SlimFast 10g Protein Powder

Recently I received a coupon for $1.00 off one SlimFast product. I was looking on Walmart.com and come to find that SlimFast made a protein powder. I have been trying to find some alternatives to "other" expensive brands, because honestly I don't have the extra to spend big bucks on protein powder that I might not even like, Then I'd have a huge tub that I would have to drink, and feel guilty about.

Mixed with 8 oz. of fat free milk it has 10g of protein. Its 200 calories, 4g of fiber, and 24 vitamins and minerals. Though I wish it did have MORE protein, it is a better alternative than a regular milk shake. 

After tweeting the company that I wish there were more grams of protein in their product, I had looked on their website to find out that they do in fact make some that has 15g of protein. But unfortunately my Walmart didn't have any when I bought them. If mine never gets them I still would buy the 10g one either way because I made myself a recipe they tastes JUST like a chocolate milkshake. (With a hint of peanut butter taste)

Knockoff Milkshake

4 frozen cubes of milk (about 4 oz)

4oz of fresh milk

1 plain ice cube

1 scoop of SlimFast Rich Chocolate Royale

1 TBS of PB2 Chocolate (Can be found at Walmart)

I halved the recipe, then put it in the freezer for a dessert. Here is the end result.

This recipe is DELISH! I LOVE it!

I personally use Myfitnesspal and the calories on it says 232. But Sparkpeople says its 234.5 calories.

So its roughly 230-235 calories.

12.2g of protein

You can see all the Nutritional Facts for this recipe here.

I also bought the French Vanilla though I haven't tried it yet. My mother has though. She made hers with frozen peaches.

Frozen peaches

4 frozen cubes of milk (about 4 oz.)

4 oz. of fresh milk

1 plain ice cube

1 scoop of SlimFast French Vanilla

She said she really likes it. Which I'll probably make that next.

If you want to find out more about SlimFast Protein Powder products click Here

Thank you for reading!

oxox Gina xoxo

The opinions in this post is all my honest opinion. All products featured in this post was paid from my own pocket. No compensation was paid.

No Longer Obese! (Post #6)

Yesterday (4/22/2015) I weighed, and after a good long platue I finally broke through it. I lost 2 pounds! 162.3! Logging it into myfitnesspal I wanted to check to see how much longer I had to cross over the line from Obese to Overweight on the BMI Chart scale.

Click to make larger.

I finally, finally broke over! Now I have to work through the field of Overweight to Normal.

3 years ago when I started I didn't realize how good it feels to lose so much.

The accomplishment is overwhelming.

I still have 28 pounds to go. (Wow, I didn't realize I'd ever get to say that.) 

And it's going to be super hard, I know. But I know I'll get there. I've gotten this far. Toning up is my goal. 

Thanks for reading 

xoxoGinaoxox

Want to read my whole weightloss journey? Click HERE

Add me on MyFitnesspal? MrsGinaTaylor
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2 Year Anniversary

It's been two year exactly since I decided to get healthy for myself, my children, and my husband.

I have to say it was the best decision I ever made. 

When starting I didn't tell my husband until that night. He was all up for a change, and hey it was free so if we couldn't do it at least it didn't cost us anything.

That first week I lost 5 pounds. It was great! I couldn't believe it. Though I realized real quick where most my calories were going. Soda. I drank so much soda! I was drinking up to 6 liters LITERS of soda a DAY sometimes!! Ohmygod. It was a wake up call. I know I was addicted. It was so very hard going from that amount of soda to only 1 can a day. It took me a little over a month to finally kick the regular soda habit.

But, I switched to diet soda. Though I had a very hard time starting to drink water after I kicked the regular soda, it seemed a slight bit easier to get the plain water down, at times.

I know, I know what your thinking "diet soda is just as bad as regular soda" yes I agree! That's okay. But it has helped me make healthier choices though. I portioned everything I put in my mouth. 

I spent some money and bought me some super cheap food scales. I keep my measuring cups and spoons in hands reach, so I don't have an excuse NOT to measure it out. 

January 11th 2013 to January 11th 2014 I had lost exactly 44 pounds. That's me rarely exercising. Basically walking the mall and walking trails our small city provides luckily. Sometimes doing DVDs for hand weights.

 My husband and I were so out of shape we couldn't even walk Hanes Mall without being in pain, and too tired to walk the whole thing. By the end of the trip we would be exhausted. 

By mid-year we could tell a difference. We actually wasn't huffing and puffing. We could tell we could walk faster, and less pain.

I've had back, leg, and ankle problems since I was 4 or 5 years old, and Andrew has had two surgeries on his foot from breaking a bone in it, and then again breaking the screw in it, so now he has a metal plate.

But also in January I found out I was approximately 3 months pregnant. I was on the fence about it. Yes another baby would be great, hoping a little girl to complete our family, but on the other hand I would have to stop using myfitnesspal. My journey, everything I had worked for, for a year. I had logged EVERY SINGLE DAY for a year. I finally got over the fact and then started getting the cravings, using my knowledge of serving sizes I ate whatever I craved, but ate it but serving size, sometimes a little more. With my first pregnancy I gained around 50 pounds. With this pregnancy I was smarter. For the first and second trimester I didn't gain much at all. Actually I lost just a few pounds first trimester. Doctor said it was okay, normal, and such. Fast forward my pregnancy was 40 weeks and 3 days with a baby girl. I had to have an Emergency Vertical C-Section due to Cord Prolaspe. I had gained 32.9 pounds with this child. I was scared that I would have to start all over again, that I wouldn't lose it. Surprisingly I lost it all within a month. I was so happy. Not happy about my scar or my "butt crack" stomach as someone said. But I'll just have to accept my stomach. 

Oh and after I had Sophia I quit diet soda. I've had a few sips here and there that abou killed me, or at least it seemed like it. 

So since 2013, 9 months of pregnancy, recovery, and the holidays I have to date lost 50 pounds.

I still have 33-34 pounds to go on this journey. And a whole lot of toning up is in store for me too.

Looking back to 2013 I was looking forward, wondering if I could keep it up. Knowing it was going to be a slow hard journey, but if I didn't start somewhere I wouldn't be here. 

So happy anniversary to me and my husband for changing our way of life. Cheers!

Thanks for reading!

xoxoGinaoxox

My Journey Update #4

I am about 4 months 2 weeks postpartum. Having had my baby girl Sophia Marie. I have been on MyFitnessPal. I have went over many days. I haven't had the drive as I did before I became pregnant. Though, I have still lost weight since having her. I haven't went too far over my calories when I have. Which is good! The only day I can really recall just bombing them was on Thanksgiving.

I don't know what it is, I think its the human natural instinct to eat, eat, eat for winter. But some days all I want to eat! 

I'm really hoping to get closer to my goal by Spring.

I haven't made an update photo collage since October,

As of  today, December 19th. 2014 I weigh 167.1 lbs.

I am really happy to see a difference.

As someone told me; 

"The woman on the left looks closed, like hiding from the world, And the woman on the right looks happy, open, like here I am!"

I really took that to heart after reading that. I mean, after I had my son in 2010 I felt gross. Honestly.

I was uncomfortable in my own skin. 

Looking though my old photos now I think back how I felt about myself. And I realized that I was bigger than I thought I was!

A few weeks ago I went to get a checkup, It was about the same time that the photo on the right was taken. I asked my doctor could I view how heavy I was as far back as possible.
She said sure. She went back to 2010 right after I had my son Graison. I weighed 242 pounds! 

That floored me.

Never in my life could I imagine I would that unhealthy!

I know I have had many insecurities in my past but right now they are slowly going away. 

(Other than my Vertical C-Section scar. I'll get back to you when I loose more weight.)

 If you want to join me on MyFitnessPal (FREE Just your willpower)

please add me! I try to log everyday!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/MrsGinaTaylor

Thank you for reading!!

xoxoGinaoxox

Read my whole story here:

In the Beginning... (Post #1)

240th Day (Post #2)

Weight Loss Update (#3)

Weight Loss Update! (Post #3)

It has been a while since I've had any blog posts. My last post was back in September, 2013. I was still using MyFitnessPal, logging my food, but the holidays was coming up. I was planing on still trying to log, maybe not as much. Still eat at family get togethers but not as much. Andrew and I was doing that, but for some reason my weight wasn't budging I was stuck at 180lbs. 

Well I had noticed that I had, had a missing period by the end of December. I didn't think much of it, I had been feeling tired, and really not hungry much, but that was pretty much it. By the first of January I had lost down to 176.1 pounds! I was excited! 3-4 months I had been at a standstill on my weight loss journey and finally a budge! There was still hope!

My husband and I had been talking about my missed period thinking it could be from were I'm still obese but we wanted to make sure by mid-January we decided to pregnancy tests and then an appointment with the OBGYN. 

Come to find out we were pregnant!! When telling the doctor my initial thought my last period was we thought the baby was going to be due August 20th, 2014. But a few weeks later when doing the ultrasound we found out that our Lil' Miss is due August 1st, 2014! 

I had stopped logging and tried guessing how much calories I was eating which was going good. But after doing some research I was gaining a little too fast. I was at 15lbs. at the doctor, 17.5lbs my Wii fit said. So I started back on MyFitnessPal., but instead of trying to lose weight; 1,450 calorie intake, I switched my option to Maintain, which took my calories to 1,910. 

For two weeks I logged my food until my appointment. I didn't feel deprived or anything. When it was time for my appointment I lost 2 pounds! I had told her what I was doing and she said it was completely fine.

So I'm 29 weeks pregnant and I have gained roughly 13-14 pounds.

Pretty good compared to my first pregnancy with my son. I gained 40-50 pounds with him.

Thank you for reading! After she gets here I'm going to try to hit it hard. 

Hopefully I'll have the motivation.

xoxoGinaoxox

<3 Add me to MyFitnessPal <3

MrsGinaTaylor

Follow my Journey Here:

In the Beginning... (Post #1)

My 240th Day! (Post #2)

My Journey (Post #4)

Living with it.

Almost everyone has it. I say ALMOST! Because there is that lucky few that doesn't have a smidge of one. And this isn't a post of a miracle cure, because I wish it was.

This post is about loving one's body even though you may have STRETCH MARKS.

Ah yes, the lovely stretch marks. 

Oh, how I loath you.

They SAY that if you have the purple ones adding Cocoa Butter or losing weight can help them disappear. Who really knows.

But I have the dreaded white ones.

I had a few from puberty but they wasn't that noticeable. But then when I became pregnant they came out of nowhere.

Of course, on my stomach,

my spare tires, as they call them,

my hips, and thighs,

my biceps,

even back of my knees, and shoulders???

I didn't even know you could get them there!

Now I am hoping that as I lose more weight they disappear at least a little bit.

I've seen weight losers have that happen. 

But if I don't and the time comes when I hit my goal, is that going to stop me from wearing a bikini???

HELL NO!

I will wear that two piece. I will flaunt it. Will I care if someone complains of my marks? Or as I call them my "Tiger Stripes".

No I won't care.

And they can just get over themselves.

Because I earned them!

Do you have any miracle remedies to help stretch marks? If you do please share!

How do you feel about them?

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Gina oxox

In the Beginning.... (Post #1)

In high school I was a JROTC cadet. I didn't eat much at all and I relatively active during the day. We had a garden to tend and sometimes I even helped my parents with their car hauling business. During the summer we spent most of the time at a campground that I loved and still do because of mostly one thing. Their 9 ft swimming pool. I rode my bike or walked to and from the campsite.

Even though I weighed 130-140lbs for my then 5ft1in frame I felt like every teenage girl. 

Fat.

And of course looking back I wish I could smack myself and tell myself. "No! Your perfect!"

But alas I can't do that. After I found the love of my life at the tender age of 16 I was open to a whole new world of foods. Coming from the country I mostly ate homemade southern foods. My then boyfriend wanted to take me out and spend time with me as much as we could. Being in a such a small town there is mostly restaurants and really nothing healthy to do. Not at the time anyway.

As time went by my weight started to accumulate, and it saddened me but my love said he would love me no matter what. Knowing he was the one I kept on eating whatever I wanted to.

January 2009 I graduated high school at a disappointing weight of 181 pounds. I had always been the "chubby kid" of the class, and in 6th grade my highest weight was 176lbs then the "baby fat" started to come off. Which mainly from that because at the time we thought I had Acid Reflux, when I was 16 I found out I had a bum gallbladder and had it removed. Anyways.... 181lbs I couldn't believe that after all of that I had gained so much. Seeing my graduation photos disgusted me. But we move on...

By July of that year my fiance and I wanted a place of our own. We wanted to start a life together and be together as much as we could. He worked 12 hours a day 5 (sometimes 6) days a week. Living in the country ALL my life was personally hard to deal with moving into an trailer park. I mean no offense to anyone who lives in one. It's just not for me. I wouldn't say I was going crazy but it felt like I was. No yard to enjoy or anything. I lived on a farm with the neighbors pretty nice and would leave you alone. But you couldn't do anything or you would piss someone off. So pretty much I was confined to a 2 bedroom 1 bath that was in terrible condition from the previous owner, and had to stay cooped up all week long.

 By September we had decided that him and I wanted to get married as soon as we could because we didn't want to waste any time being a married couple. So we agreed on Halloween! It was awesome! I could tell you about it but thats a whole nother story. 

Soon after we found out we were pregnant! Which was very exciting and scary because I didn't know how my family would react.

Growing more pregnant everyday so was my weight gain. By the time I had him June, 2010 my weight had reached a whopping 220 pounds! 

Then around the end of 2012 I had seen several places on TV and on the internet called MyFitnessPal. And I knew I wouldn't be able to log every day on the website because I know how I am. So I didn't make me an account. So I decided to wait. Then around the beginning of January 2013 my husband bought me an iPhone 4s. By January 11th I found out that the MyFitnessPal app was free so I downloaded it. Showed Andrew, he started the next day and its been all gravy since. 

Thank you for reading the first part of my story, 

There will be more to come.

xoxo Gina oxox

MyFitnessPal My 240th Day! (Post #2)

I haven't made a recent before after photos

Day 1: I weighed 220 pounds. I am 5ft 3in. in height. I wore a pant size 16/18.

As my friends may know on my Facebook today is my 240th day on MyFitnessPal. I mean they should. Ever since I started this journey on January 11th, 2013 I have been posting how I wanted to change. After trying many things to get my weight down and all of them failing I had about given up until my husband bought me an iPhone 4s. 

Before I was able to acquire a smartphone I had done some research on MyFitnessPal for about 4 months, though knowing I wouldn't hold fast to logging my foods on my laptop all the time I didn't make a membership. But once I heard that my husband bought me one that was the first free app I downloaded. 

For the first day was a bad day. I mean bad. Right from the get-go I went over my calorie intake. My whole day consisted on:

• McChicken Sandwich -360 cal.
• McDouble Burger - 390 cal.
• 12oz Coca Cola- 140 cal.
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich - 270 cal.
• Diet Green Tea - 0 cal.
• 1/2 Red Barron Special Deluxe Pizza- 760 cal.

Yes my calorie intake was only 1,550 calories in the start, and I ate 1,920 calories though I was still hungry and CRAVING soda, knowing I had already screwed up Day One I told myself tomorrow was going to be better.

That night I told my husband Andrew what I was doing and he liked the idea. Which I wasn't sure if he would since we had to log everything and scan our foods. I showed him how to do it, its all pretty simple. Scan the barcode of your product and nine times out of ten it pops up. If not you can quickly add calories or make your own product code. Andrew started on his the very next day and so far he has been right there with me ever since.

I KNEW I had to get off at least regular sodas. I know diet soda is BAD but its better than drinking all those calories. Anyway drinking I know 1-2 2L of soda A DAY was terrible I knew that but being an pop drinker for as long as I could remember was going to be hard going going cold turkey. I even told my uncle I wouldn't be caught EVER drinking a Diet Coke. Dang I ate my words.
Plus I hated water. Love to swim in it. Not to drink it. Go figure. I think it was a childhood thing not going into that piss some family off for that one.

 I SWEAR The month of January was HELL for me. Everyday I would give myself a 12 oz of soda. then go down to 6 oz then 4 oz and ect. until I FINALLY quit it. I felt like a meth addict coming off crack. It wasn't fun at all.  But somehow I did it. I do drink a lot more water now. I even crave it somedays. Which is good. 

Within the first week of using MyFitnessPal I lost 5 pounds. FIVE POUNDS. Nothing else had worked. But this FOOD MODERATION worked. DANG I really wished I had listened to my teachers in health and Foods in high school she wasn't joking when to stay healthy you needed to watch how much you ate. 

Day: 240: I now weigh 180.1lbs and can wear a size 12/13 (depends on the maker) pant/shorts

So Far I've lost a total of 40 pounds!

Mr.Wii Fit can be a real buthole because everytime I go to step on him he says "Oh!" .... Butthole! 

I've done made this post WAY TOO long so I guess I'm going to stop it here. I'm going to try to back track using my memory and go by month by month, or couple months by couple of months. We will see.

You can Add me on MyFitnessPal my username is MrsGinaTaylor or you can click the link HERE

 And Let me know if you have any questions on my journey or on the MyFitnessPal App or website.

Thanks for reading!!

XoXo Gina oXoX

Follow My Journey Here:

In the Beginning... (Post #1)

Weight Loss Update! (Post #3)
My Journey (Post #4)

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was given.