Update on TeaTox'ing

Happy Hump Day!!! 
Yay, you are almost through the first week of December... there's only 3 weeks till Christmas! 
WOOOO! 

Official count down: 

21 DAYS! 

So anyways, back to other things. 

I'm teatoxing... I think that's a word?
It's delicious (kinda, not really). 

Here's my opinion: 

~ If you like herbal tea, you'll have no problem drinking this

~ 14 days is actually a really long time to drink tea, I don't think I would do the 28 day one, unless I was at goal weight and was headed on a beach vacation the next month or something

~ I like tea, but 3 times a day is cray

~ I'm really bad at planning these things and forget I need to drink it 30 mins before a meal. So I normally just try and drink it 3 times a day

~ This probably means that it won't be as effective as it should be/is for other people

~ Don't expect extreme results from this, it's just a little extra push for those 2-5 lbs of water weight.

~ You still have to eat really clean and healthy during it. You can't expect to lose weight/tone with this if all your doing is drinking the tea 3 times a day. 

~ I definitely felt nasty the first two days, but otherwise fine afterwards. 

~ I feel lighter and less flubby (also a word)

Final results photo: before & after will be up next week. I'm doubting anything major will appear. 

Final review & decision on if I would do this again: up next week! 

For everyone who has bought the tea & is trying it, I encourage you to write your own opinion on Facebook or in the comments below! I'm interested to know why people are trying it and if it works for them! 

IT'S DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay... those who know me, I know I am a FREAK for the winter months... especially DECEMBER!
It might have something to do with the fact that I am a December baby and Christmas happens.
That's totally it.
But also, even through the Facebook stories of Black Friday Chaos, pushy mall walkers, poor parking jobs & even angry customers... there's ALWAYS something great that I see during these months.
I was in the mall yesterday, looking for stocking stuffers because we chose to do a smaller Christmas this year so we can all save our pennies for Florida.
I did see some of the above, I did even get a tiny bit frustrated at people who just cut in front of you.
What I also saw, was little kids dressed up to take a photo with Santa, Mom's & Dad's looking for the ultimate gifts to give their kids, and cheerful staff in the mall helping people find their way through the madness of Sunday at South Gate.

Blah Blah Blah, Lauren! Christmas is a time for giving, Yay happiness and cheer!
I get it... stop reading now if you want... but I just wanted to explain something.

If you are looking for negatives... you'll find them.
If you create the situation in a negative space... it'll be negative.

I hear people complaining all the time that Christmas has become all about the gifts & the money.
But there are still so many people out there, trying for good.

Be that person! Just try it out.
Instead of getting frustrated at traffic or how bad our Alberta winters are... try looking at how beautiful the trees are with hore frost.

This is why I love December. Not because I get birthday presents & Christmas presents... But because I feel a TON of love during this month.
& That's my favorite.
Love.

No lies here!

I'm not going to lie to you... I've been really struggling.
I had that week off and I've been somewhat sliding downhill since then.

Tonight, I gotta get in a good run and some abs, then hopefully head out for some groceries.
Man eating clean is flippin' expensive! Boo you vegetables! Go on sale would ya'

I'm hoping to hop right back on the train.
I haven't ran anything much further than 10.5 km and I'm losing time.
I NEED to clean up my act.
Or this Half Marathon is going to eat me alive.

The only difference here?
I'm way lighter than I used to be, I know I can, and my head is still really in the game.
Even though I'm sliding, sliding doesn't need to mean what it used to for me.
Sliding can just be a gentle glide, but I'll climb back up.

I'm making a promise to you all... I'm hitting the treadmill tonight!
It's gunna happen.

Do you ever fall behind? What keeps you going?

.....Step away from the Oreo's... You can make it out alive!

Road Trips, Meeting Bambi, James Bond & dying...

Jana and I began our road trip on Friday afternoon at approximately 12:10 pm.
I went into work early all week to make up for the time I would miss Friday afternoon.
I was stoked to spend some real quality time with Jana and to get away for a little while.

We started the trip the way every trip should start...
Starbucks.
Dancing to Frankie Sinatra in Starbucks while waiting for our drinks & getting tires re-torqued in Nisku... Ahhh the randomness that is Jana & Lauren together.

We were gabbing our way through the trip - talking about life's adventures and #firstworldproblems.
Jana and I were both blessed with small bladders, so just as we were about to hit Gas-o-line alley (we had to make a joke about Diagon Alley!) we decided we'd need to stop for a pee and some H2O.
buuuuut, the universe had some other plans for us.

Here's the set up:
There's a white Dodge Ram in front of us, there's a ford explorer to my right, merging into traffic... then I see this:

The deer jumped straight into the side of the Dodge Ram.
I saw it jump up, covered my eyes and screamed "Oh my god, No no no no no!!!"
Jana didn't realize what this brown thing in the corner of her eye was.
The deer flipped up, was galloping in mid air, landed in our lane and we had no choice but to go right. over. top. of. it.
Que "holy shit"'s, "OH. MY. GOD"'s and some tears...

Jana slowly moved her vehicle off to the side of the road, which was now making some pretty funky noises.
The lady who was merging on my right was REALLY close to rear ending us, and she stopped to make sure we were okay.
She was pretty shaken up too.
Jana and I really had NO IDEA what to do now.
I was 100% sure that we had dragged the deer under our car... but it was still in the middle of the highway.
When we got out of the car, we took a look at the front of Jana's car.
It definitely could have been worse.
But her front end was smashed and her radiator was hanging from her car.

I'm not sure if I should say "thankfully" or not... but an RCMP officer pulled up behind us.
As it turns out, he was headed northbound and had seen the whole thing happen.
He wasn't the most helpful in the beginning.
He even went as far as asking Jana and I who was going to move the deer off the middle of busy Highway 2...
How did we get so lucky with this gem?

We made the decision to tow Jana's car. Since it was making some pretty brutal noise.
The tow truck showed up really quick... but we were not ready for this to turn into a John Candy movie as quickly as it did...

The tow truck driver, Brad... opens the back of the door for me. 

I go to step in and hear "HI" from a small, blonde child sitting in her carseat in the backseat. 

Interesting. 

I see Jana out of the corner of my eye, struggling with something.... which I then realize is a small Boston Terrier. We are now in a rather small, truck with a small child, and dog, who I should mention, refused to stop licking the window beside Jana. 

Because Jana was on the phone with her insurance company, she had yet to discover this two and a half year old beside me. 

The story continues to get weirder and weirder... we end up having to drive two hours back to Stony Plain to drop off Jana's car, with the dog who turns out to be James Bond. We dropped off the little girl with her mom before heading to take us home. 

There was a run in with a really creepy guy in Fas Gas, some texting and driving in the tow truck that almost killed us (as if we needed another opportunity), frozen feet, Teriyaki Beef Jerky & a lot of "Holy Shit... that just happened" moments. 

So, I killed a deer. Ran right over top of it. 

Something I'd never like to experience again. 

Thankfully, only the car was injured... and of course the suicidal deer. 

It could have been so much worse, but considering 30 minutes after the incident we said we wished we had a dash cam for the whole thing, I don't think we'll be suffering PTSD. 

Or so I thought. 

I've had two nightmares that the experience turns out way worse than it did. 

High Five for great imaginations!!! 

Even though our girls weekend was cut short, we both are just thankful we aren't hurt too badly. 

Saturday and Sunday go by... and then hits Monday. 

I got hit with this absolutely brutal flu. 

Just curious, anyone wanna throw anything else my way? 

The universe seems to be giving me some pretty lovely karma! 

I hope everyone had a better long weekend than I did! 

I've discovered a new kind of weight watchers... but I'm not sure I can keep this up much longer! 

Stay healthy, Friends!

The dating world && a progress photo

When Guy and I broke up... I was super weirded out by the whole online dating thing...
WTF is it? How does it work? And will I end up dead in a ditch?
But then again, how else do you meet people?
You either leave it up to chance... which I realllllly suck at.
Or you go to a bar, and sift through all the losers who only want one thing! (Sorry Dad...)

I didn't like either choice.
But I didn't want to online date either.
The obvious free choices weren't really my thing...
So I decided to try a paid site...
So far... So NOT good...

I've been faced with a few special cases... some of my favorite have been:

"Yeah, I went on a date with a girl once, and she casually slid into conversation that she had herpes. Needless to say, I have herpes..."
Followed with, "Wanna go back to your place?"
----- OBVIOUS answer here, pal.
**SMACK MY HEAD**

Next up: Back story... met him twice...
Third conversation when I explained to him that I wasn't really feeling chemistry between us, he told me I was "stuck in high school" felt I had played mind games and said I needed to grow up. THEN:
"I hope I find someone like you. You are a great girl. I'm just so sad that you won't be Carter's mom."
~Que Adele getting stuck in your head...
PS. Carter's a dog.....

There have been a few other gems. Nothing story worthy.
I'm matched with REALLY random ass people.
Sometimes I feel compatible... and other times (*A guy in a fishing hat standing in Wal-Mart as his first photo.... **SMH again*) I REALLY wonder where they find these people.

{ps: if you thought the Wal-Mart photo may have been a joke... it wasn't. It was captioned "Out and About with Mom for groceries." Just No.}

All I'm saying is... COME ON UNIVERSE. Give a girl a break.
I want a large field with guys/girls who just want in your pants on one side, and guys/girls who want a relationship with you on the other.
All the "in your pants" peeps can get to it!
All the other peeps, can meet people who are like minded!
I mean, WHY... WHY would you PAY MONEY to get on a website... when you can get that on 118 ave?
WHY!?
This is how I feel about dating. #uhthankyoujlaw

--RANT OVER--

Progress:
I've been making some progress.
And I'm really freakin proud!
Left is May, Right is October:

I'm looking to get going on some ab toning and trying something new.
My bestie just tried out a 30 minute Hit class.
You get pink boxing gloves, which is mainly why I wanna go... just sayin'
I'm also doing Zumba Ab's Sundays... YOU SHOULD COME.
2G Fitness! DO it.

I'm taking tips from the famous Mama Laughlin with clean eating... this Sunday I'll be whipping up some yummy stuff! (Thank god for pay day!!) 

Happy Halloween!
XO
Love, Minnie

When you accomplish something you never thought you could...

Happy Monday, beauties!
I am Bruised, I am Exhausted, I am PROUD.

This weekend, I moved from my two-bedroom penthouse apartment, to a cozy, adorable humble abode.
I also ran my first 10km with my Best Friend in the world!
This weekend, I was brought to tears more than once.

Friday night, one of my dearest and greatest friends came over for a much over-due visit.
Miss Jana is one of my favourite people in my life.
Natalya and Jana share a lot of the same qualities... which is why I love them both SO much.
Jana grounds me, pushes me, enlightens me... and majority of the time, calls me on my shit.
She is honest, loving, compassionate, determined and unbelievably giving. I <3 Jana, and if you knew her, you would too!
I really needed this visit with her, we both are so similar. It's really neat to listen to her speak to me, because she knows exactly what's happening up in the old thinker! And vise-versa!

Saturday morning, I hit my weigh in... I told Pam I didn't want to weigh in.
I was so stressed and anxious about the move on the weekend that my eating wasn't very good.
And I can feel it. Even today.
I still exercised, but had very little energy to push myself during my work outs.
Turns out - I was still down 0.8.
Better than a gain! ; )

I went back to my apartment to start moving boxes to my new place.
Thankfully, my AMAZING-HANDSOME-LOVING-WONDERFUL-HOLYSHIT-YOU'RETHEBEST- brother came and put a major dent into moving with me.
We got A LOT done Saturday night... My lovely sister in law and Dad came and helped us out later in the afternoon. I could kiss their feet, I am so grateful!
My sis made a delicious pasta dinner for me to carb load on for my run.
Then... she did THE BEST thing possible... she ran me a bath!
I can't sing Hallelujah any louder!
She has a large bear-claw bathtub... and I was in HEAVEN.

I went home to a very empty (old) apartment and crashed FAST.
When I woke up the next morning, I ran to my other apartment (tough life huh? Two apartments ; )
I made myself some peanut butter toast, gulped down 24oz. of water and headed to the U to meet Natalya for my run.
It had snowed, so we were bundled up for it.
But what we hadn't anticipated were a few steep-tough hills...
But we conquered it!
1 hour and 12 minutes later, Natalya and I crossed the finish line after high-fiving each other!
My brother and Dad were standing there taking photos, and so was Natalya's Dad.
I could have cried - except I'd already had a little teary episode during the race.
It's indescribable. I can't ever explain the feeling.

But it is, emotional, empowering, motivational and inspiring when you kick your own ass into gear.
No one has gotten us here... except each other.

There is no one I would rather be with, than my best friend. 

We've come so far from where we were, and I couldn't have done any of it without her.

The rest of Sunday - was moving!
Once again, my family pulled through for me and got me all settled into my new place.
Later that night, James met me and we went to The National Elevator Project downtown.
Coolest theatre experience!!!
Part two is next year and I'm stoked!

My weekend reminded me that lately, I've been accomplishing things I never thought I would.
I'm working towards goals, I thought impossible.
I'm surrounded by love and support & goodness.
And I'm VERY grateful and blessed that you are all in my life!

That time I made a turkey...

Alright so, a lot of my posts are firsts.
The first time I could look in the mirror and love myself.
The first time I fit into a pair of jeans.

But this one... I something I'm REALLY proud of.
I'm your typical girly girl.
That's not to say that I don't like camping, or getting down and dirty when given the chance.
One thing about me, is that I don't particularly enjoy to cook meat for myself.
This has been a challenge since I've moved out.
I've come up with some creative ways to get my protein so that I don't need to touch fish, chicken, beef... or anything of the sort.

This year, when my Social Committee at work brought up the Thanksgiving lunch, they were unsure that there would be a turkey lunch!
I stepped up real quick and said I'd make the turkey.
*ahem... think before you speak* I'm still working on this one...
The day rolled around a lot faster that I wanted.
I somewhat knew from watching my parents cook them over the years what I was doing, but it didn't really hit me until a day or so before that I actually had to touch this thing.
My hand, needed to go into the body cavity of a turkey.
LAWD JESUS.

I started with a little pep talk.
To the turkey.
"Listen, I don't want to do this to you, and I know you don't particularly enjoy that you no longer have a neck or head, etc. But I'm going to make it quick and painless..."
I get it. The turkey doesn't have feelings... but it still bugs me. So just go with it. #stillsingle
This next part... was when I burst out laughing.
I opened up the turkey to find bread crumbs and a smell of yummy seasonings...
Not what I had expected from a naked bird.
Turns out, I bought a pre-stuffed turkey! Great if you needed the stuffing... which I did not.

I took a recipe by Gordon Ramsay (suggested by a co-worker) and went with it.
I made a lemon, garlic & parsley butter to slide under the turkey's skin, which warranted a "I'm sorry little buddy..."
The body cavity was stuffed with 2 yellow onions and 1 lemon, then I stuffed some bay leaves in the surrounding areas.
I drizzled olive oil over top so that the butter didn't burn the turkey's skin #spf60
I put that sucker in the fridge and headed to bed.

My alarm went off at 3:30, I turned the oven on to 220 and put the turkey in for 15 minutes.
It came out crackling and a lovely golden brown colour.
I then lined the top of the turkey with bacon.
You heard me.
I continued to baste the turkey juice over top of the bacon and turkey every hour, until 10:30 when the meat thermometer told me it was FINTO!

Turns out, I kicked ass at cookin Turkey!
My co-workers said it was the best turkey yet!
I've been voted as Turkey chef for years to come!
I am SO proud of myself.
So logically, I took a photo of myself. : )