Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Mackeys Random Act of Kindness 2012

This morning me and Andrew went to the parking lot by the Salvation Army in Austin to pass out 26 cups of stew to 26 needy people to honor the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy. It was beyond touching for us. We only had enough to pass out 29 cup and a few extra bags of crackers but it was easily the highlight of 2012 for us. My favorite compliments were: "When you pulled up, I could see your kind eyes thru the windshield" and "The handwritten note was my favorite part. It was so sweet and not rushed or hurried." We got tons of "god bless you" and "thank you so much" but it was the silence that followed that was the most touching of all. We have started a new holiday tradition in the Mackey family. We would like to pair up with another couple next year though so we can do 6 pots of stew- it was awful when we ran out...
 



 

Week 3 andddd a half!

Christmas break got me!! We traveled to 4 different cities and there was wayyyy too much good food, drinks and temptation! I ended up weighing myself for the first time since the 19th on the 28th and I gained about 2lbs weighing 156.8 OOPS! Do I regret it? A little bit. I really enjoyed myself though and seeing all those people is something that just doesnt happen every day so I think Ill consider my Christmas break as a TREAT and not a CHEAT.

19-21st: I did great. Followed my diet perfectly!

The night of the 21st: Andrews grandparents got us a hotel room in San Antonio so we had chips, salsa and cerviche for dinner, it doesnt sound that bad because you didnt see the amount of chips and alcohol we consumed lol

22-23rd: Spent in Cibilo with Andrews grandparents, mom, sister and uncle. HELLO EGGNOG!! Me and his uncle went a bit crazy with BIG glasses and I personally had 2. Def didnt regret it though because it was DELICIOUS! totally forgot how much I love eggnog :)) happy holidays!

24th: Spent with my Moms side in League City. Jesus. Dieting is IMPOSSIBLE around my mothers GOOD cooking. Her and Allen were born to throw parties with good food and drinks and everything inbetween. They know how to throw a party! Plently of dips, chips, her FAMOUS tortilla soup, beans, rice, tamales... ahhhh so good!

25-27th: Got "stuck" at my Dads side for a couple of days- just hadddd to redeem my presents from my dad-- car detail, oil change, hair colored AND mani/pedi with my Gam. It was awesome! But staying up late with the boys (Michael, Andrew and Logan) def made it easier to fall off my wagon and enjoy yummy leftovers with them...

28th-Today: I have been following my herbalife diet perfectly again and weighed myself this morning at 154.6!! YES! Almost back to my lowest weight of 153.8 and I am so proud of that!!

Funny how one small thing can really inspire you to do better-- they chick I started my herbalife thing with wrote this about me on her instagram--



THIS MADE MY DAY!! and gave me the boost I needed to start my New Year RIGHT!! sooooo happy to be home and back on the wagon!! Ohhh Heyyyyyyyy 2013- Im about to kick your well toned ass.

Ill do my normal weekly updates CONSISTANTLY starting this upcoming Wednesday with pictures, weight and whatever else I feel like OVERSHARING ;))

I decided to kick up my New Year by adding weekly Saturday Measurements to my HERBALIFE dedicated calender--


RT- right thigh
LT- left thigh
S- widest place of my stomach
W- smallest part of my waist
H- widest place on my hips

So ready for the new year and to see my progress! and sooooo ready to show off my soon-to-be AMAZING body on Spring Break heyyy ayyyyy!!


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Week 2!!

AHHH!! I feel like a normal me again!! Pants are starting to fit correctly, my progress pictures didnt make me want to die this week and I just have an awesome amount of energy and positivity!! I thought I did okay on my week 2 while at the ranch but turns out I did GREAT!

On 12-5-12 I was 160lbs. This morning on 12-19-12 I am 153.8lbs. Holla back.


Not gunna sugarcoat anything on here. DANG! I am so proud of myself! Sticking to my diet and my workout routine and the weight just is FALLING OFF!! This is healthy. This is strong. I wanted this and I am achieving it. My mother started herbalife today. My mother in law started it last week. We can do this!!! I FEEL AMAZING! I cant believe I let myself get into the 160s but WHO FREAKING CARES, you all know I am not the only one out of your family and friends who have gotten FAT. I will never be there again and this journey has been soooo good for my selfconfidence and my body awareness. I am now enjoying my one meal a day but also realizing that everything I put into my body is fuel. I need to burn it and work my body- its amazing that I get to have this awesome life, now I will utilize it to the fullest.

My mother in law asked if she could do a glass of red wine each night. I googled it and WOW! NOPE! One 5oz glass of wine equal 161-252 burpees. Look up burpess if you dont know what they are, and heck no is one glass of wine worth it. You dont even get buzzed ;)) haha just teasing! ...but seriously, I know that red wine is good for your health but not when youre already unhealthy. I think it would be fine to add into ones diet AFTER you achieve your goal weight.

Just look at me- I am doing this. Next Wednesdays progress pictures will be after the dreaded Holiday eating fest with family and friends. If I can continue my awesome weight loss thru that- then you can too!! We got this! Come join the HerbaLife family with me- you wont regret it!!

Lets get skinny/healthy/fit/happy/confident TOGETHER!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

ahhh week two progress...

So I just spent 4/7 days of my week 2 at the ranch. The ranch is the most difficult place in my opinion to stay on a diet. Breakfast- eggs, bacon, pancakes, handmade donuts... DAILY! Beer is the source of hydration. Chips are constantly out for snacks because you are moving ALL DAY and get HUNGRY ALL DAY!

I would give myself a B+ on food and shakes but a D on alcohol intake. I refused all beer!! I refused all wine!! I even refused whiskey! I only drank vodka with real cranberry juice (most people find it too tart but I loveeeeeeeee me some cranberry juice!) real grapefruit juice or real pine apple juice. I like to drink and be silly at the ranch so that was my special drinking occasion!! This is not acceptable for me for normal weekends! No more in this new awesome lifestyle!

I am pretty sure I will have a weight loss this week... I am now not weighing myself except Wednesday Mornings. I am thinking I will have lost 1-2 pounds since I wasnt as gung-ho as last week but I still feel awesome and am soooooooooooooo thankful I am now back to real life so that I can give it %100 again! Last week was 2.8lbs and that is an awesome huge weightloss! Doctors recommend 1-2lbs weekly for permanent weight loss.

I am still super in love with herbalife and I can now really really feel my body changing- my pants fit better, my love handles are less squishy and sometimes I catch myself feeling up myself!! hahaha my butt and thighs feel amazing :)))

I have placed a few more orders and hopefully I can get them to share their journeys too eventually- this really is an amazing product and an amazing chance to take control over our bodies again.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my weekly weigh in and picture!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Lets get skinny together!!

So everyone that has read my blog has told me that I am so "brave." hahaha this cracks me up!! I was working out with Shantel last night and we both know what brave means- youre sooo brave for posting that fat picture of you!! hahahaa!! I take no offense to it at all. I knew I would be judged. Im judging myself!! Putting myself on blast for this is making all the difference in the world. I dont want to let myself down, my family down since they are doing this with me and my followers down because I want everyone to see WE CAN DO THIS! We can be superrrrrrrrrrrrrr hot again. This is so doable.

I keep reminding myself I have finished 1 week.
In 4 weeks I will look good. 3 more weeks doesnt sound bad. 3 is a small number.
In 8 weeks I will look GREAT. 7 more weeks doesnt sound bad. 7 is a small number.

Whenever anyone comes to me for advice I tell them to break your problems down as small as possible and deal with them one by one. It is the easiest way to unstress yourself and rationalize your problems and solve them permantetly. I give great advice. I never take my own advice. Until now.

I am on this crazy high from herbalife and the empowerment it is giving me over my body and my cravings and my destructive habits. I feel awesome going with Andrew to watch football and saying "no thanks" when offered a beer. I dont even want it anymore. I am getting high off being happy, not desperate for a drunk happy. You have to want this. Only then will you truely succeed.

I havent cheated!! I have started a mantra at night when I am having bad cravings watching Andrew eat dinner, then an hour later he will heat up fried egg rolls, pot stickers and chicken strips from our freezer. I say to myself "Imagine tomorrow morning just thinking 'ooo man! i really regret not eating all those extra calories!!'" PUH LEASE!! I literally giggle to myself when I say this. I have gotten so gay for herbalife and fitness and my body.

"you can sit on the ass you have and get the ass you want!!"

I am going to the ranch in a few hours til Monday. The ranch is beer, beer, food, beer, food and guns. I will not drink beer. I am not worried about this because I am not tempted. I am ready for those little 7 weeks to pass so I can show off this blog to EVERYONE! and be proud of who I have become. I am also a loyal chivette (thechive.com) and I want desperately to close the DAR one day. I will send them my before picture and a sexy after picture and I will make the DAR. Good goal right?

Keep making good food choices!! I know I will! I think this whole process was necessary for me. I have never appreciated food. I ate food for comfort and enjoyment. I have never ate food as fuel. This whole journey is making me work for something I really really want and achieveing it will just make me that much more proud of myself! only 7 more short weeks ;))))

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

FOOD

Hi my name is Stephanie Jo Mackey and I love food. I love breakfast, lunch and dinner. I plan the next meal before I eat it. I eat normal sized meals unless I am alone. I like to overeat but ONLY when Andrew is not home. Nope, he does not know this yet. It is my dirty shameful secret. I am sharing it with you because I seriously doubt that I am the only one. I LOVE HERBALIFE!! It is the biggest RELIEF to only plan one meal a day. I get to plan lunch all day and just really really enjoy it!! I do not have to feel guilty about it, I just plan one meal I really like and I eat it. All of it. Done. This system is easy peezy.

I have an insane energy on this stuff. The morning detox tea is amazing. I am sooo over coffee. I would have to drink about 16oz to get the buzz I was looking for. This tea gives me all day energy and "cleans me out." I am overly in love with herbalife already. I am happy constantly and I am confident again. Did I achieve my dream body in week 1? NOPE! But I am one week closer and that is amazing. I look at the pictures from one weeks progress and I do not see a big change. But I know its there. Andrew says he sees a change though. I am one week closer to having an amazing body, and I will get there. YOU CAN TOO!



Next week I will smile!!  We were rushed to take these pictures today!

I have lost 2.8lbs in one week. I have been doing about 40min of exercise a day (workout dvds- jillian michael, jackie warner, zumba and p90x, and running/walking with the dogs) It is amazing how much free time you have when you skip that beer/wine after work to wind down. Perfect substitution for a yummy workout!! I have a weekly workout date with Shantel and it helps me stay on track. We did Zumba last night and tonight we are having an EXTRA workout date this week for some TurboJam

feel free to email me with any questions! stephaniejomackey@yahoo.com I will be posting my weekly pics and weight but I will also post randomly inspirational things. I have been a dang waterfall of inspiration lately. HAHA I usually only get this sappy when I drink, now I get super sappy when I feel HEALTHY!! check in tomorrow for some sappy inspiration ;)



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

How I got to this point... Unfortunately...

I was lucky enough to have a pretty darn good body (not that I always appreciated it) for the first 22 years of life. I started gaining weight on a constant basis when I got engaged and married. Living with girls made keeping my body slim EASY! We all ate relatively healthy, didnt eat crazy amounts of food and made workout "dates" all the time! I lived next door to my best friend Emma so it was easy to live like her- we were inseperable and since she has an awesome lifestyle with food and exercise, I just fell into her lifestyle and it was soooo easy to stay skinny.

Then BOOM. I started living with my husband Andrew and it wasnt the same at all. Andrew eats alot and constantly craves good cheesy greasy food and so do I. Bad combination. If he was eating it, I felt like I could also. We also have a super bad habit of staying in on the weekends with alcohol and yummy foods and watch movies and tv... Fast forward a year and a half and CRAP. Here I am. I weighed about 130lbs in highschool. I weighed about 140lbs thru college... marriage put on more weight. I remember showing off my engagement ring to my grandpa and commented "it is too big! I am going to have to go get it resized!!" My grandpa chuckled and said "No hunny, youre getting married. Wives get fat so dont worry about it!" HAHA! I had no idea how unfortuately correct he really really was with his sarcastic joke! Boo.

I hit a low point when I was out with friends and a guy friend had too much to drink and laid it on me- "Why have you gained so much weight?" OUCH! (dont focus on this part- he felt awful and is a super nice guy so unfortunately I cant hate him at all lol) but I was so butt hurt! So mad someone else noticed!! and mostly angry that IT WAS TRUE. You think this would have been my rock bottom but nope. I just got sad and felt bad for myself and emotional ate like it was my job. I weighed myself at 167lbs. F*(&*&^!! I hadnt weighed myself since college!! OMG HOW DID IT GET THIS BAD? I knew I was chunky but geez. That is almost 30 extra pounds I lug around under my skin EVERY DAY. Also at this point, I was having constipation problems for the first time in my life. I started to use laxatives almost daily because I felt so bloated and didnt know what to do. When Andrew found out about the laxatives, he made me switch to fiber pills for my health. I was taking 5 fiber pills (the reccommended dosage) twice a day just to attempt to feel normal. And it barely worked. I still felt NASTY! and bloated and fat.

I had been following a bunch of "fit inspiration pages" on Instagram and randomly came across this chick from Miami Flordia that was starting a HerbaLife Challenge. Out of curiosity I started following her. And watched her journey. In three months she has transformed her body completely. And her confidence and personality is beyond contagious! I knew I wanted what she had got for herself. I knew I should have started when she did but I also knew that I was finally ready to really commit to a lifestyle change because of what happened a week and a half ago-
MY ROCK BOTTOM: My engagement ring and wedding ring would barely come off my finger. F&^*#!! These were loose November 2011 and now?? They BARELY fit!! It was a relief taking them off, with them on I felt as if I was losing circulation in my finger. HELL NO. I love those rings. I love being married to Andrew and I am proud to wear my rings and I am not giving up on myself anymore!! Unfortunately the whole self pity thing was not magically making me skinny. Who would thunk it?

Herbalife is an easy lifestyle change:
Breakfast- Morning detox tea, breakfast shake, multivitamin and cell activator
Lunch- Multivitamin and a healthy "colorful" lunch of fruits veggies and protein
Dinner- Dinner shake, multivitamin and cell activator
Healthy snacks when needed (veggies fruits nuts)



The cost of the package with shipping and handling is 210.02$ thru me. (I had thought it was cheaper but just realized you need one canister of meal replacement for breakfast and one for dinner to make the whole package 30 days) It really is a great deal because youre paying for your breakfast, coffee (you drink the morning detox tea for energy also and trust me- you dont miss coffee at all!! no coffee!!), multivitamin (in three daily doses so you absorb it better) and dinner. All you need to purchase on your own is a daily lunch and healthy snacks if needed.

I have done it for a total of 7 days including today. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I have stopped using fiber pills COMPLETELY! I honestly didnt even realize this until today! What a blessing and what a freaking nasty thought that I was having to use them because the way I was caring for myself :( I have a ton of energy without paying for starbucks and I am HAPPY AGAIN! I had fallen depressed for awhile. I hated myself and what I had become so I didnt want to go out and have to dress cute. It would take me an hour trying on multiple outfits and having Andrew console me when I gave up, cried about being fat and ended up just wearing his large tshirts and my running shorts... I am so ready for this change! I am not gunna lie- I was hoping for a change in one week but honestly I will have to wait a little longer but that is okay with me!! I am working hard and ready for a real change. Theres something empowering about going over with the boys to watch football and not drinking a beer! "I cant, I am on herbalife!" NO BEER! Not needed!!! I will drink a little vodka but only on special occasions so that I love my lifestyle and not resent it. I want to keep up my social aspects of food because those are enjoyable and make me happy! If I have a family dinner then I will eat a shake for breakfast and lunch so that I may enjoy dinner socially.

Anyways- Here is my starting picture. Taken December 5th by Andrew. I will take the same pictures with the same camera in the same spot weekly. I will probably start taking measurements also. This public journey is for two reasons.
1. I tend to work better under public humiliation. I have dug myself so deep into HerbaLife that I have to stay on it! I have to prove to myself and others that I can make a change and I WILL!
2. If I can help one person to get motivated to change their life also. Being chunky/fat SUCKS. Your clothes dont fit. You get tired doing simple things. You avoid bathing suit situations. You emotional eat. You use your weight as an excuse to NOT workout. So STOP! Lets do this together!!

I am 5'7in just FYI

If anyone decides to take this journey with me you do not only get the products- you get my cell number for 24/7 support. I know inner demons about food and health. I deal with them still. I am fighting thru them and I will help you do the same.