Slender With a Blender

Wow! I bet you didn’t expect to see that headline on a weight loss blog!

Here’s what I’ve learned by following this two shakes a day regimen. It only works if you work it, have you heard that before? If you’ve been following along on the Slender With a Blender weight loss challenge, you know that while I was having two shakes a day, with one normal meal, and two low-glycemic rated snacks between shakes and meals, I was losing weight. BUT, when I just ate rich holiday foods (buttery stuffing, and candied bacon!! cocktails and Christmas cookies) I gained some of it back. Thing is, it’s lifestyle changes that work to help you lose the weight. Yes, I’m following a “diet” on this challenge, but what I’m noticing that is REALLY important to me, is that I can always pull the low-glycemic shakes out of my back pocket, to lose the holiday weight, and continue on course to my goal weight. I’m also noticing that I don’t WANT so many sweet, or overly rich foods, and that I am making better food choices.

It’s a slow process, but the point I want to make is that the shakes can be either a jump start for a weight loss program, OR a remedy for overindulgence through the holidays…

When I lost the first 30 pounds by using the shakes, I kept those pounds off for over a year, and have never gained them back. This current challenge is to lose the next pack of pounds. This is not about yo-yo dieting or gimmicks. I have found that following a nutritionally balanced low-glylcemic regimen has helped me lose weight, but more importantly, has helped me make lifestyle changes that have kept the weight off. This program has also given me tons more energy to enjoy life more fully.

I am so grateful to all of you who are following this weight loss challenge, and especially to those of you who are challenging yourselves, and have emailed us at slenderwithablender@gmail.com. Some of you have also emailed me personally, to share your OWN weight loss, and your improved health stories. This has been truly inspiring. I will be including some of you in upcoming “vlogs” (the video blog). Your successes inspire me and keep me going! I truly couldn’t do this without you. Please keep following along.

With gratitude, and best wishes to all of you for your good health and happiness, Tannis and the SWAB team

Hello family and friends, Happy holidays! And a happy and prosperous NEW YEAR to all of you! Did you check out “Santa’s success” on our Slender With a Blender Facebook page? Just for fun… I hope you have all enjoyed a very merry Christmas, and a happy holiday season, and that you are looking forward to a wonderful 2010, with resolutions in hand!

I have to say, that when I entered into this commitment to do the “Slender With a Blender weight loss challenge” challenging myself to lose 40 pounds using the recipes in the book, and inviting you all along on the journey, with your own personal goals, I had NO IDEA that making it through the holidays would be, well… SO CHALLENGING! Thing is, when I did my first “round” and lost the 30 pounds in 4 months time, I lost my sugar cravings and all, I wasn’t really paying attention to what happened during the holidays. I was so thrilled with my results, and was not gorging myself on sugary treats, that I made it through the last holiday season, and kept the weight off for a full year…. However, this time, I was not just trying to maintain my weight, I had set a goal of LOSING weight over the holidays.

So let me give you a rundown of how it’s been going; September 1 was Day One of the challenge. On that day I started with the Reset program developed by the company that makes the shakes that inspired our book. That program is; 3 low-glycemic shakes replacing 3 meals, with two low-glycemic snacks, and a salad or steamed veggies along with the evening meal. I also allowed myself raw nuts, because I would not let myself get hungry on this plan. I carried a handful of raw nuts at all times, and ate them in between my meals or snacks so that I could keep hunger at bay. I lost 5 pounds in the first 5 days.

After the 5 days were up, I replaced only two meals a day with the shakes, had two low-glycemic snacks per day, and pretty much at whatever I wanted for my regular meal. Granted, I was making good nutritional choices, and listening to my body, and that’s what my body WANTED. I was also avoiding sweets (my body no longer craved sweets, and so they were easy to avoid).

Everything was going GREAT! Until this Thanksgiving….. Then…. It wasn’t so much the sweets that were my downfall, but rather the stuffing, and a lot of savory “high-carb” treats that just slayed me. I gained 5 pounds over the holiday week, because I was enjoying all of the stuffing and other treats of the season, and the holiday party season had begun. But, I am happy to say that once I woke up the fact that the scale was now moving in the wrong direction, I went on another 5 day reset, and this time lost the 5 I had gained, along with another pound, and I am back on track.

Well, not completely. Christmas, with more stuffing, and all the favorite Christmas baking and parties came along, and although I am mostly having shakes for breakfast, there are many days where shakes do NOT play a part, and I am certainly not back on track with two shakes a day…. The good news is, that even just replacing my breakfast with a shake (on most days), I am maintaining at 13 pounds lost, and holding.

Here’s what I have concluded = having the shakes, and the Reset program available to me, is a wonderful thing, because I am making it through the holidays without gaining any new weight – which is nothing short of a miracle with all of the delicious cookies and fudge that get passed around this time of year! I’m tasting everything, not feeling deprived, yet find that I only want to taste, and not overindulge in the sweet flavors. That had been a big problem for me in the past.

So, I RESOLVE, to be back on two meal replacement shakes a day on January 2nd until Feb 14th when the “Slender With a Blender weight loss challenge” concludes.

Thank you SO MUCH for all of the email support that you are giving me, both on my personal email and also at slenderwithablender@gmail.com. The reports I receive of your own successes are inspiring to me, and really keep me going! Keep up the good work! I look forward to continuing to support each other with our goals for weight loss and for maintaining good health throughout the coming new year. All the best to you and yours for a most wonderful 2010! From Tannis, and the whole Slender With a Blender team

Hello family and friends, and happy holidays to you! We’re all rushing around busy with family and holiday preparations at this time of year, yet I am pleased to have this moment to share with you that I have dropped another pound! Net loss, 13 – a recovery from the wibbly wobbly scale readings during Thanksgiving week.. Anyway, we are so grateful to everyone who still found time to send photos of our book visiting so many places! We have photos from Mendocino, CA, Miami, FL, New York City, NY, as well as some from other countries including Japan, Ireland, and Germany. We will be posting them on our Facebook page soon! Please feel free to contact us any time – slenderwithablender@gmail.com, and thanks for following along! All the best to you!