living healthy Archives

My Steps to Living Healthy [Weight Watchers Smart Ones]

April 26, 2011 by Momstart 1 Comment

Personally, I’ve been making changes in my life to live more healthy for almost a year now and I’m quite happy with my progress. I’m eating more greens and cooking healthy for the entire family. I’m taking more time in making a meal plan and using lots of veggies as a filler. Any snacking in our house includes fruit and veggies.

As a family, I would say that our road to living healthy is a long one but one we work on a little bit every day. We have quite a bit of rain and colder weather here in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I would say that personally I’m cold all year round and getting the kids to be more physical takes a lot of effort on my part. I have to get out there, have fun and show them that I’m willing to run and be crazy for them to go out and be crazy. Of course, being wild and crazy for the kids is actually helping my activity level as well so I’m winning two fold. Being an active example to the kids we go from….

To…..

I love seeing them work together to have a great time.

We have also decided that as a family we’re going to start walking every night after dinner and on nights that it’s raining outside we’re going to use the trampoline and our Kinect for some indoor exercise. We’re all learning about how healthy dessert can be. Fruit with a fat free whipped topping is quite an exciting thing for all of us.

So My Steps to Living Healthy:

Eat Smaller Meals – use a small plate, include protein, and low fat foods, with extra veggies

Increase your activity – lots of silliness, running, dancing, playing Kinect, take small steps, any activity counts as increased activity

Don’t Give Up!

Weight Watchers Smart Ones is making it easier to stay on track with a healthy meal plan without spending time on prep work beforehand. Their products provide a variety of delicious, convenient and portion controlled meals and snacks that contain lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And now they are offering two new breakfast items – like the new Egg, Sausage & Cheese Wrap and the French Toast with Turkey Sausage. Plus, the packaging tells you the Weight Watchers PointsPlus values in each serving, allowing you to conveniently plan for the day. Visit www.eatyourbest.com for more information.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Weight Watchers Smart Ones and received a promotional item and coupons to facilitate my review.”

60 Day Slim Down Completed With Summer

March 21, 2011 by Momstart 5 Comments

I completed the Lindsay Brin’s 60 Day SlimDown and I have to say I loved it! If you’re following the dates though you’ll see that I completed the system in more than 60 days. My family took a ski vacation for 2-weeks and between travel days (we drove) and ski days which required rest. Let me also say working out at 7,000 feet is hard stuff! Anyways, I’m very happy with the results so far:

BODY MEASUREMENTS:

	DAY 1	DAY 60
Dominant Arm	12	12.5
Chest	41	39
Neck	14	14
Natural Waistline	36.5	33
1” Below Belly Button	39	37
Hips	39.5	37
Dominant Thigh	24	23
Dominant Calf	14.5	14
Rear-end	42	40.5
Weight	166.0	157.8

FITNESS TEST:

	DAY 2	DAY 60
Wall Sit	45 seconds	1 minute 35 seconds
1-Minute Push-Ups	6 men’s + 20 women’s = 26 total	17 men’s + 12 women’s = 29 total
1-Minute Sit-Ups	46 crunches	40 crunches (I was sore!)
1-Minute Squat Thrust to Jump	24	33
1-Minute High Knees	90	110

Why did I say “so far” at the beginning? When you buy the 60 Day SlimDown you don’t just get the DVDs and 60 days worth of instruction. You have the option to continue using Lindsay Brin as your workout guru for a monthly fee of only $5 and you can continue for as many months as you’d like to lose or maintain weight. I think this is a great deal considering the verity and instruction. Knowing I had an assignment every day really make me feel I had to workout; it was my job. Better than the prices at the gym for the same old treadmill machine.

My opinions on the videos:

Shed 5 Fast DVD – $15.99 – This video offers two different workouts each with beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. This is an interval workout which takes you through 2-minutes of strength training exercises before a cardio series, and then repeat; Lindsay calls this “3/3 Interval”. The workout last 24 minutes plus a 3-minute warm-up and cool down. If you give this your all, you will hurt!

Postnatal Boot Camp – $15.99 – I think this might’ve been one of Lindsay’s first video. The production company did a poor job of creating, transitioning, and editing the fill (for example the boom continually appears in the screen). However, this video offers a unique mix-n-match option for both core and intervals. The video offers 6 different core routines each 3-minutes long, 10 different cardio and toning intervals each 10-minutes long, and a 3-minute each warm-up and cool down.

Core Firing Sequence Method – $9.99 – This is as Lindsay promises, a “Tummy tuck without the surgery!” This video really got me standing up straight again after YEARS of being pregnant and not correcting it post pregnancy. I could feel my core changing with this video. I really felt the burn with Phase 3 (the final phase); though you need to properly follow the sequence to get the full effects of strengthening your core.

Core Metabolic Jumpstart – $13.99 – This DVD only offers one workout that lasts 23 minutes total, start to finish. The DVD is great for the mom who needs to workout within the constraints of a busy day. The video is short but not easy.

Do be advised that the workouts in the first 30 days are 30-minutes or less. However in days 31-60 the workouts are about 40 minutes long to increase your workout, stamina, and calorie burn.

The total value of the 60 Day SlimDown is $55.96. On the Moms Into Fitness site you can get the system for $49.99. Thanks to Lindsay Brin, Mom Start readers can get the 60 Day SlimDown for 30% off using promo code 60daydvd30.

You can also follow Lindsay Brin on her NEW Facebook page and on Twitter @LindsayBrin. You can also follow Lindsay Brin on her blog.

Summer received samples to facilitate her review.

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living.

Starting the 60 Day Slim Down System

January 5, 2011 by Momstart 4 Comments

By Summer:

Just the Beginning, Follow Me on My Weight Loss Journey

Bye-bye baby fat! I’ve come to the conclusions that my body may not return to its pre-child form, but that doesn’t mean I need to keep the extra pounds I’ve accumulated over the years. This year I have a plan, the 60 Day SlimDown^TM System. My thought was, “I can do 60 days!”

I started getting heavier and fatter as I had my children. My first pregnancy was the one that really did me in! I can’t feel satisfied, and ate and ate and ate as a result. After the baby was born everyone kept telling me how the pounds would just melt off if I breastfeed … well, I did for 14 months and NOTHING! I was round but too busy to take on a gym. Then I got pregnant again and told myself I won’t gain weight with this one and that at the end I’d shed the pounds. Though I didn’t gain weight like I did with my first, I didn’t lose any either. My second breastfed for 13 months too and this also caused no weight loss for me. Many of my friends saw results with breastfeeding an normal activities, so it was actually comforting when I found Lindsay Brin who is a fellow mom with 2 kids and one on the way.

So here is where I start my journey with you all as my witnesses. Let me give you a point of reference.

Here is what would’ve been our family Christmas picture (I’m the one in the center in red):

But then I thought to myself, “I should suck in my tummy.” The results look great, but I can’t function sucking it in all the time! So I say bye-bye baby fat!

If you care to join me on the 60 Day SlimDownTM, Mom Start has a wonderful offer for you – 30% off the $49.99 SRP using the code 60daydvd30 on the Moms Into Fitness website.

Follow me here at Mom Start to see my changes. Let me inspire you to get healthy and feel great! I received samples to help me along the way!

About Summer: