Morning Skinny Drink

Currently I have two children under the age of three and have discovered how difficult it can be to find time to take care of yourself.  I am so busy taking care of other people (miniature crazy people) that I end up neglecting myself, and am often so exhausted that I look and feel tired most of the time.

Before I had children, somewhere in my late twenties, I weighed on average about 123 pounds (I'm about 5'5" tall) which was pretty lean, not really skinny but not overweight either - I was usually a size 4. After having my first child I gained quite a bit of weight. When I was pregnant is when I started the weight gain and then never really was able to lose it, and I weighed an average of about 140 pounds, which put me at about 20 pounds overweight.  It was not a huge amount to overcome, but challenging non the less.  I finally made a commitment to get back to my pre-kids weight after the birth of my second child.

To make a long story short, after my second child was about 4 months old, I lost the weight doing a diet for nursing moms.  I lost all the extra weight, and then some.  I am now the size I was when I was like 19 years old (pretty skinny) at about 115 pounds and I have more energy than ever even though I still don't get much sleep (baby sleep training is still my everyday experience).  I won't go into all the details of how I did it since I really want to focus on "maintenance" for this post.  I'll save the weight loss journey for another post.

I've made a conscious effort, as much as possible, to really think about my food choices before I eat, while I'm eating, and be as thoughtful as possible about what I put in my mouth - even being as busy as I am with the kids.  Before I lost the weight I wasn't really thinking about what I was eating - I was just eating - now my mind is working differently and I am always thinking about what the food is, how much I'm consuming and if what I am eating is making me feel physically good.  I think of food in terms of energy, healing and joy.  I know that seems vague but, I will go into more detail about that in a later post.

The "thinking" is the first part.  The second part is what I like to call my "skinny medicine foods".  These are foods that I have done research about (and by that I mean searched Pinterest boards) and consider to be food choices that I can make on a regular basis that not only help me maintain my weight but also aid in losing weight and flushing out my system. 

There are about twenty or so such foods that I keep on my list, but the main one and the one I swear by is what I call my "Morning Skinny Drink".

It's pretty simple and I drink it religiously every morning, and if I ever miss a few days I still drink it at least 4 days a week on average.  

What is the magic drink? It's basically just lemon and water.  I know it sounds too simple to really work - but believe me - IT WORKS!!  

Now, the trick is to drink it when you first wake up about 15 minutes before you eat or drink anything else.  I won't get into a long explanation of how it works, but essentially it helps flush your intestines, it gets rid of harmful bacteria, it helps boost your metabolism, it balances the PH levels in your body which helps your body manage sugar (don't have tell you how important that one is), and also gives you a little energy boost.  It does a bunch of other stuff too but I will leave it to you to do your homework about it.  Suffice as to say it's a magical, magical, wonderful thing and super easy to do on a regular basis.  

Like I said, water with lemon, every morning, first thing.  Pretty easy!

Now, If you REALLY want to give your body a good clean and want to go to that extra effort to look good and feel good then you've gotta try my "Super Skinny Drink"

This is it:

- Tall glass of ice water

- Juice of one whole lemon

- Unsweetened Cranberry juice

- 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar

- 4 whole mint leaves

- 1 tablespoon of honey

Mix all together and drink it down first thing in the morning then follow up with one glass of regular water.  

Enjoy! 

Here's a before and after photo so you can see the difference this has made in my life...

Here's me a few months after second baby - at 140 ish pounds...

Here's me last weekend at 115 pounds and looking a lot healthier and happier!  It's not a ton of weight difference (only about 25 pounds) but the difference is HUGE! You can really see the difference in my face (already have a round face to begin with) but the change is dramatic.  And my waistline really tells the story too - from wearing large baggy t-shirts to small tops and size 2 dresses!  I look better, feel better and can wear my old skinny jeans! Yay!