Monday Mingling

Hello ladies, my name is Jesyka and I am linking up with Monday Mingling. I have been away for awhile and when I got back on last week I realized my normal link-up had disappeared so this week I decided to try another.
Lets see, what can I tell you about me? I am 30 something, live in southeastern OH, small town girly-o. I am into fixing computers, candle making, mixing essential oils, scrap-booking (although, it's been a long time), poetry and studying Psychology and Aromatherapy.

My blog is essentially to share my experience, strength and hope with others hoping that someone will find the right advice they may need, or just for them to know they are not alone. I have 3 different mental health issues that I deal with daily and I am also a recovering addict. I just want to share my story. Other than that I like linking-up and blogging about normal life experiences such as recipes, things I love, and my favorite one - how I lost weight! I also have newer blog for my poetry. I post one each week, so please check it out also if you like poetry.

And that is my introduction, now you know a lot about me and I can't wait to learn a lot about you. Join in on Monday Mingling!

What's Up Wednesday

Wow, it's almost 10 pm. I knew I had to write a blog, just forgot it was this one, lol. So I have a lot to say in hopefully a quick but interesting manner.

1st I need to share that today I was notified that I am a chosen winner in one of the many Blogger Giveaways I participated in recently. Thank you to the Mia @ The Chronicles of Chaos for posting the $10.00 Amazon Gift Card for Jenn over at Party of One's birthday June 12th, 2013. I was the lucky winner of that gift card and I am totally ecstatic. Thank you all for hosting her birthday giveaway and once again Happy Birthday Girl. Birthdays are great, blogging is great, giveaways are great, and winning is ultimately great!

So what else is up??? Just been enjoying the nice hot sun rays, hanging with friends, doing some major shopping, finding awesome thrifty items, making candles and aromatherapy salts and oils and totally enjoying the relationship I have right now. For once I'm in one that isn't moving to fast for me. I like it!!!

"I'd fight a bear for you"

My lil sis is having some scary issues right now and I'm worried for her and praying with all my might.

I'm falling in love with blogging but at the same time I am enjoying life outside away from the computer more than I ever have in my life.But at the same time every time I have a problem with any of this computer stuff I am missing giving up on furthering my career in that department, but I am really good at mixing essential oils to provide healthy, aromatherapy benefits. So now I am really trying to put my focus into where my life is leading me.

One place it is leading me is back home. It will be a few months maybe but eventually I will be back in the 1st and 3rd capitol of my wonderful state. God I cannot wait.

I am also loving writing poetry again. I you haven't already please stop over to my blog Magical Writings and give me a holler and a follow.

And by the way to those that read my Weight Loss blog, I got myself weighed today and since I wrote that blog I have lost another 7 pounds. GO ME!!!

I guess I am going to say this is it for this week. Let me know what you think, I'd love this to become a link-up, but for now it's my way of keeping you informed. Blessings to you.

5 for Five

Well it's Tuesday morning already but I'm still gonna do my 5 for Five and I haven't given any thought to it so hopefully I set some good achievable goals.

Starting with last week.

1. Pass. Write a letter to my brother. Yep a total of 2 typed pages and six handwritten. Sorry bro that it took so long for you to read it, lol.
2. Pass. Visit my family. I did and it was great. I got to see a sister and nephew, a mommy and g-ma and a couple other aunts and cousins.

3. Fail. Organize all computer documents. I set the bar kind of high on that one. I made progress with my Dropbox folder and my Pinterest boards but that's about it. Nothing in my Documents folder. :(
4. Fail. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Haha, I am a lost cause when it comes to this. I did so good for most of the past 2 yrs so just maybe I will eventually fall back into a better routine. Its hard when u don't have to get up, especially when you've always been a sleepy head.
5. Pass. Blog. I blogged one blog, which you can read here. It's about my weight lost. I lost 20 lbs. so far this year and I hope to lose 20 more by the end of the year.

Bonus goal. Pass. Plan a color coded weekly schedule.  I think the schedule I came up with is going to work out well. Its not color coded but it is planned out well and to my liking's.

And drum roll... this weeks goals are.

1. Finish 3/4 of my 7 days of... planner. You can find a link to the document here to see if you like it.
2. Finish reading Inferno. I'm 82 % done.
3. Walk 3 times and exercise 3 times. I found a 5 minute a day butt workout, so I'm going to try that. And I can do the 6 minute shake weight workout with it.
4. Draw something abstract on this little board I have saved for that. It has been along time since I've made any art. I've been thinking about it every time I see that board so its time to at least try and make it pretty.
5. Make a button for my blog. I think I figured out how to do it so all I need to do is purchase the stock image and do it. I picked one out already so I'm 1 step in the game already. Lol.
Bonus. Organize my Documents.

So that's my 5 for Five, what's yours? Go on over to Jess or Jenn's page and join the link-up. Have a lovely week!

How I Lost 20lbs

Hello everyone, I need to write a blog. It’s kind of been a little while since I have taken the time to do so. I have a lot of things planned but today I am going to do one that I just came up with yesterday. In the past 5 months I have been trying to lose weight. And Yay! for me I did. I technically lost 18 lbs. So that is amazing. Not only did I shed the pounds, I lost inches and 2 dress sizes. I am totally stoked about it and everyone I've known all that time keeps asking me how I did it.

Honestly I barely tried in my eyes. There are some things I cut out and also things I added in and I plan on sharing with you a list of things I did and didn't do. First though please realize what worked for me may not work for you. With the exercises (I barely worked out) talk to your doctor before starting any exercise routines. Here is a before picture of me. It was actually taken last summer but in December I was still about that size.

So what did I do?

o    I discovered MioEnergy, if you do not know what this is it’s a flavored water enhancer. They have regular, Fit, and the Energy brand. I use all of them. Energy in the morning and the others during the day or in the evening. Mio has 0 calories and 0 sugars. The only bad thing is that it is sweetened with Sucralose.
o   I cut the Mountain Dew out of my life except for an occasional 1 or 2 each month. No more drinks with High Fructose Corn Syrup.
o   I drink Unsweetened Green Tea or Unsweetened Coffee whenever I feel I need a caffeine boost. If you don’t drink Caffeine, you can always use Decaf.
o   I only allow myself the occasional donut, cake, cookie, etc. I mean like 1 time a month. And I do not bring junk food home from the grocery store.
o   I barely eat Carbs, yes they do produce natural energy in your body and you do need some every day but I don’t think you need a lot. I still eat Carbs, a little rice, potatoes and pasta but when it comes to my sandwiches I eat the innards, like lunch meat and cheese without bread. I just roll them up together with a pickle in the middle and eat it like that. Also when I do eat bread it is whole wheat. Also try to use a good Turkey or Ham lunchmeat instead of Bologna.
o   Instead of candy now I eat freeze pops. I don’t know if that’s better or not but I do it most of the time.
o   My favorite…I increased my fruits and vegetables intake. This was the best thing I did. Remember to fill you dinner plate up half way with fruits and/or vegetables. If you are eating Carbs, only eat a small portion of 1/3 of the plate. And the other 2/3 or so will go to your meat.
o   I have always eaten a lot of meat. Some say Carbs give you the best energy but I couldn't live without my protein. I love red meats the most. Not much Chicken or Pork in this diet but the thing I added more of this year was fish/seafood. It is more lean that anything else and has a lot of wonderful health benefits that you can get only from eating fish. So for me it’s fried Tilapia or Catfish and one or 2 cans of tuna every week. Don’t forgot a lot of nuts and Peanut Butter, mine is sweetened with Honey instead of Corn Syrup, that yucky stuff will add pounds not erase them.
o   Yes in the last one I said fried. The thing I did to fix that a little was convert to nothing but olive oil and I even use less than I did with the vegetable oil.
o   I do not eat anything deep fried or breaded that you warm up in the oven. Processed meat is the worst thing ever.
o   I bought a shake weight. My arms were the first thing I truly noticed going downhill. For a while I didn't touch it so I am honestly going to estimate and say during these 5 months I probably used it on average once a week. That’s it and it was easy.
o   Again with this one, occasionally I did 50 squats. I am horrible with exercising and can’t remember, can’t make time or whatever so I probably did them on average once a week for the past 5 months.
o   The only thing I did consistently is walk. I walk between 6 to 10 miles each week. That’s really not a lot but I wasn't doing it very often till this year. I don’t have a car at this time so this walking I have to do for the most part but even though I have to walk I still take my normal walks of 2 or 3 miles a week as my exercise. And when I do get a car I live a ¼ mile from the shopping center so unless I’m buying more than $50 worth of stuff I’m still going to walk it.

So there you have it, this is how I lost 20 lbs. I didn't follow a diet or exercise routine. I made a lot of mistakes throughout this time but I picked up where I left off and fixed my lifestyle. I used to be super skinny but things happen in life and we all get messed up and confused. Don’t worry about it; just do the best you can do. Even if you need to add or subtract one thing at a time to live a better life, then that’s how it has to be done. Also remember that if you are on any medications, birth control, depression, blood pressure, etc. they may be the cause of your weight gain and you may not be able to shed those pounds. Remember to accept and to love yourself no matter what you look like because most people especially guys, they don’t notice it like you do and they always love you no matter what. So be sure to love yourself.

And here is a picture of me taken approximately 2 weeks ago when I found out how much weight I lost. I dropped 2 sizes and the cellulite I was starting to get. My belly is still chubby but I no longer have the flubber and my legs don't jiggle when I walk, lol.

Thanks for reading my post. Please comment, share, like and follow me. Visit my Web-Site at www.jasmineraynewaxnmore.weebly.com  Blessed Be Lovies.

Breakfast of Champions, I Hope!

Oatmeal and Protein

First of all I need to say that this is something I have been thinking about, and I first made this recipe today. It is not tried and tested, yet. Like I said I have been thinking about it lately, because I could not stomach the protein shake, but really want to use it.

So here is what I came up with.

Yep, look just like Oatmeal. Which if you didn't know is probably the healthiest thing in your house if you aren't into health food. I love Oatmeal, it is whole grains, has a lot of protein and fiber which fills you up quickly and is very healthy as long as you don't add sugar. :)

Now hear is my little twist on your normal occasional breakfast fix.

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

OATS

1/2 cup of Oats

1 cup of water

1 minute in microwave

PROTEIN SHAKE

1 scoop of protein mix

1/4 to a 1/2 cup of water

(I used 1/2 but it was too runny, I had to add a little bit of Oats)

MIX TOGETHER & ADD

Stevia for sweetener

Cinnamon for flavor

Top with granola

(There is Granola pictured but I don't recommend it)

This mixture was a lot for me. I only ate about a 1/3 of it. It was not the greatest tasting meal in the world but I'm guessing if you are used to healthy foods then it probably won't bother you. I only ate a little though and went hours before I wanted anything else to eat. When I did I ate a peanut butter and apple butter sandwich on whole wheat bread. Not the greatest but it was the 2nd healthiest choice I could come up with. Later I will be eating the BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS again to hold me off till morning because it was very filling. I am going to eat this all week too see if I can shed some pounds. If nothing else it will definitely curb my appetite.

I also worked out for about 10 mins and walked a mile and a half, which took about 30 minutes.

I hope this works, I will definitely give an update next week sometime.

Thanks for reading, stop by for the update and leave some weight lose feedback that you might have.

Remember I am a normal girl, trying to lose normal weight, not a nutritious of any sorts.