Day 60:
So the green smoothie is a lot better tasting then it looks. here's what I put in mine: 

1. Nonfat Greek yogurt 
2.Half an orange/tangerine 
3. A handful of spinach
4.A small head of broccoli with the stem 
5. A couple whole frozen strawberries and other frozen fruit ( I had a mix of papaya and pineapple )

I also put some water in it because it was really thick. It made two big smoothies and they were really good! 

Day 59:
So this whole blog is not going as smoothly as I would like. I was sure by now, I would be in the best shape of my life and get to tell you of my victory... Well I have made progress, but slowly. I have been told many times that I need to give it more time. My body is still recovering from child birth, my hormones are still all over the place. But I don't want to sit back and wait. It is not like me to give up or "take it easy". So I took a look at my routine and a good look at my diet and I decided that I needed to do something about dinner. I consume most of my calories at dinner time and that's bad.
I have said before that my husband is not capable of gaining weight it seems. The last 5 years I've been trying to put enough meat on his bones to keep his wedding ring from falling off and that still hasn't happened. Don't get me wrong, I love him just the way he is and I really don't want to change a single hair on his head (they'll be falling out soon enough on their own lol :-)) But I don't want to change his diet. So I got out the blender, some vegetables, nonfat Greek yogurt, and a few frozen berries and I blended my dinner up. It looked awful but it didn't taste bad at all! I plan On drinking my dinner for awhile now, we'll see if it makes a difference.

Day 58:
   This weekend Matt and I built some raised bed gardens. Every year we start a garden and every year the gofers eat it. So we finally built some gofer-proof gardens. I've been drying seeds all year and I'm very excited to be able to grow our own vegetables! Is anyone else growing their own garden this year? 

Day 55:
Today I received new tea in the mail! It's not just any tea, it's amazing tea! It looks amazing! It smells amazing! But more importantly, it tastes amazing! I get loose leaf tea. Once you've tried it, you will never go back to bagged tea from the grocery store. With under 5 calories a cup (as long as you don't add anything like cream and sugar) and many health benefits, its a great thing to turn to when you want a snack. It probably shouldn't be considered a snack, but if you take the time to brew it and enjoy it you probably won't feel like eating anymore.... Maybe :-) Now I think I'll go enjoy a cup of my wonderful tea!

Day 54:
Nothing in life worth having comes easily. The harder you work for something, the more you are going to appreciate it when you get it. That applies to many things in life I think. I try to remind myself of that daily. I'm not going to workout one day and be in perfect shape the next. It's a slow process but it's nice to see progress. What really keeps me going are the people in my life that encourage me: Matt, Katie, and all of you who read my blog and let me know that I encourage you in some way. I find out all the time that someone else reads this and I had no idea! So keep the feedback coming! I love all of you!

Day 53:
A "not-so-wise-man" once told me that he didn't believe you could lose any weight if you took vitamins because vitamins had everything your body needed for the day. But your body needs calories. Hopefully you already knew that. I would have loved to tell this guy he was wrong but there was no since in arguing. Actually a multi vitamin can aid you in weight loss! Thiamin also known as vitamin B1,helps to convert carbs into energy! You can find thiamin in many everyday foods (just like any other vitamin or mineral), whole grains are a great source.

Day 52:
I learned about a local triathlon a few weeks ago. You might wonder who would want to do such a thing... ME! Also a few other people in my life:-) Matt said if I did it, he would do it too! I'm not positive that I'm going to commit to it just yet. I don't want it to take over my life. But if I can figure out how to train for it while still being a good wife and mother, I think I'm gonna go for it! What an accomplishment that would be! And if training just means more trips to the lake and longer bike rides with the man this summer, then why not? What do you think? Would want to hear about my training? Would you want to do it yourself? I would love to hear your feedback!

Day 51:
Yesterday I spent the day with my favorite "personal trainer". You would never know she has such tiny legs, they move so fast ;-) she brought her soccer ball and we did some drills in the front yard. I can feel all the running in my legs today and it feels good! Im excited to have different things to do so that I don't get bored doing the same thing over and over. Even though I'm terrible at all sports, I still have fun. I can't kick a ball straight to save my life. Maybe if I was playing on a flat surface it would help... So what are some things you do to keep active?

Day 50:
So I am waiting for my badminton set to get here! I found one on eBay for a really good deal! Yesterday I was able to get a basketball and volley ball. I still want to get a soccer ball. I am very excited! Yesterday Matt set up a punching bag that we've had put away for awhile. We have so many things we can do! So why am I sitting on the couch blogging? I guess I want to encourage you to get out and play! It doesn't have to be a "workout". Go have fun! You're never too old to play.

Day 48:
It's been a while! I have been so busy! Too busy to blog :-( but I'm back! I must confess that while making dozens and dozens of cheesecakes, I did have some. But I am cleaning the house of all the sugar once again... Well I do have some orders for this weekend... But after that :-).
The good news is, I've lost over an inch and a half off of my waist! And a whole inch off of my thighs! You would think that it would mean I've lost quite a few pounds also, but no, just a few. I'm glad that I've been keeping track of my measurements because if I wasn't, I'd be a little discouraged right now. But I've done this before and I know that it takes time to do this the "healthy" way. Also, the more muscle I build, the more calories I will burn everyday! Muscle feeds on fat and while you're putting on muscle, weight loss can be slow. The good thing is that I have definitely seen a difference in myself (Matt's made some comments too :-))! My legs look way more toned and squats and lunges have done wonders for the derrière :-) So I am pushing forward and continuing to challenge myself.

Day 34:
It's kind of funny that while not really eating sugar I would be selling desserts. It started because Matt, a man who really didn't care for cheesecake, fell in love with a cheesecake. Now that would have been fine but it was another woman's cheesecake. It's not like this lady bakes these for him. He found them at a store. Beautiful bite sized cheesecakes. But I was a little jealous so I set out to make him a better cheesecake. It took over a year but I think I finally got it! Everyone seems to love them and that is why I've been selling them. With valentines day around the corner I've been selling a ton! I hope to start selling to a few businesses soon also. But I must say that it's kind of strange that I would be doing this in the middle of my sugar strike ;-). And if anyone wants some amazing single serving cheesecakes let me know! I've been selling them by the dozen. You can get them plain but more popular is chocolate drizzled and strawberry. I can also do chocolate turtle and boysenberry! Ok, enough self promoting :-)

Day 33:
Today is the Superbowl. A day when chicken wings, chips, and beer seem to be in endless supply. You might sit around and snack on these foods all day. Even worse is when you skip breakfast because of the big meal ahead. Today I am at my in-laws getting ready for the big game. We had breakfast here and my sister made cinnamon rolls... I had one. If I'm at someone else's house and they feed me something "I'm not suppose to eat" I will eat it. I'm not going to ask them to make me something special. So that is an exception to the rule. But after I ate this amazing larger-than-life cinnamon roll, I got a horrible stomachache and ended up throwing it up :-( I think that much sugar after not really having any for awhile was not good. At least now I know. Next time I'll start out smaller... I hope everyone enjoys the Superbowl today and try's to spend a little more time around the vegetable tray rather then all the other "goodies".

Day 31:
   Well it was time to go grocery shopping again yesterday. I must say I'm pretty proud of how far we've come. We've always  eaten good food but when we both worked full time, we often  turned to quick and convenient. That is where we have improved. Now that I have the best job in the world (working for Taytum) I have more time to prepare meals. No processed food, nothing pre made. I love to admire my fridge after a shopping trip. I like to think that my whole refrigerator is a vegetable bin. So here's to buying better food. Because if you don't have junk in the house, you won't eat it :-)

Day 30:
Last night Matt and I had some undercooked chicken :-/ . It took me a little while to realize why I was waking up with such horrible pains in my stomach but early this morning I couldn't leave the toilet for more then a minute (and Matt was in the other bathroom with the same problem). Matt and I met back in the living room to say "I guess that chicken was undercooked". Great diet plan? I wouldn't recommend it!

Day 29:
I haven't blogged in a few days but that doesn't mean that I've haven't been sticking to my workouts and everything else. Actually I have been working harder everyday! I have a brother (you know who you are) that likes to remind me all the time that I can do better because he does better... All of my accomplishments are beneath him. As much as I'd like to smack him, I realize that he is only fueling my fire. I have 4 months until I see him and I am preparing to show him how it's done. I know we have different strengths so I will try to prey on his weaknesses and I'm sure he will do the same. But let's face it, I live in California where the sun is always shining and adventure is always calling. You live in the dark and dreary land of Colorado :-). This is a pretty childish post but I think everyone should have someone to compete with as long as it's fun competition and who better then a sibling? So it's on brotherman! Get ready!

Day 26:
I started trying to find fun ways of staying active that don't cost a lot of money and I found a few really cool ideas! For example: badminton! You can find a whole badminton setup on eBay for pretty cheap. They are easy to put up and to take down. Get a volleyball and then you have two fun games that'll give you a workout too! I think we will also be investing in a soccer ball soon.
I'd like to hear everyone else's ideas too! What fun, inexpensive, activities do you enjoy to add to your workout or keep your family active?

Day 24:
There's been a lot of talk lately about the cold being great for weight loss. So I looked into it a little. If you let yourself get cold, say you drink a glass or two of really cold water, your metabolism can jump by as much as 80% and stay that way for up to 30 mins! There are actually machines and suits you can get into that will bring your body temperature down and they are said to melt away pounds! But I guess the cheaper option would be to run around in a tank top and shorts all winter and hope you don't catch a cold. But think, if you did get sick wouldn't that just add to the weight loss (insert sarcasm here)? I don't know that I would recommend making snow angels in your underwear but I think I will go have another glass of ice water.

Day 23:
There's an app for that! This post is really for the smartphone user. There seems to be an app for everything. Apps for games, bills, social networks, knitting (yes I looked up knitting), etc. But did you know that you can find tons of apps to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals? There are apps that show you how to train for a 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon,and triathlon! Just about anything you can think of. But my new favorite is MyFitnessPal. It's a calorie counter. I was hesitant to get it at first because I knew it was going to make me think twice about everything I do. But my buddy helped get me back on board :-) So if you have a smartphone or tablet, go check out all the apps that are available!

Day 22:
I've talked about fiber before. Maybe not on here but fiber and I are friends. Fiber does so much more then you might think. It can remove cholesterol, prevent heart disease and diabetes, and probably the most common know effect is regularity! It also helps you to feel full longer so you are more likely to eat less. Where to find fiber? Everywhere! Fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, it's hard to find good food that doesn't contain fiber! Look it up for yourself. Chances are if you're eating right, you're getting plenty of fiber already. But if you're not, give it a try! I get most of my fiber in the morning. Cereals can be loaded with fiber and top it off with a banana or some blueberries and you'll have even more!
Challenge anyone?

Day 21:

Day 21:
So I'm 3 weeks into this and I realized that I was actually looking forward to working out everyday! But that got me thinking... Does that mean I need to step it up? Yes it does! So yesterday I made it a game. I got on the treadmill and started walking at 3.7 miles an hour and every 5 mins I would speed it up .1 at a time. 30mins into that and I was really pushing myself! I went for an hour and it felt good! Today I did the same thing and it hurt much more then yesterday :-) But I know it will get more comfortable soon and then I'll push some more. Don't let yourself get too comfortable and you will never stop seeing results! But don't push too hard or you won't be able to get up and do it again the next day :-)
Hey who's up for a challenge today?! O

Who wants to challenge themselves?

Day 20:
I often complain about my sister-in-law being in Clovis. It's too far away for us to workout together during the week. Not to mention her busy schedule! I hate to say it but I am closer to her then my actual sisters. We are always trying to keep each other motivated and that's how this blog got started. You need new challenges to keep yourself motivated! So we came up with something new. We're going to send daily challenges to each other. Nothing too hard but it is a challenge ;-) But I wanted to invite everyone to join us! Do you want me to send you a challenge every day?

Day 19:
Well today didn't start like I would have wanted it to. But you know what? It was still a pretty good day! When money and material objects aren't the most important things to you it doesn't take long to get over this kind of thing. As long as I have family everything will be fine. I try not to let things like this make me bitter. There are still good, honest people out there and I try to make sure that I'm one of them.
Ok, enough of that! Today I watched a lot of football! Who didn't? I don't normally stick to my usual workout on the weekends but I try to stay as active as I can. Today we made a game out of it. Every time there was a first down or a touch down we would do 10 pushups, 10 sit ups, or 20 jumping jacks. We definitely kept our heart rates up!

Day 18:
Ok so I cheated a little... :-( Let me explain: I run a tiny "bakery" out of my home. I even have a card! It's a way for me to bring in a tiny bit of extra money and every little bit helps. So I was asked to make something new and I had to try it before I could charge anyone for it. It actually didn't have very much sugar in it at all and I only had two bites. But I'm happy to report that it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be... Maybe I need to work on the recipe more? ;-)
Fun fact:
Did you know that there is a direct connection to lack of sleep and your waistline? It shouldn't really be a surprise but when you don't get enough sleep your body thinks it needs more food when really it doesn't. Lack of sleep can also cause stress and that will make your body hold on to those pounds like there's no tomorrow. Not good news for a new mom....

Day 17:
I've been challenging myself to eat better without really taking too much out of my diet. The reason for that is my husband :-) I have to keep some things around. Like pizza. The challenge is to make it better for us. So the other night I did some research and found a recipe for whole wheat pizza dough (I had to tweak it a little because it called for half white flour). I think it came out pretty good but the sauce I used was a little runny. The important part was that Matt didn't reject it :-)

Day 15:
I've been doing some Circuit training with Taytum. Probably not what you think though. It's hard to keep a baby happily interested in something for more then a few minutes and that was a real challenge when it came to working out. So I would start by putting her in her bouncer. About 15 mins later she would be tired of that and I would put her on her blanket on the floor with a few toys. 15 mins later she would get tired of that and I would switch her to her jumper and so on.
Everyday she stayed in one spot a little longer. Now she will go 30-45 mins before I have to switch it up but I have a new challenge, a crawling baby! Every few mins I go from running on the treadmill to running after a baby that has made her way into another room. But I guess it doesn't really hurt my workout. As long as I keep my heart rate up!

Day 14

Day 14:
Last night Matt asked me if I would make him cookies. He's asked me a couple of times but I knew it was too tempting. But last night I felt a little stronger. I had cookie dough that I had made and frozen a few months ago. So I got it out, cut a few cookies and stuck them in the oven. They were beautiful when they came out and smelled amazing. But I didn't have too much trouble turning them down :-)
Fun fact:
Raw organic Apple cider vinegar, you know the one that has a bunch of stuff floating at the bottom. It's been shown to help break down fat so your body can use it rather then store it. How much? 1 tablespoon in a glass of water once a day is suppose to do the trick. Apple cider vinegar is also shown to have many other health benefits. Look it up!

Day 13:

Day 13:
So I'm about 2 weeks in. This is where most people forget about their resolutions all together. Isn't that sad?! Are we that lazy?! It takes your body about a month to get used to something new so you're not even there yet! So instead of forgetting your commitment to yourself (or whoever you promised) why not make it a little harder on yourself? :-) I've decided that every two weeks I'm going to change something. A Few more minutes working out or a change to my diet. Not working out yet? Start! Haven't changed the way you eat? Do it! I'm challenging you! It doesn't have to be big, maybe just adding some lunges to your workout or give up sodas.
What am I doing? In addition to no sugar I'm giving up all white flour and going whole grain! I don't eat much that isn't already whole grain so it shouldn't be too hard but every little bit helps!
So what's it going to be for you?

Day 11:

*** yesterday's post***
Day 11:
I didn't check in yesterday but that doesn't mean I fell off the wagon. Friday is just my day to relax and visit with friends. Today we are on the road to Sacramento to visit family. We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop. But it was no ordinary sandwich shop, it had a baskin robins attached to it... Not many things tempt me like ice cream does. It doesn't matter that it's the middle of January. But I was surprised that it wasn't too hard to pass up. I know Matt wanted some but he didn't get anything :-) It's important to have his support

Day 9:
So one of you (you know who you are) told me yesterday about giving in to ice cream and chocolate lava cake! I love that you are completely honest and plan to pick right back up. The problem is now I can't stop thinking about that chocolate lava cake! I've never even had chocolate lava cake. I don't really like cake! But it must be the most wonderful thing in the world! I almost wanted to ask "was it still warm? Did it smell amazing?" But even though I didn't I still saw it in my dreams.
Now let me be clear, I do not plan on spending the rest of my life without sugar. That would be crazy! If I did I would fail! My goal is to make it an occasional thing and to do that I feel like I need to go awhile without it. It takes your body about a month to get used to something new so I think I should have a least a month. Maybe when I stop dreaming about it :-) obviously it still has a strong hold on me.
Fun Fact:
Did you know that 10 mins after you drink a glass of water (16-20 oz.) your metabolism raises by a third! And it stays that way for 20-30 mins. Most of it is from your body trying to warm the water. So make sure your water is nice and icy!

Day 8:
So I have discovered something that many of you may find disgusting. While eating my plain toast I decided that I had to find something to put on it. Dry toast is awful. Jam is full of sugar so I looked for something else and I found it! Applesauce! It is my new jam. No added sugar :-)
Anyway excuse #2: when you don't sleep well the last thing you want to do is workout! "I'm so tired I don't have any energy!" but the truth is, the more you workout the more energy you'll have! It's going to be hard but it's so worth it!

Day 7:
It's been a week! I feel pretty good! It's not easy but it's getting better :-)
Today I will start talking about excuses I've been making so I can put them behind me. #1: while you're pregnant you are eating for someone else and you eat as good as you know how. so when I wasn't pregnant anymore I was burnt out on all the healthy stuff for awhile. But no more! Health food here I come!

Day 6:
A weekend of no sleep can really take your motivation away. Taytum has been sick and now that I have an apt.for her today I'm not sure that I'll get much of a workout in. But tomorrow is a new day and the important part is that I don't get discouraged and give up all together. I am a mom first and everything else can wait :-) For now I will be living on caffeine and the hope that I will get a good nights sleep again someday.
That is kind of a good opening for what I wanted to talk about this week and what I hope you will think about. And that is: why? For me the question is why do I have a 7 month old and still every ounce of the 10 pounds that she left behind? Why haven't I lost this "baby" weight and gotten back to normal? and why has it taken this long to get serious about it?! The answer is excuses! Every day this week I'm going to be going over a different excuse that I've been using in hopes of putting them all behind me :-)
What about you? What are your excuses? How long have they been your "reason" for not moving forward? Think about it and get back to me!

Day 5:
   So it's official, I have started a blog! Look for my link on Facebook! 
   I haven't heard back from a few of you... What's going on?! What day are you on? Did you give in and eat some comfort food? Did you skip a few days of working out? Get back to it! And let me know :-)
  Enough about you, it's time to talk about ME! Lol ;-) 
   As far as my sugar diet is going I really wanted something sweet after lunch today. Instead of reaching for a cookie I grabbed a small bunch of grapes and that did the trick :-) I had to remind myself that even though it natural sugar, it was still a form of sugar and I needed to limit myself. 
   Fun fact of the day:
Drinking 16oz of water 20 to 30 minutes before every meal will keep you from consuming an average of 75 calories a meal! If you eat 75 fewer calories for just lunch and dinner you'll lose an average of 15 pounds in a year! In addition to that, being even 1% dehydrated can cause a significant drop in metabolism. It is believed that women should consume an average of 9 glasses of water a day and  13 for men. 
   I keep track of my water consumption on a dry Erase board on my fridge

Day 4:
So I had a dream last night about sugar.... But that's not what I want to talk about today. I did some research and did you know that your liver is the most metabolic organ in your body? And if it's not working in tip top shape, weight loss can be way harder! So how do you make your liver function at its best? If you stop eating processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and sugar, your body will heal itself and begin functioning better then ever! The fat will fall off (don't hold me to that ;-)) !
So I forgot to tell my new comers that I want to hear back from you! I feel like I'm accountable to you and it keeps me going. So I want you to feel accountable to! Tell me everyday about you struggles and small victories! If you don't I'll nag you until you do! Lol

Day 3: 
   First off I'd like to say hi to all of my new"followers" I'm kind of surprised that anyone would care to hear what I have to say or what I'm experiencing on a daily bases. But I'm excited!! And I hope my experiences will help you somehow! 
   So last night we went grocery shopping. Now I don't usually get tempted to buy anything "bad" but when you go grocery shopping with a man that doesn't gain weight no matter what he eats it seems, there's always something extra put in the cart like a bag of chips or cinnamon rolls. So on the way down I talked to him about how I would love to keep that stuff out of the house. I'm really surprised at how well he did. He didn't grab anything "bad". Ok so he did buy a chocolate bar from a little old guy in front of the grocery store and now it's sitting on the counter staring me in the face. It was for Alzheimer's research and what can I say, Matt's a softy :-) But that's his chocolate and not mine and I will not eat it.... My great find of the day: shredded wheat, wheat n' bran. It has two ingredients, whole grain wheat and wheat bran. 8g of fiber, no sugar, no sweeteners, and NO aspartame! Now we'll see if I can choke it down :-)

   I started this blog because I made a resolution with my sister-in-law to give up sugar. But seeing as though a third of people who make a new year's resolution don't make it to the end of January, we desided to send eachother a daily reminder in the form of a diary entry. My first day I sent her:

                                           Day 1:
                                                 The box of chocolates on the counter has
                                            been whispering sweet nothings into my ear
                                            all day day "Just one bite" and "Dark chocolate
                                            is good for you" are some of its favorites. I'll
                                            admit, I did eat an extra piece yesterday as kind
                                            of a "good bye old friend". It hasn't been too
                                            bad so far but that chocolate box has it's eye on
                                            me......

    When I told people about our resolution and our "Daily reminders"to eachother I was surprised that they wanted me to send them my daily posts. Now that I have a small following, I've desided it would be best to start a blog. I hope I can inspire people to not only stick to what you have promised yourselves but to make lifestyle changes and continue to challenge yourself everyday.

                             Today is day 4.
                                               I had a dream about sugar last night .....But
                                        That's not what I want to talk about today. I
                                        did some research and did you know that your
                                        liver is the most metabolic organ in your body?
                                        And if it's not working in tip top shape, wieght
                                        loss can be way harder! So how can you make
                                        sure your liver is fuctioning at it's best? If you
                                        stop eating processed foods, artificial sweeteners,
                                        and sugar, your liver will heal itself and begin
                                        functioning  better then ever! The fat will fall
                                        off (don't hold me to that ;-)) !
                                          So I forgot to tell my new comers that I want
                                        to hear back from you! I feel like I'm accountable
                                        to you and it keeps me going. So I want you to
                                        feel accountable too! Tell me everyday about
                                        your struggles, temptations and small victories!

   Please leave some feed back! What is your resolution? Haven't made on yet? It's not too late!