Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Day 4

Well today did not go that great. While usually that would mean I over indulged, today I got so wrapped up that I didn't eat enough. Eating less once in awhile isn't going to hurt you but making a habit of it will. It can actually work against any efforts you are making to lose weight as your body hits starvation mode and pulls it's resources. Don't get me wrong, today was a really good day... I just wish I had set a better example for you all!

Here's how day 4 went:

8:00am: Woke up. Took a shower. Got ready... Took the boy downstairs. 

9:00am: Made my Spark. Took my Catalyst and Probiotic. Fiber is done with until the end of the first 10 days so I get a break from that.

Had an awesome breakfast planned to show you guys but wrote down the wrong time for Stones speech therapy and didn't think I would have time. Opted for a meal replacement shake. This is an option they give you on the challenge... To drink a meal replacement shake instead of breakfast. Of course, you'd have to order more shakes to do this. They are actually very very good. I like berry and vanilla. 

I did try the Chocolate Mocha today and enjoyed the coffee flavor! They are packed with protein so you aren't left feeling hungry. 

Breakfast Breakdown: 265 calories

Spark - 45 calories

Chocolate Mocha Meal Replacement Shake - 220 calories

Matt drinks a shake every morning. He says he loves that he knows exactly how he will feel following it. No guess work to his morning.

10:00am: Played with Stone letting him color and pretend. 

11:00am: Stone had speech therapy. 

Noon: The sun came out and it was so nice out I decided to walk the neighborhood before putting him down for a nap. Walked 1.75 miles at a 3.0mph pace. Finished first 25oz of water.

2:00pm:  Finally got around to eating lunch. Those shakes really sustain if you can't tell. Lunch was a variation of yesterday's lunch.

Lunch Breakdown: 421 Calories

Honey smoked turkey breast 4oz - 140 calories

Munster Cheese - 80 calories

Deli style mustard- 0 calories

Dry roasted wasabi edemama (1/4 cup) - 130 calories

Broccoli, tomatoes, red peppers- 51 calories

1 tbsp of Ginger dressing for veggies- 40 calories

4:30pm: Momma called wanting to walk and that we did! Another 1.75 miles at 3.0mph.

6:00pm: By the time everyone got home and ready Matt and I actually needed to leave. We met friends tonight to see Gods Not Dead. So rather than cook the meal I prepared we decided to grab a bite before the movie.

6:45pm: Our typical go to place when we eat out is Panera. They have a hidden menu that is awesome. I wasn't hungry since I ate lunch so late so I opted for a small cup of soup. Matt had the better option- a Power Steak Wrap Salad with double meat. Finished 2nd round of 25oz of water.

Dinner breakdown: 270 calories

Turkey Chili in Cup- 190 calories

Apple - 80 calories

They were selling these rings at Panera for a dollar to support our local autism center so of course we got them...

7:30pm: Went to a movie. Matt once again tempted me as he got a small popcorn but I withheld and drank my liter of water! Last 25+ ounces for the day!

10:30pm: Knew I should probably have a light snack before bed so I went ahead and had my Caramel Strawberry Crunch (recipe: http://tinyurl.com/lhxfmb6) but added some extra strawberries and used a whole rice cake. I guess maybe it was around 150 calories. Took my herbal cleanse and my omegaplex.

TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE FOR THE DAY: 1,105 CALORIES

So I did not meet my 1,400 calorie a day goal. I did do well with my pie chart:

I think today is a good time to talk about "messing up." Most people would call today a win because I was significantly under my calories but to me it's not. This is about being healthy. I want to be healthy... Not skinny. If you mess up in either direction don't go fill your calories or feel bad about going over. It happens! We can't be perfect! Pick yourself up and start fresh tomorrow.

Okay folks, I'm tired! Until tomorrow...

God's Not Dead. :)

Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Day 2

I usually luck out at least one week day and Matt let's me sleep in until Stone gets up by taking care of getting Evie up and on the bus... And today was that day. Evelyn doesn't sleep so we don't usually get to bed until late and one of us is always up early. Always a good day when I get an extra hour!

So this is how Day 2 went following my glorious morning of sleeping in:

9am: Told myself I wouldn't weigh until day 10 but I was feeling less bloated from the weekend so I did. Down 2lbs worth of a bad weekend. It's amazing how quickly your body can change just by one day of doing it right. Had mySpark! I had the lemonade flavor this morning and it was yummy! Tasted like country time!

9:30: Took my Catalyst and drank my fiber/OJ mix. Made breakfast and got ready for the day!

Breakfast Breakdown: 400 calories

Spark (Lemonade) - 45 calories

Fiber/OJ- 95

Medium Banana- 105

Whole wheat (sugar free) toast with 1tbsp of creamy peanut butter- 155 calories

10:30am: Stone and I headed to the grocery store to get groceries for the week and to the fabric store for supplies to make our shirts for the Color Run 5K which is on Saturday... Yes the girl who hates running will be running on Saturday. Finished my first 25 oz of water before getting home.

12:30am: Ate lunch. I'm big on repeating lunches because a) saves money b) makes it easy. So I made enough of my chicken salad to have it again. 

Lunch Breakdown: 358 calories

My crunchy chicken salad (6oz) on a piece of sugar free whole wheat bread (open faced) - 257 (Recipe: http://tiny.cc/qm4ldx)

Cup of iceberg lettuce, 1/2 slicer tomato, and two tablespoons of my favorite dressing - 101 calories

(This dressing is 80 calls per two tablespoons and is found in the produce section. If you are local and have eaten at Kabuki it taste like their Ginger dressing! I always make my salad and chill it in the freezer for a few minutes to make it crispy!)

2:30pm: Met my friend Kelly and her little girl for a walk on the greenway with the kids. We walked for about an hour and a half at a 3.0mph. 

4:40pm: Momma called, wanted to walk. It's beautiful out and I will not pass up a chance to walk! We walked for about 30 minutes at 3.0mph. (Finished second round of 25oz of water)

6:30pm: Ate dinner with the family! One of Matts favorites!

Dinner Breakdown: 473 calories

6 oz of New York Strip (sprayed with a light amount of olive oil and seasoned with season salt, natures seasoning, and garlic salt) - 322

Roasted broccoli - 60 calories (recipe to come!)

Squash - 91 calories (recipe to come!)

7:30pm: Walked with the family up to the convenience store to buy kids a Popsicle. They had fruit Popsicles that seem safe for Stone so we let him try it. He wasn't really a fan... I think it was the cold. 

8:30pm: Took my omegaplex and herbal cleanse. Ate my snack and finished my last 25oz of water! Onto another!

Snack Breakdown - 145 calories

Granny Smith Apple - 100 calories

PB2 Chocolate - 45 calories

PB2 and PB2 chocolate is awesome! It's powdered peanut butter you mix with water. Low calorie and high protien. I love the chocolate on fruit. Wasn't sure if I would like it at first but now it's one of my favorite snacks! You can find it in the peanut butter aisle or health food section.

TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE FOR THE DAY: 1,375 Calories

Again, I could have more since I probably burned between 300-400 calories walking and I still have 45 left over for my goal. But I feel full and content. And my nutrition pie chart isn't bad at all. Would like to see my protien increased a bit but it's fine.

In closing...

I still feel great! My bloat from the weekend is gone and I'm feeling much better than I did on Sunday. It's hard when the weather is warm like this to resist ice cream with the kids or a beer with dinner but once you learn to say no and just get through the urge, you are glad you did! 

So excited to see that a few more people have ordered their challenges and will be starting their journey along side of us. I hope that my experiences allow others to feel comfortable asking questions and posting results to our page... And most importantly, feeling comfortable in their own skin.

Off to get ready for tomorrow and get to bed! Nite everyone!

Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Day 1

Well today started off a lot worse than I would have truly wanted it to. But that's life. The wind was blowing so hard that I couldn't sleep. Our eldest woke up at 2am and stayed awake until 6am. Because we knew that if we woke her up to catch the bus at 7 she would have given her teachers a difficult time, we let her sleep in and I took her to school before boot camp. And I ended up being almost 30 min late to boot camp. Boo.

Anyways... Here is how Day 1 went:

8am: Made my spark and weighed myself before jumping in the shower. I did not measure myself since my boot camp instructor does it for us at the start and end of each session. I suggest you do as measurements are an excellent way to see weight loss! (I'm not a fan of the scale!) And take front, back, and side photos too!

 9am: Fiber drink mixed with 4oz of TROP 50 and 2oz of water. Took my catalyst too.

Pulled breakfast out and dumped it onto my plate, put kids in the car, headed to drop Evie off at school and get to my boot camp.

Breakfast Breakdown - 326 calories
One hard boiled egg (whole) - 72 calories
2 Hardboiled egg whites- 34 calories
1 cup mixed berries (straw, blue, rasp)- 80 calories
Fiber drink and OJ- 95 calories
Spark- 45 calories


9:50-10:30: 40 Min of BOOTCAMP!! Lots of running... Sprinting actually today. Not a fan but I know it's good for me so I sucked it up. Still felt like I was going to cough up blood afterwards. Oh how I wish I liked running! My little boot camp buddy makes it so much more enjoyable though! Finished 25oz of water before getting back home from boot camp!

Noon: Sat down long enough to eat lunch. I try not to sit down for too long during the day. It's a trap. That's a hard thing to avoid as a stay home mom. I don't turn the TV on either. That's another trap. Instead I sit down for 15-20 to eat and then get moving. Following lunch I prepped and started dehydrating homemade fruit roll ups, washed a load of laundry and folded two loads, prepped and made dinner to including flash freezing a portion. Finished up my second 25oz of water!

Lunch Breakdown - 477 calories
2 pieces of Natures Own Whole Wheat Sugar Free bread - 100 calories
6oz of my homemade chicken salad- 207 calories (Recipe: http://tiny.cc/qm4ldx)
28 Roasted Salted almonds - 170 calories

4:00pm: Ate my snack: banana (105 calories)

5:00pm: Went on a brisk walk with the family! 1.25 miles at 3.0mph!

6:00pm: Ate dinner. Drank my last 25oz of required water - and I'm still going!

Dinner Breakdown - 434 Calories
2 Servings of Daddy's Meatloaf - 348 calories (Recipe: http://tiny.cc/2k4ldx)
1 Cup of boiled Green beans with dash of Balsamic Vinegar - 47 calories
1 Serving of Cauliflower Mash - 39 Calories (Recipe: http://tiny.cc/pl4ldx)

7:30pm: Played outside with the kids! Motion is motion!

8:30pm: Took my herbal cleanse and my omegaplex.

TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE ON DAY 1: 1,341 Calories

My personal goal based on MyFitnessPal is 1,420 so I am a little under for the day. If I get hungry later on I will grab an apple or some fruit, but I'm fairly well adjusted to this amount so I'm feeling fine as of right now. You always need to base your diet on how many calories your body needs. My husband eats the same amount of calories for meals that I do but he usually adds in an extra snack or a protein bar to meet his goal.

One of the reasons I love MyFitnessPal is that it gives you this awesome pie chart of your nutrition for the day. My personal goal is to be at 40% protein, 30% fat, and 30% carb but that is pretty difficult for me. Today was actually a great day hitting almost 30% for protein!

 

Closing of Day 1....

I feel great! It took no time for me to get back to my energetic new way of life after indulging over the weekend and turning a bit grumpy because of it. My husband walked in from work, looked at me and said "Glad to have you back!"