Small Changes: Big Results

Confession: I have never, ever, EVER been faithful… to a diet.

I can't even count how many times I started my diet on Monday, cheated by Tuesday, ate like a pig from Wednesday through Saturday, felt guilty and bloated all day Sunday, and then started the crazy cycle again on Monday.

Can you relate?

I'm half Texan and half Cajun, so when I go too long without biscuits and fried shrimp, I'm not the most pleasant person to be around. 

Thankfully, I have been redeemed from the crazy cycle.

I have found that with the a few small healthy changes, the right supplements, and getting my butt moving can cause some BIG TIME results.

Check out this guy for example.....

This is Richard Chamberlain. He drank a ton of water every day, took Plexus Supplements: Slim drink, X-factor, and Block, and reduced his sugar intake. That's it! Small changes. Drink water, take supplements, reduce sugar. 96 pounds gone.

Being healthy for you and your family, doesn't have to be complicated and difficult. A few small changes can produce some pretty big results.

Moms!! Be encouraged! Staying healthy doesn't mean you have to spend hours in the gym and eat twigs for breakfast. Drink water. Take Plexus. Move your BUTT! 

Here are a few fun facts about water. 

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Water helps maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss - shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient. 

Sometimes drinking our eight glasses of water a day (or whatever your goal for water intake may be) can be a real challenge. 

Here are some tips to help you accomplish that feat! 

 Make it convenient - keep a big, plastic, insulated water bottle full on your desk and reach for it all day. 

 When you have a junk-food craving, down a glass of water immediately. You feel full quickly and avoid the calories, and it lets time pass till the craving fades. 

 Have one glass every hour on the hour while at work. When the work day is done your water quota is met. 

 Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes, and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes - it's refreshing and helps get in a serving or two of fruit. 

 Don't allow yourself a diet soda until you've had two to four glasses of water. You will find that you won't want the soda anymore or that just half a can is enough. 

 Carry a small refillable water bottle at all times and drink during downtime; while waiting in a bank line, sitting in traffic, etc. 

 Bring a two-liter bottle of water to work and try to drink it all before you leave work. If you don't finish, drink it in traffic on the way home - it's like a race. 

 Add drinking two glasses of water to your daily skincare regimen. Drink, cleanse, moisturize, etc., then drink again. 

Source - Donald S. Robertson, M.D., M. Sc 

www.plexusslim.com/bbruce 

Twin Post: My Favorite Things- (Birth to 6 Months)

In honor of The Sound of Music's 50th anniversary, I decided to post "a few of my favorite things"!:)
I don't know how I would have survived the first 6 months of motherhood without these essential items!

Rock-n-Plays: Newborn-3 months
My little monkeys slept in these in our bedroom from birth to 3 1/2 months. These are awesome. Every mom needs one (or two). ;)

Baby Swings: Newborn-6 months
These swings were my right hand man the first few months of their lives! They napped, played, and just helped me handle one baby at a time! Definitely something a twin mom can't be without!

Diaper Basket:
When you have two babies to deal with, you can't walk your baby to the nursery every time you need to change their diaper. We kept this basket in our living room (and still do) so I can change their diaper while keeping an eye on the other baby!

Infant Loungers: Newborn-3 months
When I could no longer keep up with the demands of two babies needing to breast feed, I used these infant loungers to feed my two munchkins at the same time. When they out grew these, I would use their car seats! Do what ya gotta do lil momma!

Bubba Keg:
So obviously when you have two babies, it's hard to find time to constantly refill your glass of water. So, I bought a Bubba Keg, which holds 52 oz at a time. Fill it up twice a day and you have more than enough water to keep hydrated for your babies!

Gripe Water/Gas Drops: 1 month-3 months
For about 3 months, we had to add Gripe Water in each bottle, because they both had Colic. Not fun…
Noah, my gassy baby, still requires his Gas Drops every now and then. Little Remedies is a staple in our medicine cabinet.

Two Rocker/recliners: 
We first had just one rocker recliner. Shortly after the twins were here we clearly saw we needed two. That way, your hubby/friend/mom/sister/whoever can help you rock and love on your babies. Plus, every awesome and comfortable living room should have a Big Daddy Chair and a Lil Momma Chair!
BEST. DECISION. EVER.

Zipadeezip: 3 months-5 months
We fully believe in these. We crib trained our twins in one night while they wore the Zipadeezip. You can order these online at www.zipadeezip.com.

Jumpy: 5 months-Today
I really don't know the real name for these things! haha! Is it an excersaucer? I have no idea, but in our family we call it a Jumpy! :) Around 4 months old, they didn't fit in one of the swings, so we are borrowing two Jumpies from my amazing SIL and fellow twin mommy and they've been a permanent piece of furniture in our living room ever since! They LOVE their Jumpy and I'm okay with that!

Space Saver High chair: 4 months-Today
Okay so these are kinda self explanatory.. Unless you live in a 5000 sq ft home, you don't have room for TWO high chairs. We use these Space Savers. They attach safely on your already existing chair.

Stroller: Newborn-Today
So while stroller shopping, of course I wanted the "top of the line" double stroller for my two perfect angels! But… those strollers don't fit through doorways, weigh 100 pounds, and are impossible to collapse in your vehicle. We bought the Baby Trend Snap-N-Go. Cheap, small, and light weight.

Double Jogging Stroller: 5 months-Today
I LOVE my BOB Jogging Stroller. It's awesome and the babies love riding in it!

The Art of Propping:
You don't have 4 hands, therefore you prop.

A Super Simple Low Carb Comfort Meal….really...it's simple.

I've always been a meat and potatoes kinda girl, so when we decided to eat low carb, a small tear fell down my cheek as I knew my relationship with fried chicken and mashed potatoes was over. So sad.. :(    But as I researched how to cook in a healthy way, all you really gotta do is substitute a few things and BAM you got your favorite dishes.. only healthier! So I knew I wanted to try a low carb mashed potatoes and some type of unfried chicken. Well my friends.. I have found THE most delicious no potato mashed potato recipe you'll ever have and its SOOO simple and a way to have that fried chicken taste, but its obviously not fried. Okay here's what I did..

Almond Parm Crusted Chicken:
Ingredients: 
Boneless skinless chicken breast (duh)
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup grated parmesan 
seasonings- Tonys/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder/paprika
1 egg
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl add almond flour, parmesan, and seasonings and mix together to make your "flour" and spread it out onto a plate.
Butterfly chicken breast to make it thinner and cut in half to make two pieces. Sprinkle Tonys on both sides of the chicken. (you don't have to do this step, I just like my chicken with an extra kick)
In a bowl, crack and egg and use a fork to whisk the yoke and white together.
Dip the seasoned chicken into the egg wash so its coated on both sides.
Then place the chicken into the "flour" and make sure the flour is coated on both sides.
In a skillet, melt better and olive oil on medium heat.
When skillet is hot place the coated chicken into the skillet.
Repeat steps with other pieces of chicken.
The chicken should cook for about 4 minutes on each side.

TIP: Only flip once so the "crust" doesn't fall off!
TIP: I usually cut the chicken at the thickest part to make sure its cooked all the way through. I recommend you do the same so you don't kill your husband with salmonella.

No potato mashed potatoes…aka…Garlic Mashed Cauliflower:
Let me just say first- I was VERY skeptical about this recipe, but oh em gee, it's amazeballs.. trust.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup chicken stock
2/3 cup grated parmesan
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt or sour cream
Seasonings- Salt/pepper/Tonys

Ok here we go- ready for your 12 minute mashed potatoes?

Chop your head of cauliflower into small pieces and put into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes with a pinch of salt.
After ten minutes, use a slotted spoon to fish out the cauliflower and put onto thick paper towels. Smash the heck out of it with other paper towels so that you get as much water out as possible. Congratulations, you're through with the hardest part. WOOHOO!!!!! Our work here is done! Well..sorta.

Okay! Now you're gonna throw everything in a blender or food processor. I had to use my Ninja blender bc my food processor was too small.
After everything is mixed together, taste to see if you need any more seasonings. (I had to add a tiny dash of chicken broth because it wasn't the consistency I wanted and a little more Tonys because that's just how I roll)

Then simply spoon out the mash and serve! (then message me and tell me how right I was)

TIP- this really doesn't do well reheated so eat it all that night. It taste like cauliflower the next day, and trust me nobody wants that.

1/2 and 1/2 Caesar Salad:
Ingredients:
1 cup spinach
1 cup romaine
2 tbsp caesar dressing
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Okay so obviously you need some greens in your comfort food dinner. I am not a vinaigrette kinda girl, so I go with a low carb caesar dressing.To me, its worth it.

Throw your spinach and romaine in a bowl. Add your dressing. Then add your grated parmesan so that it sticks to the dressing and coats the greens very well! Use tongs to mix around. Be fancy. BAM you're done.

Mommies Need Plexus

Last week I wrote a blog about "How do you do it?". One of the answers to the "how" was "Health". I wanted to dive a little deeper into that just to help other Mommies keep healthy before and during pregnancy, and while their little angel(s) are keeping you busy busy busy!

Let me start with my story. I'll do my best to make it short and sweet while being completely open and honest.

Pre-pregnancy:
So, being completely open and honest, Thomas and I had a hard time getting pregnant. Month after month after month would go by and we would consistently be disappointed as Aunt Flo would visit, or we would only see 1 pink line on my pregnancy test. After 16 months, we were emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually exhausted.
One late night during pillow talk, we decided to stop "trying" and start praying. We asked the Lord to open our hearts to other options like adoption, which we had never considered before. We also decided to focus on other important things, like our health and wellness, and our relationship with the Lord and each other.
It was unfortunately approaching the holiday season. Halloween just passed and Thanksgiving and Christmas was on the horizon! I knew I wasn't going to be able to really "diet", so I decided to take the Plexus supplements to help maintain my weight, take control of my cravings, and keep me "regular" while on my road to health and wellness.

After two months of prayer and Plexus, I found out I was pregnant.

I was completely and utterly shocked. All I could do was thank God and wonder if Plexus had anything to do with it?? Of course the Lord blessed us with the pregnancy, but after doing a little research into it, Plexus does play a roll in balancing your blood sugar and hormones, helping your body do what it was created to do!! Pro-create! I continued researching and found many other testimonies of women who struggled with infertility, and a few months later found out they were pregnant. It was so encouraging and I am so thankful.

Mommies need Plexus.

Pregnancy:
So a short 5 weeks after I found out I was pregnant, I found out it was with twins. TWINS!!! After the excitement and mere SHOCK of it all, I immediately thought, "OMG... what will happen to my BODY!!!!!" I'm already a tall and curvy girl, and I've seen what pregnancy with ONE baby does to people. So I googled it…. I was horrified. I was scared. I said goodbye to my flat tummy and started to mentally prepare myself that I would never have my body ever again.

3 days before delivery

Well.. I decided to continue with my Plexus since it had done so much for me already. I took Probio5 because my OB said that the babies and I NEED probiotics, I took the Slim drink to help balance by blood sugars because I did NOT want to get gestational diabetes, and I took the BioCleanse because I would go days and days without "going". (Pregnancy is uncomfortable enough! We don't need to add constipation to it!!) I also rubbed the Plexus Body Cream all over my belly every night.

The final result was 45 pounds gained (the average weight gain with twins is 75 pounds), zero complications, NO gestational diabetes, ZERO stretch marks, healthy babies, and zero NICU time (even tho they were premature).

Mommies need Plexus.

Post-Pregnancy:
So let me just say, taking care of two babies is the hardest job in the world. No one quite understands that statement, unless of course you are a twin mom. And like I said in my previous blog post, if we are not 100% healthy 100% of the time, we can not fully take care of our babies. We need energy, energy, ENERGY! All day and all night. We have to be on our A-game 24/7 so we NEED to take care of ourself!!
Unfortunately, you have no time for yourself! No time to work out. No time to meal plan. No time to cook.  Thankfully, I still had Plexus. I DID have enough time to swallow a few Plexus supplements and drink a bottle of Slim. And just 60 days after delivery, I lost 40 pounds. Now, that my babies are a little older, I do have time to meal plan once a week, and I do squeeze in time every day to work out. But I would not have the energy, or the mental capacity to do this, if it wasn't for my Plexus suppliments.

8 weeks old (60 days on Plexus)

Mommies need Plexus.

I am by no means trying to sell anything to you. But I want to help. I want to encourage. Plexus has helped me on every road I've traveled on and I can help you help yourself if you need it!

Try it for 60 days and if you hate it, you get your money back guaranteed. What's to lose? (besides your belly lol- totally joking)

I would love to hear your story and your struggles. Please contact me somehow so we can chat and learn from each other!


brittanycbruce@gmail.com
www.plexusslim.com/bbruce
www.facebook.com/brittanycrosbybruce
225-485-8975

Quick Veggie Side!

This week I didn't have the time or energy to meal plan because the babies have been sick and we've been eating whatever my mom cooks. Now that I'm back home, I'm so glad I have my freezer with healthy frozen veggies I can cook in minutes.  

So if you're a busy mom like me, do yourself a favor and hit up the freezer section in your local grocery store and grab the frozen Vegetable Stir-Fry bag! I usually grab the ShurFine because I'm a cheapo. ;) I always get a few bags and just keep them in my freezer for when I need them. 

Veggie stir fry is a really quick and easy side you can throw together in minutes when you need something green to go with your supper. 

Ingredients:

Coconut oil

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

Frozen Vegetable Stir-fry

Seasonings: onion/garlic powder/Tony's 

Directions:

Throw a little coconut oil in a skillet on medium high and add soy sauce and stir it around in the oil. 

Throw in the bag of frozen vegetables. 

Stir around for about 5 minutes on high heat then turn down heat to low. 

Add seasonings. 

Cook til the veggies are the firmness you like! 

And serve:)

So easy. So fast. So good. 

Twin Post: How do you do it?

"How do you do it? I couldn't even imagine! You must have lots of help. Man, I couldn't do what you do. I have trouble with one, much less two! How do you do it?"


These are just a few questions I get on a daily basis when I run into people at church, in the grocery store, or at the mall. If you're a twin mom, you know now that your two little monkeys get LOTS of attention when you take them out. "Are they twins? Are they boys or girls? Are they identical? Were they natural?" And then they always know someone who had twins, or tell me a little story about twins they knew. I don't mind at all. I actually love talking to new people and have them gawk over my sweet boys:)
But for my fellow twin moms and for people who were wondering how we do it, I always have the same response… "I just do it."



But what I really mean is…

Faith.
I couldn't have gotten out of bed most days if it wasn't for asking the Lord to give me strength. I wouldn't have known how to comfort my babies if I didn't ask the Lord for wisdom. I couldn't have made those evening colic hours if I didn't ask the Lord to pour His love through me because I felt like my love wasn't enough. I couldn't have gotten through the numerous night feedings if I didn't ask the Lord for patience and endurance. God Almighty created these baby boys for His purpose, and gave Thomas and me the privilege of raising them to know and love Him. People ask me how do I do it? Jesus. Our God equips us for what He has called for our life.
"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Health.
One thing that I've figured out on this road of motherhood, is that if I'm not feeling great every day.. all day…24/7... I can not be the mother I want to be that my children deserve. I can not be the wife I want to be that my husband deserves. The exhaustion takes over, and the frustration kicks in.You don't sleep, you don't have time to eat, and when you do it's quick and usually crap. You end up feeling more tired, you're not "regular", and you gain weight, which makes you more tired and depressed. You start this crazy cycle of bad health choices that see,s impossible to stop. Especially in the first few weeks, the last thing you can think about is yourself and eating right. But in reality, that's part of the importance of being a mother. YOU have to be healthy for your family because they need the very best of you. I am definitely not the poster child of health, but I have done the best that I can with the circumstances. I eat low carb as much as possible and meal plan, take Plexus supplements, exercise at home doing T25, sleep as much as possible, drink tons of water, and walk/job with my babies when I can. Moms, even if you can do one of those things, it can help you're health, attitude, and energy to keep up with your babies.




Help.
Surprisingly, asking for help is something that I am STILL struggling with. I am so much like my Mawmaw Loretta, that I "never want to bother nobody". I will be in tears with my hair falling out before I call my mom for help, but I think I'm getting better. I just got home from spending a week at my moms house because my two babies were sick and I just couldn't do it by myself. I asked my sister-in-law to watch my babies while I did things I needed to do around the house. My sister is watching the boys while Thomas and I have a Valentine's Day lunch in BR. Next weekend, my mom and mother-in-law are taking the babies overnight so Thomas and I can enjoy our friends' late night wedding. All you have to do is ask. People love you and are more than willing to help you and cuddle with your babies. Just ask.
If you have twins, or are expecting twins. move close to your family and friends. Because you WILL need help. And thats okay.