Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!

Hi y'all! Happy February! ❤️

There have recently been some changes in my life and now I've been given more free time to focus on my health.

With my health and fitness being my biggest priority right now, I have exciting news to announce! I am now an official Distributor of Herbalife

🙌🏼

Thanks to my Sister-in-Law, I recently have become obsessed with Herbalife shakes (they are delicious!), and other fantastic products! So far I have stuck with the vanilla protein powder to mix with three different Formula-1 powders - dutch chocolate, vanilla, and cafe latte. You can add in sugar free syrups, almond milk, regular milk, instant Jell-O powder, PB2 (or regular peanut butter), fruit, etc.! So far, I've only been blending my powders with water and ice. The shakes are scrumptious as is!

I also joined and completed a 6 Day Eat Clean Challenge!
Figuring that being involved in a challenge, I would have more motivation to do my best and attempt to be more active (as active as I can be - thanks Fibromyalgia! 😡 ).

WARNING: I apologize in advance for all the selfie pics and shake/food pics, but that's what this challenge was all about!

The 6 day eat clean challenge consisted of drinking two shakes a day, having one regular (healthy) meal (usually dinner), and one-two protein & veggie filled snacks throughout the day. I added Prolessa Duo (enhancer to help make you feel more full) to one shake each day, and took the Cell-U-Loss tablets (helps with water weight) 3 times a day - with each meal. Not to mention, I made sure to drink a LOT of H2O!!

Day 1 began on Thursday: February 1st

Breakfast - Cafe Latte shake with Prolessa Duo & Cell-U-Loss

Dinner was a shredded buffalo chicken spaghetti squash meal! It isn't pretty, but wow, it's delicious!

Shredded buffalo chicken and spaghetti squash is super easy to make. I cooked the squash at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. In the crockpot, I cooked the chicken with buffalo sauce then shredded it once it was fully cooked & tender! Combine shredded chicken with shredded squash! That's it!

Day 2 (Friday):

Breakfast shake

I mixed up my shake and had 1 scoop of the cafe latte with 1 scoop of dutch chocolate mixed with the vanilla protein powder and prolessa duo! Yum!

At the gym, the ladies only section was empty...for like, 10 seconds. I enjoyed it while I could!

As far as my daily healthy meal, I had a Panera greek salad for lunch!

For dinner, I had my second shake of the day - dutch chocolate was the winner!

Dinner shake

Day 3 - Saturday:

Breakfast:

You spin me right round baby, right round round round 😂


Snack time:

1 whole egg and 2 egg whites scrambled with onion and peppers!

Lunch shake:

Dutch chocolate shake w/ Prolessa Duo and 1 Tblspn of PB2!

Dinner was leftover buffalo chicken with steamed veggies!!


Day 4 (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY):


Breakfast:

Cafe Latte

Snack:

1 egg, 3 egg whites and veggies

Lunch was a basic dutch chocolate shake!

Dinner: Ground turkey with tomato sauce, pinto beans, black beans, & taco seasoning mixed in with quinoa (my meals are never pretty, but boy, they are delicious)!

Day 5 - Monday (almost there!):

Breakfast: Cafe Latte shake on the go!

Snack: 1 banana with crunchy peanut butter

Lunch: Dutch chocolate shake ❤️

Dinner: Brussel sprouts and leftover chili!

DAY 6  AKA LAST DAY OF THE CHALLENGE (Tuesday)!!!:

Breakfast: FINALLY mixed it up some (pun intended) - French Vanilla shake with a few frozen strawberries! 🍓

Snack: 1 banana and crunchy peanut butter

Lunch: Dutch chocolate with Prolessa Duo

Dinner: LEFTOVERS! Yum!!

Turkey chili, quinoa and a TON of steamed veggies!

The 6 Day Eat Clean Challenge was amazing! Only a couple days in, my digestive system was working better! I felt less bloated/weighed down.
The fibromyalgia has been especially more difficult lately, so I couldn't get as much exercise in as I wanted, but even without the extra activity, I still lost weight!


Within the 6 days, I lost a total of 7.2 lbs!
Yep, that's right! 7.2 lbs down in 6 days! Woohoo!
My main goal was to get kickstarted and motivated to begin a healthier lifestyle. Which, I am certainly more motivated and inspired because internally, I feel better. The rest of my body, thanks to the fibromyalgia, unfortunately does not (yet). - Work in progress.

I NEVER starved myself or deprived myself. I had my shakes and healthy filling snacks, so I never was unhealthy! Again, this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle. 💪🏼

I absolutely love the Herbalife products and although the 6 day challenge has ended, it's not over for me.
My goal is to lose 33.6 lbs (at my current weight), but most importantly, my major goals are to be more fit/active and stronger!

I enjoy the products so much, and have LOVED my results so far, that I signed up to be an Independent Distributor through Herbalife!!

If you have any questions on products and/or would like to place orders, let me know!
Feel free to check out and place orders on my website: Kyla's GoHerbalife


I look forward to sharing my journey with you guys and hope you join me in working on your own health and fitness goals!!



*Always consult your Doctor before trying new products; what may work for some, may not work for others. 

GOODBYE 2017

HAPPY 2018!! 🎊

2017 is officially over! 

The last week of 2017 was nice because the hubs and I got to meet up with family in Greenville, SC!

On Thursday, Nathan and I drove to Greenville, SC, to meet up with my Mom, Sister in law, niece and nephew. Our visit was a short but sweet get together. Greenville is such a cute little city, and it makes the perfect halfway point to meet up with family!

By the time we all got into town, it was lunch time. We ate at Tupelo Honey Cafe. The restaurant was packed and we did have a long wait, but it would have been just as long anywhere else. Let me just tell you, it was worth the wait! Our waitress was really sweet, and did a great job! I had the sweet potato pancakes. Holy Moly were they delicious!! YES, that IS fried chicken on my pancakes...

After lunch, we walked to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. We hung out for a bit, played some Uno and Clue. Eventually, we were hungry again and walked down the street to Trio for dinner. The service and food was excellent at Trio! They hands down, have the best garlic bread I have ever had in my life! I had the eggplant parmigiana - SO GOOD!!!!

Unfortunately, it was FREEZING outside, so we just couldn't walk around. We went straight back to the hotel and hung out there for a while. One of the many things I adore about Greenville is their Mice on Main scavenger hunt! Throughout the city, there are 9 bronze mice statues! This scavenger hunt is great for kids (and adults like me), which really makes walking around town more exciting!

Lulu found a mouse!

The Holiday Inn Express had a great free breakfast with tons of food options! Our hotel was within walking distance to all of downtown - except it was just too cold for us to do so. Overall, the hotel was perfect for our short visit!

Sisters!

AJ and me!

Family ❤️

Next time, we'll all meet when it is warmer weather so we can truly enjoy all of downtown Greenville! After breakfast and some more hanging out, it was time to head back home.


Sunday, Nathan and I had a fantastic brunch at Holly's Gourmet's Market & Cafe!

Frog in a Ditch with a side of grits!

We had fun looking around McKay's Used Books, and ran some other errands before eventually returning home. It's been too cold with zero snow! 😠

Our neighbors had some really beautiful fireworks going on all night. It was nice to watch them in the comfort (and warmth) of our own home!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years celebration! Here's to 2018!!

QUESTIONS:

* What was your favorite part of 2017?

* What are your New Years resolutions (if any)?

* What are you looking forward to most in 2018?

🎄 Christmas Recap 🎄

I hope everyone had a wonderful Merry Christmas! 

Nathan's parents, along with Nathan's cousin, drove all the way out from Kansas City, to spend Christmas with us. We only got to spend two whole days together, but we had such an incredible time together! On Sunday (Christmas Eve), the hubs had to work for a little bit, so the rest of us ventured up to Gatlinburg!

Gatlinburg was the busiest I had ever seen it! Luckily, we found parking so we could walk around a bit. We ate lunch at Blaine's Bar & Grill. The service and food was terrific at Blaine's!
Next, we all went up the 407 feet, Gatlinburg Space Needle. I am absolutely terrified of heights, but usually try to conquer my fears. The decision to face this fear was a good one, and I even made myself get to the "edge" to have my picture taken. The picture was taken quickly and with a lot of fear and hesitation, but I did it!!

After our day trip to Gatlinburg, we met the hubs back at the house and ordered pizza for dinner! We watched my personal favorite Christmas movie, "Elf," while we ate our dinner!


Christmas Day was the most laid back, relaxing day. As we slowly woke up, we chatted for a bit over coffee and hot cocoa tea. Eventually, we made our way into the kitchen to bake delicious cinnamon rolls.

After eating a yummy breakfast, we began opening all of our Christmas presents!

Truly, the greatest gift was having family in town to celebrate Christmas. <3

The majority of our time was playing games! We played plenty of Phase 10 Twist! Phase 10 is a lot of fun, but Phase 10 Twist was really cool!

Brain Games, Skip-bo, and Exploding Kittens were some other games we played!

The Cone of Shame - Imploding Kittens!!

The family left early Tuesday morning. It's always sad when they leave, but we'll be together again soon! I decided to start picking up all the Christmas decorations. I have them all together in one spot. However, I couldn't bring myself to take down the tree just yet. I'll leave it just a little while longer!

After a little bit of cleaning/tidying up, I finished the book "The Break Down," by B.A. Paris. It was a really good book, I enjoyed it a tiny bit better than "Behind Closed Doors." I found out about this Author and these books, thanks to the blog - Simply Taralynn

Next up is New Years! I don't know about you, but I am ready to throw 2017 out the window. It's been such a difficult year for me. I know there will be ups and downs in 2018, but I'm really hoping for much more positivity!

QUESTIONS

* What was your favorite part this Christmas holiday?

* Do you leave your Christmas decorations up through New Years?

* What are your New Years Eve plans?

Gobble Till You Wobble!

I hope everyone had a terrific and filling Thanksgiving!!

I had such an incredible Thanksgiving week with the hubby and his rents! The only problem was that time went by way too fast.

Saturday, before Thanksgiving, I spent the day prepping the house for Nathan's rents! Riley certainly was keeping himself entertained.

Nathan's parents came into town late Sunday evening!
Monday, I had to work for a little bit, but for dinner, we tried a place we haven't been to yet, a German restaurant - Restaurant Linderhof! It was beautiful inside! Our waiter was extremely knowledgable about the German food, and helped us make our delicious meal choices!

Restaurant Linderhof

I went with something I normally wouldn't try! I had the eggplant ratatouille with spatzle on the side. Spatzle is a type of egg noodle, and it sure is yummy!

I really look forward to going back and trying their other dishes!

Eggplant Ratatouille

Tuesday morning, we went to Nick & J's cafe for breakfast! Nick & J's was an adorable diner, just like the diners' you see in the movies. The atmosphere was relaxing, yet fun. The service and food was even better!

Nick & J's Cafe

Western Omelette

After a delicious breakfast, we all headed home. Kay and I worked on projects with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine. The boys worked on their projects and began smoking the meats to have for Thanksgiving.

Silhouette Cameo 3 cutting machine!

Resting Grinch Face

Ta Da!

Figuring out how to work the Silhouette Cameo machine was awesome! The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting! I look forward to making some new projects! 😄

Thanksgiving Eve, we all went to Painting with a Twist!

It's always such a fun time going to Painting with a Twist. It never gets old!

Ready to start painting!

Our finished paintings!

THANKSGIVING DAY:

We all knew we would be eating a plethora of food later that day, which made us decide to head over to Lilly Bluff first and get some fresh air and "hiking" in. We all wore our new shirts! Nathan and I wore shirts with a turkey that said "Pour Some Gravy on Me," and Kay & Steve wore shirts with cooked turkeys that said "Let's Get Basted." 😂

Pour Some Gravy On Me T-shirt

Lilly Bluff 

The Lilly Bluff overlook is a beautiful spot! 

Obed River

Showing off our t-shirts

Holly

For our Thanksgiving feast we had our traditional Raclette dinner! We brought out the raclette Swiss grill that cooks the meat on the top, and melts the cheese on the bottom. Gruyere cheese is our preferred choice, over the raclette cheese. The turkey had already been smoked, but the grill heated up the turkey on top.

For our side dishes, we had green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and baby red potatoes.

Nathan made an excellent pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert. Talk about being stuffed! 

SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

BLACK FRIDAY:

Nathan and I both had to work on Black Friday. Kay and Steve volunteered to come to work with me! Thank goodness they were there to help at the store, because we were BUSY! 

Kay and I made snowflake earrings with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine and faux leather material to wear on Black Friday - along with the Christmas t-shirts we made!

Snowflake Earrings

Cookies!!!!

Meet Molly - Santa's little helper!

Selfies with Santa

After work, we had a chill afternoon relaxing back at the house. 

Nathan's parents had to head back home on Saturday. 😞
It was a pretty chill day, I began putting up Christmas decorations! I can't wait to have them all up!

Beginning to put up Christmas decorations!

'Tis the season for Peppermint Mocha creamer!!

After such an exciting week, it's officially back to reality. It is time to finish putting up the Christmas decorations and clean/organize the house!

🎄

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

* How was your Thanksgiving?

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

* Have you started putting up Christmas decorations?