Oolong Tea for Weight Loss

The little white truck with the cute dog pulled up to our house.  A short woman carried my green box to our red door. 

I brought it in to our white kitchen. 

And my purple clad daughter opened its contents. 

“Oh Jesus, how I pray this Pleasant Word of mine won’t linger over food, but instead whip up Bible studies rich in savory Truth.”

Today ends day 1.5 of the Slique Regime.  I’m on my way towards winning that $5000.   

My day is simple.  Thank goodness.  My dishes . . . significantly less.  Thank you Young Living.

However, Asher remarked today, “Why are you eating a bunch of Young Living food?” 

Yes, my children are VERY familiar with the Young Living brand.  After all, it is what they ask for before an icepack or Arnica.

I am thankful that one meal is replaced with the Balance Complete shake.  I know that I am steering away from my standard granola-like eating . . . but I have to make some radical changes for a season.

(For example, instead of eating at church with the boys the other night . . . I brought my shake and just added water.)

I have to die to old habits.  And for me, that requires radically changing my eating habits for a season.

Don’t worry, I’m still going to be taking my multi-vitamins, super duper green algae, probiotic, and cod liver oil.  I will continue to use high quality butter, coconut oil, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.  You can bet that meat will still be in my diet, along with raw milk and raw honey.

BUT not my precious.  My precious mochas. 

Thanks to Humboldt County Tea and my electric hot pot I am surviving on significantly less coffee in my life.

I am a total food addict.  I am purposing in my belly to eat to live not to live to eat.

Here is my new eating pattern.  Lord help me.

Breakfast: 

• Balance Complete meal replacement shake (probably with some frozen fruit and kefir)
• NingXia Red

Mid-morning snack:

• 2-3 drops Slique Essence in water kefir
• fruit, steamed veggies, or nuts

Lunch:

• Slique Tea 15 minutes before meal
• 2 Essentialzymes-4 with meal
• light, well-balanced meal (many of my recipes are from Perfect Weight America)

Afternoon snack:

• 2-3 drops Slique Essence in water kefir
• fruit, steamed veggies, or nuts

Dinner:

• Slique Tea 15 minutes before meal
• 2 Essentialzymes-4 with meal
• light, well-balanced meal (many of my recipes are from Perfect Weight America)

Before Bed/evening snack:

• 2-3 drops Slique Essence in water kefir, water, or low calorie beverage

Many of you have left wonderful comments wishing me the best, but that due to the cost of Slique you could not join me in this journey. 

I completely understand financial limitations.  Were it not for my growing Young Living Oil home business, I too, would not be able to afford my Slique Kit. 

And I have something to admit.  I’m not all that keen on the taste of Slique tea. 

So, I have partnered with my friend Dan from Humboldt Tea Company.  He is the one who originally got me hooked on drinking Oolong Tea for easy weight loss and pain free daily cleansing. 

What is so special about Iron Goddess Slimming Oolong?  Humboldt County Tea  says,

Dr. Oz references slimming oolong regularly as a method of adding a natural metabolic booster to one's diet.  Ti Quan Yin, or Iron Goddess of Mercy, is the preferred choice of tea masters the world over for its perfect balance between the health characteristics of green and the depth in taste of black teas.

By simply drinking 3-4 twelve ounce cups of Iron Goddess each day, it alone will account for 7 - 10 lbs. of weight loss in a year.  Considering that one single dose of Iron Goddess leaves will steep 5 - 6 cups easily, it's a real value.  This tea is good for your vital organs and your blood pH by alkalizing your fluids, and by de-toxifying the tissues.

Want to lose weight with me?  But you don’t want to purchase the Slique Kit?

For every ounce of Iron Goddess Slimming Oolong you  purchase, Dan will include a free ounce of Cedarberg Rooibos Herbal Chai . . .

Why drink an after-dinner tea? 

The Cedarberg Rooibos Herbal Chai is an excellent cup in the evenings to chase the munchies away, satisfying the indulgent impulses that come after dinner, but with no caffeine. 

Rooibos nurtures the liver with micro-nutrients -- containing over a dozen trace minerals and several vitamins. It is excellent for digestion.

Mothers in South Africa bottle feed their infants who suffer from colicky cramps, easing their tummies and providing relief.

Last but not least, Rooibos contains more “anti-aging anti-oxidants” than green or white tea, and is excellent for the skin, providing elasticity and protection from the sun's harmful effects.

The coupon code for your next cup of tea is GRANOLAMOM.

Caveat:  a $10 minimum purchase is required.  In exchange, one full ounce of Organic Cedarberg Rooibos Chai will be included with any order of Iron Goddess of Mercy Slimming Oolong ordered with the above code.  As always for my readers, Dan will include a complimentary sample of something new with every order.

Go give Humboldt County Tea a visit!  And allow the man with the grey outfit come to your mailbox in his white truck.

Need help picking some other teas out?  Check out this blog post, Can I Make You Some Tea?

I Am Fat because of a Cul de Sac

Cul de sac’s are enticing.  Inviting.  They beg to be the carousel for your bike. 

There was one cul de sac in my childhood neighborhood that I never ventured down, though it was the most thrilling -- having a slight hill before you began the vortex into circular fun. 

But on a certain day that has forever left cinders in my brain, the agreeable cul de sac was void of a certain boy bully.  Or so I thought.

Daringly, I ventured down this quiescent blind alley. 

Oblivious to my thighs touching my belly, I pumped the pedals of my purple banana seat bicycle.  I felt free.  Unkempt hair flew in the breeze as I sored down the street.  I smiled at the day, relishing in this treat that only an imaginative, fat girl could enjoy. 

With one dog bark, the epic movie moment shifted from its euphoric climax to a fearful dénouement. 

The boy emerged with not only his dog . . . but friends. 

Then it started. 

Words that I thought had only been reserved for the bus ride began. 

“Look at the fat girl!  Ha!  I didn’t know fat girls could ride bikes.  Chase her, boy.  Bite her legs!”

Needing enough room to turn my bike, I was forced to enter the cul de sac allowing the dog access to my plump feet shod with Keds.  I could feel the pup’s hot, hungry breath on my ankles.  The dog, thinking that we were playing a friendly game of chase, failed to realize that he was being used for a weapon . . . and I was the innocent target.

I never told anyone about that day.  I quietly rode home, making sure to take a short cut.  I never ever went down that cul de sac until I met the Engineer, then some 200+ pounds of football muscle.  We would take romantic strolls through our shared neighborhood, making sure to greet every square inch of pavement so as to hold hands longer. 

The cul de sac was redeemed through those moments.  But I still have a slight fear of circular dead ends.  What is lurking at the end?

A poignant memory. 

Sandwiched between the cul de sac stories,  I take you back to sixth grade.  I walk down the long hallway of Pleasant View Elementary.  I am alone.  As if to dare me in a chicken fight, a boy named Chuck boldly walked toward me. 

“Hey Fatso.  You look like a pig.  Even though you lost weight.  You are still big.”

And I believed him.  I couldn’t speak.  I just stared at him. 

Hadn’t I lost 35 pounds over the summer?  I wore a size 6.  Could I still be fat?  Seriously?  He must have known about the stash of cookies that I ate the previous night.  When everyone was asleep I snuck into the kitchen, eating the coveted chocolate chip cookies we rationed out to my dad. 

I never had the time to accept the new girl.  The changed girl.  Because in the first week of school, though I was thin enough to appreciate the view of my rib cage and clavicles, I obviously wasn’t thin enough.  Chuck had me figured out.

I believed Chuck. 

I still find myself believing Chuck.  Or rather the enemy of my soul.  Poor Chuck was a pawn.  Just like that dog. 

Up, down, up, down.  Up. 

I’m talking about my weight.  I have had a lot of excuses.  First it was mono. . . followed by a serious bike accident during the Little 500 bike race . . . then the discovery of my PCOS . . . a pregnancy . . . hit with hypothyroidism . . . three more children . . . homeschooling . . .

There will always be an excuse.  Bullies in the form of excuses will come and they will go.  (Tweet this)

Eventually I hit rock bottom.  I became so sick of myself and my current status, rather inflation, that I gave up.  I said, “Enough.  I’m so sick of you fat belly. You get in my way and you suck the joy out of me.  All you do is crave.  Yet even when I give you what you want . . . you want more.”

I can’t ever remember of a time when my cellulose blessed me. 

I’m tired of being tired.  Tired of playing the game.  Tired of the show.  Tired of being embarrassed that I am that Granola Mom . . . yet I’m obese. 

50 pounds obese.  I said it. 

For lack of better words, it sucks. 

Before Christmas I joined Weight Watchers.  I was serious.  I didn’t know how in the world Weight Watchers would mesh with a whole foods diet, but I was certainly going to try and make it work. 

It didn’t.

The program certainly helped me during the holidays . . . to not eat too much.  But Weight Watchers doesn’t have points allotted for raw milk . . . kombucha . . . water kefir . . . sauerkraut. 

I gave up. 

I tried Spark People.   I didn’t have the time to enter my food . . . and indulge in all the activities on Spark People.  Not to mention, wade through the advertisments.

Cheeseslave began her Kettle Ball Challenge.  I jumped on board.  Finally, a whole foods blog that got me . . . I was encouraged to eat my butter and exercise.  Inches disappeared within two weeks.  Aided with the meal plans of Perfect Weight America . . . I lost 5 pounds.

I was alert. Agile.  It felt so good.  Though I remained 45 pounds overweight, I felt like America’s Next Top Model.

But I jumped the gun.  And I got injured.  Instead of working up to a strenuous exercise routine, I began working out with Tony and P90x.  There is a reason it says to consult your doctor or at least . . . pass the fitness test before you begin.

The pity party began.  The secret eating flared up.  Desperately I prayed for a lifeline, a way out of this pit.  Something to motivate me.  Even though living life to its fullest should have been enough. 

I learned about the Slique Challenge.  I could win a big, phat prize.  Most likely, I won’t.  But what if?

I don’t think that the Slique Challenge alone is going to evaporate 50 pounds of emotional baggage.  That weight has to come off by hard work.  Exercise. 

Most of all . . . a renewing of the mind.

I don’t own a banana seat bike anymore. 

No weapon formed against me shall prosper, whether it be the sting of critical words or the imaginary bite of a foolish dog.  (Tweet me)

I’ve waited many weeks.  To announce this type of wound to the world is rather daunting.  Humiliating. 

But it is also hopeful.  Perhaps you have a similar story.  Maybe just maybe by me letting the air out of my tires, will inflate you to hop on your bike and join me.  (Tweet me)

What do you think . . . 25 pounds by June?  If you would like to join me in the Slique Challenge, drop me a line . . . I’ll send  you a personal email.  If you have a story to share . . . please . . . be vulnerable.  Let’s get over the Chuck’s in our life.