Day 2 operation no carbs

I made it through day one successfully. That means I finally achieved the mindset to do this. I didn't have any negative thoughts about food yesterday. I didn't long for bread. I simply didn't miss it. I'm really thankful I decided to commit myself to a healthier way of eating. Now, instead of soaking my coffee with peppermint mocha creamer, I am enjoying one tablespoon that is good for 5 carbs until I decide to let that creamer go. Baby steps when it comes to my coffee habit. Baby steps.

First thing when I got out of bed this morning I wrote my award letter on the fridge praising my success for yesterday. I just find this helpful for me. It keeps me motivated and on track. I can't help but look at that note every time I go to the kitchen. Win!

My plans for food today are lots of berries, an apple or two and veggies. For lunch, I'm having a salad. For dinner, I'm going to slow cook some beef and that will be it. No bread today. No junk food in which to keep that belly fat there. Its taking a much needed hike, shrinking even now.  I feel wonderful.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For my benefit I will list what I ate yesterday. For breakfast I had a 3 egg omelet with Cheddar and tomatoes. I snacked on blackberries, a few small bites of watermelon, and one apple. Lunch was veggies and steak. Dinner was more veggies, a spoon of natural peanut butter, and a little more steak. Oh. I also snacked on a piece of cheese. Wow. Is that really all I ate yesterday?  I didn't even feel hungry. I hate to even post what a normal eating day for me would be. I do know this is mucho better!

Now as far as exercise goes, I still continue doing what I love, Zumba fitness. I'm so grateful for it. I am in great shape because of it. I'm going to add more weights along with sit ups and push ups. I should probably do some Pilates. Yeah. Definitely Pilates. I'm going to do that before I cook breakfast.

Until tomorrow.

Home Made Detergent, Ya'll!

I'm always looking for ways to save money on essentials, as I love to buy non-essentials.  Laundry detergent can be super expensive, so why not try making your own to save some major cash.  I literally do loads of laundry every day, so when I heard about this recipe that can be found here, I decided to make some and enlist the help of my daughters.

OH GIRLSSSSSS!!!!! Get to grinding that soap!  "With a smile, mom!"

I spent around $14 to make my own detergent that should last me a year at 1-2 tablespoons per load.  I mixed all ingredients together in a 5 gallon bucket and then measured out 100 loads into my glass canister and put the rest up on the back porch closet. 

100 loads of laundry detergent right here.  I use an overflowing tablespoon per load.   I'm going to keep track of how long this lasts in my household of 5. 

That's where it goes and that is all you use.  Here's to hoping my clothes get clean.

I opened the door during the wash to see what was going on and if their were any suds.  Here is what I saw.

NO suds.  Just some dingy water. 

Later on, after pulling them out of the washer and dryer, I inspected them for cleanliness and color.  I must say I was impressed.  This homemade betty detergent does a better job than my current detergents which float between All Clear and Purex All Natural.  The clothes were indeed brighter and cleaner than normal.  I put on my favorite green tank (which was greener than normal) and I had no allergic reaction. Yay! I'm just waiting to see how this detergent fairs with my husband as he is allergic to several detergents on the market. If he finds himself itching and carrying on, I will just purchase him a separate detergent.  Cause that's how I roll. 

So, I'm telling you to give this a try.  Save some money.  Spend some somewhere else.  Or not.  But you should.  It's good stuff. 



Merry Christmas!

Let's Coupon Ladies!

Ok, so I first started my coupon journey about a week ago. I never took the time to coupon before, but after seeing the show Extreme Couponing, I thought I could do that too.  It could be my part time job!  I love shopping and I love hunting for things (in the words of my nosy daughter, "I love going to the dumpster!") so this gig was gonna be a lot of fun and perfect for me.  Going back to the dumpster thing.  It's really not a dumpster.  It's a recycling bin that resembles a dumpster.




 Groceries are expensive!
 Gas is expensive!
 Everything is expensive!  Ok. I started this draft a week ago. Im just now getting back to it. I have a busy life and adding couponing to it just made it a little more than busy. I made a terrible mistake a walgreens yesterday. Im going to tell y'all about it so maybe I wont beat myself up over it anymore. I mean, I could seriously bite myself. I thought I was doing so good. I had my $3 off of Nivea body wash coupons coupled with the sale they were already having on the body wash, making them .79 a piece. SCORE! LOVE BODY WASH! I usually stick to the baby kind with cocoa butter but when you are on a budget its best the find the deals and grab them when you can to save money. I bought 10 bottles because I had 10 coupons. I found a new coupon or two everyday I visited the recycling. So lets break it down. I spent about 9.00 for 10 great body washes that normally retail for $5 a piece. I didn't even leave my husband out of the deal either. I found about 4 Coupons for Nivea for men bodywash so I scooped him some up too. Ok, so back to the biting. REGISTER REWARDS want to be the death of me or maybe its shopping with three kids. I haven't figured it out. I started off with my coupon for Colgate toothbrush. They are on sale 2 for $6 with a $4 register reward so with coupon it was 2 toothbrushes for a buck or it would've been had I not been shopping with 3 kids. I also had a coupon for the toothpaste and it was the same deal so it would've been 2 for $1 had I not used my previous register reward toward its purchase. The poor young guy checking me out didn't look like he wanted to deal with it so I just sucked it up and vowed to bite myself later. It was a novice mistake. It wont happen again. I was rushing trying to get the kids to put the back scratchers down while the manager gave me a fuddled look. Listen man, im just trying to get some deals, I told him with my dirty look. Lesson learned. Pay attention to register rewards and product you will be buying with that register reward. I just screwed it all up. I lost $4 on the deal and once you start couponing, $4 becomes $100. No lie. You will see. One more tip for walgreens shoppers with coupons. U must have an item for every coupon. So say you have 3 items and 3 coupons. You also want to use a RW. You now need a 4th item. It doesn't matter what that item is so find the cheapest item. Ask the manager. He will know what it is. Stay tuned for deals to be had starting Sunday at Walgreens and perhaps CVS. We don't have a CVS in Metropolis but I do occasionally zip down to Paducah for a really great bargain. Ill keep you posted. Ill start writing the draft today!

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