Brace Face

I never had braces growing up.

I was given the option to have braces, but being 14 years old, I figured it didn’t matter and I decided against being a metal mouth.

Fast forward 10 years and I was self-conscious about my “fangs.” I had two teeth on either side of my two front teeth that stuck out a bit. It bothered me for years, and once I saved up enough money, I paid a visit to the orthodontist to see if I was a candidate for Invisalign (clear braces). Thankfully I was, and now, a little more than a year later, I’m almost done! Phew!

This morning I have my last appointment before we enter the “refinement” period where my orthodontist said she’ll work with me until I am 100 percent satisfied. She’s the best!

Workout

Today’s workout was all over the place! Clearly my mind was racing this morning and I couldn’t stand to do one cardio machine for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Here’s my cardio breakdown:

  • 15 min. stairmaster
  • 15 min. elliptical
  • 1 round of the At Home Cardio Blast circuit
  • 5 minutes arc trainer
  • 5 minutes elliptical

I was hoppin’ around like a crazy lady!

Breakfast

Post-workout I came home craving a hot breakfast which was odd considering I was sweating like mad.

I guess the body wants what it wants!

A bowl of strawberry shortcake hot cereal sounded perfect.

Frozen Strawberries

Dry Ingredients

Into the mix went:

  • 1 serving Flax-Z-Snax butter pecan hot cereal (Just FYI, according to Netrition.com, Flax-Z-Snax’s nurtitional information is a little sketchy…)
  • 1 scoop All the Whey cup cake batter protein powder
  • Three large frozen strawberries

After adding water and microwaving the mix for a minute (stirring regularly to prevent overflow), my breakfast was ready for eatin’.

Strawberry Shortcake Hot Cereal

Yummy Berries

Thursday Breakfast

I wolfed this down in quite the un-ladylike manner. 😉

Aaaand I’m off to my Invisalign appointment. Catch ya lata!

Question of the Day

Did you ever have braces?

47 Responses

  1. Glad to say I NEVER wore braces. But I wore glasses from 4th grade until just before college.

    So I’m really glad I was saved from being THAT girl with the braces AND glasses. 😉 I just can’t believe it took me so long to find the courage to stick contacts in my eyes. High school was tough; Life is so much better now!

  2. I did have braces…from 7th-9th grade. Sure glad I did, even though I hated them at the time, as now my teeth are straight!

  3. Yea for almost being done with the invisalign! I had braces back in the day… I’m just shuddering thinking about it! I think the most awkward photos of me come from this phase of my life…

  4. I had braces for about a year – from 7th to 8th grade. It really wasn’t that bad. 🙂

  5. I’ve had every kind of orthodontics imaginable- palate expander, HEAD GEAR (only at night, thank God), and braces for FOUR YEARS. Now I’ve had lingual bars on the backs of my teeth for the past seven years, and they’ll probably stay on there for another seven at least! Congrats on being almost done with the Invisalign though- I know it’s a great feeling to finally get rid of them!

  6. Ugh– I had braces for a few years– be glad you got invisalign!!!

    I love worksouts like that– they keep things interesting!

  7. I did have braces…6th-8th grade! I actually liked having them. I played around with colors and always had a rainbow mouth! haha! My school pictures are quite “cute” from that era! haha!

  8. I had braces in junior high, but once I got them off I never wore my retainers and my bottom teeth went quite a bit crooked. I urge you to take care of your investment!

  9. I was a total brace face from 5th to 8th grade. Middle school was definitely my awkward time 🙂

  10. I had braces in 4th & 5th grade…ugh social torture!! Of course 15 yrs later my teeth have moved back and I need something like invisalign now at 27…:( what is sketchy about the nutritionals? Can you elaborate? I was gonna order some…

    • apparently when netrition tested their products, they had significantly more calories and carbs than advertised…

  11. Just the name of your breakfast makes me want to try it!
    I didn’t have braces and luckily, didn’t need them. I used to feel bad for little kids with them. I think the clear are a cool idea, I’ve never heard of them.

  12. yup, I had braces when i was in 2nd grade-6th grade. I had 5 teeth pulled at one time and 4 at another time just to get the braces started early. Now at 24 I need braces again!

  13. Yes, I wore those braces you put on during the night. I absolutely hated them. I have a gap between my front teeth, had it operated (they had to cut some bridge so the teeth could come together). Never happened and I got used to my ‘gap’. Took me a while though. 🙂 I used to put a chewing gym there sometimes to fill it up (as a joke :-)).

  14. chewing gum, sorry can’t type properly for some strange reason. 🙂

  15. I had braces for 1.5 years, and then afterward I refused to wear my retainer and some of my bottom teeth moved and are crooked again! 😦 Fortunately when I smile you can’t see my bottom teeth, so it’s actually not a big deal.

  16. Love the workout, I definitely have my ADD days where I’m all over the place with equipment!!
    I’ve heard good things about Invisaline, congrats on almost being done – braces/teeth pain is really the worst kind of pain.

  17. I got braces when I was 9 and had them on until I was 12…at that age I thought they were cool and I loved getting different colored bands lol 🙂

  18. I had braces in 7th-8th grade, and I was one of those dorks who was actually SO excited to get them. I loved my glasses too!

  19. I had braces, but lost my retainer sometime in the beginning of college, so I feel like all the work the braces did is gradually becoming undone.

  20. That’s crazy sketchy about Flax Z Snacks! I love Netrition.com and their commitment to their customers though- they rock!

  21. Delicious, as always. My hubs had braces just a year or two after we started dating, had em for about a year and we all survived. Gorgeous smile now!! Good for you!

  22. I had braces for four years and now I wear an invisalign retainer! Invisalign rocks!!

  23. I had braces from 3rd to 7th grade. I was actually one of the only people in my 3rd grade class to have braces, but I got them off earlier than everyone else! 😛

    Glad you are almost done with your Invisalign! I think your smile looks gorgeous!

  24. I had braces for a year in hig school. Not so bad and people said they actually suited me…but i was glad to get them off and eat apples like a normal person:)

    have a great day:)

  25. haha you must have been hopping around like a crazy lady… but whatever works!

    i had major braces & head gear… my teeth were completely jacked up… seriously horrible. There were teeth all over the place..it was an ugly sight. Thankfully my mom is a dental hygienist so the orthodontist I went to was super sure that my teeth looked 100% perfect before those braces came off… high standards come with having a mom in the dental field let me tell you.

  26. YES! I had braces in high school. Such fun times 🙂 hahaha

    But that breakfast sounds amazing, I’m just craving any type of frozen fruit (nuked or cold!) fruit right now!! Must be summa timeeee (almost!)

  27. Hi Julie!

    I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now, and I love it. Thank you so much for the Carba Nada reccomendation on here. Those noodles are THE BEST!

    Anyway, I was just wondering where you get your All the Whey Cup Cake Batter powder. I can’t seem to find it anywhere (online or otherwise).

    Thanks!

  28. Yup. I had them when I was 13 and had perfectly straight teeth til my wisdom teeth came in when I was 17. My dentist thinks I need to get them again.

  29. I never had braces…but I really, really wanted them! Most of my friends had them AND my sister did too. I was so jealous. However, now I’m thankful that my teeth came in straight and that I never needed them, but when I was little, I used to put foil over my teeth to pretend that I had braces! 🙂

  30. how do you like the Invisalign? it seems like a good option…i had braces for a while, but there are some issues that i’ve had with the way they “shaped” my teeth since then. i’ve thought about getting Invisalign because they’re not huge issues, but i just hadn’t heard about anyone ever having them…

    • i’ve been pretty happy w/ it. i notice them, but people tell me they’re really not that noticeable. they can get pricey, but i paid upfront which helped w/ the cost a lot. i think they’re an awesome option if you only need minor correction, which it sounds like you would! 🙂

  31. I wore braces from grade 6 to 8, RIGHT before highschool! I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world! I’m definitely glad it panned out the way it did, but with all this new braces technology that’s awesome!

    I really need to get my hands on that protein powder flavor, the way you use it looks soooooooo good!

  32. ahh braces! yes I had them for 2 years! they straightened me right out!

    I tried that flax z snack…blehhh not for me!!

    • i don’t like it on its own at all. i always have to add protein powder to it to thicken it up & make it sweeter.

  33. I did rock the brace face but only for 2 years. I remember how some kids would have them on for most of their adolescent life. Oh those were the days of rubber bands, head gear and retainers! LoL, what we go through for beauty. 😉

  34. Thanks so much for the Shape Mag coupon code…I just got a 3 yr. subscription for $9!

    You already know my story with Invisalign (I e-mailed you a few weeks ago w/questions about your experience and you were so nice to answer my questions). I had my consultation this past Friday w/my dentist and I’m sad (really sad) to report that I will have to wait a little longer for perfect teeth. I could not believe the price…$5200. My treatment would be 6-8 months since I only have minor imperfections, but that is way more money than I have budgeted (or think I should be spending on a perfect smile). Congrats on finishing your treatment, that is awesome!!!

    • oh that is so disappointing! i’m so sorry it’s not working out for you. mine was a good $1k cheaper than that. i had to visit 2 orthodontists to find a decent price. maybe another doctor could help you out?

  35. I had braces from ages 10 to 16 – yeaahh, 6 years. Hated ever second of it. I also had to get two oral surgeries done in that time. My mouth is expensive.

    The first thing I did when I got them off was eat a banana – best (and smoothest) feeling ever. Corn on the cob was another good one…

  36. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and had NO idea you had braces. Those invisaligns are magical.
    Unfortunately I DID have to have braces due to the fact that my two canine teeth.. wouldn’t come down. Like, they were all grown in and everything but ABOVE my other teeth. I hated it and felt so self-conscious so I was kind of overjoyed to get braces. Thankfully I only needed them for 9 months. 🙂

  37. Hahaha, I definitely had braces through 8th-9th grade and basically have no pictures of me those years of my life because I hated how they looked on me! UGHH!

  38. Thanks for the info about the Flax-Z!!!! I have like 3 packages of it at home, I love it! How crazy though!!!!

  39. […] those of you who are new the zee blog, I’ve been going through Invisalign (clear braces) treatment since April 2009 and now, 15 months later, I’m […]

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