Mamavation Mom Weight Loss & Detox Boot Camp

June 2, 2013 By Mamavation 12 Comments

Disclaimer: The Mamavation campaign is subsidized by the generosity of our sponsors and partners. When Mamavation Moms become Ambassadors of the campaign, they are also put under a seven week contract with our other partners for publicity and liability purposes. Mamavation Moms are compensated with free product, professional assistance, and emotional support in exchange.

Mamavation-Campaign-Applications-sail_titlecase

Obesity is on the rise.

And so is pediatric cancer. And allergies. And asthma. And ADHD…AND Autism.

Looks like obesity isn’t really our only problem. One thing we know has ALSO increased during this time is our reliance on synthetic chemicals.

Mamavation is proud to announce a partnership with Healthy Child Healthy World for the 17th Mamavation Mom Boot Camp. Not only will the Mamavation moms lose weight, but they will also learn how to de-toxify their own homes. And there are NO weight requirements for this campaign because the main focus will be on minimizing the impact chemicals can have on the health of families. But don’t worry, this is still a boot camp. The Mamavation Moms will be VERY likely to lose a significant amount of weight as well. They will still receive professional nutritional and fitness support. So in essence, they will be sweating out toxins.

Before creating this special campaign, many facts were considered:

Allergies are up 400%, ADHD is up 400%, Asthma is up 300%, & Autism is up 1,500%

Scientific evidence points to chemicals and contaminants in our everyday foods and products as causing and contributing to many of these diseases

1 out of 88 American children are diagnosed with Autism

1 out of every 8th child is allergic to something

Asthma is now the most common chronic childhood disorder

Pediatric cancer is now the leading disease killer of chilldren

You can find something called “obesogens” inside of us from industrial pollutants. Yes, and they make you overweight.

One in three children born in 2000 will develop Type-2 Diabetes, a disease previously unknown among children that has become epidemic.

Childhood obesity has more than doubles in the past 10 years

Food manufacturers are reformulating for other countries without toxic ingredients, but not in the US

Here’s the good news.

You have more control than you think.

And this Mamavation Mom campaign has been created to show you how. Moms all over the United States have been duped into purchasing products that are possibly causing diseases like obesity, allergies, hyperactivity, cancer, etc. And with the help of Healthy Child, this Mamavation campaign will teach moms what to do in order to provide the safest home environment for their family. In seven weeks, we will help them clean up their diet and home environment in such a way that will minimize the impact toxic chemicals have on the health of their family. And with the professional nutritional and fitness support they receive, they are very likely to lose a significant amount of weight.

What the Mamavation Moms Campaign #17 Receive:

Nutritional overhaul with a Dietitian with a focus on clean, preservative free, artificial free, GMO free food. Recipes, diet plan, and a kitchen overhaul which will be done before the end of the campaign. Our professional Dietitian is able to handle any form of allergy, special needs or breastfeeding diet.

Virtual fitness plans and support by a licensed personal trainer.

Education and personal coaching from members of Healthy Child Healthy World

Products from the following brands to help make the transition:

Naturepedic–2 mattresses and mattress covers for their children

BioRay –Liver Life (4oz), NDF (10oz), CytoFlora (4oz), Before the Flow (4oz), & Loving Energy (2oz)

BioRayKids–NDF shine (2oz), NDF happy (2oz), NDF focus (2oz), & NDF calm (2oz)

Arnicare–Summer Essentials & First Aid Kit w/ various products valued at over $100

Bona–Free & Simple Hardwood Floor Cleaner, Hardwood Floor Mop, Cabinet Cleaner, & Stone, Tile & Laminate Cleaner

Earth Friendly Products–Safeguard kit, Wave Pods New, Carpet Shampoo, Wave Jet, Eco Pods, Oxo Brite, Shower Cleaner, & Furniture Polish

Klean Kanteen–(specific products to be determined)

Nine Naturals–Nourishing Shampoo, Nourishing Conditioner, Soothing Bodywash, & Regenerative Body Butter

Walgreens Ology–All Purpose Cleaner, Lav & Cham Baby Lotion, Fragrance Free Dish Detergent, Hand Soap Lemon Scent, Wht Pear & Cucumber Conditioner, Wht Pear & Cucumber Shampoo, Cube Facial Tissue, & 23W/100W t2 CFL Light Bulb.

Soybu–(specific products to be determined)

New Balance–pair of tennis shoes

Goddess Gardens–Natural Sunscreen Spray for Kids & Adults

What is expected from Mamavation Moms: Daily food journals, appearance on Mamavation TV every Monday night of the campaign, Wednesday night mentoring Google chat, One post and video per week on Mamavation, weekly Facebook updates, a certain amount of tweets per week, active membership in the Mamavation community, accountability to mentors and leadership, weekly scale picture to leadership, contract and liability release, AND YOUR BEST EFFORT.

Applications: Open from June 3rd to 29th

Final 5 Announced: July 1st

3 Winners Announced & Twitter Party Launch: July 8th from 8-9:30pm EST (5-6:30pm PST)

Timeline of campaign: July 8th to August 26th

Week of July 15th Food & Nutrition Focus
Week of July 22nd Food & Nutrition Focus
Week of July 29th Household Cleaning Focus
Week of August 5th Personal Care Focus
Week of August 12th Indoor Air Quality Focus
Week of August19th Healthy Children Focus
Week of August 26th Overview and Conclusion

Even if you are not applying to be a Mamavation Mom, every Monday we will bring on a special guest to help teach the community about that topic. This is something you don’t want to miss.

How to Apply to be the next Mamavation Mom:

Step One: Create a post on your own blog with a video about why you want to apply. We want to hear from you in your own words. Please make sure your video is no longer than 5 minutes.

Step Two: Fill out this form. Make sure to have your post link with you.

Step Three: Participate in the community and hazing. Mamavation is also a community. Check out the #mamavation hashtag on twitter and make some friends. We are also looking for people we think will stick around afterwards, so show us what you are like. Hang with us!

Step Four: Get your friends to support your application. Telling the people you respect about your goals makes them more attainable. This also helps us promote the campaign. Thank you!

Suggested tweet:

#Mamavation & @Healthy_child are teaching moms to detoxify their home & I’m in support of @yourtwitternamehere, http://bit.ly/16CMjgq

Disclaimer: The Mamavation campaign is subsidized by the generosity of our sponsors and partners. When Mamavation Moms become Ambassadors of the campaign, they are also put under a contract with our other partners for publicity purposes. Mamavation Moms are equipped with free product, given free professional assistance, and emotional support in exchange.

Filed Under: Featured, Leah's Posts, Longterm, Mamavation Moms, Uncategorized

When the end is really a beginning

May 30, 2013 By MommaHunt16 12 Comments

Ok so now that you all just got done watching me get all misty let me say I am both sad and excited to be finishing up the Mamavation Campaign. It has been a wild ride that Amy and I have been on and I couldn’t be more happy that a few months ago I decided to be brave and admit that what I was doing just wasn’t enough. So I applied to be a Mamavation Mom, joined weight watchers and promised myself I would give this my all and no matter what this was just the beginning. I don’t think I have ever said this in Mamavation before but a few months ago I gave myself a year…A year to get myself together and loose some weight otherwise I was going to go and begin the process of weight loss surgery. Yet, I swore I would give it my damn hardest and that is why I applied and it has been the greatest thing ever. Not only has this whole process, from the application where I had to publically state my weight and post before pictures, to the grueling hazing, to the intense demands of being a Mamavation Mom taught me how strong and capable I am and how to eat properly….it has taught me that the only thing I need to do to get myself together in terms of my healthy is believe in myself.

This campaign has given me a workout that I can do at home and not have to worry about lugging my kids to the gym. It has taught me that as wonderful as weight watchers and their points system is..I needed to know what foods I should be eating and when to maximize my body’s calorie burning potential.

Moving forward I plan to continue to keep up Mamavation community….you can find me back blogging on my personal blog (which has been sadly neglected while I have been part of the campaign) at www.me-mommyetc.com and I will be around on the forums and of course twitter and facebook. I told Leah today that I plan on being a stage five clinger over at Mamavation. This community has given me so much in so short a time and for that I am going to be forever grateful. To all of you who have helped along the way Leah, Mark, Alysa, Shannon, Shelley, Joanna, Jeanae, and of course my fabulous Mentor Rebecca you ladies (and Gentleman) have been so amazing to work with and I feel like you are all friends now. Also, the the entire Mamavation community thank you for your support, encouragement. It is always nice to know in those moments when we don’t believe in ourselves that there is an entire army of people standing right behind you do believe in you.

So since this is only the begining I won’t say goodbye-I will say till my next weigh in. Below is the proof of just how amazing Mamavation (and without sound snotty-how amazing I am).

The Before Photo

Seriously is that a baby bump

After Photos

Look no baby bump

Date	Weight	Weekly Loss	Total Loss	Waist	Chest	Thigh	Hips	Arm	InchesLost
Application	227	-		40	44	30	51	15
2-WeekChallenge	229	_	+2.0	38.5	43.5	30	51	15	-2
Start of Campaign	227.4	-1.6	+.04	38	43	29.5	50	14.5	-5
April 19^th	224.6	-2.8	-2.4
April 26^th	223.00	-1.6	-4
May 5^th	222.8	-.02	-4.2	35.25	41.5	28.25	50	14.5	-10.5
May 12^th	222.4	.04	-4.6
May 19^th	220.4	-2.0	-6.6
May 26^th	220.00	-.04	-7.0	35.25	39.5	27.5	48.5	14	-15.25

220.00 even if you can’t read it!

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms Tagged With: fitness program for moms, Mamavation Moms, weight loss

Where the Sidewalk Ends, and the Road begins…

May 29, 2013 By LaundryDayBlues 5 Comments

I can hardly believe it myself, but it is now week 7 of the Mamavation Boot Camp! In a few more days I will do my final weigh in, and any future weight loss will be up to me! Of course, that’s not really much of a change, as it was up to me the whole time. But I didn’t have the right tools before, so I struggled. I needed guidance! Being given this opportunity to participate in this boot camp was a tremendous help. I learned a LOT about healthy eating, some things I was unaware of, and others I was misinformed. Now I am much more aware of the things I am putting into my body. This change is something that will truly stick. I cannot lie and say I wouldn’t drool over a brownie right now (brownie= my kryptonite); but I can say that come next Sunday, after I do my final weigh in, I’m not going to go have one “just because I can”. I plan to continue using the system of exchanges in planning my meals, and hope to reach my weight loss goals in the near future, and then maintain that loss through my new healthy lifestyle. I am at a crossroads, where the sidewalk ends, and the road begins; but my journey is not ending, it’s only just gotten started!
One thing I will be looking forward to once the campaign is over is having a little bit more time to myself. I tend to have very little free time generally speaking, but there are some time constraints as a Mamavation Mom that I will be okay with giving back up! They weren’t enough to deter me from applying and fulfilling my duties during the campaign, but they definitely kept me busy! Since the start of the campaign one thing I have been monitoring that I was not doing before was my steps. I wear a pedometer and try to make sure I hit 10,000 steps/day. I began walking my dog each night sometimes 1 miles, sometimes 3, in order to be sure I hit my goal. This is something I am glad to say will stick as well because it’s a great way to end the night for both myself and my dog. She loves exploring the neighborhood, and secretly I think she gets a kick out of setting all the dogs in the neighborhood to barking as she passes their homes.
So remember this girl?

That was me just 7 weeks ago. And here I am now. Can you see a difference?

I am very happy to report I had another great weigh in this week, dropping another 2.2 lbs!

It feels so good to be on a losing streak! I hope that by keeping this momentum going I will just keep losing, while also continuing to build muscle. I am enjoying the physical changes that I have experienced immensely. In 7 weeks I have lost 13 lbs, and 14.5 inches! Who wouldn’t enjoy that? But I am also enjoying the energy I have from eating healthier! The subtraction of processed foods from my diet has also great improved my stomach as well; as pre-Mamvation I had suffered from a very sensitive stomach. Certain foods would cause all sorts of gastric issues, and also changed my mood. I have felt so good in the last few weeks I am pretty positive it is all the unnatural things in processed foods that were upsetting me in the first place. It’s amazing not to have to spend hours curled up in a ball due to stomach upset every week or so. I am so happy that I have taken this step in improving my lifestyle, and that of my children. I truly think that they are enjoying this healthier mama, with a better disposition to boot. And I know that by setting this example for them, I am setting them up to make healthier choices in their own lives as they grow older. That’s the best part in all of this.
So are you thinking about trying out for the next campaign? Would you like to be the next Mamavation Mom? I highly recommend this boot camp to anyone, especially if you feel stuck. I know I did. And truly I felt like I was doing things right. I thought exercising and eating healthy were things I had a handle on, but I didn’t know how to properly work my muscles and give them rest. I didn’t know what foods my body needed in what combinations, to keep from having those wonderful, cravings we all struggle with. If you are struggling to lose weight in a healthy way, and want to learn how to do so, and how to keep it off, apply for the next campaign! It’s so worth it! If you would like to continue to follow my updates, I blog at www.thismomrunsit.blogspot.com . Thanks for all your support along the way! And a very special thank you to Leah, Mark, Alysa, Erica, Joanna, Jeanae, Rebecca, Shannon, and Shelley! You all are truly amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without your help and guidance!

Filed Under: Featured, healthy living, lifestyle, Longterm, Mamavation Moms, weight loss Tagged With: healthy living, Mamavation Moms, weight loss

What this teacher was taught by Mamavation

May 23, 2013 By MommaHunt16 6 Comments

I can’t believe that my time as a Mamavation Mom is coming to a close it is shocking how quick the time has gone by and how much I have learned from this experience. I was asked to come up with my top ten list of things that I have learned from Mamavation and I can honestly say it was hard to keep it to ten things because I have learned a life time of lessons in just these few short weeks. So here we go

10. I am finally ready to make a lifestyle change and get healhty. There have been a 1000 times that I have started down this path but I am in the right place, at the right time, and Mamavation has helped make this a lifestyle change for me

9. Eating food with fat in it won ‘t kill me, in fact it will help me loose weight and feel full

8. When I was eating carbs, and which ones was impacting my ability to loose weight. I now eat my carbs early in the day and only eat healthy “good” carbs which has helped me loose weight

7. Making a lifestyle change was not nearly as hard, and expensive, as I thought it would be. For me this wasn’t a diet but how I was going to change my families life and move to a healthier more eco-friendly lifestyle.

6. My family will support me no matter what even when I start to change their diet and put me first

5. The scale is not the only measure of weight loss success-Even when the scale doesn’t move your measurements can go down a lot and show you that you are loosing, just not on the scale.

4. I am so f-ing proud of myself and I see that in the confidence in which I now have.

Look at me rocking my new dress!

3. I am so much stronger both physically and emotionally than I ever thought I was

2. In the past I have talked myself out of doing so many things and I have missed out on too much because I said I can’t. This campaign has taught me that I CAN

1. 100% of this is Mental and I can do it!

So thank you Mamavation for all the support and confidence you have given me over these last few weeks. Now I will leave you with my standard weigh in picture. It was a really great week for me in terms of weight loss.

Date	Weight	Weekly Loss	Total Loss	Waist	Chest	Thigh	Hips	Arm	Inches Lost
Application	227	-		40	44	30	51	15
2-Week Challenge	229	_	+2.0	38.5	43.5	30	51	15	-2
Start of Campaign	227.4	-1.6	+.04	38	43	29.5	50	14.5	-5
April 19^th	224.6	-2.8	-2.4
April 26^th	223.00	-1.6	-4
May 5^th	222.8	-.02	-4.2	35.25	41.5	28.25	50	14.5	10.5
May 12^th	222.4	.04	-4.6
May 19^th	220.4	-2.0	-6.6

Hard to read I know but it is 220.4

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms Tagged With: healthy living, Mamavation Moms, vlog, weight loss

Prepared to take the Wheel!

May 22, 2013 By LaundryDayBlues 6 Comments

Throughout the course of this campaign I have learned many things about myself. I have learned that I CAN lose weight, without the assistance of a diet pill or crazy fad diet. I have learned that the key ingredients to my success have been in my hands all along, I just had to learn how to use them.
The top ten things I have learned from this campaign are:
1. I LOVE drinking water. I’m actually quenched by it. Shocking right? When I drink nothing but water, I actually find I do not crave anything else.
2. Portions can be hard to eyeball. It’s funny how I could constantly be under my calorie needs prior to this campaign, and yet, I could be overeating certain things at the same time. It was like shooting myself in the foot. Twice. I’m still measuring things out until I get better at it. And it doesn’t bother me or really add time to the cooking process.
3. Strength training is more important than I thought. I always kind of ignored it in the past. But now that I have been working on building muscle, I’m losing weight in a different way than I ever have before.
4. Planning meals is critical!
5. I need rest days.
6. I always have time to work out. Even when I think I don’t.
7. Keeping track of my steps every day has helped me make sure I am always moving.
8. Sharing my journey with those around me not only encourages others to make healthy lifestyle changes, but keeps me accountable to the changes I have made.
9. What I am eating is just as important as what I am doing to keep active. If I put garbage in, I’ll get garbage out. If I put good food in, I’ll feel great, and work out harder!
10. I am the only one who can determine if I will reach my goals.
I know I have said it before, but I think the most surprising thing I have learned is that under eating can actually stall weight loss by putting your body into starvation mode. All my life I have heard of people starving themselves and dropping weight. I’ve always heard that to lose weight you should eat under 1200 calories (wrong BTW). Learning that the amount of calories required to maintain your body each day varies depending on your size and activity level, was surprising, even though it makes a lot of sense. But the fact that I could not eat enough and not only not lose, but actually gain weight. Yeah, that was shocking! I’m very glad that I now know a little bit more about the proper way to fuel my body. I’m glad that I can teach my children the proper way to eat now when they are young, and hopefully they will never find themselves in my shoes, but will enjoy this new lifestyle of being healthy, and carry it with them as they grow.This past week was pretty great. I had a tremendous weigh-in Sunday, dropping another 4 lbs., bringing my total for this campaign to 10.8 lbs. gone for good! I am feeling pretty awesome and hope I can keep this momentum going until I reach my goal weight! With all the wonderful support I’ve received so far, I have no doubt in my mind that I will do just that!

Filed Under: Featured, lifestyle, Longterm, Mamavation Moms, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: fitness, health, Long Term, mamavation mom, weight loss

Just do it!

May 16, 2013 By MommaHunt16 6 Comments

So before I get into talking about What you should “Just do” let me start with the nitty gritty here. This week I lost .04 for a total of -4.6 since applying. Of course I would love to loose weight an ass cheek at a time, but certain people (Leah and Mark) keep telling me this is the healhty way to do it. Blah blah blah. Just kidding. I know that in reality this is a life style change not a crash diet so I am happy with that. Below is the standard feet on the scale pic and weight chart for you.

I seriously need a pedi-you all must be sick of my blue polish by now!

Date	Weight	Weekly Loss	Total Loss
Application	227	-
2-WeekChallenge	229	_	+2.0
Start of Campaign	227.4	-1.6	+.04
April 19^th	224.6	-2.8	-2.4
April 26^th	223.00	-1.6	-4
May 5^th	222.8	-.02	-4.2
May 12^th	222.4	.04	-4.6

As I stated in my video I want a healhty family and since I run the show and I am the decisioin maker I decided we aren’t going to be the sit on your butt family, we are going to be active and healhty. So for me what that meant eating as much organic food as possible. I started out slowly adding in a little at time (it gets easier as you go and less expensive then you think). We are more active…I went out and bought myself a bike. She is georgous but now the whole family has bikes and we can ride on the trails by our house.

Me and Miss J getting ready to ride

Master D at the park-No running laps just play

I don’t want you all to think that I am so crazy crunchy granola hippy who is making my kids go out and run laps around the backyard and come in for a snack of organic twigs and berries. We eat normal food and have fun outside playing. I just decided I want to do eveyrthing I can for my family to ensure that we live a happy and healhty life. For me that means as a family we eat healthy good food (local if possible-summer in CT yeilds amazing food) and that we move together. The reality is I don’t think my kids (or hell my husband) has any idea about my master plan. Why…because I just do it. I say we are going outside, we are eating this, or we are buying this. There is no arguement because I run the show in my house…and I know you all do to.

We can just make those changes…slowly a little at a time and it will make a difference. A big positive difference over time.

Look no twigs and berries here-Just yummy food

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms Tagged With: family, fitness, fitness program for moms, Mamavation Moms, weight loss for women

It’s All in the Family

May 15, 2013 By LaundryDayBlues 9 Comments

We are now entering Week 5 of the 7 week Mamavation Mom Boot Camp. I cannot believe it really. The time has just flown by! During the time I have been engaged in the boot camp, you might say my family has been just as engaged! The workouts and diet changes are more than just a passing phase, but a lifestyle change. In order to be successful, everyone in the house will have to make some changes too. Really, it’s been a positive change here. We are eating better food, being more active, and just feeling better in general! Also, not spending money of junk food or fast food, has allowed us to spend more on fresh produce without feeling it in our wallets!
Since changing the way I eat I had to change the way I fed my family as well. So we’ve eliminated a lot of starchy meals, such as pasta with bread, or mac n cheese with bread, or meat, potatoes, and bread. Um do you see a pattern here? I ate a lot of veggies before this boot camp, but it was often just a part of a meal, not a major component. Now I am trying to make sure our meals include protein and fiber. In the past I might have made meatloaf for dinner, with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and biscuits. Guess what I ate? Mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a biscuit. Healthy huh?
In addition to changes in diet, I’ve been working out a lot more. At first it was frustrating. Trying to get in my workouts, while still taking care of my family and housework was a bit daunting. But once I found a time that worked, that was it. It is now part of my daily routine and oftentimes my kids will encourage me or even join in. So that part has been fantastic because it seems everyone is happy when mommy is happy! And when I work out, I am a happy mommy!
The most difficult part of this campaign is, not surprisingly, related to food. As you know, I have 5 kids. My husband works long hours, and has a bit of a commute. So I often felt like I didn’t have time to prepare meals when we were rushing off to an activity for the kids. In reality, I have time, I just haven’t done my homework and planned out our meals as much as I should. When I do plan meals, we eat good food. But when I fail to the kids often wound up eating something processed, or fast food. I often would just not eat. So I have been making a more concerted effort to think about what I will make each day. I’ve been shopping at a produce store instead of my beloved big box store. It feels weird, but at the same time not. I guess I didn’t realize how much crap I was buying until I stopped!
This last week I had not been measuring out my food as I should, and looking back I can see I was not hitting the target for calories each day, or exchanges. I am working on that now, and hopefully the scale will reflect that this coming week. Last week I had a 0.2 lb gain. I am still down 6.8 lbs since applying to be a Mamavation Mom. I am determined to reach my goals, and I truly feel that I will very soon, now that I am finally seeing for myself how important diet really is in my weight loss journey.

Filed Under: Featured, lifestyle, Longterm, Mamavation Moms, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: bootcamp, Mamavation Moms, weight loss

Making Changes to my Priorities

May 9, 2013 By MommaHunt16 3 Comments

Before I get started today-I wanted to take a minute to wish Lindsay our other sister well. Sadly Lindsay can’t continue with us and I wanted to wish her well as she heals from her injury.

My stack of grading that I mentioned in my Vlog

This week’s topic is to talk about our struggles we have encountered since becoming Mamavation Mom’s. Although this journey has been an amazing one-it has also been tough. For me my struggle has been with reordering my priorities. As I said in my video, my priority list would be
1. My family
2. My Work/Students
75. Me

When I was chosen it became clear that the above ranking system would not work with having all the workouts, creating proper food, and all the support meetings. I needed to reorganize the list to look something more like this
1. My family
2. Me
3. Work
4. Everything else

The only issue is by moving me up….it makes me feel….well uncomfortable. I feel like I am letting my students down because I am not working as hard for my job as I use to. I know in truth my student don’t notice the difference other than it takes me longer to get papers back, I know that my family doesn’t feel slighted by me putting myself higher on the priority scale. It is just hard to get rid of our old habits and make new ones. I just keep telling myself that I am going to be a better mother and teacher for getting my health in order.

So as far as this week goes, I only lost .02 and lets just say I may or may not have called my scale some very nasty words. Then with some encouragement from my Mentor Rebecca suggested that I measure myself. I did…and damn! I lost over five inches in three weeks. That sure as heck makes up for the small weight loss.

So here is my scale pic and my stats! Have a great week everyone.

Date	Weight	Weekly Loss	Total Loss	Waist	Chest	Thigh	Hips	Arm	Inches Lost
Application	227	-		40	44	30	51	15
2-Week Challenge	229	_	+2.0	38.5	43.5	30	51	15	-2
Start of Campaign	227.4	-1.6	+.04	38	43	29.5	50	14.5	-5
April 19^th	224.6	-2.8	-2.4
April 26^th	223.00	-1.6	-4
May 5^th	222.8	-.02	-4.2	35.25	41.5	28.25	50	14.5	10.5

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms Tagged With: fitness, Mamavation Moms, weight loss

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

May 8, 2013 By LaundryDayBlues 9 Comments

The title of this post is a great quote from Theodore Roosevelt. When I see it I think it fits nicely with where I am right now in this journey. Half the battle is trying. Half the battle is choosing to fight. So right now, we are halfway through this boot camp, and because I chose to apply and believe there was some slight sliver of a chance I might be chosen, I told myself I could do this. And look, I am doing it!!
This past week was my third week as a Mamavation Mom. I will tell you this week was hard. It was hard for a few reasons. I was sad to hear my friend and Mamavation Sista Lindsay had injured her back and was unable to continue the boot camp. Of course, I wish her well and I know she will continue to have success in her weight loss journey. The other reason this week was hard had more to do with my mental state. After a couple of weeks of pushing my body further and further into an uncomfortable territory it was ready to give up. I was exhausted. Each day I would get up and psych myself up to do my workout. I found that focusing solely on getting through that one workout was what allowed me to break past the exhaustion and the desire to give up. And as soon as the workout was done, I was good to go again. The other wonderful thing I was able to do to get past these moments of frustration was to talk with the other Mamavation Moms, past and present, about how I was feeling and what I was struggling with each day. Having someone as an accoutability partner when you are developing a new routine is a great way to set yourself up for success!
I have always heard that a habit is formed after repeating something for three weeks. I think that this is where I am right now. I am forming these new habits. I get up and do something right away. I might work out, I might run; but in any case I am burning calories before the sun is shining. Well maybe shortly thereafter! I am not skipping meals. I am thinking about what I am putting in my mouth. And please don’t let that statement fool you. When I say thinking about what I am putting in my mouth, I don’t mean obsessing over calories and that kind of thing. I mean being thoughtful about what my meal is composed of, and eating as closely to nature as I can. All of these things have been simple changes to make, little things. But put together, it has made a very large impact. I feel amazing and I am losing weight!
Speaking of loosing weight, I lost another pound this week. Bringing my total weight loss to 7 lbs since applying to be a Mamavation mom. I am just about halfway to my goal weight now. I was also very excited to note that since I got my scale after joining Mamavation in January I have lost 20.2 lbs!

And while this weight loss was thrilling, it was not my only victory this week. We had some non-scale victories as well. Starting right here:

Start Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Total Change
Weight 158.6 153.8 152.6 151.6
Bust 36 35
Waist 31 30
Hips 39 38
Arms R-11.75 L-12 R-11.0 L-11.0
Thigh R-20.5 L-19.5 R- 19 L- 17.75

So in 3 weeks I have lost 7 lbs and 7 inches!! I am pretty pleased with my results thus far and cannot wait to see how much further I can push my body in the coming weeks! Where would you like to be in three weeks? “Believe you can and you are halfway there.”

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms, weight loss Tagged With: healthy living, Mamavation Moms, vlog, weight loss

Eating More to Weigh Less-For Real!

May 2, 2013 By MommaHunt16 12 Comments

Hello -it has been another exciting week around here at Mamavation. Although personally this week has been a bit rough now that I am back in the full swing of things at work and keeping up with all my resposnibilities of being a Mamavation Mom. Yet, despite the crazy feeling I am really loving that although the program is tough (it isn’t called boot camp for nothing) it is managable in real life.

Shockingly one of the most manageable pieces has been the food. Alyssa (find her on Twitter and Facebook) started out by giving us exchanges-Each food we eat equals a carb, protien, fat etc. We were assigned a certain amount of each at each meal and snack. Then this week to help us out she gave us a few meal plans to work with. This has helped emensly because I am always looking for new food options. The craziest thing about the whole food plan is how much good I eat and all of it-wait for this-is full fat. Like I am eating real peanut and almond butter, avocados, and healthy oils. Shocking right! Well there is a whole lot of scientific mumbo jumbo about why this works Let me tell, who cares. I am eating good food that I know is good for me and my body is loosing weight. Yeah! So before I get to the down and dirty of my totals for this week I thought I would include a sample menu for you to take a peak at-I have including a few food porn pictures for those of you into that stuff!

Breakfast: 6oz of Almond yogurt, 1/2 cup granola, 2 TB unsweetened coconut, and 1 cup strawberries

Lunch: 3oz Chicken breast, salad greens, four TB of Avocado, 1/2 cup black beans, and 1/2 tortilla with and apple not pictured

Snack (not pictured because I am eating this as I type) 8 almonds with 10 baby carrots

Dinner-3oz pork loin chop, roasted fresh golden and regular beets, and grilled pineapple

Night Snack-Small banana and 1TB of almond butter

Sounds and looks yummy right-Seriously I ate food like this all week and lost 1.4 pounds for a total of 4 since starting. I also apologize my phone was being cranky so I had to call up my weight post WI-hence no toes in this photo

Date	Weight	Weekly Loss	Total Loss	Waist	Chest	Thigh	Hips	Arm
Application	227	-		40	44	30	51	15
2-WeekChallenge	229	_	+2.0	38.5	43.5	30	51	15
Start of Campaign	227.4	-1.6	+.04	38	43	29.5	50	14.5
April 19^th	224.6	-2.8	-2.4
April 26^th	223.00	-1.6	-4

Hope you all have an amazing week and I am hoping my hard work pays off in another nice loss

Filed Under: Featured, Longterm, Mamavation Moms Tagged With: alysa bajenaru RD, healthy living, Mamavation Moms, vlog, weight loss