Advocare 24 Day Challenge--- Day 5

So here's a little update on how my 24 Day Challenge with Advocare is shaping up...

Days 2 and 3 were AWESOME.  I felt the best I've felt in a LONG time.  I was starting to get the eating down a lot better and figuring out what my body was needing and not getting.  I've increased my protein, and it's helping me stay fuller for longer and give me more energy.

Then I woke up for Day 4.  I woke up 45 minutes late.  I had a headache all day.  The Spark wasn't touching my energy level yesterday, and I was irritable.  I JUST WANT A BIG BOWL OF PASTA AND SOME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM!  It wasn't a good day, but I also had to change around my fiber drinks in the morning.  On Day 4, you stop taking the fiber drink and add in a probiotic.  Honestly, I think my body went into shock because the way I've been eating has been SO drastically different.  I am getting enough sugar through fruit, but my body isn't getting the amount of sugar and "sugar" through diet cokes or cereal or even fruit in the afternoon and evening (I try to have all sugars out after my orange at lunch).  My body is like, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!???!  My mother thinks I drank way too much water on Day 3 (168 oz).  Something about it dulling my electrolytes.

The only thing I'm completely satisfied with is the fact that the Spark seems to have no effect on me anymore-- I couldn't have gotten used to it already?!  It did nothing for me yesterday or this morning.  We'll see...

I need to come up with more food ideas-- clean eating is boring, but probably just because I'm not very creative.

Ben was really pushing me this week, and I really appreciated that.  On Wednesday, I did great on my half-mile.  My time was 7:59, which means if I would have kept up the pace, I would have made a mile in under 16 minutes, which is crazy for me.  I have to get into my head and really start bearing down on my workouts.  My mind likes to give up way quicker than my body will-- I have to keep pushing and getting better.

Here comes the weekend-- I think the weekend will help give me some time to actually sit down.  All I feel like I do is buy food, prep food, cook food, and eat food.  If I'm not doing any of those, I'm thinking about doing one of those.

Next time you see me will be Monday-- day 8!  I can do this! :)

Workout Updates!

I totally forgot to tell you that Ben changed out workouts around for the beginning of week 5 (I know it's a second post in one day, but I can do that because it's my blog) :).

We are now warming up with 4 miles on the stationary bike (instead of 3).  We are now doing .5 miles on the treadmill (instead of 1 miles) but are adding in 1,000 meters worth of rowing.

For arm day, we did 50 passes with a 4lb. medicine ball and 15 passes with an 8lb. medicine ball.  Then we did a concentrated push up (get down into a pushup position and hold for as long as you can).  Finally, we did the compound rowing machine: 25 reps at 90lbs.

For leg day, we start out the same with the bike, treadmill, and row machine.  Then we did 50 squats with the medicine ball against the wall.  Then we went into full plank and did single-leg planks for 25 on each leg.  After that, 25 goblet squats with a 20lb. weight.  Finally, a wall-sit.  I started at :26, then went to a minute.  Today, I did a wall-sit for 1:27!

Also, on Friday, I completed my fastest mile in a long time: 17:01.  Gotta get it under 17!!!

That's all :)  How have YOUR workouts been going?!

Advocare 24 Day Challenge... GO!

Back in March, my sister started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge to help her lose some weight.  If you don't know about Advocare, check out their website here and watch the movie on the 24 Day Challenge here.  It's a basic plan that combines supplements and healthy eating (exercise is recommended, too).  To date, she's lost 30 lbs and 32 inches.

I fiddled around with the idea of trying the 24 Day Challenge because I'm already routinely exercising and trying to figure out the healthy eating thing.  After much thought (and help), I decided to give it a try.  Yesterday was my first day of the cleanse phase (days 1-10.... days 11-24 is the "max" phase.  Here's how it went:

DAY 1

7am: Spark/3 Catalyst

730: Fiber Drink/8 oz. water/Meal Replacement Shake

10: Apple/Natural PB

Noon: Workout

12:30: Mid-workout Spark

1pm: Sandwich with Mustard/Orange

3:30: Celery/Natural Peanut Butter

6: Omega/Baked Chicken Fajitas/Brown Rice

830: Erica’s Protein Shake (Body Fortress Vanilla Whey Protein/PB2/Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk)

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Pills/3 Catalyst

Water goal: 100 oz.

Some product info:

Spark is an energy drink to replace coffee/soda

Catalyst is a supplement that helps you skip that first phase of muscle burning before you get to your fat-burning phase in your workout

Omega is just an Omega-3 supplement I got at Rite-Aid (Advocare sells one, but I forgot to order it)

Fiber Drink is similar to Metamucil but tastes way better (Peaches 'n' Cream)

Herbal Cleanse Pills is just another supplement to help with the cleanse phase

Each meal/snack should be between 250-350 calories and include 4-6oz. of protein, 1-2 cups veggies/fruit (fruit in the AM only because of the sugars), and a complex carb (whole wheat/grains).

Try to avoid sugars and non-Spark caffeine as much as possible (good thing I don't work at Starbucks anymore).

I found that I was very hungry by 11am and getting a slight headache.  My sister (who is also my coach) suggested I eat an orange before working out, which I did, and drink my Spark before my workout, which I also did.  I felt GREAT during my workout-- I felt like I could conquer the world.  After getting back and eating lunch, I realized I didn't feel quite right.  I wasn't dizzy, but I was a little off-balance.  Meredith (my sister) told me to add some deli meat to my afternoon snack for some extra calories/protein.  Did that, all good.  Dinner was good and my evening snack was good.  Before bed, the Herbal Cleanse Pills were a little tough to get down (they're super big, and I have an awful gag reflex), but I got them down.  I woke up at 12:45 (for the second time to pee since I had gone to bed 2.5 hours earlier) with an awful migraine that kept me up for an hour or so.

What we learned:  

I don't take in enough calories for the amount of exercise I do and to remain true to the 250-350 calorie range for meals.  I didn't have enough protein in my day, and I was just plain not eating enough.  So this is what my day should have looked like:

DAY 1

7am: Spark

730: Fiber Drink/8 oz. water/Meal Replacement/Banana

10: Apple (2 small/1 large)/Natural PB

11:30: 2 Eggs/Spark/3 Catalyst

1pm: Sandwich with Mustard/Orange

3:30: Celery/Natural Peanut Butter/Egg

6: Omega/Baked Chicken Fajitas/Brown Rice

830: Erica’s Protein Shake

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Pills/3 Catalyst

Note that I moved my 3 morning Catalyst and mid-workout Spark to right before my workout (which I did TODAY and FELT GREAT), and I added an egg to my afternoon snack for an extra boost of protein (which I did TODAY as well and am feeling just fine).

What I'm finding:

I don't understand nutrition and caloric intake as well as I would like to.  I generally burn anywhere between 500-700 calories per workout, so I need to account for that somewhere, too.  Also, keeping a strict eating and supplement regimen feels good but, at the same time, makes the day go by so quickly.  Also, I'm interrupted a lot by having to go the bathroom (it's a cleanse, after all).  I literally peed out all 128+oz. of water I took in yesterday in probably 40 bathroom breaks throughout the day.  I know that part will get better the more my body gets used to it, but I'll have to buy stock in toilet paper until it does.  I also need meal ideas.  I'm not a great cook (even though I try to be), and I have a problem with making things that don't taste super great (but still eating them anyway... which, most of the time, makes me not want to eat all together).  I've never eaten so much in a day in my life (which is funny considering how overweight I am... you'd think I'd be eating all the time!), except for maybe when I was working with a nutritionist.

Overall, I think Day 1 was as successful as it could have been.  I did eat a handful of cereal in the middle of the night thinking my migraine was from the lack of sugar.  It was a last-ditch effort to make it go away and help me sleep so I could get through my workday today.  I don't know if it was sugar-induced or not, but I have a call with an Advocare Advisor tonight to figure out what's up.

I will say this... my sister and her coaches (and their Advisor) have been with me throughout the whole process so far (from before ordering, too).  So many calls/texts were bouncing around between everyone yesterday just to found out answers to HELP ME.  I'm very impressed with that!

I'll update you tomorrow on how today went.  Overall, I will say I feel much better today.  I did take some headache medicine after lunch because I was starting to get one, but it rained and went away.  I think it was just sinus.

Onward and on forth.  Keep Going!

Mid-Week Musings

Happy Hump Day!

I am SO so sore from our workout yesterday.  3 mile warm up on the bike (I consistantly stayed between 80 mph and 108 mph... I sweat like a pig), mile on the treadmill, and LEG DAY!  50 squats, reps on two leg machines, 50 kick backs (yikes, my butt is killing me), and a WALL SIT.  Oh my.  I'm having a hard time walking today!

Last night, I decided to join Team Advocare.  Do any of you have any experience with Advocare?  My sister has been on the routine since the beginning of March, and she has lost 30 lbs and over 30 inches without a lick of exercise.  The program seems really easy, and the best thing... it's not a weight-loss program!  It's a program that jammed-packed full of really awesome products that help keep your body functions in tune.  Cleansing and jump starting metabolisms seems to be the game.  I'm really excited to see how Advocare is going to work with my current exercise regimen.  The first thing I'll do is a 24-day challenge (www.24daychallengemovie.com), and I believe my goal for the challenge will be 10 lbs.  That seems to be reasonable and in line with a lot of the success stories I've read.  Most importantly, I'm excited to see how the products will make me feel.  I desperately crave more energy!!

Finally, I have to lift up my sister before I sign off.  She has always been a big inspiration of mine for pretty much my entire life.  She is one of the strongest people I know.  I learned a lot about my sister last night and her journey, and she told me that I was her inspiration for beginning her own health journey.  I had no idea. I've always said that if I can inspire one person, I'm doing something right.  More and more lately, I'm learning that I'm inspiring a lot more people than I think.  That's something that's really, really awesome.  I love you sissy! <3

I'm excited to also be joining a great team of people with Advocare!  I can't wait to share my experience with you all.

Just remember, no matter what: KEEP GOING!

Blender Bottle, FTW!

I LOVE my new Blender Bottle!!  Today was my first experience with it, and I think it's so awesome.

And it's pink.. who doesn't love that?

So I got myself some PB2 and some Body Fortress Vanilla Whey Protein Powder and some vanilla Almond Milk and made myself a breakfast shake!

The cool thing about this bottle is that there are 2 large compartments to hold different powders and one tray to hold advil or asprin, too.  You just add all your ingredients to the bottle, and the blender ball mixes it all up!  I had a nice protein-packed breakfast that was 373 calories.

I was a little hungry after I drank my shake, so I had a Luna protein bar as my mid-morning snack.  I'm sure my body will have to get used to not eating a bagel or a carb for breakfast.  I wish I had those carbs this morning though, because our workout was HARD today.

My legs are like jello--- still.

17:17 mile, 3 miles on the bike, and legs for days.  We incorporated kickbacks and wall sits into today's exercise, and I can feel it.  I haven't been that sweaty since the 1000 Rep Workout Melissa created for us back in 2012.

Anyone have any easy blender bottle recipes for some yummy shakes?

I Do This for Me

Hello!  I lost another pound!  4 lbs down since May 15!  I'm very happy with this.

I have to take a second to rant.  After telling someone today that I had lost another pound, making my total weight loss 4 pounds, the response I got was, "Well it's coming off slow."  Yeah, you're right.  But you know what?  I'd rather it come off slow and the right way than fast and unhealthy.  I was very disappointed in receiving this response because the person who said it to me is a person that I love and trust very much.  It hurt me and made me feel like I wasn't doing everything I could.

But I am in no way on this journey for them.  So for anyone who is going through a weight loss journey, no matter if it's been 3 days or 3 months or 3 years, don't ever let anyone make you feel like you aren't doing enough.  Don't ever judge your successes by anyone else's yardstick.  You are good enough.  What you're doing is good enough.  What you're feeling is good enough.  And gosh darn it, people like you.

Just remember that even 10 minutes of exercise is lapping everybody on the couch.

I'm proud of myself for getting back out there and working on my life, whether anyone else is or not.  After all, I am the one that lives it.

You Mean I'm Really Not Still on Vacation?!

First day back at the grindstone after the best and longest vacation ever.  7 days in the Outer Banks was just what I needed, but now I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!

A short recap: I exercised, ate a lot of seafood, met a lot of great people, and had a ton of fun.  I didn't gain any weight, but that's unofficial since I'm waiting until Wednesday to officially announce my weight loss.

First workout after vacation was rough, but I pushed through.  Ben upped our mileage on the stationary bike from 2 to 3 miles.  Thank goodness for the iPhone game 2048-- I just played that the whole time and didn't even realize I had biked OVER 3 miles.  The treadmill mile is officially the DREADmill mile.  My mind was dragging my body this time, but I made it in one of my best times: 17:15.  Ben upped my weights on the machines, probably to say, "WELCOME BACK!"

But I did it.

Re-focused!!

(Sorry it's a short post-- I'm exhausted!!!!!)