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So begins my first month of my shakes. I've started with IdealShape. I decided to try IdealShape because I'm doing the ShapeUp Challenge along with my normal workouts, and read a lot of reviews from people who were drinking the shakes. I ordered 1 month work of the shakes (i.e., 1 canister), as well as two weeks of the snack bars. My order also came with 3 additional meal shake samples, a shaker bottle, and two eBooks with recipes - all for $74.99. I had a code for 10% off, so my total order plus shipping was $74.48. So, for under $75, I have 30 meals and 14 snacks. Day 1 I decided to have the base shake as my breakfast. To determine how the base shake is - I simply had the one scoop of chocolate mixed with 8 oz of water for breakfast around 8 AM. I was SLIGHTLY scared it wouldn't keep me full until my 10 AM snack, but it did. I was a bit more fatigued than usual, but I think that's because I only had 100 calories for breakfast, as opposed to my usual 300. This tells me that the other 2 base flavors I have to taste will need to be either a snack, or I will need to have fruit and other items eaten with it. Overall, though, the taste was pleasantly surprising. I felt like I was a child again drinking chocolate milk. You know, the Hershey's powdered milk chocolate mix or the Nestle drink mix we all loved as wee ones? It was rather surprising to have those flashbacks, but it was great. My mid-morning snack was the Cinnamon Caramel Crunch bar, which was delicious -- again, not my usual caloric intake for snacks (100 vs 150/200ish), so by lunch time I was at a calorie deficit to my typical day of around 250-300 calories. But, I didn't actually eat my lunch until around 1:30, which tells me that those hunger blocking statements are true. Due to those awesome headaches I had like every day last week, I was unable to work out because moving simply hurt, but, I ended the day below my 1,350 calories limit, and was not hungry at all. I call Day 1 a successful day. Day 2 So, after learning in day 1 that I need additional calories, I added a frozen banana, 1.5 tsp of peanut butter, and almond milk in to the mix for the day, giving me a breakfast of 250 calories -- MUCH better because I didn't feel fatigued. It was also amazingly delicious. I had to remember to snap the above picture before drinking it all! Now, I was not hungry most of the day. Stuck to my usual 8 am breakfast - 10 am snack - 12 or 12:30 lunch - 3 pm snack - 7 pm dinner schedule, and it was great. I TRIED to get a work out in, but it was disrupted with the fact that we had to go to a party about 2 hours away for a good friend of ours, so my nutrition for the day tanked with the mixers (soda - ONLY time I drink soda), and the munchies that were out, but that's okay. Sometimes, you need to just let loose and have fun, and that's what we did. Day 3 So, in my haste to pack I just grabbed my two pre-packaged drinks for the rest of the weekend, which I knew would be breakfast + fruit or a snack. I opted to have my Vanilla as a snack for Saturday, because we were 1) recuperating from the night before and my body needed that oh so delicious and greasy bacon and 2) I was too lazy to go out to the car and get it. We got to my in-laws around 10ish, and I decided that I was more than ready for my mid-morning snack. I mixed up the vanilla, and enjoyed it. Unlike the chocolate base test, which I REALLY enjoyed, the vanilla was just okay. To me, it's a mixer. It needs something more. There was a rather chalky aftertaste in my opinion, and I had my husband taste it, and that was his reaction. Now, this was JUST using the shaker bottle. I *think* if I had a blender and could have blended it with ice or something, it would be just fine, but the vanilla is not one I would recommend without add-ins. Which, makes me really happy that I ordered the chocolate for the month. My 100 calorie snack tied me over until my lunch time - which was at 1, and was just a yummy turkey sandwich and fruit. We then went to the reunion, which was a chicken BBQ, so you can just guess what I had! I had my chicken (Yummmm! protein is my favorite), and I had the salad on the side. I LET myself have 2 salt potatoes, because they are the bomb, and didn't have dessert -- once again we were heading out for a long night ahead of us. I opted to be the DD for the night, so I stuck with water. Again, my nutrition was not the greatest - I needed to rally for the night ahead of me, so after having my hour nap, I grabbed a Hershey bar and got a nice sugar boost. I'm thinking around 11 pm is when the cookies and popcorn came out. I limited myself to 1 cookie, and a few handfuls of popcorn - but I didn't have nearly as much sugar as the night before. Day 4 Now here we are on Sunday -- My breakfast options were 1) Everything Bagel, 2) Jimmy Dean Sausage breakfast sandwich, and 3) Mocha shake with a banana. I absolutely LOVE bagels, but I passed on it, mainly because I was eating so bad since Friday. I LOOKED at the nutrition label for the Jimmy Dean sandwich and again passed - 300+ calories, 20% daily sodium, and almost all the fat being from the saturated fat family made me say nut-uh. (Turns out this was a good thing - my husband had it and said it wasn't good at all and he was upset he didn't have the bagel!) So, option 3 it was. The mocha was really good! It was another base drink, which was rather yummy. Again, a chalky taste, but not nearly as bad to me as the vanilla was the day before. I had a banana with it, for a total of 210 calories for my breakfast. We were also prepping for the extended family to come over, and I signed up to cut up the melons, so I munched on those as well, so I might have been more around 250 or 275, either way - It was filling. Since it was a picnic, I can't tell you how well I portioned things out for the day, but my "snack" was cheese & crackers, and some guacamole and chips. I had ONE drink (sangria), and switched back to waters to help my body detox from Friday. Lunch was a burger (without the bun), sweet potato fries (like 7 of them), and my melon salad. I did have a chocolate oatmeal cookie, which was yummy, and a SUPER small sliver of banana cream cake, because who can resist Grandma's cooking!? By the time we left at 5, I was stuffed, but over all, I think I handled the munchies pretty well. Had a sausage (leftovers) around 8 when we got home and hit the hay! Day 5 So now here were are on Monday - with very limited groceries in our house. I decided to go with a "dark moon" shake -- Chocolate with blueberries, since we had about a cup of frozen blueberries. Added in about a half cup of yogurt and a cup of water, blended it all together, and it was delicious! I again didn't get hungry until 10:30, when I had my bar again. Lunch was a wrap from a local gas station chain in the area (low on groceries - remember!), which was way higher in calories than I would have liked. My afternoon snack was 16 rice cakes with a wedge of Laughing Cow Asiago Cheese - YUM! I didn't eat dinner until about 8 PM, because I did an amazing cardio workout (Country Heat) followed up with the IdealShapeUpChallenge Week 2 Day 2 Lower Body workout -- minus the 100 stairs. My workouts ended up with me having about 400 "extra" calories to play with, which makes me feel A LITTLE better about my 500 calories wrap. Had a quick snack after my burger & pasta salad dinner of a rollo squished between two pretzels, and then hit the hay! Day 6
I was frantic this particular morning! I was studying and forgot to set an alarm to tell me to stop and get ready for my day. UGH. So, I couldn't make myself an egg to have with my shake. Instead, I ran out of the house with my shake and almond milk, and PRAYED I wouldn't be hungry... Made it to 10:30 and just had my bar. I'm still hungry at this point (hello lots of calories burned the night before + not enough in the AM), so I'm looking forward to my lunch -- tuna, 1 slice of sprouted grain bread, and green beans and tomatoes from the garden. Followed by my afternoon snack of rice crackers, cheese, and peanuts! What I'm REALLY looking forward to is my dinner - spaghetti squash, bacon, spinach, and goat cheese -- MMMMMMMM! (I'll share this recipe soon -- it's from a Buzzfeed article). Day 7 Today was good! Started with a chocolate shake with strawberries in it and a banana. Had my usual snacks, and a turkey sandwich for lunch. We got Chinese for dinner... mainly because I worked until 7 and want home until 8 - no workout tonight.. means a double on Friday. Overall, I'm content. Recap Now, after week one was nearing an end, I received an email from IdealShape which had a quick video about their shakes and how to BEST utilize it as a meal replacement. Here's the link. I liked listening to this, because it confirmed what I decided to do (with the exception of Days 1 and 6) - if it's just the scoop, it's a snack. Overall, I'm definitely less hungry in the mornings and am enjoying my shakes. Looking forward to meal prep this weekend to have some yummy recipes for them for next week. A new shale flavor just came out - wonder if I can get a sample to try!! Salted Caramel is right up my alley! Until next time, loves! Xoxo
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Beth MetzgarI'm a 28 year old accountant trying to make it in the crazy world of accounting, while staying accountable to myself for my fitness goals. You'll find my thoughts on various programs I've tried and what's worked for me and what hasn't. Archives
December 2016
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