I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I just decided I should write it once and for all and link it to twitter. There is some talk tonight about Quick Trimon Twitter with a few different people and I wanted to put this out there. Like many I was SPARKED by the commercials and constant tweets from Khloe and Kim Kardashian raving about the product. I went to Wal-mart and spent $30.00 on the product. It’s a good chunk of change. I do not get paid to promote this product so I have NOTHING to lose in writing my review. I am sad to report after the first box, 2 weeks, I bought the second box and was 1/2 way through that. So a total of 3 weeks, sticking to it to a TEA. Not cheating ONCE. I lost NOTHING. Not a 1/2 pound. I ate the meals and snacks that are directly listed in the box as meal plans. I took the pills as directed. I drank MORE then the minimum amount of water they recommend. I also have a FULL gym in my basement, and worked out 4 times a week at MINIMUM. I never lost any “inches” either for those of you thinking that I may have lost weight, but gained muscle. I took inch measurements as well to see. I am not thrilled with this product or the $60.00 I spent. You should be aware that many things don’t work for many people and things that are celebrity endorsed are even HARDER to judge. Why? Well they have people making them meals and have an exercise routine that is like NO other because they have personal trainers. YOU have to decide if the diet will work for you. My advise, save your money. It’s an over hyped MEAL plan which is not logical unless you have a personal chef and personal trainer counting every moment of exercise and every SINGLE calorie.

Discouraged I finally decided to give in to my husband and try what “he” suggested. He’d started his diet weeks before me and was at his goal at 7 weeks. *sigh* I know since women don’t lose the same, it wasn’t going to be that easy for me. Or was it? I could have been using the wrong product and routine? My husband ordered me Hydroxycut Extreme by Muscle Tech. Hesitate to give it a try, especially after the Quick Trim experience, I finally did. I also adjusted my diet… and let me tell you THIS meal plan is SO easy… Here’s what I have:

Breakfast:
1 Zone Protein Bar (which I’m keeping it real… they taste like CANDY BARS)
(You can do 1 cup of egg beaters – even the southern style or western instead of the protein bar, but I hate eggs)
1 – 8oz glass low fat chocolate milk

Snack:
15 peanuts (any kind of nuts and salted, roasted, whatever works)
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Lunch:
Chicken patty (unbreaded – you can have the grocery store make ground chicken and then form into patties, or some stores sell them like that, mine does)
Medium size lettuce salad with any other green veggies on it (green pepper, cucumber, broccoli, etc) with Salad Spritzer
*sometimes I cut my chicken and put it on the salad, sometimes I eat it cut up. You can use Mrs. Dash to season*

Snack:
2 cups Green veggies (usually broccoli and cucumbers for me)
15 peanuts (any kind of nuts and salted, roasted, whatever works)

Dinner:
6 oz chicken breast (I buy them pre-marinated)
2 cups green veggies or a lettuce salad (as above)

Snack:
1 Zone Protein Bar (which again, taste like a TREAT)
1 – 8oz glass low fat chocolate milk

Now I feel like I am eating WAY too much, however, I feel better and after adjusting, it works out good. I am also either walking my dog for 30 minutes or on my elliptical machine for 20 minutes (more intense work so less time) every other day… and because my tummy is my trouble area, sit ups EVERY day on an exercise ball.

After a complete FIVE days, and the last 2 I haven’t done ANY exercise because I am still nursing a leg after surgery 2 weeks ago, so I am taking my exercising as my body is allowing without pain… I have lost a COMPLETE FIVE pounds. I say complete because it is 5-7 pounds depending on when I weigh, and according the the scale at my DR’s office last week and this week it is 5 pounds, with clothes, shoes, etc. But it is a FOR SURE 5 pounds.  I feel better and have a lot of energy. Because of the “fast” result of this I am eager to keep going and try harder. I see it’s working and I am happy about that. I am not with a personal trainer, I don’t have a chef! I am a busy stay at home mom of 2 active kids, a husband that works and works out, and an active puppy. I am not a celebrity, I am not famous, but this is what MY experience was. I am not being paid to talk positive or negative about ANY product and I do not submit my reviews to the company in hopes of obtaining anything FREE. I am simply here to state MY opinion and experience. I have nothing to hide and nothing to lose (or gain).

Please just be aware of your product. Just because some “fad” diet works for one it doesn’t work for everyone. And remember the FACTS when you see something celebrity endorsed. The FACTS they WON’T tell you!!

On that note, I am off to look up some auto insurance quotes. I do need to find something cheaper. We are paying FAR to much for ONE vehicle! A friend of ours, her father sold me my FIRST insurance policy at 16 years old. I was not paying then for liability what I am paying NOW, married, for full coverage. And I was 16, a brand new driver! As with anything, I will always shop around, State Farm, you won’t have my business anymore… Raise my rates for no reason and I will say “bye-bye”! Have a wonderful night bloggers… and Buyer BEWARE!!

About a year ago we purchased a new bed. It is amazing. I sleep far better on it, then the old one. However, I do seem to wake up with some neck aches. This actually is pretty common. We’ve tried buying new pillows a million times. It seems I never buy the right one or within a few weeks they are all tattered and worn. I want to invest in some GOOD pillows. Hubby has agreed, so I started searching online for some healthy pillows, something that will last, something that will be allergen free. I came across Healthy Dreams Pillows. Here’s a video:

Okay now let me tell you, the more I read about these pillows, the more convinced I was I *needed* them. When I read that most pillows begin growing mold, bacteria and dust mites soon after you start using them, and then problem only gets worse over time. Why? Well because we breathe moisture into our pillows as we sleep. Makes sense right? Well the Healthy Dreams pillows have a Micrenza bio-filter. This makes them to be the first truly germ-free, mold-free, and allergen-free pillow available! The filter is made from the same material as the  N95-rated surgical mask, so you know it truly works! I thought the price of them at first was a little deterrent, however, once I thought about it… $10.00 for a moderate standard pillow at a department store, replaced 5 times (less then 5 years) you have spent $50.00. The Healthy Dreams pillows come with a 10 YEAR warranty. Now the next question you are going to ask, but what if I spend all that money and hate it. First, you won’t, BUT if you do, they give you a 60 days  Unconditional Return Privilege. Okay, honestly the thing that sold me on my new bed was that I could have a 30 days IN HOME trial and they would either fix or replace it. This is so much nicer then laying on it for 5 minutes and deciding if it’s right. So the fact I can try the pillows, just completely sealed the deal for me!! I think I found my winner!!

I scrapped 2 new layouts. These layout where not for the ADSR they were just because. So here they are:

Both of them are linked to my DST Gallery in case you want to see credits or leave a comment there for them. I am having fun getting back in to scrap booking again. It’s so zen-like for me!! Okay I am off to grab some dinner! Have a great night bloggers!

About a month ago I posted to my blog and stated that I was going to have some “mommy topics” from time to time. I think it’s a good thing. I am going to try to do at least one a month! This next topic is probably one of the most serious ones I will put up. I contemplated this for a while. But then I got speaking with a friend and decided YES I NEED to post this… Even if I change just ONE mind, it’s worth it. So the topic… Circumcision!

Recently a friend of ours, his wife, my husband and I had a conversation about circumcision. The friend has three kids, two boys and a girl. We have two kids, one boy and one girl. When I was pregnant with my son I did a TON of research on Circumcision. I found very little to support the fact that it is a HUGE hygiene risk to keep my son intact (uncircumcised). I found little had to do with Religion as it once was a Jewish thing, but not so much anymore. I found MOST people doing it are AMERICANS! Other countries rarely preform the routine. But what really had me thinking was a conversation that we had with our friend about it. He did NOT circumcise his sons. I asked him why. Without ANY embarrassment or hesitation he replied “I am circumcised and when I have a full erection it hurts.” WHAT?!?! I was NOT going to do something to my son that is UN-DOABLE and have him suffer in the future. Of course I asked my friend questions and he answered, every last question. He knew that my son was about to be born and he could change ONE person. My husband and I had talked about it but never really decided anything. Here’s a video from Momversation to watch:

Is Circumcision Wrong?

So having watched that video, does anyone have any thoughts? Truthfully we decided NOT to circumcise. If my son wants to be circumcised (a body altering experience) he can chose to do so later when he’s older. I guess the part about circumcision that really annoys me is the reasons people chose to DO it. Hygiene (myth), because dad is, because most people are (myth), uneducated decisions. The truth is the rate of baby boys being circumcised is FALLING. Here’s a yearly chart. The average in tact rate in 2006 was 43.9%. Since then it was reported by Parents Magazine that it’s closer to 55% now. As for hygiene, I would honestly hope that one could TEACH their child how to bath and clean. If not you probably shouldn’t have children. The risk of STD’s does decrease, however, once again this can be easily solved by talking to your children about STD’s and the risks of unprotected sex. If you can’t do that then again, you probably shouldn’t have children. I can see the whole, look like dad, however, we were not as aware of things back then as we are now. Bottom line for me, Circumcision is an elective surgery. I would never but my newborn through and elective surgery, I wouldn’t circumcise my girl so why should my boy be … and to top that off, that’s the way he’s born and if it wasn’t supposed to be that way, then God wouldn’t have created males with the foreskin.

Please feel free to comment or not, with your thoughts!

I am seriously annoyed as I look at my eBay history. When I win an auction I always pay within 2 hours. I usually pay RIGHT away, but there have been times, I’ve won things and was gone, so I waited till I was home  to get on PayPal and pay. I realize not everyone is like this, and that is fine, however, if I pay SHIP MY ITEM!!! I seem to wait forever for my packages. When they arrive I notice one of two things. Either the seller waited almost a week AFTER I paid to ship or they ship Media Mail. For those of you not aware, Media Mail according to the United States Postal Service is: Media Mail® service is a cost efficient way to mail books, sound recordings, recorded video tapes, printed music, and recorded computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes). Media Mail can not contain advertising except for incidental announcements of books. The maximum weight for Media Mail is 70 lbs. Sometimes it’s BOTH! When I order a wall decor, candle, cell phone accessories, pet toys and accessories these are NOT Media Mail. I am down right annoyed. I am annoyed so much that the last 2 “power sellers” that did this to me, I turned them in to the Post Office locally. I am sick of being charged $10 to ship and they use Media Mail (illegally) and it costs them $1.00. Not to mention Media Mail is a low VERY LOW priority on the mail scale. Media Mail can take up to 15 days to deliver!! So now they waited 5-7 days after I pay and are using a 15 day mailing service. All for the convient over charged shipping rate of $10.00. Now I don’t mind when sellers up the shipping $1-$2 to cover the listing fees. I get it. Hell, they can profit $6 on the shipping, and use priority mail flat rate envelopes for less then $4… I wouldn’t even complain!! Profit if you will, but at least use Priority Mail and ship TIMELY!!!

Then there is feedback. Let me tell you how much THIS annoys me. After I get my item, they conviently time it about 2 weeks after they mail, they email me and ask me to leave feedback. However, they haven’t left feedback for me. Why? Well because then if I leave neutral or negative feedback explaining how they SUCKED AT SHIPPING they will retaliate instead of being honest and saying “fastest payer ever”. So I’ve resorted to emailing THOSE people back and saying “Sorry, I do not leave feedback in cases where it hasn’t been left for me when I am the buyer. Thank you.” I never hear from them again!! Why would they leave feedback KNOWING they SUCKED and I am going to be honest!!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some AMAZING sellers on eBay. Ones that I continue to buy from, but there are always bad apples that ruin it for everyone. *sigh* It’s not like I am looking to buy property, cars, or Outer Banks beach rentals… this seriously is not rocket science. Can someone please explain to me what people are thinking? I’ve sold on eBay and I strive to ship the SAME DAY they pay and ONLY use Priority Mail. I just don’t understand!!