Banana Shake Using Pearl Meal Replacement

I am absolutely in LOVE with this shake/smoothie. I have it almost every morning. I love the Pearl from Professional Botanicals, it has amazing nutritional value and the Vanilla flavor is delicious by itself...but also makes it easy to use and add flavor too. This recipe is really really easy....take a moment and watch the video, and if you must go ahead and laugh out loud at how silly I look. I am not one to like being in front of the camera, ha! But I wanted you to see how fast and easy it is to make :)

Also, don't forget that you can buy Pearl Meal Replacement HERE, and remember to use discount code KELSIE20 to get your 20% off your product!

10 Weightloss tips for the Mom on the Go

1.) Eat foods you actually like:
When trying to change your eating habits they aren't going to stick unless you actually like what you are eating. Look for healthy versions of recipes you already love or just modify the ones you have to fit your new healthy lifestyle.

2.) Make exercise just a normal part of your day:
If you get into a routine where you do morning yoga, end your night with a walk or hit the gym once a day everyday then you will naturally make it happen. Most people gravitate to habit and like to have a routine, especially moms! We are striving for a natural life so lets make it our life! :)

3.) If you "mess up" all is not lost:
We all have temptation. "We went to a wedding and I absolutely love wedding cake." "We went to a movie and I really wanted that oh so buttery popcorn." It is OK! Just keep moving forward with good choices. One moment of weakness doesn't mean all is lost. It is better to falter once than give up the natural life all together.

4.) Include your family/ friends:
When I have others involved to help me stay on track I feel I have to be accountable to not only myself but to them. If I am cooking healthy for my family and they love it and everyone feels better and then I just stop one day, my family is losing the benefits of a natural life, not just myself. Walks with friends are a great way to get your exercise and it helps you feel like you are not alone in your healthy endeavors.

5.) Find a good regimen of vitamins:
Mine and Kelsie's life style changes have been supported by the wonderful supplements provided by Veo Clinic. They have three lines of products: Professional Botanicals, 365 Active, and Veo Natural. All of these products have worked wonders for us. And with Dr. Allen's help we have really been able to pin point what works best for our bodies.

6.) Detox:
I have found that the detox is a great way to jump start any healthy lifestyle. Flush out the bad and bring in the good. I use another Professional Botanicals product, Prep-Tonic Detox.

7.) Find a good meal replacement shake:
When you are a busy mom you don't always get to eat let alone eat healthy. I have found my mornings are the busiest. I am always running or making my baby breakfast and getting everyone ready for the day. I use yet another Veo Natural product, Pearl 2.0. I use this mixed with fruit and berries or other Veo Products like Jade or Momentum 2.0.

8.) Don't skip meals:
Even if you just have to make a quick meal replacement shake DO NOT SKIP MEALS! You want to keep your metabolism up and moving and if you skip meals your body goes into survival mode. Not expecting to eat again, your body then stores energy in fat cells. This makes you gain weight. Get your body used to frequent nutrients and your metabolism will go into hyper drive :)

9.)Don't gauge your success only by the scale:
I have found that sometimes I get discouraged when I think I have done great and I must have lost a ton then I get on the scale and haven't lost anything. I have found pictures are your best friend. Take weekly photos so you can actually see the results and have something to compare them too. Another helpful thing is your clothes. See how your clothes fit. For me fitting into a pair of jeans that have been tight forever is incredibly rewarding :)

10.) Realize you are a WOMAN:
Lets just get to the point. We ovulate. There I said it. We bloat, we have occasional craving and sometimes when we even are in great shape our pants won't fit around that time of the month. As far as cravings go, find healthier alternatives for the foods you love. They may not be ideal but just make sure they are better than that Twinkie you really want.

In the photo below (last weeks updated pic) I am slightly bloated. I felt discouraged until I made my list above. I am a woman and I have made great progress. I will keep truckin' along and work for my goal of a healthier happier me. :) -Jess

A Good Place to start

Since we are all different and all our bodies require different things I have decided to compile a basic shopping list and meal plan that is in general a good plan for anyone. Some may need to change this plan based on their needs (for example if you have a gluten allergy or even a dairy allergy). I found all my recipes on Pintrest. Gotta love Pintrest ;)

SHOPPING LIST:

Produce:

-         6 bananas

-         5 avocados

-         3 yellow onions

-         8 carrots

-         4 celery

-         11 red potatoes

-         2 red bell peppers

-         1 green bell pepper

-         1 yellow bell pepper

-         4 oranges

-         4 tomatoes

Meat:

-         4 cans of chicken

-         Chuck roast

-         Turkey Sausage

Dairy:

-         Low fat vanilla yogurt

-         Pepper jack cheese

-         1 carton of eggs

Grains:

-         Sara Lee 45 calorie bread

-         Granola

-         Tortillas

-         Natural peanut butter

-         Brown rice

Frozen:

-         6 chicken breasts

-         Mixed stir fry  veggies

-         Frozen blueberries

 Canned:

-         2 Campbell’s or Progresive low sodium soup

-         1 can of corn

-         1 can of black beans

Sauces:

-         1 jar of salsa

-         Rice vinegar

-         Worcestershire

-         BBQ sauce

-         Olive oil

-         Teriyaki sauce

-         Honey

Seasonings:

-         Onion soup mix

-         Taco seasoning

-         Salt and pepper

-         Italian seasoning

-         Cinnamon

Dried:

-         Peanuts

-         Cashews

-         Almonds

-         Apples

-         Bananas

-         Apricots

-         Carrots

-         Zucchini

-         Green beans

Misc.:

-         Coconut oil

- Pearl 2.0

MEALS:
Breakfast:

Gashouse Egg:                                            

-         Egg

-         Sara lee 45 calorie bread

-         Pam/ cooking oil

Toast and Peanut butter:

-         Sara lee 45 calorie bread

-         Natural Peanut butter

Yogurt and granola:

-         Low fat vanilla yogurt

-         Granola

Scrambled Egg sandwich:

-         Eggs

-         Pepper jack cheese

-         Sara Lee 45 calorie bread

Banana and protein shake:

-         Banana

-         Pearl 2.0

Lunch:

Can of soup:

-         Campbell’s soup or progressive (low sodium!)

Healthy chicken salad:

-         Avocado

-         Canned chicken

-         Rice vinegar

-         Sara lee 45 calorie bread

Banana and PB roll up:

-         Natural peanut butter

-         Banana

-         Tortilla

Mexican chicken salad:

-         Canned chicken

-         Can of corn

-         Can of black beans

-         Avocado

-         Salsa

-         Tortilla

Left-overs

Dinner:

Pot roast with veggies:

-         Chuck roast

-         Worcestershire sauce

-         Onion soup mix

-         Onion

-         Carrots

-         Celery

-         Red potatoes

Fajitas: 

-         2 chicken breasts

-         Tortillas

-         Salsa

-         Taco seasoning

-         Onion

-         Red bell pepper

-         Green bell pepper

-         Yellow bell pepper

BBQ chicken with pepper jack cheese and potatoes:

-         2 chicken breasts

-         BBQ sauce (sweet)

-         Pepper jack cheese

-         4 red potatoes

-         Olive oil

-         Salt and pepper

Lazy Day Casserole:

-         Sausage

-         Red Potatoes

-         Carrots

-         Onions

-         Red bell pepper

-         Italian seasoning

Teriyaki Stir Fry:

-         2 chicken breasts

-         Frozen mixed stir fry veggies

-         Brown rice

-         Teriyaki sauce

Snacks:

Fruit/ veggies:

-         Bananas

-         Apples (whatever is on sale)

-         Oranges

-         Sliced tomato with salt

Mixed nuts:

-         Peanuts

-         Cashews

-         Almonds

Dried fruit:

-         Apples

-         Bananas

-         Apricots

Dried veggies:

-         Carrots

-         Zucchini

-         Green beans

Bananas and honey:

-         Banana

-         Honey

-         Cinnamon

Frozen Blueberries and yogurt:

-         Frozen blueberries

-         Low fat vanilla yogurt

-         honey

Sharing the Change with Family

So as I mentioned before I am a new first time home owner. We love that we have our own place to grow as a family and make new memories. Many of these first memories are going to be of remodeling and renovating our first home.
My husband is quite a handy man and quite capable of handling a fixer upper. However the poor man lives with two demanding females; myself and our little girl Sophie. That along with his hectic work schedule has made it a bit difficult to get much done around the house. So, we have called in some reinforcements, the remolding gurus themselves, my mom and dad.

They have been so helpful and we look forward to continuing to work with them for a few days but as we continue to work all of us are feeling the repercussions of spending half a day in a crawl space and the other half reaching up to the ceiling to change our light bulbs and light fixtures. all this while watching baby Sophie.
After the first day it was clear that we all needed an energy boost. so, we broke out the Momentum 2.0.
now as you all know Kelsie and I are doing the 90 day challenge at the Veo Clinic in Ogden and so to support us our husbands have joined us in our healthy endeavor. both of our husbands are avid users of the Veo products. One of my husbands favorite products is Momentum 2.0 . It is a natural powder that is mixed with water to create an energy drink of sorts. My husband and I actually start everyday with a shake made of a mixture of Pearl 2.0 and momentum. Well, we have upped our dose two twice daily and let me tell you the amount of energy we have has increased exponentially! We love it. and honestly, i think the the metabolism support product Burn has helped me in the energy department as well.
In my honest opinion, with out the new balance of my diet, supplements and exercise, I do not know that I would be as productive as i have been this past week.
another product from the Veo Clinic that has been great for us during the remodel of our home is Relaxall. My husbands first used this product when he though out his back and has since become a firm believer in this product. He has since introduced it to our cousins, his mom and now we are sure it will help my dad with his back- a side effect of our home remodel. I'll keep you posted on the home remodel and my healthy progress :)

10 "Rules" to Help You Stay on Track to Eating Healthy

I think most of us have the desire to be healthy and actually make effort in doing so. I know that one of my biggest problems in the past has been not knowing exactly what I needed to do to have a healthy diet. Which is why I always ended up trusting some crazy diet plan already made. Recently, when Jess and I went to Veo Clinic and received our diet and fitness plans we got a lot of great information. I think it is important that we all have the knowledge of why we are doing what we are. It makes it WAY easier to follow a health plan if you understand why you are eating a certain way. The following 10 "RULES" are simply guidelines that will help you to get started in eating healthier.

1. You need to eat every 2-4 hours. 

I know this seems like a lot, and it is. But you never want to allow your body to actually get hungry. Hunger causes your body to store fat, along with causing an unhealthy fluctuation of your blood sugar.
*Keep in mind these aren't all crazy big meals, these can be small simple snacks.

2. Eat correct portion sizes.

This seems easy enough, the hardest part is knowing how big of a portion you personally need. Go HERE to find what portion size is right for you.

3. Every time you eat a Carb you MUST combine it with a protein. This is crucial people, so don't mess this rule up. You need the protein to keep your body making energy. 

*If you don't know that fruits and vegetables are considered a Carb or that Nuts are actually a fat not a protein then please read THIS post to help you know what a true carbohydrate and a true protein are.

4. Read nutrition labels so you really know what you are putting into your body. 

By quickly looking at a food label you can distinguish whether the food is a carbohydrate, fat, or a protein.

5. Subtract Fiber grams from the total amount of Carbohydrates to calculate True Total Carbohydrate grams. See Example Above.

6. Eat within 15-20 minutes of when you wake up to get your metabolism going. 

This one is really hard for me because I don't feel like eating for quite awhile after getting up in the morning. So what I usually do is make a small shake using a meal replacement powder called Pearl. This stuff is yummy! It has TONS of protein and is low in carbs. I also really like it because the powder mixes really well in shaker bottles, unlike some other stuff I've used in the past. I completely recommend checking this stuff out, you can buy it online HERE. AND you can use discount code: kelsie20 to get 20% OFF THIS PRODCUT!!!

7. Drink water! 

Rule of thumb is 1 quart for every 50 lbs. of body weight daily. This is MINIMUM.

8. Drink fluids away from your meals. 

Drink as much as you would like prior to eating a meal, but once you begin to eat don't drink any more. Drinking with our meals dilutes enzymes needed to break down food causing us to be bloated and gain weight.

9. Do not snack mindlessly. 

Don't let yourself get hungry where this will happen. Remember rule #1? Eat every 2-4 hours.

10. Take alcohol and/or soda out of your diet.

Easy enough right? Hopefully you found some of this helpful. I know personally I have and it really has helped me to shape a healthy diet for myself and know that I am helping my body burn more fat just by eating the right things.