I've had a VERY difficult past two weeks. One preparing for the first week of school and the next living the first week of school. The craziness isn't quite over with my second son starting preschool in a few weeks, too. But hopefully that transition won't be as difficult as this one has been.

My upline coach suggested that I use this past week as a trial week to see how my schedule will work best. Even though I did a few of the PiYo days, I didn't do them to my own satisfaction and am going to re-do the week starting Monday (PiYo weeks start Mondays if you follow their calendar).

If you will recall, I hurt my leg. I think I hyperextended my knee. So I've been off it for awhile. And while my mind wants me to eat celery and meat, my wallet wants me to eat rice and pasta. Back-to-school supplies can be expensive. I'm sitting down right now to write out a menu plan for the week.

That leads to finally taking a little break this weekend. We went to the lake.

And I saw it.

sigh

It was horrible. 

A picture of me.

Not as horrible as it once was but not nearly as nice as it could be. And I KNOW the problem. I'm going to print the picture and hang it in my kitchen as a warning. lol!

I'm going to finish the PiYo series in the next few weeks and starting September 29; I will begin my P90X Challenge Group. Just in time to get in shape before the holidays and show off to all your relatives. And if you splurged a bit over Labor Day weekend, then start with me now! It'll be awesome. I've been drinking Shakeology regularly and feel good despite the extra weight. I just need self-discipline to say no to "bad" food.



Lauren, just eat right. Sheesh. It shouldn't be that hard. Give it your all! 

What?! Stoked! Hashtag SweatySelfie

I am totally participating in this! You should participate as well. You don't need to be coach or a customer. Just human. (Or a non human with opposable thumbs, I suppose.)

Do it!
Ends September 3!
http://www.beachbody.com/beachbodyblog/sweaty-selfie-contest

No Words

I am completely drained. I am at a lost of words that adequately describe the amount of failure I achieved last week as far as health and fitness goes. I don't even know where to start in describing how bad everything was. Among my hardships were a school bus that forgot my son, harassing texts, and a failure to complete a work assignment. There's more, but let me just say that it was rough. I hurt my knee and wasn't able to exercise for the week. Rest Ice Compress and Elevate. And then feel really guilty and embarrassed at the amount of failure.

I was supposed to start some healthy eating with Cynthia. She did a great job. With how many unexpected doctor visits and errands we had, a surprising number of meals were from Chik-fil-a (and even one from McDonald's!).

So today I awoke to a tweet from @TurboFire:

Yes, I needed that this morning!

So if you're like me and suck at life recently, there's plenty of grace for you to get back to glorifying God with your temple. His grace is new every morning!

You've got this! I've got this! Because God's always had it!

P90X Challenge Group coming the last week of September! Sign-up now!

Motivation!

I'm having a tough week. Sick kids, sick husband, and a messy house make me feel like a failure.

It happens. Remember what Mother Theresa said: God has not called me to be successful but to be faithful. And in that faithfulness we are successful. I just need to remember that while I have many plans it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Prov 19:21).

Enjoy this motivational video if you too are having a sucky week:

3 Day Fix

So Over the weekend I decided I needed a little kick to get in the right direction with eating again. So I did a quick Shakeology Fix:

I lost those 5 pounds that have been hanging around me all week!

oh! I forgot to take a pic of the scale. But it said 142.0 and I'm aiming for 140 even this coming Saturday. Clean eating Challenge group starts TODAY!

******UPCOMING*****
P90X Challenge Group
I'll be finishing PiYo the first week of September. You'll get to see my results and then there will be 3 weeks before I start my favorite P90X. NINETY DAYS of extreme fitness! I'm psyched!

September 29th is the start of P90X. Join me! Grab a bag of Shakeology and get off your bum! It is for you. It isn't for some better fit person. It is for you. You do what you can and work your way to being that person that others think "oh this comes easy to you" and you know that you have to sweat to see results! It's work and it's hard. And it's worth it. Also, in my opinion, IT'S FUN!!!

Here's my instagram sweaty selfie post-piyo yesterday:

If I Could Plagiarize For A Moment...

This week to keep me on track for not eating excessively or anything that does not add to my temple, I'm going to use myfitnesspal to keep track of my food in-take. I had a lot of friends suggest I do this and come along side me to keep me accountable; so, shout-out to all you guys who are awesome! I love you all! I have the best friends! I hope you don't mind me calling you out: Meaghan, Kate, Jennifer, Eileen, Ryan, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Shaye, and Bri. Thanks, friends. Your support gets me through the rough times!

Shakeology has been awesome! I've been getting the kids to drink it even. I accidentally got Felipe to drink it. I didn't realize he was drinking it and we went one day without any Shakeology because I didn't order it quickly enough. It has been the best step we've taken as a family toward health.

And if I could plagiarize a couple paragraphs I would, but since I can't in good conscience, I'll just share them:

"Perhaps from my vantage point of 55 years of age, one willingly accepts that there is more to fitness than pornography. Somehow the butt-baring image just doesn't work after a time. So what then is the new direction of fitness? If you ask me, the key to fitness is being able to move your body in the way it was meant to move.
It means you can run, jump, swim, play, bend, walk and lift with all parts of your body from joints, muscles and bones to hands and feet, all body parts working in unison. It means that if you had to run 5K to get away from danger, if you had to swim for 20 minutes to save yourself in a flood, if you had to lift a heavy weight out of the way to free yourself, something or someone else, you could do it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/tosca-reno/bikini-fitness_b_5610782.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000046&ir=Women

http://www.spartan.com//

If you made it this far down, I want to do a race. Spartan? Seems too intense? Ideas? How do I pick? http://www.dfwraces.com/ Help me!

Love Your Body!

I recently saw a TED talk where the obese speaker was talking about she loved her body. I don't know her health issues or if she even has any. The danger of blindly "loving" our bodies is that people infer that that means we don't have to change. A smoker should love her body enough to stop smoking. An overeater should love her body to stop overeating. A lazy glutton should love her body enough to start exercising and eating more than just frozen pizzas.

Today my scale reading was up. 147 pounds. Bummer. Except that my inches were WAY down! That means muscle growth!

If you want to join me doing PiYo, or if you already are, there's a CASTING CALL that you could win a chance to share your story on a Beachbody commercial! Follow that link to a facebook page to share your "before/after" shots!

One of my gal friends shared a really neat idea for motivation for working out: I tell my clients to put $1 or $2 in a jar each time they complete a workout...at the end of the month, use it as a reward: new workout, shoes, outfit, massage, manicure, etc. Sounds good to me! What should I do with all that money? Maybe I'll start working out twice a day!

My Thoughts of the Day (with pictures!)

I am so lazy sometimes. And then there's the whole eating right thing and not stress-eating. Ug. lol! Well, confession time: I utterly failed in that department this weekend. I did NOT have a good weekend. Nothing drastic happened, I just let the stress get to me and so I let my husband take me out to eat twice. But this morning I made a commitment to him to eat properly for now on.

Princess Beastie doesn't like excuses! ROAR!

My workouts have been going well. Except Sunday when I couldn't find the remote control. So frustrating! It just set me up for a bad day. It might be the reason, but it's a poor excuse.

I'm nervous that the scale lied to me about 144. I don't fully believe it.

This morning my workout space looked like this:

Sometimes my uninvited workout buddies misunderstand what I'm doing. lol:

But this is my motivation for this week, what's yours?

Once I'm finished with my current challenge I'm thinking of doing the 3-Day cleanse!! Who wants to join me?

click here

Update and the Importance of Fellowship

My update will be short. Basically, I did an experiment this week to see if I didn't change my diet except for Shakeology, if that would make a difference. I actually ate a LOT more carbs than I normally do. So this next week if I eat properly, what will happen?! I also worked-out a lot more and I feel my glutes and inner thighs are toning like I didn't know was possible.

scale proof

Last week I was 148.3. This week I was flippin 144.7!! That's a loss of 3.6!

Additionally, I started a Workout in the Park today. No one showed up. LOL! It was still awesome. It was so hot!

Workout in the Park

And now, with permission, I want to share this truly touching story from an accountability partner friend of mine. Read it and let it touch you. Read it and know that there are coaches, like me, here to walk this journey with you as we walk it ourselves.

I also feel the need to share a little of my story and why Ashley [another gal in the group and my Beachbody coach] and groups like these are so important. My sister died at the age of 35 exactly 2 years ago from gastric bypass surgery failure. I have always been the "skinny sister" and my sisters weight ballooned at an early age due to 2 still born babies and a husband that mentally abused her since she married at the age of 19. I joined every gym with her, weight watchers, curves, anything I could do to support her weight loss journey. I saw her drop weight and then go back to her habits as she didnt have a "COMMUNITY" of support. She didnt have the click of a button and see many others going through what she was going through. She felt that her only way out was under the knife. She had the surgery without telling any of us as a surprise so imagine my shock getting the call that my best friend was gone. As I was fixing her hair as she lay in her casket I promised her that I would work hard to learn about the tools other would need to save their life and if I could turn one person away from surgery and help them lose weight with hard work I would. I watch and listen to what people want and need in their journeys and my goal is to have an organization to help with alternative methods to those wanting surgery as a quick fix. There are so many in real pain and just need someone to say "Let me take this journey with you". You have no idea that what your all doing could be saving a life!! Thanks for reading :) Amanda Wallis