Body by Vi

Okay so if you're friends with me on Facebook you probably know that 2 weeks ago I started the 90 Day Challenge from Body by Vi.
When I first looked into it, I was a little skeptical.  To me it seemed like another program that promises a quick fix but doesn't deliver.  But I decided to go to my friend's shake tasting party anyway.  I do admit that hearing about my cousin-in-law's success with it did encourage me a little- at least I knew someone in real life that it's working for.
At the party I was convinced to give it a try.  After all, I can do anything for 90 days right?  I placed my order and got my first shipment 2 weeks ago.  I was actually pretty excited when it came.  I weighed and measured myself and took my "before" picture (yikes).
The program itself is easy: replace 2 meals a day with a shake, eat a sensible 3rd meal, and healthy snacks in between.  For women you're supposed to aim for 1200-1400 cals a day.  This sounds exactly Slimfast doesn't it?  Well it's very similar but the Body by Vi shakes are nutritionally better for you and there are SO many different kinds you can make.  I literally have over 100 recipes and often I just make up my own.  Last night for dinner I had a "Cinnamon Bun" shake.  It tasted just like a cinnamon bun!  
I'm happy to report that in 2 weeks I have lost 4.5 pounds which doesn't sound like a ton right?  Especially when my other cousin-in-law (who started the same time I did) has already lost 9 pounds.  But I have to remind myself that experts say normal weight loss is about 1-2 pounds a week.  And I did "cheat" on one or 2 days with my 3rd meal.  So I guess I could have potentially lost more but at the same time having a little "cheat" meal helps satisfy my cravings.
But I also have lost a total of 3.5 inches from all over.  That is exciting as well.  Interestingly almost half of that has come from my chest which just goes to show where women lose weight first (rather unfortunate if you ask me...haha!).
So maybe by now you're thinking "hmm I'd like to try that....how much does it cost?"  I know, I know there's always a catch right?  Well I'm not going to lie- it's $99 a month.  Sounds like a lot right but I think of it as $25 a week and considering I'm not buying food for breakfast and lunches I really don't feel that we're spending that much more money for me to be doing this program.  But here's the best part (do I sound like an infomercial yet?):  you can get it for free.  Yep, FREE.  You will have to pay for your 1st month but if you can get 3 people to sign up "underneath" you then your next shipment is free.  And it will keep being free as long as there are 3 people ordering every month from underneath you (can be the same 3 or different 3).
And now we've reached the real reason I've blogged about this- sign up under me!  LOL!  No, that's not the real reason.  I seriously am very excited about this program and I already have one person at school trying it with me (along with my cousins-in-law) and I think the more people doing something together, the more support you have and then you will be more successful.
So here is the website where you can get more info and sign up if you want.  And if you're interested in those recipes I have, let me know and I can email them to you (well you have to give me your email address if I don't already have it).  C'mon people- you can do ANYTHING for 90 days!  What do you have to lose?  (except weight?)

[/end of annoying cheerleader-like infomercial blog :P)]

Update to Allergies

So I finally have an update to what's going on with Miss Lucy and her allergies.  Oh yes, allergiesssss....plural...as in more than one.
Okay so after Lucy had that reaction I called the allergy department first.  They weren't interested in talking to me.  Okay fine.  So I called our pediatrician's office.  Can I say I love my pediatrician's nurse?  I don't think I've ever met her in person (a different nurse always gets the girls' measurements and I know it's a different person than the one on the phone b/c she's a parent of 2 former students of mine) but whenever I call on the phone she is SO nice and SO helpful.  Anyway, she said to bring Lucy in for bloodwork and they would test for allergies that way.  That is a LOT easier than what I had been imagining.  So I made Walker take her (hey, I had to deal with the blood draw at her 1 year check up).  That was 2 weeks ago.  The nurse called me the next Wednesday and told me what came up.  Are you ready?
walnuts? check
egg whites? check
mold? check
peanuts? check
milk? check
wheat? check
cat and dog dander? check and check

That is quite a list.  I was floored.  Walker and I do not have allergies other than seasonal ones which are usually very mild.  Walker is actually allergic to cats and dogs but somehow he's kind of grown out of it and if he's around the animal for long enough, he gets kind of immune.
So based on all of that the nurse said they were faxing her labs to the pediatric allergist at Carle and they were giving us a prescription for epi pens (one for us, one for daycare).  I didn't understand the wheat and milk allergies at. all.  Lucy has been drinking milk since February and eating cheerios like they were going out of style.  The nurse did say those were low to moderate allergies so we didn't need to do anything drastic until we met with the allergist. 
Cut to the next day when the nurse calls me again to say the allergist doesn't want to see Lucy because she is so young and most of her allergies were not that severe.  Our pediatrician recommended we "feed through" the food allergies and she will most likely outgrow them.  I agreed with the nurse on that except for the peanuts.  I told the nurse I didn't feel comfortable doing peanuts given the reaction she had (even though the peanut allergy only came up as moderate).  The nurse agreed with me.  She also said our pediatrician wanted us to see a dermatologist to see if there was a connection between Lucy's allergies and her eczema.  And the allergies that came up high were cat and dog dander.  Well where does Lucy spend most of her time?  Crawling on the floor amidst all the invisible hair we can't seem to control.  So could this be why her eczema has never gone away?  I didn't know but I wanted to see what the dermatologist thought.  So we went in last week and he said it could be causing it but he's not sure.  And really the only way to know for sure is to get rid of the animals and do a massive cleaning job.  But he didn't want us to go to that step yet.  First he gave us a stronger prescription cream.  We are to try it for a month and then we go back to see him and decide if it's working.  If it's not, more drastic measures may have to be taken such as becoming a pet-free house.  I have to be honest, this would make me pretty sad.  I've always had animals in my house (seriously the only time I did not have an animal living with me was when I lived in the dorms) and I can't imagine not having a furry friend to cuddle up to (and no, Walker does not count.  I said furry, not hairy).  And then there's the issue of where would our pets go?  I can NOT send them to the animal shelter.  I just can't.  My sister has volunteered to take the cat which is great.  But I'm not as worried about her as I am the dog.  Sadie needs a very particular type of house to live in.  And I'd want her to go to someone I know or someone my brother knows since she is his dog.  But you know we have another month before we have to make a decision like that.  I'm really hoping this cream will make a difference. 
So that is my rather lengthy update on the allergies.  And just for being so nice to read all of that here is a picture you've probably already seen on Facebook  :P