Results of My 24-Day Challenge

I did complete the full 24-days of the challenge, however the last 3 days was spent on vacation.  I did not have a scale and did not measure myself, but before I left for my trip I was down just 1 pound.  I know that my body changed shape as my jeans fit differently now- looser in my thighs and buns, and one pair of jeans I loved that never failed to give me a muffin-top isn't so offensive now.  :) I think that since my diet was already so similar to the challenge's diet rules (eat clean, low carbs, low/no sugar) that is why I didn't see as drastic as a change as my husband and other did.

My husband spoke with the Advocare help line (whatever their official name is, I'm not sure) and they said that most people who are already lean and are looking to tone more than lose body fat should be taking the Catalyst supplement in addition to the challenge.  Talking with others who have done the challenge and taken Catalyst, as well as doing some research online, I think that would have helped my results along a little better.

So in summary, I loved how I felt on the challenge and it brought back some good eating and meal-prepping habits.  I have just ordered Catalyst that I will begin taking to help with my workout regimen, and I love Spark!  I have never found anything that takes away that pesky brain fog and keeps me awake and alert throughout the day without feeling jittery or that my heart was going to explode (think 5-hr energy).  I love the Advocare community and their foundational morals and desire to help other reach their health goals.

Shameless plug:  If you are interested in trying out the challenge, you can check it out and order it online here- www.havefunliving.org 

Challenge: Day 15 & 16

Day 15:
Lunch: Rosemary baked chicken breast with broccoli and green beans. (work's cafeteria)

Dinner: Garlic Beef Stew with Savory Cauliflower Mash
This dinner was amazing!  So much flavor and my house smelled amazing.  The cauliflower I seasoned differently than the recipe as I HATE Turmeric.  I used my homemade Johnny's seasoning, a little pepper and garlic powder. 

Day 16:
Lunch: Big salad and a small vegetable soup (work's cafeteria)

Dinner: Egg scramble with tomatoes and a slice of Ezekiel Bread toast with peanut butter

Snacks: Popcorn with stevia and cinnamon, banana

Challenge: Day 14

Lunch: Salad topped with cucumbers, carrots, black beans and hard boiled egg.  I used a balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing.

Dinner: It was a pretty warm day, and I didn't have much time to make a big meal, so I whipped out my George Foreman grill and grilled up a natural burger patty.  I laid it on a bed of lettuce, with tomatoes, avocado and grilled onion.  I used mustard as it is low in sugar and fat (and I'm obsessed with mustard!).  It was much better and fulfilling than I expected it to be, especially since it didn't have a bun with it.  On the side I sliced up a fresh organic pear.  MMmmm!

Snacks: Mixed fruit cup, mixed nuts, brown rice cake with thin layer of peanut butter.

Challenge: Day 13

Lunch: I made a delicious fresh salad (lettuce fresh from my mom's garden), with black beans and half and avocado.  I had this with some of Trader Joe's Goddess dressing.  To reduce the amount of dressing you use (to reduce calories) you can just dip your fork in the dressing first before stabbing into that salad. 

Dinner: We did a repeat from last week since it was so tasty.  Black beans and rice from the challenge cookbook.  I serve it with brown rice and this time mixed veggies.

Snacks: Mixed nuts and a banana.

Challenge: Day 12

The rest of the challenge's breakfasts is the meal replacement shake, so I won't be including breakfast in these posts any longer.

Lunch: Leftover Country Captain Chicken. 

Dinner: I had marinated overnight some chicken breasts in the zesty chicken marinade from the challenge cookbook.  I had BBQ'd these and served them with a fresh side salad.

Snacks: I had a hard boiled egg, mixed nuts, brown rice cake w/ a thin layer of peanut butter.  I also worked out (Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred) and had a protein shake afterwards. 

Challenge: Day 11

First day on the MNS phase!  I've been excited to get off the cleanse phase and start seeing some results. Not just physical results, but also energy and mental clarity results.  Don't get me wrong, I have felt AMAZING during the cleanse.  My focus, mental energy, physical energy, alertness...all that is so much better. No longer am I falling asleep on the drive to or from work...or at my desk for that matter.  YEAH!

Here's how my day transpired food-wise-

Breakfast: Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake (nummers!)

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti

Dinner: Homemade Country Captain Chicken from the challenge cookbook. Let me tell you- despite the strange combination of ingredients this was so GOOD!  Definitely a repeat meal here.

Snacks: Carrot and Celery Sticks, Organic Apple, and for "dessert" we had a banana peanut butter smoothie.  I like to use PB2 for the peanut butter.  Less fatty!

Challenge: Day 10

Today is the last day of the cleanse phase, which means NO MORE FIBER DRINK!  I don't think it tastes horrible, it's just a lot to do in the morning and still eat breakfast.

Breakfast:Two fried eggs and a slice of toast.

Lunch: We went to Applebee's for lunch.  I had their 7oz garlic steak with veggies on the side. 

Dinner: I made Grilled Salmon with Avocado salsa.  It was amazing!  Here's where I found the recipe: http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/06/30/grilled-salmon-with-avocado-salsa/.  For the sides I made quinoa and a fresh salad. 

Snacks: Banana, trail mix

Challenge: Day 9

I had an epiphany yesterday as I realized that I haven't had to buy lunch all throughout this challenge and neither has my husband, and we won't be going out to dinner.  That makes what we paid for the challenge not much more than what we would be paying for eating out. Awesome!

Breakfast: I made up a 2-egg scramble with diced zucchini and summer squash that was left over from last night's paleo pizza. 

Lunch: Leftover paleo pizza and a hard boiled egg.

Dinner: Spaghetti with Barilla Plus multigrain spaghetti noodles and the lowest sugar spaghetti sauce I could find on the store shelves.

Snacks: Throughout the work day I had my homemade trail mix.  Dessert was a Choco Loco bar that is vegan and gluten free. 

How I felt: Today I had my energy back, so yesterday's day of rest must have done some good.  I'm excited that tomorrow is the last day of the cleanse.  That fiber drink is getting old.  :)

Challenge: Day 8

Breakfast: Fried Eggs & Peanut butter Toast

Lunch: Chicken and avocado salad on slice of wheat toast.  Apple slices.

Dinner: Paleo Pizza from the Everyday Paleo cookbook.  It was super good!  A no-wheat crust, topped with some marinara, zuccini, summer squash, tomatoes, olives and roasted red peppers.  I also cooked up some antibiotic, no added hormones chicken italian sausage.

Snacks:I forgot my mid-morning snack. That was a big mistake.  By the time lunch rolled around I was feeling so jittery and hangry!  After lunch we went to a local seafood restaurant with my parents and split an appetizer of steamer clams, so that served as our snack. 

I also did our week 2 meal planning since my last meal plan ended at today.  Here's what I have planned for the next week:

There are a couple of repeats of our favorites from last week, like black beans and rice and the spaghetti. 

Challenge: Day 7

Today I felt pretty tired around 1:30, and was struggling to stay awake around 3.  I was also having cravings for things like cupcakes (someone put a container of them on the table behind me at work!), ice cream, chocolate, beer, and a big juicy burger.  this is the first day since starting the challenge that I have had any of these junk food cravings.  Jacob mentioned that he had some cravings about day 8.  
Tomorrow is the 4th of July, so no work.  I'm wondering if a day of rest will help rejuvenate me as work has been pretty tiring and I have done a little overtime.

Here's what I did for food today:

Breakfast: Egg bake and slice of peanut butter toast

Lunch: Chicken salad w/ about 3 tsp Goddess dressing

Dinner: I made the Saucy Salmon from the challenge cookbook.  This salmon was baked on a bed of chard (which I've never had) and covered with a tomato sauce you cook up before baking. 

It was good, however my husband and I LOVE salmon, so this seemed like it was covering up the taste too much.  Too much work and ingredients for something that is so good when baked with just a basic seasoning and some lemon.  I think this recipe would be great for someone who doesn't like salmon all that much as it covers up that "salmony" flavor.  I served it with asparagus and brown rice.

Snacks: Homemade trail mix, a banana, carrot sticks, and a strawberry banana smoothie made with coconut milk.

Challenge: Day 6

Breakfast: I made one of my favorite breakfasts ever!  An egg bake. 

Here's how to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Grease a ramekin (or small oven-safe dish) with coconut oil.  Add 2 eggs, 2 tbsp salsa and salt and pepper if desired.  
3. Bake for 8 - 12 mins depending on how you like your yolks. 10 or 11 is usually perfect for me (firmer yolks)
4. Take out of oven carefully and enjoy!  It's great with a piece of whole grain toast.

Lunch: I made a salad with last night's leftover chicken, along with avocado and black beans.  Delicious!

Dinner: Grilled steaks with a homemade creole seasoning.  For the side, I made a vegetable hash from my Paleo cookbook - Everyday Paleo.  It had sweet potatoes, zucchini and shallots in it seasoned with curry powder and cinnamon.  It was super tasty!

Snacks: Carrot sticks and homemade trail mix.

How I felt today: After yesterday's best energy day ever I was a little disappointed that I felt more drained.  I woke up a lot last night, so all that interrupted sleep probably didn't help.  This is the first day that I drank Spark twice (once in the morning and once before lunch).  I still love how alert and awake I feel on the Spark.  So much better than coffee! 

Challenge: Day 4

This is the first break from the fiber drink! Hopefully my gassy bloated tummy will go away now. :(

Breakfast: egg scramble with mushrooms and green onions. I also baked some paleo apple cinnamon muffins. They are made with almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, eggs, banana and diced apple. Nummy!

Lunch: this was amazing and my husband liked it too! I made the chicken avocado salad from the challenge cookbook and had it over a bed of lettuce. Jacob had it on a slice of toasted bread. This is a keeper!

Dinner: I made the crockpot chicken burritos recipe from the challenge cookbook. We decided to serve it over lettuce like a salad. I added black beans and slivered almonds. We had it with trader joes Goddess dressing. Fruit on the side. We both agree that this recipe is a keeper. Mmmm

Snacks: brown rice cakes with peanut butter. We also had a paleo muffin. 

Challenge: Day 5

Today is the best I have felt! Energy, clarity of mind, good mood. This is also the day Jacob mentioned he felt the best too.

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, whole grain toast with peanut butter. (And Spark of course!)

Lunch: Used the rest of the leftover chicken from last night's crock pot chicken burritos for a salad topper. I picked up trader joes Goddess dressing as it looked like it had all clean ingredients and wasn't too fatty. I just dipped my fork in the dressing and then stabbed into the salad. It was the perfect mix of black beans and avocado with the salad. 

Dinner: I made chicken breasts cooked in coconut oil. Made a sauce of chicken broth, coconut milk, basil and mushrooms. I put that over the chicken and quinoa with a side of corn. 

Snacks: Fresh fruit salad, had a protein shake after my workout, and a paleo apple cinnamon muffin. 

Challenge: Day 3

Day 3

Breakfast: 1 Fried egg, part of a piece of toast.  That fiber drink sure does fill me up!

Lunch: Since I forgot my leftovers yesterday, I got to have those today for lunch.  It was leftovers from a dinner of beans and rice from the 24-day challenge cookbook.  Delicious!

Dinner: We had a family BBQ. This was our first time being faced with a potluck event full of delicious foods that we had to avoid, not to mention dessert and homemade ice cream!  Jacob and I had some kabobs (steak and veggies), I also had a hamburger patty cut up with lettuce and mustard and some fruit salad.  Future tip, when we have a potluck type event I am bringing a good hearty salad so we won't feel so deprived.

Snacks: The normal veggies, fruit and trail mix.  The evening snack I whipped up a berry protein shake using a half-scoop of vanilla muscle build protein powder. 

How I felt: I felt good today.  Less painful gas cramps than yesterday.  My energy dropped at the end of the day after dinner.  I think this was because of all the fruit I had (sugar crash!) and the heat naturally makes a person tired after a while.  

Challenge: Day 2

Day 2

Breakfast: Fried eggs (we use coconut oil, NOT butter and it makes perfect eggs!), slice whole wheat toast and some sliced apple.

Lunch: I forgot my leftovers at home, so I ended up picking up a Starbucks salad that was around 300 cals.  It was delicious, but I was still bummed that I forgot my leftovers.

Dinner: It was friday, and payday, and I had a birthday gift certificate from a local higher-end seafood restaurant that was expiring in two days so we decided to go there and get a healthy option.  I had baked salmon with veggies.

Snacks: I had some of my homemade trail mix as well as some carrot sticks.

How I felt: I felt great energy-wise.  I did have some cramps from gas throughout the day, so I know the extra fiber from the fiber drink was working on something. 

Preparing for the Advocare 24-Day Challenge

Preparation and planning is the key to success with the challenge.  The challenge is a GREAT way to learn how to eat clean and healthy, and at regular intervals.  Here's what I did to help me prepare for mine and my husband's challenges.

Tools:

From www.chooseyourchallenge.com

• 24-Day Challenge Cookbook - a great starting point to get recipes and learn what ingredients to use and foods to eat.  
• Grocery List - this is a great listing of safe foods to eat during the challenge
• Trim Timeline, Tips & Measurements - This is a good sheet to use to guide you through the challenge as well as a place to jot down your starting measurements and weight.

From Advocare's Challenge Site

• Advocare Assessment Form - This is similar to the form mentioned above as it allows you to log your measurements and weight and it is from Advocare's official site.

I started by sitting down with the challenge cookbook and marking all the recipes that sounded like something we would actually enjoy.  Once that was done, I began writing out the week's foods for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.  Having a written plan, posted on my fridge, makes it fool-proof for both me and my husband to follow.

Next, I went through my meal plan and the recipes to create my grocery list and went shopping.  Now we have all the food for the week (I did have to go back halfway through the week to get more fruit).

Tips:

• Buy the larger bags of carrots/celery and cut them up ahead of time and portion them out.  This makes it easy to grab a portion for a quick snack or to take to work.
• Before you go to bed, look over your meal plan to see if any meat needs to be thawed in the fridge, and to pack your lunch if you're working the next day.  I also like to look at it to feel prepared for the next morning's routine.
• Have lots of healthy snacks!  Buy more than you think you will need.  The last thing oyu want is to be starving and making poor snacking choices.  
• Clean out your kitchen before the challenge.  Remove/throw away/hide any "bad" foods so you won't be tempted.  If you are the only one in your home doing the challenge, maybe have a "safe cupboard" where you have all your healthy snacks and only go to that cupboard.  You could reverse that as well and move all the snacks you should avoid to a separate cupboard for you to avoid.
• Get up early enough to not only make breakfast, but to have your Spark and fiber drink without feeling rushed.  Make this an excuse to create a new morning routine for yourself that you can enjoy- to read the paper, do your devotionals, etc.  

Good luck in your journey!  Feel free to ask questions and share any tips that have helped you out along the way.  I am blogging about my daily journey, so take a look around for posts on how I fared throughout the challenge.

24 Day Challenge - Day 1

Advocare 24-Day Challenge

Day One 

Let me start this off by first introducing how I got involved in this 24-day challenge.  My husband was intrigued by the company, Advocare, and their values.  He also had put in some research into their products and compared them with other similar companies.  So, now he is an Advocare distributor (here's his site) and started his 24-day challenge 6 days ago.  He has already lost 2" off his waist and 4 pounds, has enjoyed the food and is feeling great.   

The largest misconception I have seen with the challenge is that most people think it's one of those meal replacement shake diets.  Actually, it's not!  You learn to eat clean food at regular intervals to stabilize your metabolism.  You eat plenty of food, and take supplements for the other nutrients your body needs.  It's a great plan and will help me and my husband begin eating better for the rest of our lives.  So, keep reading to see how I have progressed through the first day of the 24-day challenge.  The key to this challenge's success is preparation and planning.  I'll do a separate post on how to prep to be successful. 

The first day can be pretty intimidating, especially if you're not used to eating breakfast or having much liquid in the morning.  Luckily, I am used to making breakfast, but still drinking water and lots of it is difficult for me to do that early.
With that said, I was pleasantly surprised with Advocare's products as they were tasty and easy to stomach.  Here's how it went:

Morning Schedule:
4:30 a.m. - Got up to get ready for work.

5:30 a.m. - Drank Fruit Punch flavor Spark.  It was delicious and is my favorite flavor so far.  (I've tasted Cherry and Watermelon so far)

6:05 a.m. - Took fish oil supplement and drank the fiber drink.  It actually wasn't gross or hard to drink.  I may sound surprised because it looks like a gel with malt-o-meal in it.

6:35 a.m. - Ate breakfast.  This consisted of a fried egg (used coconut oil, butter is a no-no at this stage), whole wheat toast with a thin layer of peanut butter, and half a sliced up apple.  Drinking the Spark and fiber drink, I already felt full, but I managed to eat all but a little of the toast and a couple slices of apple.

Snack 1:
I had a small snack around 9:30 a.m. that consisted of homemade trail mix.  I picked up bulk walnuts, almonds and raisins from the grocery store and mixed in high-quality organic dark chocolate that I chopped up.

Lunch:
Salad with clean chicken fajita mix (recipe made from the 24-day challenge cookbook) and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. 

Snack 2: 
I had packed celery and carrots, so I had a serving of the veggies with a tablespoon of Adam's peanut butter. 

Dinner: 
I had prepared the chicken breasts the night before so they could marinade all night & day.  I used the Zesty Chicken Marinade in the Challenge's cookbook.  THIS WAS SOOO GOOD!!!  I had cooked up some quinoa and steamed broccoli on the side.  I love to drizzle balsamic vinegar over the broccoli and quinoa. 

What I noticed today:
The Spark left me alert and more awake than my 1 - 2 cups of coffee do.  I had a morning full of meetings and was able to stay awake and was able to think through issues, hold deeper conversations, and focus more on my work.  I had no crash, which would normally happen right after lunch. 

I also was pretty full throughout the day.  I normally get shakes every 2-3 hours and am starving.  This was not the case today.  So, for day 1, I am pleasantly surprised and pleased.