Muller yogurt, compliments of @Influenster :)

So I know you already know I am on a "get healthy" phase in my life. I have dedicated much time and effort working out a lot...but hadn't changed my eating habits too much. That was a bad idea since 80% of weighloss is determined by what you eat! Damn, guess I better start eating better!!
Aside from the delicious protein shakes that @Influenster sent me to review as part of the #GoVoxBox, I also received a coupon to try a Muller yogurt for FREE (yes, my favorite price hehe). I love yogurt, but do not usually get enough of it in my life. But now I have no excuse since Muller Yogurt offers a wide variety of flavors and textures, I won't be able to get bored! I tried the lowfat vanilla with crunchy granola. I just LOVED the added crunch of the granola in usually creamy yogurt. But for when I am in the mood for something else, there are also fruit varieties, even ones that have mini chocolate chips...can you say heaven! lol. And yogurt is great for breakfast, with lunch, or as a healthy snack.  I myself like it for late night when I tend to have the hardest time controlling cravings and can sometimes become ravenous! But this will help me keep that under control :) Thanks @Influenster and @MullerQuaker !!

#MullerQuaker

Next Step FIt N Full

As you may know from reading previous blogs (not that I write that often…whoops lol) that I am on an ongoing quest to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. One of the new things I have tried in the past 3 months is protein shakes. The first one I tried was a berry blend, and it was oh, so bad that I wasn’t sure if I was interested in trying any other ones. After a lot of convincing, my friend had me try some Shakeology. Oh, it was so yummy….especially with a tsp. of all natural peanut butter, MMM. But, um…yeah I am NOT paying that price!! I thought I was doomed until I received my #GoVoxBox from Influenster which contained samples of Vitamin Shoppe Next Step Fit N’ Full protein shakes and a very cute and cool Jaxx shaker cup. The first flavor I tried was the swiss chocolate; it was very tasty, not chalky or grainy tasting. Only 140 calories (5g fat), 14g of protein, and I love that it has 6g of fiber! Then I tried the french vanilla and berry flavors which were good, but not as good as the chocolate (which is weird because in the shakeology I LOVE the vanilla, but didn’t care for the chocolate that much, and didn’t like the strawberry or greenberry at all!).

They provide Tonalin CLA to help reduce body fat and increase lean body mass (but you have to take 2 shakes a day to get the clinical level of CLA). I am glad they are also very easy to make; simply add 8oz. of cold water and shake/mix well. I prefer my protein shakes also blended well with some ice in a blender. The great thing about protein shakes is they are easily customizable, they can be made with yogurt and other fruits and veggies mixed in. Many people claim they can blend kale or spinach in and cannot even tell a difference in flavor. I am not that daring yet, but maybe one day :)

Here is a link for the Influenster review page of Fit N Full Protein Shakes

busy busy busy

I find myself having more and more to do lately, with less and less time to do it! But in life I am sure that is how almost EVERYONE feels...at least at some time or another. But I wanted to take a moment to catch you up on some things....

I had lost 50lbs. since 2010, but have since (in the past year or so) gained about 10 of those pounds back...and those stubborn little bastards won't go away no matter how much I had been exercising!!! But I have decided at the advise of my good friend Amy to give this 21 Day Fix program a try, so I started that yesterday. Wish me luck :) I am going to need it!! It seems like it will be much less food than I am used to (which in actuality it is probably more food, but it is cleaner eating, so I will miss my cookies and candy bars!) but apparently my eating is what has landed me in this position!

I seem to be getting shunned by BzzAgent lately, so I won't have much to Bzz about on here; but the good new is this other program that I am in called Smiley360 has been sending a lot of things my way for me to review, so I will be letting you know about those things including Nature Bounty hair skin and nails gummies...they are O SO DELICIOUS!!! And about new OxiClean detergent. Click the link for a money saving coupon!

http://smiley360.com/2841507.cfm

More to come....once I can get another chance to sit in front of the computer and pound on the keys for a bit ;)

I love shopping at Kroger!

I have always loved shopping at Kroger! Not only are they close to me geographically, but they always seem to have great prices. I love that nowadays you can pick up a wide variety of gift cards while doing grocery shopping without having to make a special trip. And the selection of stores to choose from is big; they even have prepaid Visa, MasterCard, and American Express gift cards that can be used virtually anywhere! Since I buy gift cards at Kroger often to use like cash, I was excited to be invited to the Kroger 4X fuel points gift cards at Kroger BzzCampaign!

Shopping at Kroger and using my Kroger plus card, I earn points to redeem for discounted fuel. On purchases, you earn 1 point for every $1 spent, and 1000 points = $1.00 off per gallon (up to 30 gallons). It gets even better since Kroger always gives you 2X the fuel points on your gift card purchases, and during the holidays they kick it up to 4X the fuel points!! That means that a $50 gift card purchase earns you 200 points (or 20 cents off per gallon) and you can let your fuel points accumulate and use up to $1.00 off per gallon at a time. It is a great program. My husband and I were able to get $1.00 off and actually purchase a tank of gas at less than $2.00 per gallon, it was awesome!

All around Kroger is a great place to shop, and their 2X and 4X fuel points program on gift cards makes it even better! The only downfall for me is that there is an additional fee for the Visa, MasterCard, and American Express gift cards (that I know of anyway, as far as I know the others have no additional fees). But that doesn’t change my love for Kroger or the program!

*For this BzzCampaign I was given bonus coupons to earn even more fuel points for gift card purchases, 1 for me and several to share with others*

I LOVE Green Mountain Coffees! Even more now that they offer Fair Trade Certified Coffees :)

 I fell in love with my mothers Keurig brewer, and thankfully my parents gave me one for Christmas last year! Ever since I got my Keurig brewer, I have been a huge fan of Green Mountain Coffee Kcups!! They offer so many varieties, I especially love their flavored coffees (such as the winter collection which has pumpkin spice, golden french toast, and gingerbread, they are to die for!).

 BzzAgent launched the Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified BzzCampaign, and I was ecstatic to receive an invite. Not only did they send me 6 kcups of Fair Trade Certified Three Continent Blend, they sent coupons for 50% off on brewers at Keurig.com! What a tremendous savings, I had a few friends that jumped on that offer very quickly.

 Fair Trade Certified coffees mean the farmers get a fair price for their coffee beans, which helps coffee farming communities to live a better life. And not just the Three Continent Blend is Fair Trade Certified, several of the Green Mountain Coffees that you know and love are now offered as Fair Trade Certified. In fact, Green Mountain Roasters (the parent company of Green Mountain Coffee) is the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified Coffee.

Normally I prefer light roast and flavored coffees, but a bold coffee is good for a change up. The Three Continent Blend combines the flavors and aromas of South America, Africa, and Asia. I enjoyed it, but it is definitely a dark roast coffee with extra bold rich flavor. I will definitely be looking for other great Green Mountain Fair Trade Certified varieties of coffees! :)

*although I received these items FREE from BzzAgent, this is my opinion...which was not affected that I got to try these products for free*.

Excellent dry skin relief from Curel!

Wow, I haven’t blogged in quite some time! Summer always seems to get the best of me, and there is NEVER enough time in each day!! I guess another reason I hadn’t blogged lately, is other than my ongoing weightloss journey (which is random and slow going…but at least I have been maintaining my current weight loss) I have had nothing to talk about. But now I do, last month was a great month for me in being picked for some new awesome products to review from BzzAgent!! So stay tuned for more on these great products :). And in case you are new to my blog, I am a BzzAgent meaning I fill out surveys to get matched with products I get to try for FREE (my favorite price lol) or at a discount.

 The first product I recently received was Curel Advanced Ceramide Therapy Intensive Healing cream. It is a daily cream for extra-dry or sensitive skin. I suffer from dry skin, but especially on my feet and hands. This stuff is great! Most lotions and creams that claim to be for extra dry skin are so thick and goopy, even sticky sometimes…but this is light weight and absorbs quickly delivering immediate hydration. It replenishes moisture and ceramide levels and is long lasting. 9 out of 10 dermatologists recommend using it and it is pediatrician tested to be safe for kids 6 months and older. It is clinically proven to help chapping and chafing caused by dryness, and I can vouch for that. It is also hypo-allergenic and fragrance-free; so it doesn’t overpower other scents you may be wearing.

 I really enjoyed testing this lotion and will be more than likely adding it to my winter skin care regimine. Unfortunately my BzzKit was missing the $2 coupons, but this lotion is probably worth the price given the benefits.

Lean Cuisine Honestly Good frozen meals; good for you and delicious :)

Here’s another “I’m so glad/happy/proud to be a BzzAgent” blog post!! This time I was granted coupons to try new Lean Cuisine Honestly Good 100% all natural frozen meals. I have always been a huge fan of Lean Cuisine meals! I eat one virtually every day for lunch, so I was very excited to be able to try one for totally free. And as usual I was also given coupons to pass out, which I love because I love being able to share my opinion of products and things I find out about. Of course my friends and family all love that I get coupons to share too (and for this BzzCampaign I even talked to some absolute strangers and shared coupons with them). As someone who is trying to live a more healthy lifestyle and lose weight, I was excited that these meals were 100% all natural and had ingredients I could actually pronounce and furthermore know what they are! And the best part was that it was delicious and did not even taste like it was a frozen meal. I tried the Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and was very pleased with the whole meal, I loved it all. It had a whole grilled chicken breast filet. The pasta that is with it is whole grain cavatappi pasta that I used most of the roasted red pepper sauce on. Then there is sea salt and lemon-seasoned broccoli florets. I like to have frozen meals most days for lunch since they are already portioned out perfectly for me. I felt like there was more food in this meal, but it was still a usual portion and came in at 270 calories, 7 grams fat, 25mg cholesterol, 520mg sodium, 29 carbohydrates, 5g fiber, and an awesome 25g of protein. These meals can seem a little steeply priced however. When I purchased mine the regular price at our Kroger was $4.79 for one meal! This week our Meijer has them in the ad at 2 for $7 which is much better, especially if you have a coupon! If you have the money to spare, they are probably worth the full price though; the fact that they taste so good and not like frozen food might be worth it to you.