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):

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! 

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:

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!

Saturday STATurday

Today's stats are brought to you in part by Shakeology, which has been my favorite part of the day. It sets me up for a great day and keeps the sugar cravings away. Today's stats are also brought to you in part by Charlene through PiYo - does she love me or hate me? Why are such simple moves so difficult? I'm very sweaty, every day. Here's the scale this morning:

It's in b&w so you don't notice how weird my ballerina feet look. I started the week at 152.0 even. Subtract 148.3. Weight loss since Monday = 3.7 lbs! Alright! That might not be statistically relevant enough for some of you. Stick with me as I stick with this and I hope to show you better and better results!

Meanwhile, I've ben starting a community group including Saturday morning exercise on the basketball courts...which were flooded by the city's 12" of rainfall this week. So....no exercise group today. Hopefully next week!

Not Quite A Week, But Kinda Weak

What. Just. Happened.
I am so sore. But it feels so good.

If you're keeping up with me on instagram you've seen some cute kids and sweaty selfies. PiYo is more challenging than I initially thought it would be. My glutes and hamstrings need a good stretch - that reminds me, after a workout try to not just sit around because that'll tightened everything and make it much worse. Get up and move around. Stretch a bit. Eat a banana. Drink Shakeology.

Ryan Le got his cholesterol down!

So Shakeology. It's been good! Not chalking tasting like the other shakes I've tried. It actually helps me not want other sweets. So I'm saving those calories (and money from buying those sweets) and using them on carrots, celery, chicken, [brown] rice, and other good foods.

A cyber friend shared his story about getting his bad cholesterol down to the point that it was undetectable after he started Shakeology. Way to go Ryan! I've heard other people share how it helped them with their [Type II] diabetes. I don't have diabetes, but it is genetic in my paternal side and I've heard some experts say that what you did 15-20 years in the past is what sets you up for diabetes. So, I'm hoping to combat that NOW instead of trying to fix it later.

I made a video for my first taste of Shakeology. I hope you find it amusing and educational.


I did a sneak-peak at the scale this morning. The results are good. Very good. I'll share more STATurday ;)

With that, I'll leave you with this one thought: Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. (Albert Einstein) For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36ESV

The First Day

Today I thought I'd be sure to wake up before the kids and get started on my workout early. But baby Holly had other plans! She has a cold and has not let me do much today. This is what I look like right now as I try to type with one hand

Which reminds me, you can follow me on Instagram now! Today is what I would consider my first day. I've had the account for awhile but didn't use it. http://instagram.com/happywifeandmama You'll catch some "behind the scene" snapshots of my daily workout, the kids, and life in general.

My kids are not cooperating with me. Days like today make me feel like I deserve to eat empty calories. I've created an unhealthy attachment to food. I think if I eat chocolate (or something else yummy!) I will feel better emotionally. This simply isn't true. If you feel this way, talk to me about it. I'd love to talk you through the fallacious logic behind emotional eating (or stress eating).

Days like today make me glad I've joined a fitness challenge group! There's no way I can go in there and admit that because my daughter is sick I decided I deserved to eat cookies or that my son was whining and that means I get to eat bread and rice. They keep me accountable.


The official starting stats are in:

Official weight is 152 pounds:

Additional artwork is courtesy of my 2-year-old. Kids get in the way, and that's okay. They need us more than we need a non-artistic diagram.

FINALLY! It Came!

What seems like a rather long time ago, but in actuality was June 30, I ordered my first CHALLENGE PACK from Beachbody. It FINALLY came in today's mail. I want to pop in that first DVD right now!

http://www.beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/laurenmulford

To order your own challenge pack, just click on this pic and follow the "Challenge Pack" link. Select which one you want and I'll start working with you! So easy! And with the Challenge Pack, you get the DVD, an ENTIRE month of Shakeology, and a free gift. My free gift, which I totally wasn't even expecting, was this nifty recipe book. Nice! Thanks, Beachbody!

You can see on the far right the double red circle indicates where you can see the entire selection of Challenge Packs, or if you just want the same Pack I got, select the bottom right link (indicated by the big red arrow) for the PiYo Challenge Pack!

I will support you through any program you select. And you can watch me as I continue on my own journey too!

Here's the box that came

 and the contents

and the special gift

OKAY! Be sure to join my Clean Eating Challenge Group on facebook. Stay tuned later this week for my story and my before pic!