I live, I eat

So I have tried a Bento Box from MM. Lafleur twice now.  The first box that I received was okay, but just didn't hit the mark and I sent it all back.  They too realized that it just didn't happen for us and they offered to send me another box without the $25.00 fee. As per the norm, they will charge you a $25 fee for the styling that will be put towards anything you buy from your box. This is a newer charge they have enacted that wasn't charged on my first one. If you go to the MM.LaFleur website, you will see a nice variety of quality clothes. That was what I really was looking for. As I am trying to pick up my style and look more professional, I really need quality.  I'm posting this little bit from their website about them: Sarah LaFleur was your typical woman in finance whose closet was packed with blah-feeling pantsuits. Back then, she dreamed of a more inspired wardrobe for herself and all professional women. When she launched MM.LaFleur in 2013, she made i

Note:  Update to this review will be at the bottom of the original. I live in Alaska. I'm not joking when I say that Alaska has been voted the worst dressed state. And it's true. There are of course some exceptions, but overall we are pretty in need of style. I moved up here about 18 years ago from Arizona.  Arizona has style. I was used to dressing up to go out or hang out with my friends. I wouldn't be caught dead without some light make up. Low and behold, after a few years up here.... I can go without makeup and only put on a full face for a serious occasion, I have crocs in my wardrobe (more than three pairs), hiking clothes are everyday wear, xtratuf boots are classics, if it didn't come from rei it looks like it did. Such was my life. I noticed that when I travel, I try to pick up my style a bit so I didn't totally stand out. Especially going to Europe, but year after year, it appeared harder and harder. My wardrobe just didn't have what it took. And

Lest I say that when I heard about Walden Farm's products I was super curious.  I looked for this stuff everywhere and could only find it at my over priced natural foods market and on amazon.  In general, I would say that most of the products were a bit over $5 each.  They have chocolate and carmel sauce, a variety of salad dressings, PB and Jam, Ketchup, and BBQ.  When you are cutting your diet and these things are no longer permissible, this is like finding the holy grail. (Insert singing angels here.) I started this quest with a couple of salad dressings.  I bought the honey Dijon, the berry vinaigrette, and the ceasar.  The first one that I've tried was the ceasar. It was flavorful, but still not quite what the original is. When I looked at the ingredients, I saw that it was pretty much made up of spices, flavor, vinegar, and thickening agent.  As this has no calories, sugar, fat, but has a slight amount of sodium I saw this as a free food. I went a little heavy with the

Macaroni-Potato Salad From  Hawaii Magazine (Serves 8) ½ lb. macaroni 8 hard-cooked eggs 3 red potatoes, cooked and cubed 1 Tbsp. salt 1 Tbsp. vinegar 2 cups mayonnaise ½ tsp.     ground allspice ½ tsp.     pepper 1 package frozen peas, thawed and drained (10 oz.) Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Separate egg yolks from egg whites. In a small bowl, mash yolks and chill. Chop egg whites; put into a large bowl with macaroni and potatoes. Stir in salt and vinegar; chill overnight.    Add egg yolks and remaining ingredients; gently mix into macaroni mixture. Chill.

It finally happened. The end of the Fast 5 is done.  I had my moments, but overall it wasn't really as hard as I thought it was going to be.  For cravings, the most difficult was in the evening after I've already had dinner.  There is that large amount of space where you would generally fill it with boredom eating or general snacking.  I know my husband did, which did not help me.  He was, however, really good about not buying me any wine to drink.  If it's in the house, I tend to make some excuse so it was better to remove it. Water during the weekend was also a large challenge.  I ran out of my favorite flavoring which is the SweetLeaf Water Drops in the peach mango flavor.  It's sweetened with stevia and has no artificial ingredients. I could guzzle a gallon of water no problem.  I went to the store this morning and bought a handful so I wouldn't be caught without. The meals overall were tasty and the shakes weren't bad either.  They could use a bit of th

It's Saturday, and I knew that the weekend was going to be a bit harder.  I reinforced to my husband that he's kind of the only one that knows I'm on this plan, because we were going out to see my parents. I should rewind and admit that I completely slept in this morning.  We were planning on leaving by 10, which would have given me time to have breakfast, my break shake right before leaving and then lunch with the parents, getting back home for the second shake.  Didn't happen.  I got up late, made sure that I had my breakfast bar, which was the peanut butter granola bar.  It was about the size of the apple strudel and it was so thick.  It was tasty enough, but almost a pain in the tuckas to eat. Not a top pick. Off we went a little after 10, and I made him stop off to get me a coffee. Is it just me or is Starbucks getting too big for it's britches.  The coffee was a disappointment, but it was what I had.  I took a couple waters with me, but this entire trip, m

Somewhere along the way things got messed up with the meals. Perhaps it's where I changed teh bar for an entree, or it could be when I realized that I looked at the wrong page in the guide for half the day. Anyways, it's a great thing that all of these meals are interchangeable.  When I weighed myself it as flipping between what I was and the pound lower.  I'm not going to take the liberty to claim that pound, so we will just say that we stayed the same.  Also of note, is that I'm not going to the bathroom for #2 as much.  Peeing? Heck yes, every 5 minutes it seems, but not the rest. I know, TMI, but it's part of the deal. I might try to go a bit more leafy green on my veggies. Today's meals minus dinner: I woke up this morning and got myself to the gym.  I've been pretty good about my workouts, and when I couldn't get to the gym, I did something at home.  I work out harder at the gym, and I have the bonus of the trainer.  I got my gym membership w

Oh my, is it Day 4 already? So far so good. I went up one pound. Hmm?  I've dealt with a handful of cravings and the general boredom food wants.  Otherwise this diet is overall been not too bad. My worst time of the day is actually after I get home from work and after dinner. I'm done with food and there's still a long time till I go to bed. On the regular plan you could have a dessert, so that's one of the payoffs when we are done with this week. Yesterday evening I had the pot pie and reheated the rest of my green beans to go with it.  I cut up the green beans and then mixed the pot pie into it.  It was okay but not awesome. Made me think what the heck were those people talking about.  Not a bad meal and I would definitely have it again though. I'm been drinking a ton of water and it's apparently not gone unnoticed that I keep refilling my gigantic water container and that I have to pee every 10 minutes.  Hey, if that's what it takes.  My coworkers kn

Day 3!! Not as bad as I thought it might be.  Yesterday I weighed in 2 pounds less, and today was the same loss (-4!!!!). Of course, just my luck that by the time I got to the gym and got weighed and measured by my trainer it was up.  Thank you coffee and water.  So for the duration, I shall only follow my scale, but I will go with my trainers measurements.  I will have to look back and see what my initial measurements were.  I will ask her to measure again at the end of the Fast 5, and then periodically through my weight loss journey. Just as a note to you all, I noticed as I was searching the web for other reviews that most of them are sponsored by Nutrisystem, and I assure you that I am currently not. If they choose (go on ahead!!) to sponsor me, then I will make sure that it is stated in the next blog to notify you all. So things that I've noticed.... It might be that I'm PMSing, but I have been exhausted.  But it's not usually that bad. I've been going to bed w

So I have been pretty active, going to gym a few times a week and going for walks. The down side is that my eating has been way off.  Some of this has been the holidays but a lot of it has been stress.  I'm a stress eater. I eat my emotions. So this is always one of the hardest things to reign in for me. A looooong time ago I did Nutrisystem with my husband. He did not do very well on it, but I lost something like 20 pounds. Nutrisystem  has changed up the plan a bit with more foods and add ons. They also recently added some shakes.  I'm give and take on shakes, but they are great in a pinch and can help with weight loss. Especially if you are not used to eating multiple times a day, it may be easier to drink a shake then force more food down your throat. I went on Nutrisystem and went into my old account.  Even after all these years my account was there. It actually made the whole thing a bit easier.  I ordered the Core plan, which came with some free shakes and some freez