Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Day 6 Down
Hi there! Today was a better day, mainly because I enjoyed my meals much more. I had the meal replacement shake for breakfast and then for lunch, I made an omelette/frittata thing with stuff I had in my fridge. First I wilted some spinach and kale and then added some more of the healthy 8 veggies, halved grape tomatoes and five eggs into the skillet. It was such a pretty combination of greens, reds, yellows and purples (from the radish in the healthy 8 mix). I missed the cheese I would have added had I not been on the diet, but all of the veggies added enough flavor to make it taste good. I will definitely make that meal again! For dinner, I found this recipe, but I changed a few things. I used the last of my frozen lean beef instead of turkey, mixed in more of the healthy 8 mix (I am getting a lot of use out of it!) and added half a jar of TJ's spaghetti sauce (it was left over from the night before so I wanted to use it up). I really enjoyed again, all the colors and added flavors that the healthy 8 mix brought to it, and I thought that some spaghetti sauce would give it some needed moisture, which is did just a bit. I had to force the girls to eat their dinner, but Mark got seconds and I thought it tasted pretty good for being so healthy. Luckily there were two peppers leftover, so I will be eating one for lunch again tomorrow. I really think putting effort into meals instead of just grabbing a chicken breast and a salad (those things get really old to me very quickly) helps me not to get down about the dessert or whatever it is that I can't have. I may make stuffed peppers this way again in the future- I would definitely make them again if my kids didn't dislike them so much. It's hard to make healthy food and then listen to complaining the entire time you sit down at the table to eat it. But parenting struggles are for another post. As for now, I'm saying goodbye to day 6!
Monday, January 12, 2015
Day 5 In The Books
Day 5 is done! Only 19 more days to go! I have been slacking on my exercise for the past couple of days and day 5 was no different, unfortunately. I will try to get to the Y for day 6. I would like to sign up the girls for swimming lessons there anyway, so hopefully that will motivate me enough to go... ha.
Mark was home in the morning again so he made scrambled eggs for breakfast. I snacked on a banana and for lunch I had a grilled chicken breast and some Healthy 8 Chopped Veggie Mix from Trader Joe's on the side with Cilantro Dressing, also from TJ's. It was decent, but since I ate the veggies raw, all the chewing got old. What a thing to complain about, I know, but my jaw was tired by the end. Just writing that makes me laugh at how silly it sounds. I needed the after lunch Spark pick me up after being up several times tending to my sweet, but fevering baby. It helped perk me up until dinner time, which was also almost entirely from TJ's- spaghetti with red meat sauce. I used local lean beef that we had in the freezer (a couple of years ago I bought 1/4 a cow with some friends and I'm finally nearing the end of my deep freezer stash). I added the beef to TJ's organic mushroom spaghetti sauce and then for good measure, I threw in a handful or two of the veggie mix I had for lunch. Instead of regular spaghetti noodles, I used TJ's brown rice quinoa noodles. The kids didn't know the difference and it was good to have those extra veggies in the sauce. We ate dinner at around 6:30 and I didn't even feel hungry by the time bedtime rolled around at 11. It was a successful day! Thanks for reading!
Mark was home in the morning again so he made scrambled eggs for breakfast. I snacked on a banana and for lunch I had a grilled chicken breast and some Healthy 8 Chopped Veggie Mix from Trader Joe's on the side with Cilantro Dressing, also from TJ's. It was decent, but since I ate the veggies raw, all the chewing got old. What a thing to complain about, I know, but my jaw was tired by the end. Just writing that makes me laugh at how silly it sounds. I needed the after lunch Spark pick me up after being up several times tending to my sweet, but fevering baby. It helped perk me up until dinner time, which was also almost entirely from TJ's- spaghetti with red meat sauce. I used local lean beef that we had in the freezer (a couple of years ago I bought 1/4 a cow with some friends and I'm finally nearing the end of my deep freezer stash). I added the beef to TJ's organic mushroom spaghetti sauce and then for good measure, I threw in a handful or two of the veggie mix I had for lunch. Instead of regular spaghetti noodles, I used TJ's brown rice quinoa noodles. The kids didn't know the difference and it was good to have those extra veggies in the sauce. We ate dinner at around 6:30 and I didn't even feel hungry by the time bedtime rolled around at 11. It was a successful day! Thanks for reading!
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Time for Day 4
I'm just going to write a quick update today. I will be honest- I struggled a bit today. I ate an abysmal dinner- tuna mixed with avocado and grape tomatoes. It was healthy, but so gross I couldn't finish it. The last bite I ate took a long time to chew and I came very close to gagging. Normally, I really like tuna. Occasionally, I even crave it. I typically make it like most people- with mayo and relish, eaten with crackers or on bread. This time I avoided mayo in order to stick with the diet guidelines and I used canned tuna because that's what I had, as opposed to a packet, which is what we normally keep stocked. I'm not sure if it was the can vs. the packet or the avocado vs. the mayo, but it was much fishier than I like and I think that's what made it hard to eat. Blah. It left me feeling frustrated and annoyed that I have to eat this way for 20 more days. Like a good girl that follows the rules, though, I made it through the day again without cheating. So far, I'm only down a pound. Here's hoping for a few more!
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Day 3 Recap
By now I am sure you are really excited to read 21 more of these posts, ha ha. Let's get to today's info...
I decided on a meal replacement shake for breakfast after my mango strawberry Spark and peaches and cream cleanse drink. It was better this time around because my expectations were not at high. I ate a banana for my snack and then ate the grilled chicken and salad from the night before for lunch. I had to get up earlier than normal to take Blair to school so I was feeling tired after lunch. Another dose of Spark and my energy levels went back up. My snack was some blueberries and a clementine. For dinner, I made one pot Mexican quinoa, which turned out pretty good! I didn't have cilantro, lime juice or jalapeños, so I added yellow and orange mini sweet peppers instead and it was still tasty! I'm happy there was some left over so that we can eat it again for lunch! Also with dinner I took the Omegaplex pills included in the challenge kit. Mark thinks they give him a fishy, oily taste when he burps, but I didn't notice that at all, which was a relief as I'm not really into fish. I decided to eat a kiwi for dessert/snack and finished off the day with my cleanse pills. I should probably do a better job of drinking water- I am supposed to be getting half of my body weight in ounces of water and I'm pretty sure I'm not quite meeting that goal. I've felt really good without my coffee, probably because of the caffeine in the Spark. I usually get migraines every week or two but so far none! Part of that might also be because I got a new pillow that has been very nice for my neck! I would recommend it!
Overall, I'm not hating the 24 day challenge at all! I feel very confident that I can complete it with relative ease and I am excited to see what my results will be!
Thanks for reading!
I decided on a meal replacement shake for breakfast after my mango strawberry Spark and peaches and cream cleanse drink. It was better this time around because my expectations were not at high. I ate a banana for my snack and then ate the grilled chicken and salad from the night before for lunch. I had to get up earlier than normal to take Blair to school so I was feeling tired after lunch. Another dose of Spark and my energy levels went back up. My snack was some blueberries and a clementine. For dinner, I made one pot Mexican quinoa, which turned out pretty good! I didn't have cilantro, lime juice or jalapeños, so I added yellow and orange mini sweet peppers instead and it was still tasty! I'm happy there was some left over so that we can eat it again for lunch! Also with dinner I took the Omegaplex pills included in the challenge kit. Mark thinks they give him a fishy, oily taste when he burps, but I didn't notice that at all, which was a relief as I'm not really into fish. I decided to eat a kiwi for dessert/snack and finished off the day with my cleanse pills. I should probably do a better job of drinking water- I am supposed to be getting half of my body weight in ounces of water and I'm pretty sure I'm not quite meeting that goal. I've felt really good without my coffee, probably because of the caffeine in the Spark. I usually get migraines every week or two but so far none! Part of that might also be because I got a new pillow that has been very nice for my neck! I would recommend it!
Overall, I'm not hating the 24 day challenge at all! I feel very confident that I can complete it with relative ease and I am excited to see what my results will be!
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, January 8, 2015
24 Day Challenge- Day 2
Today was a snow day for my oldest- more like a cold day. It's been in the negative temperatures around here lately and that must be a good reason to cancel school. Ah well, Advocare was still in session even if school wasn't.
I went to bed last night feeling a little hungry. I didn't cheat, though, and decided the challenge is definitely doable in the diet sense. Exercise is also encouraged, so I am going to try to carve out time for that as much as I am able. Since I didn't have much free time for it yesterday, I counted the time I cleaned the house for our company as my workout. Lame, I know, but there were points where I was scrubbing floors on my hands and knees so that justifies that.
This morning, I got up feeling pretty good and began my new routine of Spark followed up 30 minutes later with the cleanse drink (still tolerable, but truthfully the last swig was a tad gross) and breakfast, which was a scrambled egg and a piece of bacon- clearly not the typical diet food. I probably wouldn't have included bacon with an egg normally but Mark was home this morning and cooked it for me that way- what a guy!
A little while later, I "cleansed" (TMI?) and went about my day. One note on the cleanse portion- it's very mild! In the evenings you take three horse pills that must be gentle laxatives or something and then in the morning you drink the cleanse drink and about 20 minutes and one trip to the bathroom later everything is taken care of and life is good. No stomach wrenching pain or multiple bathroom trips, completely opposite of the lemonade master cleanse, which I (very stupidly) attempted while teaching high school English many years ago. What a NIGHTMARE that was- running to the bathroom between every class if I made it the whole way through the class at all, painful burning each time- I swear it was the cayenne pepper- feeling starved and sluggish, ugh. It was truly so horrible and I only lasted 3 days before calling it quits and going out for Mexican. Maybe the cayenne wasn't enough and I am a glutton for pain. Anyway, if you haven't experienced TMI by now... well, wow.
So back to Advocare and today! I snacked on a banana and then ate some leftover vegan chili from last night for lunch. If you are ever looking for a good meatless recipe that has a good kick and flavor that will fill you up, check out that recipe. Very good and healthy!
This afternoon I didn't eat anything else and went to the YMCA to see how far I could run. It was ugly. I managed a mile on the treadmill in a relatively slow jog pace (5.3 mph). That's all I could run. I walked another mile at an incline of around 5 and that's all she wrote. I have a long way to go before I am ready for the half marathon I want to run in May. Official training for that doesn't start until February sometime, but I need to get comfortable running 3 miles before I begin the training schedule. One day at a time.
When I got home from the gym, Mark had made dinner- roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, salad and whole wheat pasta. I only managed to eat about 4 bites of pasta, the portion of vegetables and half of the chicken breast before feeling full. I put the rest of the chicken onto the salad and will eat that for lunch tomorrow. I feel good about my meal, but I will probably take advantage of the last snack allotted and have some fruit because I'm craving a sweet treat like I typically would eat after dinner.
So there you have it! I was down .5 lb this morning, but I'm sure that will fluctuate here and there over the course of the challenge. Day 2 is almost in the books and so far, so good!
I went to bed last night feeling a little hungry. I didn't cheat, though, and decided the challenge is definitely doable in the diet sense. Exercise is also encouraged, so I am going to try to carve out time for that as much as I am able. Since I didn't have much free time for it yesterday, I counted the time I cleaned the house for our company as my workout. Lame, I know, but there were points where I was scrubbing floors on my hands and knees so that justifies that.
This morning, I got up feeling pretty good and began my new routine of Spark followed up 30 minutes later with the cleanse drink (still tolerable, but truthfully the last swig was a tad gross) and breakfast, which was a scrambled egg and a piece of bacon- clearly not the typical diet food. I probably wouldn't have included bacon with an egg normally but Mark was home this morning and cooked it for me that way- what a guy!
A little while later, I "cleansed" (TMI?) and went about my day. One note on the cleanse portion- it's very mild! In the evenings you take three horse pills that must be gentle laxatives or something and then in the morning you drink the cleanse drink and about 20 minutes and one trip to the bathroom later everything is taken care of and life is good. No stomach wrenching pain or multiple bathroom trips, completely opposite of the lemonade master cleanse, which I (very stupidly) attempted while teaching high school English many years ago. What a NIGHTMARE that was- running to the bathroom between every class if I made it the whole way through the class at all, painful burning each time- I swear it was the cayenne pepper- feeling starved and sluggish, ugh. It was truly so horrible and I only lasted 3 days before calling it quits and going out for Mexican. Maybe the cayenne wasn't enough and I am a glutton for pain. Anyway, if you haven't experienced TMI by now... well, wow.
So back to Advocare and today! I snacked on a banana and then ate some leftover vegan chili from last night for lunch. If you are ever looking for a good meatless recipe that has a good kick and flavor that will fill you up, check out that recipe. Very good and healthy!
This afternoon I didn't eat anything else and went to the YMCA to see how far I could run. It was ugly. I managed a mile on the treadmill in a relatively slow jog pace (5.3 mph). That's all I could run. I walked another mile at an incline of around 5 and that's all she wrote. I have a long way to go before I am ready for the half marathon I want to run in May. Official training for that doesn't start until February sometime, but I need to get comfortable running 3 miles before I begin the training schedule. One day at a time.
When I got home from the gym, Mark had made dinner- roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, salad and whole wheat pasta. I only managed to eat about 4 bites of pasta, the portion of vegetables and half of the chicken breast before feeling full. I put the rest of the chicken onto the salad and will eat that for lunch tomorrow. I feel good about my meal, but I will probably take advantage of the last snack allotted and have some fruit because I'm craving a sweet treat like I typically would eat after dinner.
So there you have it! I was down .5 lb this morning, but I'm sure that will fluctuate here and there over the course of the challenge. Day 2 is almost in the books and so far, so good!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Advocare 24 Day Challenge- Day 1
I'm sure many of you have heard about Advocare by now. In my area of the country, Advocare reps have exploded in number within the past year. The notoriety of the products has expanded greatly with the addition of many well known athletes touting their success. Normally, taking a bunch of pills and drinking meal replacement shakes isn't something I buy into or get excited about. Honestly, I am not quite sure I will say that I am "excited" about them still, but as I mentioned yesterday, I do have some weight I would like to lose and the timing seems good with the new year and freedom from my pump (that is a long story for another day, believe me!) so I decided to go for it. A while back Mark was talked into trying the 24 Day Challenge by a friend of his that had just begun to sell Advocare. Although I thought it was a little expensive and ridiculous (I think I may have been pregnant at the time so there was no way I would join in limiting my tasty food intake- Hello! That's the best time to enjoy food guilt free if you can stomach it!), I didn't discourage him too much and he went for it. He ended up losing about 10 lbs and looked noticeably healthier, especially in his face. He claimed that he felt more energy than he had before and better overall. I kind of thought maybe it was just because he had been eating healthier and smaller portions- the 24 Day Challenge comes with optional meal replacement shakes, supplements, cleansing drinks and Spark, an energy drink that is meant to replace coffee and pop. It has directions about what to take/eat when and suggestions for types of food to eat and avoid. Whether the products have much to do with the transformation was questionable to me. I thought maybe he would do it once and be done... but no, not so. A few months later, I pulled up to my house to find a box on the doorstep. It turned out that his friend had convinced him to become a rep himself so that he would get a discount on the products whenever he wanted to reorder. So fast forward to now. Though still a little skeptical of it's effectiveness, I decided to take advantage of Mark's discount and join 80,000 people around the nation that have begun the 24 Day Challenge today. Here is my take so far.
I began the day with a cup of Spark. Mark had only been buying the watermelon flavored Spark and while I do like watermelon flavored things, I ordered the mango strawberry Spark to give it a try. I liked it! It tasted pretty good! I miss the warmth and coziness of my morning coffee and evening herbal tea, but I guess for 24 days I will be okay without them. The next step is to wait 30 minutes before drinking the cleanse drink and eating breakfast. As per Mark's suggestion, I chose the peaches and cream cleanse and I was expecting to gag or choke it down, but actually it wasn't too hateful! I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to try a meal replacement shake for breakfast. Again, upon Mark's suggestion, I tried the mocha chocolate flavor. I think next time I should mix it with almond milk or something because mixed with water was not very good. I was disappointed. An hour or two later I was feeling a little shaky from the caffeine in the Spark so I ate a snack- half a banana and a kiwi- which seemed to help. For lunch I ate a salad with some chicken on top. We have company coming this evening and I needed to get the house cleaned so I went to work on that after lunch. I was feeling a little sleepy again about 2 PM so I drank another glass of Spark and felt reenergized. It's snack time now so I am having a clementine and a handful of carrot sticks. Dinner tonight will be sweet potato black bean chili which will be great for our vegan guests. The last thing to take for the day is a supplement before bed.
So far, I feel like the 24 days should go pretty well, but I might get bored with the rules. I am hoping to shed all of my baby weight and start feeling refreshed and ready for the year. Wish me luck!
I began the day with a cup of Spark. Mark had only been buying the watermelon flavored Spark and while I do like watermelon flavored things, I ordered the mango strawberry Spark to give it a try. I liked it! It tasted pretty good! I miss the warmth and coziness of my morning coffee and evening herbal tea, but I guess for 24 days I will be okay without them. The next step is to wait 30 minutes before drinking the cleanse drink and eating breakfast. As per Mark's suggestion, I chose the peaches and cream cleanse and I was expecting to gag or choke it down, but actually it wasn't too hateful! I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to try a meal replacement shake for breakfast. Again, upon Mark's suggestion, I tried the mocha chocolate flavor. I think next time I should mix it with almond milk or something because mixed with water was not very good. I was disappointed. An hour or two later I was feeling a little shaky from the caffeine in the Spark so I ate a snack- half a banana and a kiwi- which seemed to help. For lunch I ate a salad with some chicken on top. We have company coming this evening and I needed to get the house cleaned so I went to work on that after lunch. I was feeling a little sleepy again about 2 PM so I drank another glass of Spark and felt reenergized. It's snack time now so I am having a clementine and a handful of carrot sticks. Dinner tonight will be sweet potato black bean chili which will be great for our vegan guests. The last thing to take for the day is a supplement before bed.
So far, I feel like the 24 days should go pretty well, but I might get bored with the rules. I am hoping to shed all of my baby weight and start feeling refreshed and ready for the year. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
A Year Off, Three Kids and Resolutions
Hello Readers!
I DO still exist! Last year I dropped the blogger ball choosing instead to attempt to survive and adjust to my new life with three kids. We welcomed baby boy into our family in early November 2013 and he has been a complete joy. There have certainly been challenges, namely emotional highs and lows due to breastfeeding issues, lack of sleep (baby boy still doesn't consistently sleep through the night 14 months later), and feeling completely overwhelmed with every day responsibilities of a stay-at-home mom of three children. Despite these things, we know how very blessed we are to have the family we do- in the birth order they are- and wouldn't trade any of our sweet pumpkins for anything. And baby boy is SUCH a happy, easy going little guy! We've been enjoying him and his sisters as much as we can and we are so grateful to God for allowing us to care for them!
I have decided to give my meager blog another go this year, now that life is a little less chaotic with Blair in kindergarten and I am no longer pumping full time. I'm not sure what direction the blog will take but hopefully I will be able to find some extra time to devote to it to find out. I will try to fill in the blanks of last year throughout this year if I can.
One of my many New Years resolutions is of course to get back into shape. After Hadley was born, I somehow managed to start running after about 5 months. This time, I couldn't. I couldn't find any motivation, I couldn't imagine how we could logistically manage it, I couldn't find the time. I just couldn't. I decided to give up the hope for exercise and put it off until some things could get off my plate. Now is finally the time for me to take health seriously again so I will be trying something new- Advocare. Mark and I will begin the 24 Day Challenge tomorrow along with many people around the nation. I'm hoping it will help me lose the rest of my baby weight and catapult me into a healthier lifestyle overall. Another goal of mine for this year is to run the local half marathon in my hometown. I've wanted to run it for a few years but timing has never worked out. I will keep you updated.
Well, I need to run (not literally)- it's a snow day here so all three kids are home and are getting stir crazy. Thanks for checking in!
I DO still exist! Last year I dropped the blogger ball choosing instead to attempt to survive and adjust to my new life with three kids. We welcomed baby boy into our family in early November 2013 and he has been a complete joy. There have certainly been challenges, namely emotional highs and lows due to breastfeeding issues, lack of sleep (baby boy still doesn't consistently sleep through the night 14 months later), and feeling completely overwhelmed with every day responsibilities of a stay-at-home mom of three children. Despite these things, we know how very blessed we are to have the family we do- in the birth order they are- and wouldn't trade any of our sweet pumpkins for anything. And baby boy is SUCH a happy, easy going little guy! We've been enjoying him and his sisters as much as we can and we are so grateful to God for allowing us to care for them!
I have decided to give my meager blog another go this year, now that life is a little less chaotic with Blair in kindergarten and I am no longer pumping full time. I'm not sure what direction the blog will take but hopefully I will be able to find some extra time to devote to it to find out. I will try to fill in the blanks of last year throughout this year if I can.
One of my many New Years resolutions is of course to get back into shape. After Hadley was born, I somehow managed to start running after about 5 months. This time, I couldn't. I couldn't find any motivation, I couldn't imagine how we could logistically manage it, I couldn't find the time. I just couldn't. I decided to give up the hope for exercise and put it off until some things could get off my plate. Now is finally the time for me to take health seriously again so I will be trying something new- Advocare. Mark and I will begin the 24 Day Challenge tomorrow along with many people around the nation. I'm hoping it will help me lose the rest of my baby weight and catapult me into a healthier lifestyle overall. Another goal of mine for this year is to run the local half marathon in my hometown. I've wanted to run it for a few years but timing has never worked out. I will keep you updated.
Well, I need to run (not literally)- it's a snow day here so all three kids are home and are getting stir crazy. Thanks for checking in!
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