6 month Progress

                     

It's been 6 months being on the Slenderiiz program and I am happy to inform you all that we have combined lost over 110lbs! Karl has lost 63 lbs and I have lost 51 lbs. I say lost, but really I mean adios! Gone forever! We have developed a clean eating lifestyle that is here to stay. We're in the last stretch of weight loss, Karl has 10lbs left to lose of fat and is gaining muscle while doing circuit training and weight lifting, I have 20 lbs of fat left to lose to be at my DREAM weight, I've started running and have continued to do circuit training with Karl 3 days a week. I have a goal of running in a 5k with my sister in law this spring and I don't want to be last!

Soon we will be able to replace our family portraits in our home with the new us, which is perfect timing for our moving to a new home 4 hrs away.

Are you on a weight loss journey? Or trying to eat healthier? Feel free to ask questions, request recipes or learn more about the program we've been following by emailing us at kzfire35@gmail.com

We feel blessed to be on this journey and welcome anyone else who wants to make a change for a healthier lifestyle with the proper nutrition and food the fuels your body.

Progress Update: Being Real

I've spent nearly a lifetime making some good choices with food, but a large portion making inadequate choices with food. I wouldn't say they were terrible, or life ending but they brought me to a point of near obesity. What changed ? I couldn't look in the mirror and make positive comments about myself anymore. My children were requesting fast food, pizza and throwing fits when I did make dinner at home. Our quality of life was poor and it was all because of the choices we were making about food. I had an unhealthy relationship with food.

Those of you following our blog, you already know why I'm here and what our family and some of our friends are working on, a lifestyle change. Not a DIET, not a FAD, but a change in our relationship with food. One that doesn't mean we turn to food for comfort, for happiness, for boredom, but rather as fuel, as nutrition and as a teaching lesson to our children. 16 Weeks of eating clean, eliminating gluten, sugar, dairy and soy from our eating habits and incorporating a rainbow of healthy food options into our home.

Karl is down 45lbs, I am down 35 lbs, our kids are asking for snacks like hummus and bell peppers. Nadine has discovered she loves asparagus! I'm so proud of the progress we've made in just under 4 months. Our lifestyle change was really put to the test this summer as we have been traveling a lot. I am SUPER proud to inform you all that we did not stop for fast food once on either of our road trips. We drove 22 hours in a week the first week and then 39 hours in 5 days on our second trip. I packed a cooler full of salsa, veggies, baked black bean chips, unsweetened applesauce, unsweetened coconut milk, purenourish shakes, apples, oranges, white albacore tuna packed in water, Organic goat cheddar cheese and lots and lots of water. I will confess that I lived off from a combination of coffee and rejuveniix for energy since we only slept for 2 of 4 nights on our second road trip.

Here's where I have to confess, we are not perfect. Just because something is vegan, doesn't mean it's a healthy choice, and just because it's gluten free doesn't mean it is healthier than regular bread. We "rewarded" ourselves with vegan donuts, Karl bought me a vegan lemon cupcake, and we had dairy free pizza when we got home. Our first exposure to refined sugar, soy, and gluten in 15 weeks and we were miserable. By we I mean I was miserable and unfortunately my family paid the price. My chronic acid reflux (GERD) came back with vengeance and so did my irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) and my seasonal pollen allergies were out of control (I think because my immune system was compromised by eating foods that made me sick)! Sorry if that's too much information for you all but here's what I gathered from this experience. My body is at it's best on the Slenderiiz food program, when I follow it to the letter and avoid my food allergies, I have energy, my seasonal pollen allergies are minimal, and I have no symptoms at all from GERD or IBS. Karl was irritable and had a supreme sugar crash after the experience and agreed that "rewarding" our efforts is the sign of us not really taking the lifestyle change serious as a long-term choice and our bodies need us to treat it serious. At a certain point we will reach our goal weights, we CAN'T look in the mirror and ask "Am I thin enough?" or "Am I fit?" we have to change our view and look at what we are putting in our bodies and ask "Am I HEALTHY?" I want to play with my children without my joints hurting, without stomach aches, and I want to have the longest possible life to enjoy my family which means this is not a FAD not a DIET and FAILURE is not an option.

Sunday, We hit the reset button and are back to eating clean, making meal plans and getting active. We genuinely care for our friends, family and even all you international blog readers. Do yourself a favor, don't judge your health by what you see in the mirror, or what size of clothes you're wearing. Look at your food, your vitamins, your beverages and your activities and then honestly ask yourself "Am I HEALTHY?" "Am I teaching my children to be Healthy?" "Am I making choices that will help me be there for my family, friends and community as long as healthfully permitting?". If your answer is NO to any of those questions, you're in need of a lifestyle change, please feel free to use us a support system.

On a lighter note, I have tons of recipes to share with you all since I didn't get very many blog posts in while we were traveling! Stay tuned =)

Danielle's progress update

Here is my most recent update I posted on instagram today. Feeling pretty good! 15lbs to my goal weight and officially at a healthy BMI !

P.s. if you're on instagram or Twitter you can find me under the username Daniczec.

Karl's individual update is coming soon!

Long Over Due Progress Update- 90 days

 90 days ago Karl and I along with our friend Jeff decided we were ready to commit to a healthier lifestyle, to hold each other accountable and to not stop until we hit our goals. We're not done yet but the 3 of us have come a long way and have a ton of over-sized clothes to show for it.

                                                 Then

Jeff - 270 lbs
Karl - 285 lbs
Danielle - 176 lbs

Now

Jeff - 228 lbs (down 42 lbs!)
Karl - 245 lbs (down 40 lbs!)
Danielle - 146 lbs (down 30 lbs!)

Collectively we have lost 112 lbs in 90 days

As you can see from the picture, our clothes are baggy. We were all laughing at how ill fit our wardrobes were and how we need to buy some skinny clothes and re-take this picture. There's some fun outtakes I will post, because these men are silly and fun to be around.

Karl's and my relationship has grown stronger (I didn't know that was even possible) through this journey and we are constantly building each other up. I love that our children have had a noticeable change in their eating desires too. Yesterday Nadine requested asparagus in her lunch for school and today she was eating raw bell peppers as a snack. I feel so proud to know that we are teaching our children the skills to eat well, and have a healthy relationship with food.
Jeff and his wife, Tiffany, are two of our dearest friends and through this experience I think we've grown closer as well. It's definitely a perk to have people who understand and live through the same accomplishments and obstacles. We are eternally grateful for their friendship and their part in sharing this journey.
As two family's on this journey together Karl and I are particularly excited to celebrate when we all 3 have met our goal weight! Tiffany and I have talked about a cruise, I think the boys might go for that!

What we've been doing:
We have been on a set eating program for 90 days called Slenderiiz its an all natural, organic supplement that is taken under the tongue  before each of your 2 largest meals a day for 90 days (or shorter if you reach your goal before then) which helps flush fat and boost your metabolism while reducing cravings for sugar and oils. This combined with a food plan of 1200 calories and eating guide to help train our bodies to crave REAL food, that is going to fuel our bodies instead of weigh it down has propelled our weight loss in to over drive. This program has a 2 year clinical trial and we are participating in a beta testing of the product for the Oregon area. 

We have successfully transitioned in to a healthy relationship with which is low-glycemic, no refined sugar, gluten free, dairy free (primarily due to my allergies) and only eating lean proteins. Karl and Jeff are done using the drops and will continue their 1200 calorie food plan until they have reached their goal weights and then will adjust the calories accordingly to maintain. I plan on doing another 30 days of the slenderiiz system since I still have 20 lbs to go until my goal weight.

This has been such a positive experience, I am excited to continue to develop new recipes, share our story and hopefully with in the next 60 days be celebrating reaching our goal weights. Stay tuned for more progress updates and recipes.

Outtakes ;)

This one is my favorite! oh those silly men...

Progress Update measured by PANTS!

Today was weigh in day and we didn't make it to the gym lol oops! We will do our official weigh in tomorrow morning.
BUT!!
Karl and I went shopping for jeans today, the progress is in the numbers!
Karl started out in 42x34 Silver brand jeans and as of today is wearing 36x34 Silver jeans!
Danielle started out in 33x32 Silver brand jeans and as of today is wearing 30x32 Silver jeans!

Karl and I have collectively almost lost 50lbs, not bad for only 37 days right?

This lifestyle change has been one of the best things to happen to us.

How are you all doing in your journey? Are you just getting started, starting over, or thinking about starting? Take it from us, there's never a time like now to save your life by making healthier choices with your food, activities, and fluids.

Celebrating a week of progress!

Hello dear friends and followers!

Sunday marked our first 7 days of lifestyle change eating and exercise combined with our "liquid discipline" ;) Homeopathic drops. We have some great results! and will continue to combine the Slenderize program with our dietary and work out changes.

Remember Jeff from our earlier post? You can read about him joining our journey HERE.

Just a reminder of where we started:

Karl on 2/27/13 285 lbs , Waist measuring 49 inches, Chest measuring 48 inches.

Danielle on 2/27/13 176 lbs, Waist measuring 44 inches, Chest measuring 37 inches

Jeff on 3/3/13 270 lbs, Waist measuring 48 inches

UPDATE!

Karl on 3/10/13 274 lbs (down 11 lbs!!)

Danielle 3/10/13 172 lbs (down 4 lbs) but I have lost a total of almost 2 inches off my WAIST! yes! down to 42.1 inches =)

Jeff on 3/10/13 258 lbs (down 12 lbs!)

Collectively the 3 of us lost 27 lbs in one week =) pretty exciting stuff!!!!

Lean Proteins to Keep you Full and Full of Energy!

We are learning quickly that the key to sustaining energy, feeling full with out feeling stuffed, and keeping caloric intake under control is portions. We love fresh fruit and veggies but tend to stray on proteins so here's a versatile recipe for cooking lean fish full of flavor but skipping the full fat ;)

Baked Fish

1 clove garlic, minced

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

juice of 2 fresh lemons

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 (6 ounce) fillets halibut/cod or Salmon

(if you roll the lemons first before squeezing  them, you will get way more juice out with less effort) Mix all your seasonings to prepare the marinade. Place your fish in marinade and cover/refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

After you squeeze the lemons in to the mix, slice them thinly and place over the fish, this will help penetrate the flavor but also retain moisture. Bake at 375 deg. F (for white fish)  at 7-13 minutes, and 400 deg. F (for salmon) for 18-22 minutes until the flesh is opaque pink.

6 oz of salmon with this recipe is 246 calories, 6 oz of cod with this recipe is 281 calories. (according to Fitness Pal)

This is 4 oz of cod, 4 oz of salmon, 1/4 cup broccoli, 1/3 bellpepper 466 calories

Stay tuned for an awesome progress report from Karl, Jeff and I. This Sunday is our first full week completed on the journey as a team of 3 =)

Healthy Food on the Go!

Mandy posted this request on our Facebook wall this morning and I was more than happy to dive in to a blog response ;)

Believe it or not, your planning for a healthy lunch tomorrow starts with tonight's meal! If you can strive to have a lean protein each night make sure you have enough for left overs the next day.
I turn just about every dinner into a salad some how. I looked online for recipes to give you but I feel like building blocks to every day lunches or quick food is the key here.

Salad Base
I keep spring leaf salad in the fridge at all times
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sprouts
Peas
Black olives
Hard boiled eggs
2 Lemons (wedge and save to use in place of salad dressing if you desire)

Salads don't have to be lack luster and can be hearty!
Sunday night set aside an hour to prepare for your week's lunches.
Cut up your tomatoes (I recommend de-seeding them so you cut down on moisture), Cucumbers, rinse your sprouts, and defrost a bag of frozen peas. I keep mine all separate so they maintain their individual flavors all week and don't get slimy.

Now envision that you have all of your salad base ready for you every night to pack your lunch, you had chicken tonight so you toss some chicken in there, you had ground beef, pork chops, even fish it can be added to your salad!

If you have a meal that integrates your protein in to your food like a casserole, lasagna and enchiladas then you wont really have anything to throw on your salad but here's the back up plan.

Have some quality lunch meat ready for back up, or one of my favorites it s tuna salad.
Here's my tuna mix.

One pouch of White albacore tuna
1tbs Wish Bone Robusto Italian Dressing
1 tbs of olive oil mayonaise
dash of ground pepper

This makes two servings and yields 126 calories for a 1/2 cup

                                 
  I use these Glad containers that are built for salads.










For snacks on the run I use raw almonds, baby carrots and PureNourish meal shakes (I use Vanilla coconut milk to mix, since its not naturally very sweet). I'm also a big fan of Safeway's (Von's) "Open Nature" branded nut bars.

Progress Update

We have several friends who are on this healthier lifestyle change journey which is very exciting! Hopefully as the month progresses we will get some of their testimonies posted here. One of our close friends Jeff has agreed to actively participate in logging his journey as well.

Saturday 3/2/2013 we took some before pictures... oh boy just to warn you they are NOT flattering.

From Left to right: Jeff, Karl and Danielle

These make me cringe...seriously.

So here's an update on where we are:

Karl on 2/27/13 285 lbs , Waist measuring 49 inches, Chest measuring 48 inches.

On 3/4/13 he's at 279 lbs, waist measuring 48 inches, Chest measuring 47 inches.

Danielle on 2/27/13 176 lbs, Waist measuring 44 inches, Chest measuring 37 inches

Danielle on 3/4/13 174 lbs, Waist measuring 42.5 inches, Chest measuring 36.75 inches

We are starting to see some progress which is very promising! On Sunday the three of us started a homeopathic system that's supposed to support weight loss and natural energy. Hopefully this will help jump start our goals. 

As soon as I get an update on Jeff I will let you know his progress too!

Push!

Today I had an epiphany!

Let me start from the beginning...

As one of the life style changes I've made this week, instead of driving my daughter to school I've been walking her to the bus stop (it's a 0.9 miles there and 0.9 miles back) I figured an nearly 2 mile walk twice a day 5 days a week is a guarantee of [1.8 miles*5=9 miles a week] 9 miles of walking per week and 45 min of cardio per day. Today I realized that after walking 9 miles in 5 days I wasn't sore, not even the slightest. So this was ok exercise for me but it wasn't GREAT exercise! 9 miles at 4 miles per hour (brisk walk) is only 941 calories (two meals worth of calories). 

calculation based off Fitness Pal

Here's what I realized, I want extraordinary results. Walking 1.8 miles a day is improvement from no activity [haha] but I wasn't pushing myself. So, after I dropped Nadine off at the bus stop and watched her ride away Noah and I went on a stroll. We walked 4 miles, came home had lunch and then I did my Weight Watcher's exercise "Punch it out" video [30 minutes]. All in all I burned my 900 calories in one day instead of 5! And it only took me an extra hour and a half from my day. 

Active kids means I'm going to be an active mom!

I heard from a friend once that "we lose weight to look good in our clothes, but we work out to look good naked." 

Not every day has to be a vigorous work out, and you shouldn't work out so hard to where you don't want to work out again for days. But you can accomplish this by PUSHING yourself 3-5 days a week to walk the extra steps.

Simple ways to increase your steps:

• Park the farthest spot away from the store.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Take the kids or your pet out for a walk.
• Pace around while you talk on the phone.
• Walk around the block when you go to get the mail.

What are tips and tricks you have for getting in EXTRAordinary exercise?

Join us in our journey

Where we started

10 years ago and 120 lbs lighter than we currently are Karl and I (Danielle) were blissfully dating and engaged. The only real life stresses we had since we lived at each of our parent's homes were jobs, school and when we could see each other in between.

Once we got married both of us gained a little weight (me about 15 lbs and Karl about 20lbs), and we wrote this off as only being able to afford top ramen, hot dogs, and occasionally frozen veggies. Both of us maintained at that weight for 2 years until we had our first child (Nadine). I gained 20 lbs but lost all of it by the time Nadine was 2 years old. Karl however traded in his time playing basketball for daddy time and kept the athlete's eating habits with out the athlete's workout. Karl gained, 40 lbs and to this day has not lost it. We started eating better, and lived a relatively healthy lifestyle so I maintained my weight pretty well but my main food group was coffee. After we started trying to get pregnant with our second child was when I started packing on the pounds. Three miscarriages left me depressed, hormonal and 30 lbs heavier, I weighed the same amount as when I was FULL TERM with Nadine. After 2 years of trying we were blessed with our Son Noah. A bad car wreck had me on intermittent bed-rest through my pregnancy and after Noah was born I had 12 months of physical therapy for the back damage I had from the car wreck, leaving me literally in the worse shape of my life. Karl has had 2 reconstructive surgeries on his left hand and has been battling bulging discs in his back also as a result from not just one but TWO car wrecks that happened with in 17 days of each other.

So 2 years post car wrecks here we are.

In our Christmas photos this year we hid behind our kids, both embarrassed of our peak in weight. Karl at 282 lbs (6'4'') and me at 176 lbs (5'4'')

We are tired of excuses, we both have been cleared of physical therapy for several months and since Noah is turning 2 in a few short days I can no longer tell myself that "I just had a baby". It's time for a change, it can't just be about the weight loss because it will come back if that is the case. Our journey has to be about a healthier lifestyle; better food choices, nutrition habits, exercise, and listening to our doctor about our health risks from obesity. The truth is that we should have made this change a long time ago, but we were afraid of failing, and often times its hard to see progress on your own and it is easier to give up than to push forward.

This blog is for our own accountability, but its also to share our story. Share what works, what doesn't, the obstacles we face and how we over come them and on occasion we will be sharing other friend's stories as they start their own journeys as well. 

Karl Marshall 

Current weight: 285 lbs

Goal weight: 225lbs

Current BMI: 35.6

Goal BMI: 27

Danielle Marshall

Current weight 176 lbs

Goal weight 125 lbs

Current BMI: 28.5

Goal BMI: 21.5