Ways I increase my water intake.....

Hey Guys,

So today's challenge was to track your water intake and to replace any sugary or caffeinated drinks with water. I'm still fighting the urge to drink pop, but it's gotten better! Normally when I go out and I want something other than water I will get unsweetened ice tea and sweeten it with a little bit of Splenda or Truvia. I know artificial sweeteners aren't too great for you, but I feel it's better than loading up on pop!

Today I drank 101 ounces of water which was very impressive for me because I'm not a big fan of drinking water but I am starting to like it more little by little because of the way it hydrates me and makes me feel! Water has multiple benefits for your skin and overall well being- I can definitely tell when I need to drink more water or feel dehydrated!

Once of the major ways I've made the transition to drinking more water at work is to spend money on a new cup that I will enjoy drinking from! For me this was a tumbler from Starbucks that has a straw! 

This cup is double insulated so it doesn't sweat and has a seal with the straw so it won't spill if it gets dropped. I enjoy drinking from a straw because I feel it's easier for me to drink the water- (weird I know!)

Another way Josh and I have enjoyed increasing our water intake was using a water infuser we got a couple years ago.

Really you can use the infuser for water or tea, but we've primarily used water. We like to use lemons, limes. and various fruits in the infuser and it adds a slight flavor to your water which helps making drinking water bearable for people like us that aren't used to drinking water every day! Josh got it as a gift a couple years ago and we love it!

Hoping to keep up with my increased water intake and track it- I learned about an a app on the Start Clean Facebook page that I can get on my iPhone called Waterlogged. The app helps you track and reach your goal of drinking your set desired amount of water daily. I'll let you guys know as I start using the app how beneficial it is in my journey to drink more water!

Hope you all are having a good evening!

What are the ways you've tried drinking more water or have you used an infuser? Have you every used Waterlogged or another water tracking application and did it help you?

~ Shannon

Day 2

Hello, Josh here. Today is the 2nd of January, 2013. I am new to this whole blogging type thing so be easy on me. Don't get me wrong, I know my technology, just not the social networking stuff as much as Shannon does. Today was a decent day. Killed it at work today in sales, but some behind the scenes issues really are a pain to deal with. Shan was ill today so I spent the day thinking about her and how she was feeling on while working, so I didn't really get a lot of things accomplished other than the few things I sold out. You may be asking about the picture above, so i'll talk about that now.

As you may have read before, Shannon and I are part of the Start Clean in 2013 program on Facebook. You can join and follow as well at Healthy Heddleston. For her day two challenge, she told her followers to eat a salad today. All day today, I tried to think of something to make that would be healthy and good.

 Since I am extremely passionate about cooking, I have never really tried anything for a salad, much less anything that's healthy (you should try my chicken parm. It's AMAZING, but very unhealthy.) I had to find a way today to make a salad, but make it in a way that is both good, and healthy. I came up with the above picture. Since I like to be creative when I cook, I never follow a recipe. I tend to look at recipes as, how does Capt. Barbosa say it in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Oh yeah, I find them more like guidelines. Give me the temp to cook, the time to cook, and let me do my thing. 

So back to the salad...I like to call it a Fruit Fused Grilled Chicken Salad. Since I worked late today, I ended up using a Foreman Grill, to save some time. As the chicken was cooking, I got things prepared. Cut up some carrots, tomatoes, pineapple, and apples. This may sound weird  but it's good, I let the carrots soften up in some pineapple juice while the chicken was cooking so they were a) soft, and b) it gave the whole salad more of a fruity taste. After the chicken was done, i cubed them up, added it to the lettuce, and dressed the salad above. I ended up using a small bit of charred pineapple salsa to give it a kick, some pecans for some crunch, and some dried pomegranate for fruitness, and i may say it was amazing.

Well it is getting late and I'm running out of things to say, so Good Night all, and we will talk to you tomorrow.

Team Howell (Josh)

P.S. Cricket (our Jack Russell) wanted a shout out and to leave a quick message, so here he is...

hjfOOOOOOiEWIR;oj;aeodfkoavn.zx,mnveraijo;reawjogrjo;aejojojgojads;lfkjpaewiupwpet4tgfpWI UOIw3;ow34u9it..

(He sat on the keyboard for attention....I think he said he wanted more carrots. So talk to you all later...He's very high maintenance.)

Start Clean 2013!!

Hey Everyone,

I hope you all are having a Happy New Year and you go to spend New Years Eve with close friends and family!!

My name is Shannon, and my husband Josh and I are starting the New Year with a new blog and some goals in regards to a healthier life style for 2013. I will get to the reason why we wanted to start blogging in a second, but I wanted to touch on the Start Clean in 2013 challenge we are taking part in!

A good friend of ours, Katie Heddleston, who is a registered dietitian started the Start Clean in 2013 Challenge in order for her readers to jump start their goals for having a healthier lifestyle in the new year. Her blog, Healthy Heddleston, will have a new healthy task or challenge each day for the month of January and anyone that participates can win prizes for that week! Visit her blog for more details and ways to get started!

Needless to say, Josh and I have both decided to take part in this challenge to not only jump start weight loss, but to also start eating healthier! It's also a great way to meet other people from other parts of the county who have the same goals in mind.

The challenge for today is to outline which goals you would like to accomplish in 2013. My goals that I have written down for this year are:

1). Eat healthier with more fruits and vegetables.
2). Eliminate pop and avoid eating fast food.
3). Cook more meals at home.
4). Increase my water intake daily.
5). Start my blog up again and write about things I love doing.

There's a couple more goals I can think of right now as I'm writing this, but overall the main thing is I would like be healthy and have an active lifestyle!

As you can see from goal number five, I wanted to start a blog and stick with it! I tried a blog before and lost motivation, but thanks to Katie, my husband and I have a renewed passion for it and we will see this through!

I have so many ideas for blog posts, so I hope you enjoy reading and will come back and lend any feedback you may have. I am working on the layout to make it more personalized and we will post again very soon!

Please check out my friend Katie's blog or check out her twitter or facebook for more information and how to join the challenge- it's not to late to Start Clean in 2013!!

Hope you're all having a great evening!!

<3
Shannon