FRIDAY FAVORITES....JANUARY GO AWAY EDITION

K, can we just be done with January already? This week was in the 50's, rainy, dreary, foggy, blah!! Let's either snow pretty flakes and be cozy or warm up with sunshine so I can read on the deck. In the meantime, we will chill with the youngest, do a little binge watching and maybe some healthy food prep. Here's to your weekend sweet friends!!

1. Meeting MY TBB Sisters this Spring!
I've had a goal of meeting a fellow blogger in person but BAM~times that by 12 come Spring!!! I am over the moon to say flights and rooms are booked for Toronto and I get to meet my Blended Blog sistas. First round of fun: Drinks and a BIG Hugs and I bet side splitting laughter galore!!

2. Birthday Girl

Show this gal some love!!!! Birthday girl in the house!! If you don't already know Laura Horton from the Horton Family, you need to!! LOVE HER!!

Look at her beautiful fam!!

We like to twinkie it up

3. Week's Attire

Kohl's sweater, Lush top, The Loft Necklace

Macy's Poncho and necklace

J.C. Penny Cardigan. Old Navy dress and scarf

4. Hunter's &Tights 
Usually, I wear my Hunter Boots with leggings or skinny jeans, But I decided to try them with just some grey tights.

More Inspo

5. Shakeology
I am not a fad diet girl or a meal replacement girl. I am a eat less, move more type. However, these past 2 years, I did the Beachbody 3 day Refresh 3 times. I even did a post on it HERE and I was so very impressed. 

Wanting to jumpstart my healthy eating and trim the sweets pounds from the holidays, (I cannot believe I am telling you this but I gained 8 lbs...Eek!!) I bought the variety pack of their shakes. So Delicious. I even mapped out everything I'd be eating for this week and am proud to say, I did not deviate and feel great. 

I do not sell it or sponsor it, just love the product. I simply bought it online and the taste is soooo good! I had one shake a day, lots of water and healthy eating with no sugar.

But this weekend I will eat ONE cookie.....K, I said it. Now go enjoy!!

Oh and if you LOVE LINK-UPS, go link up your favorite, best post of the week over at 
The Blended Blog with the new The Blended Blog Loves weekly link-up!!

Linking up with  Amanda // Friday Favorites  // Oh Hey, Friday  // High 5 For Friday // 5 on Friday // Fashion Friday

xoxo

3 DAY REFRESH ~ IT WORKS

This is my 2nd experience with the 3-Day Refresh.  After hearing rave reviews about this new product, I absolutely HAD to give it a try! I am not one to try things like this. If I want to lose a few pounds, I cut out white sugar, white flour and amp up my exercise. However, not only was this a cleanse, there was healthy, raw food I could eat too. It REALLY worked and I'm not even getting an endorsement with Beachbody who sells this product, although Team Coach, Mary is awesome!  I'm just a fairly new blogger who wants to give others my honest opinion on The 3 Day Refresh! I was feeling bloated and I just felt….blah, so I took three days to give my system a little kick in the pants, and I made it through!  I thought I would give it another try this month.

 I’m here to give you a full rundown of my three days of refreshing, renewing and detoxing my body. It wasn't easy but it was definitely manageable. The results are the result of hard work, a strong will and focus!  There were hours where I felt like I wanted to give up because I’m not used to plans like this. I did work out two of the three days but you do not have too! 
I wanted to see what this 3 Day Refresh could do and I am happy I stuck to it!

If you’re not familiar with the 3 Day Refresh, basically it’s a short-term, low-calorie, high-nutrient mini-detox. That’s the easiest way to describe it.  For breakfast you have Shakeology Shake with some fruit. Your morning snack is the 3 Day Refresh “Fiber Sweep”, lunch is the 3 Day Refresh “Vanilla Fresh” shake with some fruits, veggies and healthy fats, there’s a small snack of a veggie and healthy fats, and then a dinner of the Vanilla Fresh shake with one of the veggie-heavy dinner recipes in the booklet. I did try to stick to organic vegetables. Very easy to follow. You do need to avoid to avoid coffee, but are allowed green or herbal tea which was nice and I was able to add stevia to it as well.

  Buy all your veggies ahead of time, cut them up and put into your serving size containers so you can grab and go.

Here are some things I ate:

    Let’s talk about why I liked it and why I didn't and you can decide if it's something you want to give a try.

THE GOOD

• No More BLOAT!  After the 3 Day Refresh (really, even after the first day…) that bloat is GONE.  I feel like myself again, and I feel less inclined to eat the junk and the sodium filled foods. YAY!
•  Curbed Temptation!  I’ve found that after this three days, resisting the temptation of junk food is so much easier!  For example, when I opened the fridge on day one and saw the 3rd batch of Sea Salt Caramel Bars I had made, I was like "Oh to have one if those heavenly bars with my coffee" but by the 3rd day I looked at fresh crispy bacon, and said “that looks and smell really good” and didn’t even have an OUNCE of temptation to pick one up and eat it. Victory!
• Sleeping Like a Baby!  Now who doesn’t love a good night of sleep?!  These last three days, I’ve been sleeping better, more soundly, and I haven’t been waking up every few hours for whatever reason. thank you to the 3 Day Refresh for allowing my body to reset and sleep like it should!
• I Never Felt Hungry! With all the fresh fruits and veggies packed with fiber, I actually felt full most of the time. The shakes are packed with protein and fiber too so that helped.
• I Lost Weight & Felt Great! 3.5 pounds the first and the 2nd time and yes, it was probably mostly water but what is important to me is I felt great, my stomach was flat, my pants fit just a tad better and it helps me stick to eating better with more fruits and veggies. Plus that first 3.5 I kept off, hoping I can this 2nd loss too.

THE BAD

• Headaches! Really only the first day. I just took a couple ibuprofen. I think it was the caffeine withdrawal so green tea the next two days sweetened with Stevia helped!
• I Was a Little Irritable! Yes, I was missing out on what my family was eating and missing my sweets and salty treats. Therefore, wouldn't you be a  little irritable. nothing too bad though, at least no one complained.
  
• The Fiber Sweep Sucks! Oh my, 10X's worse that the old gritty version of Metamucil. It only goes in 8oz of water so I tried to chug it down as quick as I could but so yucky. Once I had to spit a bunch of it back out.
  
• It's kind of Expensive!  If you sign up with a Beachbody coach online, you get it cheaper. I did believe it as worth it and money well spent. I just bought this instead of a new pair of shoes. LOL

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

So, there you have it, my honest review of one of the most popular cleanses on the market. 

Would I do it again? Yes, but probably only 2-3 times a year.  
Now, I need a cookie!!!!

xoxo

No Quote Needed for This Pic :)