Day 3

So, today is my 3rd day on the Advocare 24-day Challenge. Going great so far!

Recap of yesterday:

Yesterday afternoon I found myself running work errands, including dropping off 11 crates of house-hold supplies to the local Hope House for homeless women and children. I must say, seeing the smiles on peoples’ faces is why I love my job. I enjoyed almonds for an afternoon snack while I ran around doing this and that.

After work I decided to make the quest to Wal-Mart. Ended up spending $80 on fruits, vegetables, coconut oil, a muffin pan, fruit infuser cup, EVOO, a mop, and all kinds of other stuff that I needed. Did I really need everything I bought? hmmm. Hopefully I will not be spending this much each week on groceries. If so, eating healthy is expensive! We used to grocery shop 1-2 times per month and spend about $200. (But when you really think about it, I’m probably still spending the same because I’m not eating out for lunch anymore.) Time will tell how this all balances out.

By the time I got home, I was famished. I started boiling some whole grain penne pasta while I threw spinach, mushrooms, and the pre-cooked chicken from Monday in a pan with 2 tbsp of organic Marinara sauce. Once the pasta was cooked, I mixed it in with the rest. Delicious! I’m getting impressed with my cooking abilities.

After I enjoyed the yummy-ness, I started on my egg white “muffins.” Easiest thing ever, delicious, and healthy! Here’s how I did it:

– Preheat oven to 350.

– Tear up small pieces of spinach and put into each compartment of the muffin pan.

– Place one mushroom at the bottom too. (Or whatever ingredients you want!)

– Pour egg whites into the compartments until they’re full.

– Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. (Poke with a fork to make sure they’re done!)

– Let them cool, and pre-bag for easy breakfasts!

 

Today:

Day 3 means that after today, I get a break from the dreaded fiber drink for 4 days. Here’s how I’m handling it:

– Mix 1/2 the fiber drink packet w/ 4oz of water

– Blend as well as you can!

– Chug

– Chase w/ water

– Repeat

While the fiber drink isn’t my favorite, the spark is! Fruit punch is very good!

 

Menu today:

Breakfast – 2 Egg white muffins (I was going to eat fruit too, but it didn’t smell right and it was — come to find out — out of date. Boo.)

Snack – 1/2 Quest Bar

Lunch – Grilled Chicken over spinach w/ quinoa, slivered almonds, & dried cranberries w/ homemade italian dressing

Snack – Edamame 

Supper – Tacos on whole grain wrap w/ avocado and tomato 

 

As of today, I am down 4.5 lbs since starting my clean eating lifestyle on 4/21. Only 3.5 lbs away from my first goal! 

Even more than that, though — I feel GREAT. I have energy! I am determined to do more than just sit on the sofa in the afternoons.

Looking at recent pictures of myself makes me sad. I am 22 years old and a newlywed! I should not be this unhealthy. 

But that’s ok. All of that is changing. RIGHT NOW!

This morning I asked my coworkers to take some before pictures of me. I will be sure to take afters once I complete the challenge!

 

 

 

Hey, future self: I can’t wait to see your pictures on May 21!

Day 2

Day 1 Recap:

I consider my Day 1 a success. Why? I lost 1.5lbs. 

I do realize that this is probably water weight due to the ridiculous amount of water I drank yesterday… but still. I mean, I peed like 87 times yesterday. I felt like I was constantly going to the bathroom. 

For supper last night I had pan seared venison (protein) with green beans (vegetable) and corn (complex carb).

I was going to make my fancy little egg white muffins, but I still don’t have a muffin pan. I will be making the journey to Wal-Mart after work today to gather said muffin pan along with other fresh fruits and veggies. I will have egg white muffins for breakfast tomorrow!

My order of Quest Bars came in yesterday! I ordered the 12-piece sample pack. Looks like lots of amazing flavors to try! However, I was disappointed that my sample pack did not include chocolate chip cookie dough. Very disappointed. Because I was so excited to try one, I broke the vanilla almond crunch one in half and tasted it. Delicious! Then, I microwaved what was left of that half and it looked sort of like a cookie. Hello, desert 🙂 I am very excited to try the rest of the flavors too.

Last night I prepped my lunch for today, which is a grilled chicken wrap (whole wheat) with lettuce, tomato and a tiny bit of hummus. There’s also a few grapes and strawberries.

Today (Day 2):

 This morning started off with the Strawberry Mango Spark drink and Catalyst. The SM Spark is delicious… if you like mango, which I do. When breakfast time rolled around, it was time for the fiber drink again. Not my favorite part of the day, for sure. But, I did like I did yesterday — mixed half of the sawdust  powder with 4oz of water, shaked up really good, then guzzled. Repeat. 

Breakfast – Apple w/ Peanut Butter

Snack – I brought almonds, but I’m not hungry.

Lunch – The above mentioned wrap + strawberries + grapes

Snack – Edamame

Supper – Pan seared chicken tenderloins with spinach and mushrooms w/ wheat pasta

 

Zack is going to a supper tonight where he will most likely be eating something fried or smothered in a gravy. So, while he’s not home I will make my yummy chicken concoction from last week. And I’ll add a small amount of wheat pasta (complex carb).

And yes, I’ll probably have the rest of that 1/2 Quest bar from last night. 

I’m also going to make those yummy-looking egg white muffins and organizing my closet. yippee!

 

Make it a great day!

Day 1 of Advocare 24 Day Challenge

So, it’s been a few days since I’ve updated. Sorry ’bout that!

Weekend Recap

Friday afternoon, my lovely sister-in-law Sunny showed up at my house with my Advocare box. Let the challenge begin!

I was invited to play Pokeno Friday night with my sister-in-laws and their friends. So much fun! But, there was pizza. Since I knew I was starting the challenge today, I went ahead and ate 2 slices along with a salad. 

Saturday, I had a clean strawberry, banana, spinach smoothie for breakfast on the way to the camp. We were going fishing! Unfortunately, we only caught one fish. But it was me that caught it! We then had boiled crawfish for lunch. Didn’t go crazy, because I’m still learning to like crawfish.

Saturday night was the Ms. LSUA pageant, which is something I do not miss. The fellow has-been Queens and I make it a point to attend every year, form our own opinions during the pageant, serve cake after, and then celebrate with margaritas. So, that’s what I did. However, I did eat one sushi roll before going to the pageant because I knew I couldn’t have it during the challenge. But — I didn’t go crazy. I only had ONE roll and it was not covered in spicy mayo. And, I did not eat my beloved crab salad. I turned down cake after the pageant. Success! But then we went to Chili’s and I did eat chips & salsa, a few pieces of chicken flatbread, and a watermelon margarita. Total cheat meal.

Sunday is the day of rest, and that’s exactly what I did. Until 11:00 am. After I finally rolled out of bed at lunch time, I didn’t feel the need to eat breakfast. So, we skipped straight to lunch, which consisted of brisket and a spinach salad. I really could have done a lot worse. Be proud of me. I also organized all of my 24 day challenge items into little plastic bags so that I could grab them and go easily.  I really didn’t snack much throughout the day, other than a spoonful of peanut butter. Because… peanut butter is my newest addiction. But, hey! It’s all natural! Supper time rolled around and we were feeling lazy, so we had turkey sandwiches (my bread was whole grain) and yes, I did put cheese on it. Only because I felt like I would miss that while on the challenge. I ended the day by watching Total Divas and Eric & Jessie while painting my finger nails and eating Mega M&Ms. I only ate them because they were staring at me and I needed to get rid of them before something bad happened. Mission accomplished.

So today was Day 1 of the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. So far, so good!

Fruit punch Spark is very tasty! Then breakfast time rolled around and I was really dreading the fiber drink. I’ve heard horror stories about it. But, it really wasn’t that bad! I had the peaches and cream flavor. The taste wasn’t terrible, but the texture was a bit like sawdust. Not my new favorite thing, but it’s bearable. I mixed half of the pack with 4oz of water and gulped. Then Repeat.

For breakfast I had a peanut butter banana smoothie. I know I’m supposed to eat a protein, but I really don’t want to have to start cooking eggs at work. Too much fuss. So, I’m going to make egg white “muffins.” Stay tuned. I realized at 9pm last night that I don’t have a muffin pan, so I’m going buy one this afternoon.

For a snack, I had a little fruit. I was nervous about lunch because I had a Rotary meeting and the lunch would be catered. But, to my relief, I had some good options! I had brisket (2 days in a row!) with NO BBQ sauce and a big salad with just a tiny bit of Italian dressing. Please note, I did say no to macaroni and cheese and peach cobbler.

I’m about to eat carrots w/ a little hummus for an afternoon snack.

Not sure what’s for supper tonight, as usual, but I’m sure it will be something healthy and challenge approved.

 

Weight Update:

Gained .5 lbs over the weekend, so not absolutely terrible considering everything I ate Saturday night and that pesky bag of M&Ms. I’m going to go beast mode on this challenge this week, so that all will be just fine 🙂

 

Toot-a-loo!

Getting Creative

Yesterday was a good day. I stuck to my menu and only ate one bite of wedding cake when I was feeling like I needed something sweet. That one bite was much better than the alternative of eating an entire bag of Lancaster Caramels. Just saying.

I got a little creative for supper last night! My sister, Kate, came over to visit and we were starting to get hungry. Zack had to run to the store to help them do something, so while he was gone I decided to cook. (this happens a lot — I don’t like to try to cook when he’s home for some reason. haha!) I put 5 chicken tenderloins into a skillet with a little EVOO with some seasoning and cooked them up. Right before the chicken was done, I threw in some big handfuls of spinach with some chopped, fresh mushrooms and sauteed them down. It was delicious! I think my sister was impressed 🙂

By the time Zack got home, we had already licked our plates clean. He said, “where’s mine?!” Silly boy. He knows that he doesn’t like spinach or mushrooms! He then cooked a turkey cheese melt for himself that looked and smelled divine.

Weight update: still down 2 pounds! I think I could have lost between yesterday and today; however, I had an afternoon snack fest with an apple and some peanut butter and I kinda went over board on the peanut butter. oops! But still, I really do feel great about only eating healthy food 🙂

Today: I’ve already dodged a hot, buttered biscuit. Success! Today I will be at the office until lunch time, then I will be spending the rest of the day in Ville Platte putting signs out at the store and delivering our peanut butter donation to the Care & Share food pantry. Very excited about that!

On the Menu:
– Breakfast: Apple w/ Peanut Butter (I will limit myself!)
– Snack: Cantalope & Honey Dew
– Lunch: Avocado & Egg Salad Wheat Wrap w/ Strawberries & Grapes
– Snack: Almonds
– Supper: IDK

Please lord, let me not be tempted by the evils that come in the form of food and drink this weekend. Amen.

Feeling Great!

Good morning! I totally planned to update last night, but then I fell asleep. Sleep is important, so that’s ok.

 

Recap of yesterday:

Everything went great! Had a 1/2 banana and melon shake for breakfast… which I will probably not do again. It had an interesting taste. Not a good kind of interesting, either. I consumed this breakfast on the road going to one of the stores. Once I got there, I had to put up some signs outside near the pumps, and it was a little more time consuming than I thought since I was doing these alone. It was also a little warm outside, so it was kinda like I got some exercise 😉

I ended up staying there later than I planned, so when I left there at 11:30 with a 1 hour 15 minute drive back to my lunch — I was famished! So, I enjoyed my Ziploc bag of almonds that I so intelligently planned to bring with me!

Once I got back to the office, I thoroughly enjoyed my turkey, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and hummus whole wheat wrap with a few baby carrots on the side. And no, I did not dip them in ranch! I also realized that I should have bought whole grain instead of whole wheat… but, oh well! Still progress! Before, I would have eaten whatever Lean Cuisine I had in the freezer or went down the road to one of our stores to eat a Crispito. 

The afternoon passed by and I wasn’t feeling hungry, so I didn’t eat my other snack – which was the other 1/2 of my banana from the morning. But by the time I got home, I was hungry. So, I took out the carrots & hummus and ate one carrot. I wasn’t feeling the carrots… I guess because I already met my quota of carrots for the day. So, I took out a piece of whole grain toast and I put a small amount of hummus on it. Was that the best snack choice ever? Not really. (The bite sized Twix that was staring at me would have been better.) But my hummus toast did cure the hunger.

I decided that I wanted to attempt to cook some quinoa. Not because I wanted to eat any right away, but because I wanted to see if I could actually cook it. I must admit, it’s not as easy as it sounds! I realized that you should put the quinoa in with the water and let them come to a boil together, instead of boiling the water and putting the quinoa in. All in all, it did come out right and I now have quinoa chillin’ in the fridge waiting to be consumed.

For supper, my lovely husband decided that he wanted to cook some of the Axis deer that they killed a couple weeks ago. He had some pre-cut cube steaks that he pounded out, seasoned, and then pan seared them. Tasty! We had a side of green beans.

 

Weight Update:

I am down 2 lbs since Monday! Happy dance! 6 more until I reach my first goal 🙂

 

Advocare:

My sister-in-law, Sunny, recently completed the Advocare 24-day challenge and she did awesome with it! She looks and feels great! Since completing the challenge, she’s only had a few cheat days and has maintained a pretty clean diet. Since I’m doing really well so far and I think I can maintain this clean-ish diet, I’m going to do it too! So, I ordered the Advocare 24-day challenge kit yesterday. Obviously, I will document each day through the challenge. I should receive it next week, so the month of May better watch it! I’m coming after my slimmer-self!

I officially have 52 days until our Dominican Republic vacation, so I want to look as good as I can for when we go! Also, I do want to be healthier, in general. I don’t plan to stop my new clean eating lifestyle after vacation. Now — while on vacation, all hell will break loose and I will probably eat and drink until my heart’s content. But once I return home, I’ll get right back to it 🙂

 

Today:

On the menu for today —

– Breakfast: Strawberry & Banana Smoothie

– Snack: Almonds

– Lunch: Spinach salad with 1 hard boiled egg, strawberries, feta, almonds, and homemade Italian dressing

– Snack: Apple

– Supper: Don’t know yet. Maybe some fish with a side salad or veggie? 

🙂

Day 1 of Clean-ish Eating Recap

I just want to point out that I’m typing this as my husband is sitting next to me eating an entire bag of Trolli Brite Crawler gummy worms. Just saying… Will power in action.

Meals for the day went according to schedule. No extreme temptations were thrown my way, for which I’m thankful. (Except for the bag of cracklins that showed up at the office this morning. But those are easy to turn down. Cinnamon rolls, for example are not.)

PB and banana smoothie was delicious, as usual. I Didn’t feel like I needed a snack between breakfast and lunch because I was drinking lots of water, and I sampled the Spark energy drink by Advocare that my sister-in-law, Sunny gave me to try! Strawberry Mango was actually pretty good!

Lunch time rolled around and I was excited to eat my salad. I knew it was going to be delicious… And it totally was! I could eat that almost every day. Example of will-power: I turned down an invite for lunch at Wendy’s. No thanks, ladies. I’d rather not surround myself with a Frosty today 😉

The afternoon of designing graphics of homemade hamburgers, chicken tenders, and onion rings surprisingly didn’t get to me! But, around 3:15 I started to feel a little snacky. Is that a word? Oh well. I ate about half the fruit in my pre-portioned container. Cantaloupe and Honey Dew… So refreshing!

I made it home a little after 4, then I ate a pre-portioned bag of almonds so that I wouldn’t gorge myself on chips and salsa. (About 12 almonds.) I got dressed, but on my brave face, and we headed out to the Wake of Zack’s uncle’s mom. Wakes and funerals make me so sad 😦 Following the Wake, we went to our favorite place to eat in town: Los Frijolitos. Or as we call it, “The Mexican Place.” They have the best Mexican food I’ve ever had right here just a few miles away. Everything on the menu is amazing, but I normally get the Shredded Chicken Taco Salad to avoid the fried, super cheesy stuff. Tonight was no different — except, I asked them to hold the sour cream and the shredded cheese. Win! Since we’re being honest here, there was a small amount of queso cheese mixed in with the chicken, but hey! Baby steps! And yes, I did have a few chips and salsa. They are my favorite, and I know I can’t cut everything I love out completely, or I will never stick out my new eating-style. Notice, I am NOT calling this a diet. That alone is a recipe for disaster for me! I turned down a strawberry margarita and a dish of white queso dip and chips. Again, this will power is amazing me!

Now, I am sitting on my sofa with my feet up and the dogs laying in my lap with my handsome hubby right beside me. I love my life. And I do want to point out that the handsome husband I mentioned has now moved on to eating Lancaster caramels. What am I going to do with him?

I am about to go make my lunch for tomorrow: a turkey (freshly sliced) wheat wrap with lettuce, tomato, and hummus. And a few grapes on the side. For breakfast, I plan to make a shake with banana and melons. I will pack strawberries and almonds for snacks. Not sure what will be for supper… My husband likes to wing it 😉

Tomorrow will be a different day because I am planning to make the 1 hour drive (both ways) to our store in Jonesville to put out some new signs. I’m going to bring snacks with me so I don’t get tempted by the evil Pretzel M&Ms or Cappuccino F’Reals.

Good night!

Here is the delicious salad I had today. Yum!

Just Getting Started

Hey, y’all! Or… hey, self!
Will anyone other than me ever read this? Who knows.

For now, this blog will be used to keep track of my healthier-eating initiative. Basically, I’ve lived my life (pretty much all 22 years of it) going from fad diet to fad diet… knowing completely that they don’t work.

Now that I’ve been married to the love of my life for one full year, and I’m at my heaviest weight ever… it is time to make a change!

What challenges do I face?
– My husband is an amazing cook.
– I don’t know how to cook.
– We love to go out to eat.
– We live in Louisiana and are surrounded by deliciousness.
– Every celebration revolves around food.
– I don’t have a sweet tooth; I have a SUGAR MOUTH.
– I work in the convenience store industry. Temptation everywhere.

What’s the game plan?
– Eat somewhat “clean,” meaning very little processed junk.
– Continue with 1 Coke per week or less. (2 months sober!)
– Do some kind of exercise a few times per week.
– Allow cheat days so I don’t quit!

I currently weigh 188. Disgusting.
My first goal is to weigh 180. 8 pounds.

Yesterday I did a lot of research on Pinterest for healthy food inspiration. I made a grocery list, and spent about $150 between Wal-Mart and the Amish Country Store on healthy stuff! Nothing processed went into my buggy 🙂

Last night, we grilled chicken breasts with a side of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I shredded the leftover chicken to make a yummy salad for lunch today.

On the menu today:

Breakfast – Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie w/ Almond Milk

Lunch – Grilled Chicken Salad over Spinach w/ 1/2 Avacado, Small amounts of: Almond Shavings, Dried Cranberries, Feta, and homemade Italian Dressing

Snacks – Handful of Almonds // Small Container of Fruit

Supper – Los Frijolito’s (the Mexican place)! I will be having a Shredded Chicken Taco Salad (instead of a quesadilla or chimichanga). …And a few chips & salsa. Because if not, I’ll die.

I will also try to not eat a piece of our 1 year old wedding cake that we cut this past Sunday to celebrate our anniversary. It was amazingly delicious and moist 🙂

Wish me luck!