The Sensible Mom

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update: My Before Picture

March 2, 2013 by Sandra 14 Comments

I finally had an excuse to take extra time to straighten my hair and get ‘fixed up.’ I was headed to Chicago to a blog networking event, and since I was trying to look nice for that event (and a Girls Night Out (at church) with my mom and cousin after the blog event), I thought it was the perfect time to take a BEFORE picture of myself.

Because who knows when I’ll be able to buy new clothes, straighten my hair, and wear makeup again? 😉

I have five kids, and getting away to shop for new things (even bought cute shoes and a new purse to replace my ~~gross~~ well-worn old purse) and then be able to spend time working on my hair and makeup, well, it’s not an everyday occurrence.

Seriously, though, I’m not the type of girl who likes to have awkward I-just-ate-a-whole-bag-of-potato-chips ‘before’ pictures. You know the ones…in the informercials. That’s not me.

This is me.

I know what you’re thinking…and, no, I did not wear those black pants to the blog networking event. 🙂 I wore a cute pair of size 14 dress pants that I found on clearance at Kohl’s. I did wear the shirt, though. It went great with the pants, but I missed getting a picture of the final outfit that I wore out.

My current weight and measurements

Going along with my before picture, I’m going to share my measurements and pants size with you guys. This is brutal honestly here.

Weight (3-1-13): 188.5 lbs.

Body Measurements

Waist: 42.5 inches

Hips: 46 inches

Bust: 40.5 inches

Right arm: 14 inches

Left arm: 14 inches

Pants size: 14

How I’m going to lose the weight I want to lose in 2013

I haven’t lost any weight since my last update almost two weeks ago. That is a bit of a bummer, but I know that it’s going to change. I now have a regular accountability partner that helps me to stay on track with exercise. She and I email each other every Monday to give updates on our progress, and we check-in to make sure we are working on the things we told each other that we wanted to be held accountable for. It’s going great!

Besides having an accountability partner for exercise, I’ve started the Shaklee 180 program. It’s an all-natural weight loss program, and I’m enjoying it so far. I’ll be updating you once a month on my weight loss using Shaklee AND I’ll be vlogging, too!

Vlogging = video blogging

I’m going to upload one weight loss video a month to YouTube and share it here on the blog. I’m a little nervous about that…but I’m hoping to share my weight loss progress ‘in person’ and encourage my blog readers who are trying to lose weight, too.

Suffice it to say, it’s going to be a fun and interesting year as I continue on my path to a healthy weight. 🙂

How is your weight loss progress coming along?

Homemade Mocha Frappe

March 1, 2013 by Sandra 10 Comments

If you’re a regular reader of The Sensible Mom, then you know I am a die-hard coffee lover. I drink it every single day, at least twice a day.

Freshly brewed hot coffee, iced coffee, latte, frappe — I love them all. And while I try to keep sugar out of my coffee as much as possible, I do enjoy some sweetness in it occasionally. But even when I sweeten up my coffee, I try not to go overboard. I’d much rather have a low-sugar coffee drink, than the crazy sugar-filled creations I used to make. Reduced calorie coffee is the way to go, because I know if I want to enjoy two cups a day and still lose weight, I need to restrain myself.

I mentioned that one of my favorite coffee drinks is a frappe, specifically mocha frappes. I’m a gold star rewards member of, well, you-know-where, and part of the reason is because I love frappes. I don’t, however, like the hefty coffeehouse prices of those frappes, which is why I normally only go to you-know-where when I have a gift card.

How I create frappes that taste great but cost less

In order to save on calories and money, I have to find ways to make my favorite coffee creations at home. And a great way to create mocha frappes with all the dreaminess of a coffeehouse frappe but not all the calories, is with International Delight’s sweet & creamy Light Iced Coffee.

I recently made a trip to Walmart with my daughter to buy the mocha light iced coffee and then I got to work on creating a delicious homemade mocha frappe.

I think you’ll love it.

And I made it using only a blender so that I could be sure you could create this recipe at home, too. I have a frappe maker (a gift from my husband who knows that the way to my heart is coffee :)), but I decided to brew the coffee on its own and bring the ingredients together in the blender. It’s so, so easy.

Here’s the recipe I came up with using the mocha International Delight Light Iced Coffee.

Mocha Frappe

Ingredients

2 cups ice cubes
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1/4 cup mocha International Delight sweet & creamy Light Iced Coffee
1/2 cup brewed coffee, hot
whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

In the order that they're listed, add the ingredients to a blender
Blend until smooth
Top with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce (optional)

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/03/homemade-mocha-frappe/

I hope you enjoy making this homemade mocha frappe recipe, and I can’t wait to see what other knock off creations we come up with using the light iced coffee. Since my recipe only calls for 1/4 cup at a time of the light iced coffee, I have plenty leftover to experiment making more of my favorite frappe flavors.

I think it should last me at least a month. 😉

Have you ever tried making a homemade frappe? What’s your favorite way to enjoy coffee?

To save on International Delight’s #LightIcedCoffee, be sure to sign up on their website for a coupon. To stay in touch with I.D., you can follow them on Twitter and on Facebook.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and WhiteWave #cbias #SocialFabric #LightIcedCoffee — All opinions are mine.

Save 35% on Web hosting with HostGator

February 26, 2013 by Sandra 2 Comments

For all my readers, who are also bloggers, HostGator is having a nice sale on their web hosting right now.

You can use the coupon code: FEB35 to save 35% off any web hosting package. Host Gator coupon codes like this one are pretty rare, so this might be a great deal if you are thinking about moving moving from Blogger (Blogspot) or WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress.org blog, where you need to have your own web hosting.

This might also be a great deal if you are wanting to switch from your current web host to HostGator. I’ve personally been using HostGator for years for all of my websites, and I recommend HostGator to my clients who either need web hosting or want to switch from their current web host.

This might also be a great deal if you’re thinking about starting a blog. How many times have I read other bloggers say that they wish they would’ve started with a self-hosted WordPress blog? A lot. Now is a great time to jump into blogging.

If you have any questions about web hosting or HostGator, feel free to ask me in the comments. I’m happy to help.

You can go here to visit HostGator and enter the coupon code FEB35 to save and get started. 🙂 The coupon code is good through February 28, 2013.

This post contains my HostGator referral link.

10 Goals for the Week

February 25, 2013 by Sandra 6 Comments

Last week, I did something smart.

I wrote down my goals on my calendar, and I broke them down so that I could get as many accomplished as possible. And it actually worked. I’m not too surprised, because I live by my calendar. If it’s on the calendar, it has a high probability of getting done. If it’s not on the calendar, there’s a good chance I’ll forget all about it or keep pushing it off until I “have time.”

Not that I’m great about keeping up with everything single thing on my calendar, but at least if it’s there, then it’s constantly in front of me, and I’ll get to it eventually.

So, here’s what I accomplished last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Go on an outing with Breanna~~ — We had a fun day out, which began with a venti double chocolatey chip frappe from Starbucks followed by shopping at Old Navy. I loved having this time out with my daughter, who is turning into a young woman so quickly.

2. ~~Make reading goals for the kids~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Drink juice 4 days this week~~

4. ~~Read 10 pages of the book, Desperate~~

5. Walk on the treadmill 4 days this week — I only made it on the treadmill three days.

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Clean the small loft area that is cluttered with toys~~

7. ~~Wipe down the sofas~~

Business Goals:

8. ~~Work on client project~~

9. Write 4 blog posts — I only ended up writing three.

10. ~~Answer emails~~

Here are the goals I plan to accomplish this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Read specific books to Isaac and David for the library’s winter reading program

2. Buy voucher to use for David’s birthday

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice 4 days this week

4. Read 10 pages of the book Desperate

5. Walk on the treadmill 4 days for at least 30 minutes each time

Home Management Goals:

6. Unpack three boxes

7. Wipe down the sofas (again)

Business Goals:

8. Work on three projects

9. Write four blog posts

10. Conference call

What are your goals for this week?

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