Slender With a Blender

Hello family and friends!  Thanks for following along – and even joining me on my slenderizing, health improvement journey.  I have become aware of a number of friends and family members who are also doing the “Slender With a Blender Challenge,” with their own personal goals for our Valentine’s Day deadline.  Good luck, everyone!

 I hope this journal helps support you as you “shake your way to health.”  I certainly feel the support FROM you as we all follow the SWAB (Slender With A Blender) program.

 Today marks the completion of week two, and the beginning of week three (if you are just beginning, you are NOT ‘behind’ – just join in at any time).

 Here is my daily eating plan for week two:  Breakfast shake; a low-glycemic snack bar with a cup of coffee (or tea) mid-morning.  For lunch another shake; then an afternoon snack from the low-glycemic foods list (or a low-glycemic bar when I’m on the run).  Dinner has been salads, sautéed or steamed veggies, and some type of protein serving such as meatballs, chicken, or fish.

 I attended three social gatherings this past week.  In past diets I have found social events challenging to stick to my diet!  This time, I found it was easy to avoid the bread, and the sugary drinks, and stay on the plan – I can tell that my sugar-cravings have been greatly reduced due to my low-glycemic eating plan.

 However(!), on Day 12, I did have a “cheat day”.  I had begun the day in my new healthy way, “breaking my fast” with the Mexican Jumping Bean shake (p.8) for breakfast, and really enjoying my Chocolate Cherries shake (p.15) for lunch.  When I arrived at the get-together I mentioned earlier, I joined in the festivities with a glass of wine and some cheese.  After dinner the desserts were presented, and I ate one of  “you HAVE to break your diet for this!” homemade brownies.  It was delicious and buttery, bittery, chocolatey good, and I only ate one (this is noteworthy, since I formerly would have enjoyed two or more!).  You can believe it, I savored every morsel… Truthfully, it was good, and I don’t regret it.

 I haven’t been feeling deprived at all using the Slender With a Blender weight management plan.  I mean, look at the recipes – I can have yummy-yet-low-glycemic treats every day!  I find that the shake recipes with the melted bittersweet chocolate in them, make me feel very indulged.

 My body feels well-nourished, and I’m not hungry or craving my usual ‘down-fall’ foods!  By dinner time, I look forward to having something savory (veggies & chicken – yum!).   I am going to sample some of those savory shake recipes in “Jenny’s chapter” soon…

 I have to say that it was a really good thing that I started carrying around low-glycemic snacks, especially the peanut crunch bar. When snack time rolls around, I really need that bar at my fingertips.  I was glad that I carried around a few to share with friends and co-workers, too.  I have some other great tips on handy, low-glycemic snacks that I will be discussing in upcoming blogs.

 As far as actual weight loss this week?  I was SO busy that I wasn’t able to schedule my official weigh-in.  The button on my slacks today, tells me that I’m trimming down, and that is so important – I am aiming at trimming my mid-section for optimal health.  So, I will weigh in again as my schedule permits, and report to you, my loyal readers!

 I hope you’ll continue to check in with me on the weekly blog – there are so many diet and health tips I plan to share, and I love getting the feedback!  I really look forward to hearing from you on your own “SWAB Challenge”!

Do you have your own favorite recipe yet?  Please let me know, and thanks for continuing to check in… Have a SWABBIE day!  Two weeks down!  21 more to go!

Hello family and friends, and thank you for joining me in the “Slender With a Blender Challenge” as we test the truth in our little book title…. Am I slender yet?  C’mon, give it time!  Although I HAVE lost about 4 pounds this week.  Have I been using my blender recipes? YES! And having a lot of fun with it!

The first five days were shakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a low-glycemic peanut crunch bar for mid-morning and afternoon snacks. Salad and veggies with the dinner shakes, and even 2 medallions of a pork loin on two of the five evening meals. Day 6 was the first day of shakes for breakfast and lunch, with a bar for a mid-morning snack, and fruit as the afternoon snack.  Dinner was a large plate of veggies, both cooked and raw, and a small serving of meat. It’s easy to eat dinner with friends at a pot luck BBQ, because you can bring a veggie plate, and/or a big salad as your contribution, enjoy a lean cut of barbecued meat, and load up your plate with salad and veggies. If you find you want a dessert later in the evening, (as I did), a handful of pecans, and even a square from a 70% cacao dark bittersweet chocolate bar can fill the bill! Yum! I had so much energy all week! I walked the dogs each a total of 3 hours (which means 6 total hours of  brisk walking over the 7 days), and I had enough energy to clean my house, sweep the yard, trim the plants, and GATHER AND ORGANIZE PAPERWORK. Plus going to work 5 of seven days, with one of those work days beginning at 9AM and lasting straight through to 8PM. 

The real discovery was the advanced planning necessary to make it through the day. One day I was without my low glycemic peanut crunch bar for my mid-morning snack, and big hunger pangs kicked in! I could have easily eaten ANYthing… but didn’t.  After that, I always traveled with my bars and shakes in a cooler in my car, plus plenty of drinking water, and some raw veggies to munch on, so that I had what I needed, no matter where I went. I also realized that although it takes a little planning to carry foods and be prepared, it’s a lot simpler and takes less time, than preparing full meals – and at approximately $3/shake, costs less, too!

Every morning I woke up excited to try the next new flavor for the day!  Starting my day with Jungle juice (p.6), or a Yummalicious Mocha Latte (p.5) created just the variety I craved, and the day that I had the Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup from the recipe on p.13, I felt like I had indulged in my favorite high calorie treat, and yet I was still on the SWAB plan. This kind of indulgence makes it easy to stick with it!

One week down, 22 more to go!  Let me know if you’re participating, and which recipes YOU like best.

Hello!  And good morning!  Today is Sept 1st, and it is the first day of the 23 week Slender With a Blender challenge!  My challenge is to lose 40 POUNDS by Valentine’s Day 2010, using a healthy diet of meal replacement shakes and low-glycemic foods.  The recipes and tips in the Slender With a Blender book will help me become a healthier, slender version of myself, weighing in at 40 pounds less than I weighed at my official weigh-in on a hospital scale.  Below you can see the pictures of me resisting the scale… Will you join me?

Tannis "Before" - official hospital weigh-in

Resisting that scale!

I am writing this as I sip on my “Snickerdoodle” shake (page 13 of our book, Slender With a Blender: “Anne’s Homemade Snickerdoodle), and think about the 23 weeks rolling out ahead.  I hope you will join me, following along on the blog (or “vlog”, since I will be submitting a video blog each week).  I will introduce and demonstrate the recipes in the Slender With a Blender book, and I will share about my experience as we go.  I have been offered health management coaching, and will share more about that in the weeks ahead.  I will also be growing a couple of beans (one marked “health” and the other “gratitude”) from ibeaninspired.com.  We can watch the beans grow, as we watch my waistline shrink!  My hope is that this will inspire you in your own quest for improved health.

If you want to join along with me, shedding pounds along the way, that’s great!  I need all the support I can get!  As you know, it is always recommended to consult with a health care professional before embarking on a diet, or changing your eating and exercise habits.  This week I will be starting off with a “reset” – where all of my meals will be the low-glycemic shakes in the book, and snacks will be low-glycemic bars.  I will also enjoy a salad or steamed veggies with my evening shake, all the while taking supplements each day, to further ensure that I am maintaining good nutrition.  I look forward to your feedback. I raise my shake filled glass to you – Here’s to your health!

And oh, by the way, did I mention I’ll be using the recipes in our little book? If you’d like to have your own copy, you can click on the icon for the book in the middle of the top of this web page – THANK YOU! And let me know how you’re doing with YOUR weight loss challenge, at slenderwithablender@gmail.com, keep in touch, thanks.

- The healthy home of delicious and nutritious weight management shakes! We’re happy to be a stop on your journey to better health.

Our mission is to help you achieve your health goals by enjoying a nutritious, satisfying shake instead of a high-calorie, high-sugar meal. We’re here to provide the ingredients for your success!

Get the shakes, follow the recipes, and shake your way to health!

Our hectic lives can get in the way of healthy eating. That’s why Slender with a Blender offers tasty meals that take only a few moments to prepare. Balanced meals complete with low-glycemic carbohydrates, healthy fats, protein and fiber are one of the best ways to keep your blood sugar steady, and your hunger in check.

For lasting weight loss and good health, you need a lifestyle plan you can stick with. But we know from personal experience that sticking to a program can become hum-drum. So we’re shaking it up with our fun cookbook, loaded with 50 shake recipes to satisfy your appetite without spiking your blood sugar. You can find a new flavor for every day of the month.

The secret is to start with the best meal-replacement shakes available. Next, add the ingredients from our recipes. Shake them up, and you have a healthy meal in just a few minutes! It’s as easy as saying “Slender with a Blender!”

Would you like to start today ?

Click  on “Buy the Book” at your right.

Have the shakes mailed to your doorstep - just click on the “BUY SHAKES HERE” link under Recommended Websites, or if you have questions, just email  slenderwithablender@gmail.com and we’ll get you started.

Come back often and let us know how it’s going!

Best wishes as you join those who are becoming Slender with a Blender.

Enjoy the journey!