Day 44

So I am trying something new and really putting my organizational skills to practice. I am working on developing a system for meal planning, so that my trips to the grocery store are not just browsing and grabbing unnecessary items, I have a plan.
Today I have so far eaten okay, not great but not horrible.

Breakfast: Bowl unsweetened cheerios with banana slices
Plain yogurt with 1 scoop v-shake
Snack: A few chocolate covered pretzels (ooops)
2 oatmeal cookies (another ooops)
Grapes
Lunch: Chicken pita with bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese & cucumber
Unsweetened apple sauce

Day 43

I'm falling behind on my blog of personal challenge goals. I just recently changed the name of my blog from 'The 90 Day Body By Vi Challenge' to '90 Days at a time', because it's much more than the Vi-Challenge... it's a complete change of life style. It may not be so overwhelming if I break down my goals 90 days at a time, in all aspects of my life.

I am trying the eat clean diet... which is basically just cutting out processed food, trans fats and refined sugar. Not eating less, but trying to eat more quality foods in their whole and most natural state. It's much harder than I thought. It is with this commitment to change that I also include the Vi-shake in as many new and unique ways as possible. Adding it to oatmeal, plain yogurt, and drinking the vi-shakes as an alternative to sweets.

Day 3 - Are Vi-Shakes safe for pregnant or nursing mothers?

I am quite pleased with myself today. I woke up this morning and for the first time in a while I prepared a nice healthy breakfast of oatmeal with diced apples, and raisins, followed by a chocolate Vi-Shake. Although lunch is still sketchy, I think I may have to settle with toast. My appetite comes in waves, a horrible unpredictable pattern. It comes and it goes, it's good or it's bad. Things will hopefully pick up as I near my second trimester of pregnancy.

I've been getting a lot of emails lately asking if the Vi-shakes are safe to take while pregnant or nursing.

The Body By Vi Shakes are completely safe to take for pregnant or nursing mothers as a healthy alternative to sweets, and desserts that are high in sugar. It contains
23 essential vitamins/minerals, quality protein, fiber, and more…. It’s nutritious AND low in calories (90-100), low carbs (7g), low sugar (<1g).
By no means are the Body By Vi Shakes an alternative to food to stay slim through your pregnancy, and your doctor will NOT recommend it either, but it is a great source of nutrition for pregnant women who have a hard time keeping food down at anytime during their pregnancy. Sipping on a light shake for lunch and keeping it down, is a better alternative to a heavy meal that is going to come back up!

The information below comes directly from Ms.Audrey Sommerfeld and Dr. Michael Seidman both on the Scientific Advisory Board of Visalus Sciences.

“The shake is fine for pregnant and lactating women to get added nutrition. We don’t recommend that they try to lose weight though as the baby needs the calories. This is why we don’t recommend Vi-Trim or Vi-Slim as babies don’t need hunger control or metabolism support. Neuro is low caffeine, but it depends on if the woman wants that or not, and her doctor recommendations. ”

There you have it, hope this helps.

Day 2

So I am beginning another 90 Day Body by Vi Challenge, with a completely new goal. I have all my life struggled with maintaining a healthy diet, and as you know from previous posts I have battled with an addiction to sugar and caffeine for more than twelve years. The purpose of my challenge is to really focus on healthy eating and an active lifestyle, which has been a challenge these last few months.
I am 10 weeks pregnant, and struggling daily with getting the nutrients my baby needs from all four food groups when lately I haven't been able to handle much more than toast, cheerios and pasta. I am still able to take a shake a day, thank goodness, because I really don't know where I would get my energy from when most foods are not agreeing with me.

I am a person who LOVES food, so I really can't wait to eat the good stuff again!
I did though manage to get in a bun filled with all the fixins: Turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber... I think I practically inhaled the thing. As for dinner, it's after 8pm and the thought of food.... ughhh. I think it may be another night of Cheerios.

It's time to catch up

I can't tell you how much I missed writing about my body by vi 90 day challange, but unfortunately as circumstance would have it my lap top crashed and until now I haven't had access to the internet. On the bright side, I am back, and with all the more reason to begin my challenge over at day 1. First off, just a brief update on my first challenge in which my 90 days ended November 3rd, 2011. All in all, it went really well. I noticed a tremendous difference in my energy level, and even though I was never taking the challenge with the intention of losing weight, I did lose a few pounds. However, after my challenge I began to drift slowly back into my old eating habits and slowly but surely I've been eating more and more sugar. Circumstances are different this time around. Much different.

My new challenge will begin January 1st, 2012, with a new focus of once again cutting out as much sugar as possible. It is now more important than ever to be healthy, not only for myself but I am now two months pregnant. In my first pregnancy with Becca, I learned that I was borderline with gestational diebetes. I was consuming way too much sugar, which mostly included an outrageous amount of fruit, which I thought at the time was good for me. Too much of anything is never good, so I am working on cutting back on fruit and eating more vegetables. So let me begin my journey by counting down... and making conscious food decisions now to prepare myself for once again taking the 90 day challenge.

Keep in mind, that I have never stopped taking the Vi-Shakes and my reasons for incorperating the challenge into my routine is that I tend to work better with structure and discipline which doesn't come naturally to me. Small changes, 90 days at a time.

Day 56 - Vi Shape Rice Pudding Recipe

So I found a recipe yesterday that is an all time favorite of mine, 'Rice Pudding'. I made a few adjustments and came up with a version of my own, that ROCKS!!! It tates way too good to not be passed along.

2 Cups Water
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cups Minute Rice
2 1/2 Cups Milk (I used 1%)
1 Egg
2/3 Cup Vi Shake Mix
2/3 Cup Sunmaid Raisins
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Soak the raisins in hot water prior to beginning, and set aside.
2. Boil 2 Cups of water, add salt.
3. Add rice, boil for 5 minutes (stir frequently) then let stand for 5 minutes.
4. In a small boil froth egg.
5. Add milk, egg, drained raisins, cinnamon and vi shape mix to the rice, mix well.
6. Bring mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand for an hour.

Tastes great warm. Store in air tight container and refridgerate. Tastes amazing cold with a little milk added to it for more of a creamy texture.
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Why I love it???

First of all being a sugar addict, I need to find other ways to satisfy my sweet tooth in the most healthy way possible. Sugar leaves me feeling hungry for more sugar. So when I made this recipe I felt completely satisfied after eating just a small amount, and never felt the urge to binge. The sweetness of it all is in the shake mix that tastes like cake mix... a real treat. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Day 53

There is one more thing that I need to add to my 'DO NOT BUY' list. It doesn't look as scrumptious as a powder doughnut, but looks can be decieving, it is just as addictive. It's one of those items that you convince yourself is healthy, and so you give in, maybe it is good... in moderation, if you can stop at just one. Now I know... That I can't. What on earth am I going on about? I'm referring to 'raisin bread'. I swear there is something in it that makes me want to mow down like I would popcorn at the movie theatre. I ate the whole loaf all to myself in less than 24 hours. Boy oh boy... There is much I need to work on, but I am a work in progress, I always will be. I will never stop trying to improve myself in one way or another. When I accomplish something, there will always be another goal to take it's place.