Shakeology

I thought Shakeology deserved it's own post. First and foremost Beachbody is a MLM company. Some people refer to them as pyramid schemes. This means that people buy into them and resell their products. It is EXTREMELY difficult to find a non-biased review due to this.

I am in no way affiliated with Beachbody. I'm not a coach, and I don't make money from them. Hell I just started working out to Beachbody videos 5 days ago so I really have no vested interest. I did however really want to try it.

The reason Shakeology interested me so much was the ingredients. It does not have the same ingredients as other protein drinks I have had in the past or read about online. It also wasn't filled with artificial sweeteners or sugar which I really loved. I am not looking for a protein drink as much as a nutritional supplement. I found a few other Meal Replacement shakes that happen to be vegan that did come close to the ingredient list from Garden of Life.

I still couldn't help wanting to try Shakeology, but I wasn't going to fork over $120 for a taste. I found a Beachbody coach and purchased the sample pack from her. Hey if I can help someone else make some money so be it.

REVIEW:

I tried Greenberry first because I read it was the worst. Recipe below:

1/2 cup unsweetend Almond Milk
1/2 banana
1/4 cup frozen mango
water and ice to thin it out
Blended it up in my Vitamix

The best way to describe it was it tasted "healthy". It didn't taste bad, but I wouldn't refer to it as the most delicious shake I've ever had either. As I was drinking it I started liking it more and more. I tend to like the way protein bars taste. You know when someone says "Yuck, it tasted like vitamins!" Well I'm the person that will say oooo Yum to that product. I guess I like the way vitamins taste. In any case, if it can do what they say it can (very skeptical), I'd buy it. I'm also going to try the shake from Garden of Life.

Does anyone know of any other protein/meal replacement/nutritional supplement shakes without artificial sweeteners? If so; please let me know.

                                                                               

My Ninja

I finally did it!

I bought a Ninja Pulse. For the past few years I've wanted a Vitamix. They are really cool and are like a food processor and blender mixed in 1, but they are $500. I just can't bring myself to buy one if I am not 100% certain I am going to use it and use it often.  I do however still want a blender that can make a green smoothie that isn't chunky and wouldn't mind some food processing ability too.

Then one day I was watching TV and an infomercial came on for the Ninja. It seemed to do almost everything the Vitamix did for less than half the price. I don't normally trust things I see on TV and in my experience cheaper is NEVER better so I just put it in the back of my mind.

Well...My husband and I were at Bed Bath and Beyond and I see all the Ninja varieties available and they are even cheaper than the were on TV. I decided to give it a shot. If it can do most of what the Vitamix could do, but slightly worse; i'd still be thrilled.  The coolest thing and the reason I picked the pulse was because of the 3 16oz portal cups that you can make smoothies in. I guess similar to the Magic Bullet. This allow me and Eric to make different types of smoothies without having to wash the blender in between. It's SOOOOO much easier.  It's really freaking awesome to be quite honest.  I can now make green smoothies that are perfectly smooth. That's all I really wanted it for, but now that I have it I am going to have to give food processing a try.

This week I am going to make hummus and I'll post a review with pictures with how my Ninja Pulse handled it.

If you are looking for a good blender that does job and does the job pretty well without breaking the bank...Try out the Ninja. They are on Sales at Bed Bath and Beyond for $80.00 right now.

To be or not to be....

...a vegetarian.

I am dumb. I watched a video on animal slaughter and was ready to become a vegetarian. I understand that we have billions of people to feed in this world and it's hard to kill an animal in a nice way, but we have to change something. It's just life long suffering and then we kill them in the most brutal way. It's like the people doing the killing forget they are living things. It should be a quick and swift death, not long drawn out and painful. I don't know I just was disgusted with what I saw.

I thought to myself...Hey I was vegan for quite a while when I was younger! It's really not a big deal to not eat meat. I like it, but I like vegetarian food too. I can do this! I use soy milk in my coffee already. Then I looked down at my prized possession...My Coach purse is made of leather!!!! Not just that, I have leather seats in my car, the gummy vitamins made with gelatin that I eat every morning, and much more. How can I say to myself...I won't eat meat because of animal cruelty, but look at my new Coach purse! :-/

I feel I try to do my part. For the most part all my body products are not tested on animals. I used body wash that is from the Body Shop. My face creams and shampoo's are Aveda. I use mostly 7th gen products for cleaning and I try to bring reusable bags grocery shopping.

Does every little bit truly help?

My manager said to just do my best. Whatever made me feel better is what I should do. That's what Eric said too. I just don't want to be labeled a hypocrite.  I don't eat meat, but by golly I wear it! Dammit....

Happy Saint Patty's Day

 I made Beef Wellington last night with a side of herb and butter rice. It came out pretty good.  I didn't use the cut of meat you were supposed to, but really it's all about the pastry anyway. I was tasty and Eric and I loved it. I packed a to go box for him so he can have it tonight again for dinner.  Then I realized I don't have anything to eat for dinner tonight. PB & J it is while Eric has left over Beef Wellington.


I got the horrible news that my laptop has been delayed until 3/29/11.  Seriously?!? It's already been over a month Dell! Ugh. I kinda want to cancel the order, but hell if I buy a new laptop who knows how long i'll have to wait for it.

 Today is St. Patty's day. I am Italian and probably part Irish, but I am Italian at heart. I am however dating a McCoy which in the future will be my last name. I decided being a future McCoy means I should get all dolled up. I did my hair curly and even wore green eye shadow. I wish you could see it better in the pictures.

I sent my McCoy an IM this morning and of course he isn't wearing green. I'm obviously better at being Irish than he is.

Yay....I just made plans to go to the hockey game with some of the HR chics from work. I'm excited. I never get to hang out with girls.

Hmmmm...Yesterday I bought a bunch of cute eye shadows from Coastal Scents.

Mirage Palette

Warm Palette

It was like $50 for 176 eye shadows! They are about a dime size which is plenty to play with and lots of variety.

Then I went a bit crazy at E.L.F. $40 at E.L.F is A LOT! Everything is like $1-$3. Today I have to try and resist buying a bunch of crap from Folica.

Breakfast

Eggs with onions, peppers, and mushrooms with a side of turkey bacon and low calorie toast with light butter and jelly.

Yummy lunch

Turkey with sprouts and low fat chive cc on an everything bagel thin (100 cal) with a side of carrots with spinach and artichoke yogurt dip and a berry La Croix.

:)

Veggie burrito scramble

Yummy!

2 eggs, onions, peppers, and mushrooms on a low carb whole wheat tortilla.

Splurge...

I ate a homewrecker from Moe's today for lunch.  Was it way too many calories? Yes. Do I care right now? No. It was tasty and I'm going to the gym later or at least tomorrow :)

Happy Valentines Day

I had a great Valentines Day weekend.  Since the day is actually today which is a Monday; Eric and I celebrated this weekend.  My gift was perfect! Yay my bathroom set!

Spring Leaf

I love it!  He also got me Bamboo towels which are super super soft. They are awesome.  I got him a metrosexual tool kit.  Basically I took a loot at every product he uses and upgraded to a better version and put them in manly toolbox. :) I think he liked it. I hope he liked it and wasn't lying.

Before dinner

Sunday morning went to Ria's Bluebird for breakfast. It was super yummy. Then we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner.  Needless to say I am still stuffed from all the great food.

I ordered a new cell phone the Motorola Atrix problem is the order form automatically selected the address on my account; which was my old address. UGH..I tried to cancel the order yesterday, but it wasn't "in the system" yet. I think I may have to stalk my old house to get my new phone, but dammit I will find a way.

Tomorrow starts Rift's open beta which I'm not too sure I should play.  I don't want to get sick of the game before it starts, but I'm soooo done with WoW. I don't even enjoy raiding anymore. Also, Eric is actually going to play Rift with me. So yay for that! I don't really have the time to commit to gaming anymore. I need to be a bit more casual. I have found I am unable to be a casual WoW gamer, so, off to Rift I go!! Plus Rift is really pretty. The characters can use some work, but it's not nearly as bad as like Vanguard.

Damn...I have been here 30 minutes and haven't done any work yet. Time to get cracking on the 231 emails in my inbox.