Getting Healthy with Nutrisystem: Week 8.

Now that I am half way through my 16 week Nutrisystem program, I figure it is time to set some goals.

image credit

Initially, I wanted to lose about 30 pounds. that was approximate, because I didn't really know what I wanted to or should weigh it was really about 33 or 34 pounds. I can't remember the exact number at this point; I had a goal weight in mind. That was until I was at the doctor a few weeks into the program.

Up until this point, my doctor never told me that I needed to lose a certain amount of weight, but we talked about it at length during this visit. He thought I was smart about getting on track with my health and that losing weight was a part of that. He actually suggested I lose a little more than I wanted to. He told me that in his experience, patients would gain about 5 pounds when they transition off of a plan like Nutrisystem. 

I kept that in mind and am trying to gauge what size I want to be when I am not just finished with Nutrisystem, but when I am at my healthy weight goal. I have decided that in total, I want to lose 40 pounds. I feel this is do-able and that I will hopefully be at a size that I want to be, and at a healthy weight, with my BMI at a good point.

My initial goal was to lose 10 pounds in my first month. I reached that goal. I want to make it a goal to lose 5 pounds a month from here on out, because that's about what I lost in the last month. I have realized that I lose weight slowly, but I think I can keep it off this way. I lost another 1.5 pounds this week, which makes my 8 week total of 15 pounds lost. With this in mind, I have a goal to lose 25 pounds when my 16 weeks with Nutrisystem is over. It is not as much as I had initially planned, but I feel I will be on track and on my way.  When my Nutrisytem 16 week plan is actually over, I will reassess and set more goals and a plan to lose that last 15 pounds on my own.

Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting www.nutrisystem.com/nsblog.

Disclosure: As part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program, Nutrisystem is providing me with the Nustrisystem program, free of charge, which includes food and support, in exchange for my honest opinion of the program. No other compensation has been given. All thoughts are my own.

A Meaningful Beauty Bonus.

Beautiful skin is the great foundation for beautiful makeup. They go hand in hand. If your skin care is not up to par, no amount of makeup is going to make it look better. And really, you want your makeup to complement your features and your skin - not cover it up.

Two people who know a lot about both beautiful skin and beautiful makeup, supermodel Cindy Crawford and award-winning makeup artist Sonia Kashuk, have joined together again (they wrote Cindys' Basic Face makeup book together) for an exclusive deal. A Meaningful Beauty® bonus, if you will. That is because with the purchase of the complete Meaningful Beauty® Advanced Anti-Aging System, you will receive a custom designed Sonia Kashuk Essentials Brush Set for FREE.

Now, this is no ordinary skin care or brushes. These are both proven products. Let's take a look at each.

Meaningful Beauty® Advanced Anti-Aging System

• Skin Softening Cleanser
  This mild cleanser is designed to provide a healthy clean without stripping skin of natural oils.
• Crème de Serum
  This crème de la crème treatment takes a triple approach to combating the signs of aging with three powerful anti-aging ingredients: super-antioxidant melon complex, anti-aging peptides and hyaluronic acid working to moisturize, hydrate and protect your skin.
• Lifting Eye Crème
  This rich cream helps to address all of the visible signs of stress around the eye: crow's feet, fine lines, puffiness and wrinkles.
• Antioxidant Day Cream SPF 20
  This day cream does more than moisturize, it combines a powerful dose of anti-aging ingredients to clarify, brighten and even skin tone.
• Skin Brightening Décolleté and Neck Treatment SPF 15
  The décolleté and neck area is often neglected, but it doesn't have to be when using this.  An extra 20 seconds in your routine with this cream not only protects this sensitive area with SPF 15, but it smooths and evens skin with it's advanced formula.
• Wrinkle Smoothing Capsules (bonus item)
• Glowing Serum (bonus item)

Sonia Kashuk for Meaningful Beauty Essentials Brush Set

• Foundation Brush
  The soft synthetic bristles of this lush brush are ideal for applying face products. It is perfect for concealer, foundations or even Meaningful Beauty® skin care products.
• Domed Eye Shadow Brush
  The soft bristled brush is perfect for using in the crease to add depth to your eye makeup look. If you don't like a dark crease, use it to blend out products to give eyes a soft, beautiful look.
• Lash Brow Groomer
  This must have duo brush is a very versatile tool. One one side, the brush brushes brows perfectly into place, while the curved comb separates lashes for an easier mascara application.

The Meaningful Beauty® Advanced Anti-Aging System plus Sonia Kashuk Essentials Brush Set sells for $39.95 at meaningfulbeauty.com.

The Wantable Makeup Box.

There is another sample box on the market and this one was made just for us makeup lovers. Sounds great, right? Meet Wantable.

Now, I am admittedly not a fan of sample boxes after trying and comparing beauty sample boxes late last year. Let's take a look at Wantable and see if I have changed my mind.

When going to website, wantable.com, you can select from different boxes. Currently there is makeup, accessories and intimates. I am obviously going to talk about the makeup box, so you under makeup, you would click on "select box". This will bring you the a page showing this months box. It is a subscription service, in which for $36, you will get a new makeup box each month. You can also just purchase a one-off box for $40.

You next go through a very intensive quiz so the service gets to know you, about your coloring, needs, likes and dislikes. It took me about 10 minutes. I "told" the quiz what colors and formulas I liked to get a very customized box.

The box I received was the August box and it contained 5 full sizes makeup products, plus two samples. The box was curated by expert Matthew Ambrosio and he centered the box around bold eyeliner. In the box was an FACE Stockholm Gel Eyeliner in Brown ($24), a Japonesque Smudger Brush in a travel size, to apply the liner ($14.50), a Michael Marcus Brow Pencil in a Blonde Shade ($24), a FACE Stockholm Blush in a pretty rose shade ($20.00, and a Rainbow Honey Nail Lacquer in Mint Flavor ($10). You can see the value is there. The products separately would cost $92.50. Would I have necessarily bought these items? Now that is the question.

I really like the eyeliner, blush and smudger brush. As far as the brow pencil goes, I have never heard of Michael Marcus and the brow pencil color was wrong. I must have mentioned that I have blond hair in my profile, but my brows are far from blonde. I have never heard of Rainbow Honey Nail Lacquer either, and for the price, the quality is just not there. Can I justify the $36 for the products I like? Sure. I could have done without the samples though. I am not for trying an eyeshadow on a card and the lip balm seemed a little too homemade for my taste, but all in all it was a very good value. Knowing that each box contains 4-6 full sized items is definitely a plus.

If you are already a fan of beauty sample boxes, I would highly recommend this one for you, as you already know what to expect. But for someone as picky as me, I am still undecided. I really am torn on this one. While I would usually say you would be better off spending your hard earned cash on something you really want, I really liked three of the products that are far worth more than what I would have paid. I think I will need to see a few more boxes to give it a better judgement. I will let you know!