Energy Again | ViSalus By Shay

7 Day Cleanse – How To Lose 5-10lbs

By Shay

So I have a mommy weight loss group on Facebook and we all support each other with healthy eating tips, work out tips, motivation, etc. Well, a lot of us have decided to do a cleanse. At first, I was going to do the Master Cleanse and I realized I cannot drink lemonade mixed with maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 5 days… this girl does not work that way .

So today, one of my mommy friends posted a different cleanse. She posted about a 7 Day Cleanse that she did and I had never heard of it before. While the goal for some is to lose 10lbs in 7 days, that is NOT my intentions. I honestly just want to get rid of buily up toxins out of my body and I want to try something new, but I am not going to risk losing all of my muscle built up because of my lack of protein. So I have altered the days a little to get that added protein in. Also, I will be maintaining a minimum of a 1200 Calorie diet and I will be monitoring it through My Fitness Pal. Here is the agenda for the 7 Day Cleanse:

Day 1

This is a fruit only day, except for bananas. You do NOT eat bananas but any other fruit that you want to eat. I will be stocked up with kiwi, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, blueberries, mangos, strawberries, raspberries, plums, apples etc.

For breakfast and lunch I will have one of my delicious Body By Vi shakes (go check them out! They really do taste like cake and you get FREE coaching from me!) mixed with either orange juice (no pulp and no sugar added) or water. I won’t add fruits to the shakes though.

For my snacks and dinner, it will be all fruit, all day

I will be drinking 80-100oz of water to flush out the toxins as well. Another thing I will be drinking is Green Tea. Green Tea is one of the healthiest weight loss drink. If you have around 3 cups a day, you could burn 80 calories just by drinking green tea. Not bad huh?

Day 2

Veggie Day! What I read is that you want to stay away from starchy vegetables like beans, peas and corn. Any other veggies, bring it on! You can have a baked potato with a little butter too .

Veggies I will have: Carrots, broccoli, cabbage, kale (in my shake), cauliflower, green peppers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, celery and cucumbers.

Again, I’ll have my 2 shakes, 1 will have kale in it and the other will be plain. I’ll have 80-100oz of water and 3-5 cups of Green Tea.

Day 3 (Check out my Day 1-3 update here)

Veggies and Fruit day. No baked tater today…sorry! Any fruits, except bananas and any veggies and try not to eat starchy veggies.

My 2 shakes, water and tea are still on my agenda

Day 4

Today is supposed to be banana and yogurt day, but I hate milk (except for almond milk) and what do I hate more than milk? Yogurt! So today is where I’m going to change it up.

I will be eating 8-10 bananas today and I will have 3-4 shakes plain. I figured they are healthier than yogurt and I’ll be getting in my almond milk.

I will still have my water and tea.

Oh, random break… I would add some working out too. Here is what I’m doing this week for my weekly workout. Now back to the diet.

Day 5

Fowl and Tomatoes day. So today is going to be hard and easy. You can eat chicken and turkey and 6 tomatoes. It says that you should drink 8oz of water after each tomato you eat to wash the uric acid out of your body.

Chicken is not going to be a problem, I love love love chicken. I could live off of that and spaghetti for the rest of my life. I do not like tomatoes, so I am going to have to be creative about eating it.

Water and tea are the same.

Day 6

Fowl and veggies. You get chicken, turkey and all the veggies you want, except no potatoes today. This is a pretty self-explanatory day and another one that will be easy for me

Water and tea still the same. I’ll have 80-100oz and 3 glasses of green tea.

Day 7 (check out my day 4-7 update here)

MIRACLE SOUP! So today you create a miracle soups.

Ingredients:

2-3 onions chopped
1 head of cabbage chopped
1 green pepper chopped
5-6 celery stalks chopped
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
2 packages of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix

Put all hte chopped veggies in a big pan. Add the tomatoes (after you have blended them in a blender for a minute) and stir together. Put 4-6 cups of water, it should barely cover the veggies. Cook for 10 minutes and then add the Onion Mix and cook until veggies are tender.

If you are looking for a great protein shake to go with this cleanse, please check out my ViSalus shakes and what they do for you. They are amazing and you get a whole private FB support system and FREE coaching from me.

Need motivation to get started with this, go check out my blog on changing.

Or better yet, do you need coaching? If you can’t do this alone and you need help, check out my coaching options.

DISCLAIMER: I will not and do not suggest under 1200 calories with this diet, but I think that “shocking” your body once would help it off of that weight loss plateau. I DO NOT recommend this more than once or twice. You do not want to deprive your body of true nutrients. I also do take a multi-Vitamin and Vitamin D as well.

Enjoy!

Want To Improve Your Health?

By Shay Leave a Comment

Are you wanting to get a little more energy? Feel a little more healthy? Do you want to take better care of yourself and need some pointers? You have come to the right place.

Check out 10 pointers that will help you now.

Choosing a healthy lifestyle can benefit you in several ways. It gives you a boost of energy and makes your body feel more in tune. It is important to identify ways you can improve your health.

Watch what you eat. Seriously, Shay? You think I don’t know this? If you knew this, you wouldn’t be here right now. Track your food, I promise you it will help you. A lot my mommy friends and I use My Fitness Pal to keep track of our food. This is a good tool if you are serious about eating healthier and/or losing weight. Your meals should consist of a healthy daily balance of foods. Knowing your nutritional needs and not eating too much or too little can lead to a more balanced lifestyle. There are several resources to consult in order to determine your body’s needs.
Sleep. When you are sleep-deprived, your body shuts down. And I have learned that the hard way. Make sure that you feel rested from getting an adequate amount of sleep. This will allow your body to function at a consistent and optimal speed every day.
Take vitamins and supplements. Paying attention to where your diet feels lacking. Once you have determined this, you can compensate with vitamins and supplements. And if you want to lose weight effectively, you need a great nutritional shake, go here to check it out.
Exercise. You should exercise at least four or five times per week. Exercise helps your body to build muscle, lose weight and can help prevent illness and disease. If you have never worked out consistently, you should start small. Start with 15 minutes, 3 days a week and then increase as your body adjusts to it.
Fight addictions. Avoid over or under eating. This can easily disrupt your nutritional balance and cause serious problems. I know about urges, I love me some chocolate. I feel that most foods are good in moderation, but eating a whole bag of chips in one sitting is excessive. Remember why you want to be healthier and lose weight and put that bag of chips down.
Keep learning. There are several different definitions of improving health. Improving heath not only means diets, but there are holistic approaches that can be a part of your lifestyle. Keep researching and studying to determine what is and is not effective to help you in improving and maintaining your health.
Stay motivated. It is easy to begin working on improving our health and it is also easy to discontinue once we don’t see immediate results. A major aspect of improving your health is remaining consistent and motivated in your activities. It is important to make health care an every day priority.
Get the right body measurements. Sometimes the weight does not come off, that is why you would take measurements. Also, I suggest measuring your body fat. You can get a body fat calculator on Amazon. Knowing your measurements will help you stay motivated when the scale doesn’t move and it will show you where you’re at and where you should be for your body type.
Build a network. A network includes not only those that can provide information for you, but also support and assist you in building and maintaining health. It is important that you have supportive people around you or you won’t accomplish your goals.
Consult. There are a variety of health care providers and nutritionists that can help you. Or if you just need someone to coach you through, there are a ton of coaches who will help you.

You can help yourself to live a more fulfilled life by improving your health. Knowing what you need to do will help you go in the right direction and as you are making the small changes, you will see more energy and you will feel better. There is no better time than now to start taking care of yourself and your health.

You Mean I Have To Change?

By Shay 1 Comment

“It is never too late to become what you might have been.” – GEORGE ELIOT

I believe that we all reach certain key points in our lives. We all reach roads that cross where our lives hit a certain threshold of “pain” that we are no longer willing to settle for. This threshold is different for everyone. I also believe that if you’re not happy with anything in your life, that is a call to action; a desire from deep within the “real” you that wants to experience more of life.

This is very challenging for us because we want to improve, but we don’t know where to start.. We end up doing the “logical” thing which is to work on the effects instead of the cause. Here is a simple thought process that will be a wake up call to you if you feel like you are spinning your wheels.

For my life to get better, I have to get better.
For things to change, I have to change.
This is my life and I am the creator of my destiny.

I can change any and everything in my life by simply changing myself.

This puts me in the driving seat of my life and makes my life my responsibility. Instead of worrying about what other people are doing, worry about how you’re reacting to them. Instead of worrying what is going to happen and being fearful, create your life. The world is going to stay the same, the only difference you will have is the change in yourself. I can stop looking for events, people and circumstances to blame. I only need to look inside. No matter how influential you are you cannot control the circumstances and events of your life.

There are only three things you have absolute and total control over:

Your thoughts
Your actions
Your words

That is the same for me. My thoughts, my actions and my words are always under my conscious control. They are MY thoughts, they are MY actions and they are MY words AND they create MY world every minute of every day.

Some people might view it as a hassle (remember that is your thought process), but I think it is incredibly liberating. Whenever I want to have more, experience more or change anything, I need only look inwards and work on myself. Jim Rohn once said that the hardest work you will ever do is the work you do on yourself and he is so right. You could run around and work incredibly hard at trying to influence and change circumstances, but that will only make you tired and discourage your future efforts. It’s much easier to change yourself and your perception of yourself and your life. Nothing has any meaning except for the meaning you give it.

Changing external events have very little impact in your life on the long term. Small changes in you; in your perceptions and psychology might seem small at first, but because the change is in you it effects all of your thoughts, all of your actions and your words. This seemingly insignificant change, over time changes the whole direction and the end destination of your life. If a captain of a ship changes direction just one degree the end destination might be a different continent all together. Like the captain changing his course by one degree it might be unnoticeable over a short period of time, but over greater distances the small change becomes very significant.

Most people try and change the big things; they constantly try and change any and everything in their lives, but they then fail to maintain the change. Instead, making small consistent changes in yourself, in your own character you can create phenomenal results. All change starts and ends with you.

If you are going to invest the time and effort to improve your life, then invest it in changing yourself. Invest your time and effort in improving “you” and let go of the superficial urges to control events and circumstances. Your whole perception and experience of life comes from you and who you are. Change yourself, improve your character and just watch the world improve and change before your very eyes.

I would love for you to share this article with anyone you feel might need to hear this!

Also, I know so many people are on their weight loss journey and if you want to try the shakes, they aren’t just for protein, you can click here to see the nutrition. I took them at the end of my pregnancy and while I was breastfeeding and there are people who take the shakes just for energy and to fill that breakfast that they need the most. If your change does have to do with weight loss, I am here to help you and coach you through it. Contact me and let me know what I can do to help!

Stop Hanging Out With People That Suck

By Shay 1 Comment

Do you have toxins in your life? I’m not talking about the bleach you use to clean your counters. I’m talking about the friend or family member that you talk to everyday who always see the glass as half-empty. Or always just trying to “keep it real?” I love it when people would say that to me, as if I already don’t know what is real in my life, but thank you for point it out again.

When you hang out with the toxic people who always want to bring you down, prove you wrong and complain about EVERYTHING, your attitude changes and will start to see things similar to them. Now I know if your spouse isn’t positive, you have no choice but to hang out with them, but I think that if you lead by example, eventually they will get sick of it and stop complaining or they will start to think more positively too. Remember, you’re only as good as the people you hang out with. So if the 5 people closest to you, that you with are negative people, you gotta start creating or finding better relationships.

Once you find that you are hanging out with people who have a more positive outlook and you are hanging out with them consistently, you will become more positive yourself. It took me a really long time to see that. I was a very negative person and I was mad at life. I felt my parents chose their religion over me and I was just upset at the world and I blamed everyone else for my actions, my thoughts and how I felt. After hitting a really low time, I knew something had to change. I look at the environment I was in and I was drinking all the time (just leaving college), I was going out 5-7 nights a week and I was so lonely and sad.

I was online one day and on Facebook there was an ad that talked about being positive. Ever since I researched that blog, I have started looking for positive people and trying to keep my life as positive as possible. Throughout our apartment I have positive affirmations and quotes to help me feel good (and to nudge Chad in the right direction ;P). I find that I do not have a lot of positive people who live super close to me that I hang out on a regular basis with, so I listen to people like Randy Gage, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jim Rohn and Dani Johnson to keep me in the right mindset.

Questions to ask about a person who is in your life:

Do you feel uplifted when you leave from talking or chatting with them online?
Do you want to spend more time with them because they make you feel good?
Are you motivated to want to be better after you talk to them?

If you answer yes to all of these questions then they are a great motivator and positive influence in your life. If you answer no to any of them, you should limit your association with them while you are in the beginning stages of creating a more positive life for you, your family or your kids.

It is especially important with weight loss because if you’re around someone who is telling you that you won’t stick with it or that you can’t do it. You’ll eventually believe that person and your self-talk will tell yourself that you cant’ do it. Choose your friends and acquaintances very wisely because eventually your thoughts will only be as good as theirs.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my articles, I love seeing you here! If you like that and you want to get regular updates, fun recipes and cool workout tips, please sign up for my newsletter by click here. Not only do you get my weekly free newsletter but you get my Weight Loss Guide completely FREE. A pretty good deal, huh?

Are You The Anchor or the Engine?

By Shay Leave a Comment

So I have been on this personal development kick. I feel like I cannot help people lose weight and be better if I’m not striving to be the best I can be. Listening to a CD, something really hit home for me. He was talking about if you are an anchor (dragging people down) or the engine (fueling and motivating people to move harder, be better, etc). I really thought about it and in some ways, I feel like I am the engine. I can help motivate you and move you to be what you want to be, but I realized in other areas I need to focus on being the engine.

Today, I want you to take 5 minutes to really just sit and think about what you are doing.

Ask yourself:

Are you a positive motivation to your family, friends and workmates?
Do you fuel them and make them leave smiling?
Or do you complain all day every day and then blame everyone else for everything that happens to you?
Do you end your smiling because you were able to make someone smile?
Do you end your day grumpy because “everyone else” got on your nerves?

He really went in to great detail about things I was doing wrong and it is so true! I felt like he was talking to me. I was helping people and my family, but I wasn’t truly grateful and appreciative of the people around me and the things I have. Also, after listening to The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, it really opened up my eyes to being grateful, more productive and truly appreciating the goals I am setting out myself. He has some great tools/PDFs for me to fill out that were completely free. Here they are:

The Gratitude Assessment - I have now started keeping a gratitude journal to remind me what I am thankful for each day. I find when I write down a few things before bed, I wake up more pleasant and happy.

Core Values Assessment – This is what really hit home with me. I realized that I was spending a lot of time with toxic people and I needed to clear and limit my time with those people.

Life Assessment – Another one that really opened my mind. If you do any of these, please do this one. It is truly eye opening for your life. I know after I did this, it made me want to be better for myself and for my kids. They deserve more than what I was putting out.

Habit Assessment – What are your habits? Are you using your time wisely? This helped me to design a goal, show me what I’m doing good and then showing me what I needed to eliminate

Media Influences - This opened my eyes that I watched way too much TV. And I didn’t spend enough time listening to uplifting things and motivational things to help me.

Goal Designing – If you have a hard time thinking up goals, setting them and following through, this would be great for you.

I added these to a binder and Chad and I filled them out one night together. It was truly eye opening and I hope it is the same for you. My goal is to be the engine, never holding or pulling someone down, like an anchor, but fueling and energizing them. I bought the audio version of this book and it makes me want to be a better person. It makes me want to help people become better.

Tell me, are you going to be the anchor or the engine?

Please share this, if any of it resonated with you. Maybe someone you know needs to hear it today .