Isagenix Update: Monday

Well, today was my "weigh in" day. I weigh myself almost every day and I knew that today's weigh-in would be tough by the numbers all week. 


I didn't lose anything. Of course that means I didn't gain anything either. I have 20 days to lose 2.5 pounds. 


I have been writing everything down in a food journal I made myself. It is really just a check off list since I eat almost the same foods everyday: a fiber granola bar when I wake up, an Isagenix shake in the morning, yogurt & berries for snack, grilled chicken and a spinach salad for lunch, a fiber granola bar in the afternoon and a smart meal in the evening. I have been adding some calcium & fiber along with a protein shake at night which is different for me. 


To this point I had stopped eating about 3 hours before bedtime. However, the shake at night is supposed to be taken 30 minutes before bedtime. This is another 165 calories. Even with the shake though, I have been eating between 1250-1400 calories on a given day. 


I have also walked a few times during the last week. My knee is killing me from all the walking. 


I am not sure what else to do. I am trying to eat less calories than I burn. THIS calculator says I burn around 1700 calories a day. That should be at least a deficiency of 300 calories but what do I know?  


I will continue to do what I have been doing and hopefully I will show a big loss next Monday.

 

Recent Ebay Sales - 7/20/12

Here are a few things that have sold over the last few days: 


1. Chico's Pants, sold for $17. Chico's does fairly well if you have a piece in the larger sizes. Chico's has boutique sizing: 0 (XS & S), 1 (M), 2 (L), 3 (XL).

2. Chico's Traveler Top, sold for $40. 

3. Chico's Dress, sold for $30.

4. Dana Buchman dress, sold for $15. 

5. Lot of men's underwear, sold for $15. The black dot is for all you modest folk ;)

6. Dressbarn dress, sold for $18. 

7. Worth Suit, sold for $30. 

8. Ralph Lauren blazer, sold for $25. 

9. Eddie Bauer denim skirt, sold for $15.

What I Wore Wednesday

This is my first time linking up with The Pleated Poppy for her "What I Wore Wednesday" series. I have been meaning to do this for weeks but I always forget to take a photo of what I am wearing. 


This week the photos did NOT go well. For those that do not know me, I usually leave the house around 8am each morning to go thrift shopping. My hubby sleeps in until about 10am and then leaves to take care of his elderly father & work out. This means that I have no one to take a photo and I am relying on the timer on my camera. 


I came up with a lot of interesting ceiling shots as my camera slid to the floor. Ugh. This coming week I am going to try and use a tripod. 


Anyway... My life is very casual and it was fun to put a bit more effort into what I wear. 

Friday...a day at home: 

 Top: Coldwater Creek, purchased for $6 at their annual sale

Skirt: H&M, purchased at Goodwill for $2

Saturday...thrifting & errands: 

 White Tank: Gap, purchased at Goodwill for $2

Shorts: Gap, purchased at Goodwill for $3
Necklace: handmade by a resident at a retirement community

A simple fishtail braid so I didn't have to blow dry in the heat! 

Sunday...church: 

 Ballet Flats - Pour La Victoire, purchased for $18 on eBay
Skirt - Apostrophe, purchased for $2 at Goodwill 

Top - handmade for me by Lirola, purchased for $89

Sunday evening...a movie night out with friends:

Same top as above
Shorts - Gap, purchased for $3 at Goodwill
Ballet Flats - Mudd, purchased for $2 at Goodwill

Monday...thrifting:

 

Jersey Dress - Gap, purchased at Goodwill for $3

Sports Bra: Fruit of the Loom, purchased 3 for $10 at Wal-mart

Earrings - $3 Etsy purchase from Bonnie Lynn Designs

As you can see, I get about 90% of my wardrobe from thrift stores. I thrift 3x a week and I visit 8 thrift stores during those days. I very rarely spend more than a few dollars on a piece and I am thankful for this. Hopefully the photos will be better next week!

Recent Ebay Sales - 7/17/12

It is going to be hot & humid here in PA today. We are headed to pick up a used refrigerator for my father-in-law and then we are headed to a local community pool. I'm sure it will be PACKED. I will also be doing a bit of thrifting today. Today is the last day of the "list on ebay for free" sale they have going on and I'm going to try to list everything I can. I have sold a lot in the last week.

Here are a few things that have sold during the last few days:

1. Talbots skirts, sold for $15 each. I can sell printed Talbots skirts for $13-$15 all day long. It seems like my thrift stores have a lot of Talbots and I do fairly well with them. The thrift charges between $1-$3 and so the profit is usually around $10 after the ebay/paypal fees.

2. Fresh Produce dresses, one sold for $11 and the other for $12. These would have went for a lot more had they been a larger size but these were XS.

3. Ann Taylor LOFT skirt, sold for $15.

4. Talbots plaid jacket, sold for $20.

5. Vera Bradley hipster style purse in the Baroque print. I purchased this for myself to carry around in Ireland. I used it and then re-sold it for about the same price I purchased it for new! The used purse sold for $32.

6. Garmin GPS map for the UK & Ireland. I put a few other "Ireland" things in this lot and it sold for $46. We purchased the Garmin map for about $35 before our Ireland trip. We used it for the couple of weeks and then re-sold it for more money! Love it :)

7. Boston Proper sweater, sold for $40.

8. Talbots silk dress, sold for $18.

9. Chico's Design silk skirt, sold for $18. 

 

10. Max Mara black dress, sold to a Canadian buyer for $75. 

11. BCBG printed jersey dress, sold for $40. 

12. St. John jacket, sold for $40. This jacket had a flaw and still sold for decent money. I love finding St. John items.

13. Vintage Laura Ashley velvet dress, sold for $29.

14. Gap "puffy" down filled vest. Sold for $30.

15. Jason Wu for Target. I do fairly well with Jason's line for Target. This dress sold for $20.

Monday Morning Isagenix Update

For those that don't know, I am using Isagenix to lose some weight. I started this journey two months ago at 152.4 lbs. I lost 10 pounds in 40 days on Isagenix and was a happy 142.4lbs. I then went on vacation to Ireland and gained three pounds back. 

Last week I was 144.4 pounds. This morning I weighed in at ... 142.4 pounds. Which means that despite eating a cupcake and a sub sandwich yesterday, I lost two pounds this week. 

I have been careful to limit the amount of calories I am eating. I am 5' 8", 142.4 pounds and only exercise a minimum amount. I try to get around 1400 calories a day. 


My goal is to lose another 2.5 pounds in 3.5 weeks. I need to try to get back into walking which went by the roadside last week. I am at the lightest I have been in about 5 years and I love the feeling. The feeling is helping me make the right decisions.

Giveaway Winner

The winner for THIS giveaway is number 1....Celeste! I just sent out an email and she will have 48 hours to contact me. Thanks to those that entered.

Recipe: EASY Double Chocolate Chunk Oreo Cookies

I adore chocolate. I literally cannot keep it in the house or I will eat the entire box/package/etc. (The same holds true for almost any food I love.)


For those that don't know, I help bake for church every month or so. We have a smaller church (about 100-125) that has snacks & coffees in the back for people to nibble on while listening to the sermon. Every month I make hundreds of cookies. I try to stick to some basic recipes (sugar, chocolate chip) and add a few different ones each time. 


Next week I get to bake again. I wanted to try a new recipe and I thought that since I teach children's church tomorrow, I would try it out on them. When I teach, I bring a snack to bribe give the kids. It helps them keep quiet during the story. The snack always includes an ice cream soda of some kind (The kids always pick the combination. Last time we had grape & cherry soda with chocolate ice cream.) and a cookie or cupcake I bake. 


My new recipe is SUPER EASY since it starts with a mix. I purchased the Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chunk cookie mix for about $2 at Wal-Mart. With the mix, you will just need one egg, 2 tablespoons of water and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. 

 

The batter looks like this: 

Once the batter is mixed, put just a bit on a cookie sheet. I used about 1 tablespoon of batter which is just slightly bigger than a quarter.

Then stick an Oreo cookie on top of the batter and squish the batter:

Next, put more cookie dough batter on top: 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the cookies look done. 


Since this was my first time, I didn't realize I would have to spread the cookie batter down over the Oreo cookie. I thought it would naturally melt down while baking. It did not and my Oreos were not completely covered. 

The kids would eat them anyway but I wanted to do something fun with them since they looked kind of odd with the Oreo sticking out. I put two edible circle sprinkles on top (you can buy these at any craft store or bakery; I found mine at TJ Maxx). 


They reminded me of chocolate monsters of some kind. 

If I would have had Twizzlers or another type of red candy, I could have made a lizard tongue. Pretend my piece of paper is a type of edible candy:

Of course I had to try one to make sure it was good enough for the kids tomorrow! 

  

YUM! This has been the best thing I have eaten in months. Seriously, it was delicious! My husband took a few to my father-in-law and he just called to say he loved them as well.

Next time I will make sure the batter covers the Oreo. I may also try to make these with sugar cookie mix instead of the double chocolate chip mix and then I will color the sugar cookie mix green to make them look more like monsters. 

PS - Check out THIS giveaway. I will let Random.Org pick the winner sometime during supper tomorrow. It has LOW entries! 

Recent Ebay Sales - Friday the 13th

Here are a few things that have sold on ebay over the last few days. 


1. J. Crew mini skirt, sold for $23. 

2. The Limited dress. I listed this last night and I woke up this morning and it had sold! Sold for $23. 

3. J. Jill sweater, sold for $18. 

4. BCBG dress, sold for $45. 

5. J. Jill corduroy dress, sold for $39. 

6. Worth silk top, sold for $18. This was hanging in my closet since last year. I hate silk and never wore it. I'd rather have $18 than a shirt I don't wear any day.

7. Beach Bay swimsuit, sold for $27. This was my swimsuit last year and it was too big this year (woo-hoo!). 

8. UGG boots, sold for $57. Yes, I found these at a thrift. It is amazing what people donate.  

9. Athleta swim top, sold for $15.

10. Banana Republic sweater, sold for $35. 

11. Laura Ashley dresses that were made in Great Britain still do fairly well on ebay. This one sold within a day of listing for $29. 

  
I went shopping almost every day this week. I have another 20 or so items to list on ebay this weekend. Hopefully I have some more great sales as well!