Thursday randoms and The Plan diet update

I don't think I posted my weigh in weight yesterday which was an incredible 7.2lbs lost in five days. Today however I am up by .8 of a pound and if I am reading my body and understanding The Plan correctly than I'm thinking that rye is to blame (booo) which makes me a little concerned about trying wheat (tomorrow) but we'll see how it goes. Another thing I found quite interesting was that I felt irritated yesterday, the kids were making me a little crazy and I found my temper was running short. Related to the rye too? 

Amazingly enough...even potato chips are part of The Plan diet so this is today's afternoon snack...crazy isn't it?

I actually think the most crazy part of this diet is that I don't feel hungry, I really thought I would be, and I don't have any sweet/salty cravings either which again, I really thought I would. The cleanse at the beginning was definitely the hardest part with not feeling all that great and I did have cravings and wanted to eat but it wasn't from hunger...more habit than anything.

On to some randoms...

Have you heard Daft Punk's Get Lucky song? To me it has such a 70's feel, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so...

I really want this NYC tank from American Eagle but I can't seem to find it anywhere...

Super creepy shower curtain...

Loving the white nail polish trend and will be polishing my nails that way today (image from Pinterest)...

I've posted this before but it's great advice and worth another post...What if money was no object?

Don't doubt yourself....

I love this Rebecca Minkoff bag...

Ok, a huge pile of laundry is calling my name....kind of sounds like the phone voice in The Grudge.... "seeeven daays"...creepy...stupid laundry.

Wardrobe Wednesday and a GIVEAWAY!

I'm afraid this last weeks wardrobe pictures are pretty sparse, I just didn't get pictures for whatever reason but I will do better this week. 

Fox sweater: Old Navy - I have gotten so many comments and questions on this sweater, it's from last year but you can probably find it on eBay if you search a bit.

Tank: Bootlegger

Jeans: Warehouse One

Flats: Shoe Warehouse

Necklace: The Naked Squirrel - I'm in love with this feather necklace, so cute and I love that it's "imperfect" looking with the little holes....love love love.

And speaking of The Naked Squirrel I'm very happy to be doing a giveaway this week featuring two of their items. One person will win this lovely anchor necklace and earrings set (I may have to order myself one too...loving all things nautical right now and this set is perfect, will go with all your summer threads).

 The necklace comes on a 16k gold filled chain meaning it will stay beautiful and untarnished for years.

And the earrings are 14k gold plated and are lead and nickel free so are safe for sensitive ears.

There are three ways you can enter to win this set and here they are:

1. "Like" the Random Thoughts Facebook page and "share" the giveaway post which you will find on the Facebook page.

2. Follow this blog with Bloglovin (see sidebar).

3. Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter with a link to this post.

You can do all three and get three entries which will really up your chances! Make sure and let me know in the comments section which method(s) you used to enter so I know to include you in the draw.

The Naked Squirrel is also offering a fantastic 25% off any order from Random Thoughts readers between now and June 5th so be sure to take advantage. Use the code Discount25 at checkout.

Here are a couple things I'm loving..

This gold aqua necklace is so pretty:

The gold spike necklace...awesome:

Shop around, there are so many beautiful pieces and I'm sure you'll find something you love too.

The giveaway winner will be announced next Wednesday so stay tuned!

Here is my weekly link up to The Pleated Poppy.

New tunes

First off an update with how The Plan diet is going and I won't hold back...this happened yesterday...

No, not because I caved but because that's part of the diet plan. You heard right...wine and chocolate are part of The Plan. I'll say it again... Best. Diet. Ever.

And you know what's even better???? I was down another 1.6lbs this morning. I kid you not my friend, I wouldn't lie to you. Chris was also down another pound so that's 6.6 total for me and 8 for Chris. This is the least I've weighed since Marshall was born so it's a good day today.

On to the music....here's some new tunes I've been enjoying lately.

The Features - How it Starts

MS MR - Hurricane

Need a boost? A song that just makes you feel good?

Josh Radin - Brand New Day

Super catchy beat

Ill Scarlett - My Money

This is an oldie but it's been in my rotation again..

KO - Capable

And this is this week's iTunes freebie..what do you think?

Crystal Fighters - Love Natural

Still raining away here...what I wouldn't do for some sun. :S

Gotta jet...I'm out of salad and it's almost lunch time. ;)

Motivation Monday and the winner of The Plan book

Happy Monday everyone! 

 If you've been following along than you know I that started The Plan diet on Friday, and that the first three days is a cleanse to reset your palate, help your body release toxins and reduce inflammation in your body. It was actually a little tougher than I thought. I had a terrible headache both Friday and Saturday which had mostly gone away by Sunday. I was also very tired and my back and neck ached. Chris was pretty much the same. This supposedly gentle cleanse was not really so gentle, but I was feeling pretty good by yesterday and I'm back at it today (mostly...my back is still a little sore). My recommendation would be to start this diet on a weekend when you don't have anything else planned. It was a bit boring for the kiddies to be hanging out with Chris and I while we were feeling under the weather but they did get lots of outdoor play time and when it rained it was time for cartoons and we all rested on the couch.

Today is day four and the cleanse is officially over and we have moved on to testing foods, today's test will be goat cheese which we will be having on our spinach salad at lunch. Also coming back today is tea/coffee along with wine and chocolate (um...hello...best eating plan ever!). I'm enjoying this very cup of tea right now, and yes, I've missed it.

Now here's the best news....Chris and I's final weigh in this morning after completing the cleanse:

Chris: a weight loss of 7lbs(!)

Mariah: a weight loss of 5.2

Isn't that amazing? That's in only three days and we ate a lot of food. According to the book we should be expecting a loss of a half a pound every day (yes, you weigh yourself every morning), if not than we are reacting to something.

So now on to the winner of the book giveaway.......drum roll please.......

Laurie Roseborough!

And just to sweeten the pot a little, when I tweeted about the giveaway on Twitter the very nice author of the book, Ms Lyn - Genet Recitas saw my tweet and was so pleased that she sent me another copy to giveaway so there are two winners today! The second winner is:

Jennifer Ball!

Congratulations ladies! Please send me your mailing addresses and I will get the books off to you asap.

Saw this post on Pinterest this morning and thought it suited today's blog post perfectly...

And remember to...

Once you know which ones agree with you of course. ;)

That's it for Monday's post....there was no exercise during the cleanse but I got back at it today with a 4km walk in the pouring rain. It was a short one because it was so wet (no fun for Marshall) so I may hit the treadmill tonight (you'll know tomorrow...haha). 

I hope wherever you are you're staying dry!

Sunday deals and steals

Good morning! First I'll start with a quick update on how The Plan diet is going. Both Chris and I have continued to have headaches, and for me they get worse at night, we are also very tired and have achy bodies. I know, who would have thought right? This easy cleanse has actually taken it out of us and we've been sleeping 8-9 hours a night which is not the norm. I'm glad we started on a Friday and did it over the weekend.

 The best news is that at our morning weigh in I was down 3.2 more pounds and Chris was down another 1.4. That is 4.2 for me and 5.6 for Chris and it's only been two days. We've been eating a lot of food so hunger hasn't been an issue. Today is day three and the final day of the cleanse, tomorrow is back to coffee/tea and we start testing foods, starting with cheese (yay!). Today is the last day to enter the giveaway to win a copy of The Plan book for yourself so make sure you're included, details here.

Now for the shopping!

Isn't this colour block dress cute?! It looks so comfy and would be a great go to summer dress I bet. It's $58 but if you use the code CANVAS you get 30% off.

French Terry Colorblock Dress 

Keeping within the same colour theme is this beach bag from Tommy Hilfiger on sale for $28.

Large Classic Stripe Web Tote

Love this pink blazer from Anthropologie on sale for 49.95.

Tonal Knit Blazer

Another sale piece from Anthropologie is this great summer skirt, regularly $148, on sale for $79.95.

La Festa Pencil Skirt 

And last but not least, my sister just signed up for Shoemint and got an amazing coupon for $40 off her first purchase, so if you have been thinking of doing it than now is the time.

Shoemint

This is one (of many) pair I'm loving right now:

Hope you're having a great weekend and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

The rest of Day One and the beginning of Day Two of The Plan diet

Here's a little update on how things are going. It was an all veggie day yesterday and will be again today. While I thought that I would feel really hungry after last nights dinner I actually felt pretty good in that respect. 

We had this very tasty Carrot and Beet salad with pumpkin seeds...

Sauteed kale with shitake mushrooms. I will say right now that I am not a fan of kale. I know that many people tout it as a superfood but it's tough and hard to eat and not that tasty to be honest. Cooking it helps with the tough part but doesn't do much for the flavour.

.

Enter the Spicy Coco Sauce. This stuff is delicious (in fact one person made a quote in the book that they would eat kitty litter if it had this stuff on it). I omitted the cayenne pepper as I don't like really spicy food but otherwise followed the recipe, and this made that kale go down just fine.

I had the worst headache last night. You know how yesterday I said I had a mild headache? Well it just grew and grew until finally I took an ibuprofen just before bed so that I could sleep. I tried to tough it out, I really did but it hurt bad. The book says to take acetaminophen rather than ibuprofen because you retain water with the latter but it was all I had and from past experience the acetaminophen just doesn't work for me anyhow.

I ended up going to bed early and slept for nine hours straight and Chris did eleven and says he could go right back to bed. Clearly we are in detox/healing mode!

At weigh in this morning I was down one pound and Chris was down an incredible 4.5lbs!

We are missing our coffee/tea but it's for the greater good and will be back on Monday.

Prepping for The Plan and the beginning of Day One

I did all my grocery shopping yesterday in order to be properly prepped for today, which is Day One of the The Plan diet. It was a whole lot of veg and seeds/nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, almonds) as you can see....

I also picked up the supplements that I will be taking, all of these were found at Wal Mart so don't think you have to go to a health food store to get them. When choosing a probiotic make sure that is has between 30-50 billion active cells, the MSM is for inflammation and apparently really makes a difference for people with allergies, arthritis and anything else caused from inflammation. If you can't find this liver health supplement you can pick up Milk Thistle on it's own and you can find it almost anywhere, or you can drink dandelion tea.

I was up fairly late last night (only because I chose to watch Game of Thrones instead of getting to it earlier... :S) prepping food for today, and the following two days (the beginning of the diet is a three day cleanse to calm your body, detox, and reset your palate).

I made this flax granola with some dried fruit which I then had for breakfast this morning along with rice milk and some fresh blueberries. Chris wasn't a fan of the granola but I liked it. The book says it really grows on you so give it a few days...we'll see if that's the case with Chris.

The flax is good for keeping you regular, especially if you tend to rely on your morning coffee to do that as there is no coffee for the first three days...remember you're detoxing.

I also made the Carrot and Ginger soup, which I am currently eating as I type this blog post out (forgot to add the sunflower seeds on top before I took the pic). It's very tasty and has great flavour, especially for something that has no salt. Again this soup is great for inflammation and is something you can use to calm your digestion down if you end up eating something you're reactive to.

Lunch will also include a green salad with lemon and olive oil as dressing as well as some pumpkin seeds, and some sauteed broccoli. I have been doing well as far as hunger so far, the cup of flax granola I had this morning contains 40grams of protein so I'm sure that helped to keep me full.

Also, many glasses of this....

Water with lemon is my new BFF at the moment.

When doing a detox there can be a few side effects or signs that your body is getting rid of toxins and they come in the form of fatigue, headaches, irritability, digestion issues etc... It's only day one for me but I do have a mild headache, we'll see how the rest goes.

So that's it so far...halfway through day one. I'll be posting daily updates so you can see how things go and if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Happy Friday!

Thursday planning and randoms..

Usually I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to blog about ahead of time but today I'm just not sure.....so here's a cute picture to distract you while I think about it....

Today was going to be day one of starting The Plan diet but because Chris was away (he's going to do it with me...most supportive husband ever) and I was too busy yesterday to get everything I needed, tomorrow will be day one.

I need to pick up some supplements today, probiotics, dandelion tea (or a liver supplement) and some MSM. I also need to bake up some homemade flax granola for breakfast. There is a bit of prep for this diet plan but I don't mind, I already cook quite a bit and now I will just be cooking some new stuff.

Apparently there can be a few side affects to cleansing....fatigue, headache etc...and it can start as early as the first day. It's your body working to detox which is why you don't exercise for the first three days. You don't want your body working at doing anything but ridding itself of toxins.

I'll have much more insight and information once I've done it myself and I intend to blog it all as I go. Don't forget to enter the giveaway and join me on the journey. :)

A few little tidbits for you:

Free shipping at TOMS shoes right now.

Some great advice:

This made me laugh because I have a three year old who crawls into bed with me nearly every night and does all of these....

Have you heard this song from Michael Buble and Reese Witherspoon? I like it...soft and easy..

And one more cute puppy pic...

Have a great Thursday!

Wardrobe Wednesday

I've been pretty good about taking daily pictures of my outfits throughout the week and this week I even threw in a couple of make up pics too. So here I am in pictures this week:

 Very light make up here courtesy of the Naked Palette from Urban Decay.

Cardigan: Old Navy

Tank: Old Navy

Skinnies: Old Navy rockstar style

Shoes: Converse

Necklace: gift

I love it when you refind things in your closet you forgot were there. This floral top was one of those pieces for me.

Cardigan: Old Navy

Top: Suzy Shier

Jeans: Warehouse One

Shoes: Steve Madden (I know..heels!)

This was part of a fun link up I did featuring One Piece Two Ways...you can see more here. I had the readers following on Facebook vote on your favourites and number one and two ended being my two different ways to dress up this black maxi dress.

Maxi dress: Old Navy

Denim Jacket: Old Navy

Blue t shirt: Old Navy

Wedges: BOC

Sandals: Shoemint

Shoes: Converse

Face of the day featuring the Urban Decay Smoked palette and my favourite gel liner from L'oreal called Infallible.

Denim Jacket: Old Navy

Tank: Old Navy

Skinnies: Old Navy rockstar

Boots: Shoemint

Necklace: gift

Blazer: Smart Set

Tank: Old Navy

Skinnies: Old Navy rockstar

Loafers: Wal Mart

Chambray shirt: Winners

Tank: Bootlegger

Skinnies: Old Navy rockstar

Shoes: Converse

Necklace: gift

Denim Jacket: Old Navy

Dress: Warehouse One (picked it up last year for $10..love a good deal)

Wedges: Winners

Necklace: gift

So that's it for my weekly wardrobe...here is my link up with The Pleated Poppy.

I have a great giveaway going on right now and you can enter to win a copy of The Plan. This new eating plan is being dubbed "the anti diet" as it's not about starving yourself and counting every little calorie. To read more about the book and to enter the giveaway check out Monday's post here. The winner will be drawn on Monday May 27th.

Hope you're having a great week so far!

A couple of reviews and a few randoms...

The newest mascara I've been trying out is Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! Tarte is known for being a more natural line of make up and this mascara is made without parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and dyes, petrochemicals and phthalates. I really found that it made a difference too. Often when using other mascaras by the end of the day my eyes feel quite "stingy" but this one doesn't bother me at all. It is also very long lasting with no smudging (my pet peeve!). It is fairly buildable and you can put on a couple of coats without worrying about clumping. This mascara gets two thumbs up from me in performance but it's not low cost. I think it's worth the price and performs better than quite a few of the other higher end options however.

My second review is for Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil. I must say I thought it a little odd to cleanse my face with oil...moisturize yes, but cleanse? I'm now a believer...this stuff is great! You spread it over your dry face and gently work it into the skin. Then you apply some water which emulsifies it and work it in some more then rinse away. That's it. Your skin will feel amazing afterwards. It works ok on taking eye make up off, I have found that I need to follow up with a bit of remover to get it all, and yes you will still need a bit of moisturizer afterwards. I am really wanting the Josie Maran argan oil.....it's on my list.

Josie Maran is a great natural alternative to your regular beauty items and I would encourage you to check it out. I'm a fan.

 Now for some randoms....

Let's start with a few songs:

This is this weeks iTunes freebie and I really like it...easy and mellow...

I'm becoming quite the fan of Atlas Genius...here's their newest single Centred on You.

If you're looking for something upbeat this one from Fergie is great...throw it in your running mix?

Another one from The Great Gatsby...actually I like this whole soundtrack and will be adding it to my collection since many of the songs you can only buy if you get the entire soundtrack. 

Love this maxi skirt from Alternative Apparel but it's sold out..anyone know where else I can find it?

Doesn't this quinoa with peppers and sausage dish look delish? It's a slow cooker recipe too which means it's perfect for my Wednesday dinner..will be picking up the ingredients today.

Quinoa with Sausage and Peppers

Have you seen the Nike Make It Count video? I love it...this is the second one:

I've been wanting a Nike+ FuelBand for awhile....maybe one of my weight loss goal prizes??

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!

Motivation Monday - and a GIVEAWAY!

It's a long weekend I know...you're probably relaxing, doing a little overindulging and not really thinking about how you are going to tackle this week...but if you are than this post is for you...and if you aren't than save it for tomorrow. ;)

I'm just going to jump right in with this one...have you heard of a book called The Plan? Author Lyn-genet Recitas has come up with a diet plan that has been dubbed The Anti Diet because it's not all about counting calories and starving yourself. This diet is about finding out what foods work for you and your body, and everyone is different. Once you know what foods your body is reactive to you will lose weight, balance hormone levels and apparently have energy through the roof. Here is a write up about the diet direct from the author's website: The Plan.

Here are a couple of links to videos explaining how it works (courtesy of the Marilyn Denis show).

This link tells you about the diet itself and how you reset your body for the first three days. This part is called the cleanse but it's unlike any cleanse you may have done before (fluids and pills).

The Plan part one

The second part tells you how you find your reactive foods and what does and does not work for you. 

The Plan part two

I'm really excited to try this. I know from trying out different diet plans that certain foods really don't work for me and now through a process of elimination I will be able to figure out which ones. I suspect some veggies will be triggers for me as every time I work hard at getting weight off I really up my vegetable intake and immediately get "backed up". SUPER frustrating...working so hard at diet and exercising a lot and to still have your weight go up? It's because nothing's coming out of course and not only is it frustrating, it's darn uncomfortable. So now that I've given you way too much information let's talk about the giveaway.

I want you to try this with me so not only have I ordered the book, I've ordered a second copy to give away!

There are two ways to enter, and if you do both than you will be entered twice!

The first way is to follow this blog via Bloglovin (link on the right hand side, scroll down below blog archive). Once you've done that, or if you already follow let me know in the comments section of this post.

The second way to enter is to "like" the Random Thoughts Facebook page and then share the giveaway on Facebook (if you already like the Facebook page than all you have to do is share the giveaway).

So let's do this together, I can't wait to see the results!

Sunday deals and steals

Not everything is on sale this week but they are all things I want to get in my closet right now so I included them anyway. Hope you enjoy!

I love this field jacket from anthropologie so much! Great detail and beautifully fitted...it's on my want list:

Cropped Field Jacket

This high low necklace from Urban Outfitters is super cute and only $16.

Geo High/Low Necklace 

Love this boho style dress from Free People, looks so comfy and flowy for summer. I like it in the black too.

Ribbons And Rows Dress

And speaking of black this top is also from Free People:

Theresa Top

Lucky Brand shoes are on Hautelook right now and here are three flats that I am loving!

Erla Ballet Flat 

Espen Perforated Ballet Flat 

Emmie Ballet Flat

And I'm really craving this bracelet from Hello Berry, perfect for summer:

Threaded Wrap Smoothie

Hope you're having a great long weekend!