Welcome to my story!

Thank you for visiting my blog! Here I share my ups and downs of being a mom who has tried working from home, but most importantly wants to be healthy and share it with others. If you can make money while doing it...AWESOME!

I have a passion for LIFE and that includes my family, working out, eating healthy, and sharing what works and doesn't work with others.

I LOVE working with Xango and their new product Favao, it gives me the opportunity to mentor others to reach their health and wealth goals!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Another Favaolicious Week!

I just completed week 7, started week 8 today!  I had a FANTASTIC week, weighed in losing 4 more pounds and another .25 from my mid section.  I have now lost 8 pounds putting me at 140 pounds for the first time since I had my oldest daughter, Sienna (who turns 6 in March)!  I'm only 5 pounds away from my goal of 135.  However, if I can get to 130 looking fit and trim, that will be my ultimate goal!  I've lost 4 inches from my belly and 3 from my hips.  I'm SO excited about these results and feel absolutely wonderful.  It's just so nice to put my skinny jeans on and for them to feel a little loose, not tight, not uncomfortable, but a little like I may need to buy a smaller size soon.  That will be a major celebration!  I've been wearing size 12 for a LONG time, could squeeze into a 10, but hate tight.  So my goal is to get to wearing a size 8-10.  You know you'll be hearing the shout when that happens!! 

I'm just so excited to share this new healthy lifestyle with anyone who will listen.  I look forward to more people recognizing it's a lifestyle change worth going for.  Many are interested, most are still pondering.  But there are some amazing stories happening with Favao.  My friend Marci is doing amazing.  She signed up because she's really struggled losing after her last child who will soon be a year old.  After 2 weeks she lost 7 pounds and inches and feels so amazing.  She's so excited to start sharing her story with people.  We want everyone to be healthy and happy wearing smaller jeans!!

I just had to give a little quick update.  For more information, watch this quick video at www.melissanicholson.mymangosteen.com/solution

Have a Wonderful Week!!! 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

It's all about lifestyle change...not dieting!

When I look back and think of all of the money I've spent and things I've tried to lose weight and get the body I want, it's frustrating to no end!  And don't even get my husband started, it's one of the things I do that drives him CRAZY!  This is why I'm so excited about Favao, a weight loss program that takes 12 weeks to Reset your body.  Then it's easy to maintain, you can choose from meals in the book and make your own meal plans, you don't crave sweets and carbs anymore, and you're just overall smarter about the food choices you make!  I've read so many articles about living healthy and I love learning about it.  My favorite magazine is Women's Health, so much great information!  My problem hasn't been lack of information, it's been lack of putting a plan together that I can stick to.

Favao has done all of this for me and that's why I am now starting Week 7 on the plan and have no desire to stop!  Typically I make it, oh, maybe a month on something. I've tried Weight Watchers online a couple of times, lost a few pounds and then got tired of tracking after a few weeks...both times!  I don't like Weight Watchers because you can still eat so many sweets, just as long as you stay under your points.  That doesn't work for me, I LOVE sweets, I needed a program that helped me not crave sweets anymore.  There are sweet things on Favao, so I don't have to say goodbye to them.  For example, this week my Power Snack is Baked Apple Pie...Yum!!  I also used MyFitnessPal on my phone to track my calories.  I know I burn enough calories, and my problem is the calories I put into my body.  Did it work?  Yes!  But yet again, I got tired of entering everything in and tracking everything so this plan only lasted maybe 2-3 weeks.  I try going back to it, but the thought of all that tracking turns me off.

This is why I love Favao!  This amazing team of personal trainers and nutritionists have put together a program I can follow.  They tell me what to cook, how much goes in each meal, what I can substitute if I don't like something, and even when to eat each meal!  Crazy!  The preparing is the hardest part, takes me a couple of hours, but then the rest of the week I'm done.  Just cook dinner!  I love it and because they've made it this simple, I'm sticking to it and will continue to even after the 12 weeks is over. 

I feel more energy than I have in a long time.  And the success stories are awesome!  Here are some Real Results from Real People on Favao that Cat Parker has posted on Facebook:
1/14/12
Trudy
1 week on FAVAO Check in: 5.4lbs and 8" lost!!
Goals for week 2: drink water. 4 -16oz bottles a day. Gotta build up to 6 bottles.

1/14/12
Laura
Down 12 lbs and 3 inches in the waist.

1/14/12
Ann Total -11 pounds== 4 inches off my waist, 2 off my hips, and 2 off my chest, for a total of 8 inches. I should have measured thighs and upper arms, too. My rings are loose, my watch is more of a bracelet now, too. HOORAY FOR FAVAO!!!

1/14/12
Suzi
My husband Dan is so excited! He has lost 10lbs since Jan 1, all extra fat he didn't need anyway.

1/13/12
Raymond
Wednesday Morning, 17 lbs in 4 complete weeks! Feeling GREAT

1/13/12
Amy I am down 7.5 lbs in 10 days! More than I lost all last summer, when I was on Weight Watchers! I don't have a lot to lose, so a loss like this is huge!!!

As for me, I'm still going, lost another .25 inches from my waist!  Every single inch is a WIN!!!!  Here's to Week 7, I'm excited!  Prepared my meals last night and I'm excited to eat!  I'll be having Strawberry Ice Cream first thing (my Metabolic Booster Meal), then Berry Pancakes with Favao whipped topping for Breakfast, then Baked Apple Pie (Power Snack), Turkey Cheese Wrap with Orange Smoothie for lunch, homemade Chips & Salsa (Energy Snack), and Chicken Taco Soup for dinner!!!  Tell me that's a diet:)  And have a wonderful week!!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Whole New Direction!

I've made a lot of changes since my last post...A LOT! First I stopped doing anything home business related and decided to just enjoy my girls and start figuring out what I was going to do once they are both in school! I looked into becoming a personal trainer. I love working out and would love helping others learn to live healthier and feel better.  As I looked into it I realized it would put me back into sells...and I so don't want to go there again! So next I started to revisit my thoughts on being a school counselor. When I was getting my bachelor degree...many years ago...in Psychology, I really wanted to be a counselor. But at the time you had to teach first and I knew I didn't want to teach!  It's different now and I found a great on-campus program through University of Phoenix.  I started classes in September and have made the right decision, I'm so excited to be a counselor at a middle school or high school!  It's going to be perfect, I'll graduate the summer before my youngest starts 1st grade and then we will all be on the same schedule!

In the last couple of months I also found a way to finally take inches off of my belly and hips.  This is something that has been driving me absolutely CRAZY for the last couple of years!  As I've discussed in previous posts on my blog, I have been working out 4-6 days a week doing weight training and some hard-core cardio (like burning 800-1000 calories just during the class and many more after) and not getting any loss in inches.  Talk about frustrating!  I even went and met a doctor to see about having water lipo done because I figured the reason I wasn't getting rid of the belly or huge hips was because I was stuck with it, brought on by the good genes I had been born with!  I didn't understand AT ALL how I wasn't losing even 1/8th of an inch in those two places.  I felt better and did look better, but definitely not the way I felt I should look after doing these workouts and watching what I ate!

So about 7 weeks ago I saw a family friend from my hometown posting something about a new weight loss program her and her husband were doing.  Lisa has been a distributor of Xango for about 6 years or so and she has been trying to get me to join her in Xango since I was signed up with Hager Marketing and getting into network marketing.  After my horrific experience with Hager and Zrii I had no interest whatsoever!  Xango had a juice, so does every other company.  They also had vitamins and had come out with makeup and hair products...I felt who cares, get that other places.  But then she posted about this weight management program they were pre-launching and asked her for information.  Xango finally had something I was interested in.  The video hit me hard, there was a woman in the video, Robyn, who is part of the team who produced this whole program.  Her story was me...work out all the time and she ate better than I did.  Then I saw her "before" picture, you could have put my face on the picture and it was my body with my story!  Then I saw her "after" picture after completing 12 weeks on this new program called Favao.  WOW!  I had to try it, this could save me thousands of dollars if doing it got my body looking like it would, or actually better, if I had the lipo done.

I signed up for their pre-launch.  It came with a book with 12 weeks of meal plans and excercises and a ton of options for switching meals if you don't like something, a 1 year online subscription with everything in the book plus a ton more, a fiber to mix with water, and a cleanse.  I was a little questionnable about making my meals for the week in one day, but sounded worth it.  The day of preparing did take some time...however, that week was awesome because I didn't have to think about what I was going to eat.  Just made something different from the book for dinner every night!  Then I got to weigh and measure after my 1st week was over...AND...I lost 3 lbs...but more importantly, I lost 2 inches from my belly AND 2 inches from my hips! 

The first month was a little tough, I started on December 4.  It was holiday time when there's a ton of get togethers, parties and goodies to be had!  I also had family in town for 10 days and then went to visit family out of town for 10 days.  I stuck to the program 90% I would say...got a little more difficult towards the end of my trip.  BUT...I didn't gain any back!  So while most people, me included in the past, gain weight over the holidays, I lost 5 lbs and 3 inches from my belly and 2 inches from my hips!

I'm so excited about this, especially now that the holidays are over and I can get back on track!  Plus, they have now launched the full program so in addition to the yummy fiber and yummy cleanse, I have a metabolic (promotes fat burning & healthy metabolism, increases overall energy, maintains blood-glucose levels, helps normalize appetite) and their new whey protein shake in vanilla flavor that is the most delicious I've ever had!  I've noticed my grocery shopping being a lot less, I don't go everyday anymore, and it's cheaper!  This week I've even convinced my husband to let me make him the meals...he wants to get rid of his belly!  So we'll see how he does just on the meal plan!!

If you would like more info, see the video at www.melissanicholson.mymangosteen.com/solution
Yes, I'm sort of in sells again, in network marketing again.  I went home and had a lot of people tell me I looked skinny.  I never felt so great and decided if people are going to notice my results, why not make some money to help pay for my products when I tell them about this amazing program!  It's healthy, it's easy, it's cost effective, and IT WORKS!!  I also have to add, after watching the opportunity video Lisa sent me, I saw they have a great system in place to build a business if I choose to. 

Talk again soon!!