Advocare 24 Day Challenge - RESULTS! :)

Well here we are. . . Day 25. I know it's a 24 day challenge, but day 25 is the hardest.  There are no "rules" to follow.  Do you continue with this lifestyle or do you stuff your face and blow up all your hard work?  I continue!  I continued last year with great success.  I was stronger last year.  There were no cravings. .  . no desire to stuff my face.  That's not so true this year.  But I'm focused and trying really hard to find that strength I had last year.  I can't deny I have cravings and I'm not sure why cause I kicked that during the challenge last year.  But here I am. . .  as such, for my cravings I made Advocare protein balls, using their meal replacement shake.   I've never ever made these in all this time doing Advocare.  They turned out a bit dry and I might tweak the recipe next time, but it sure did make me feel like I had a sweet snack last night.

I realized yesterday that I took (and posted to FB) a photo of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Geesh.  I don't know what got into me.  But this is what I ate - minus the snacks (and yes I snack - often)

A shake for breakfast, tuna "salad" (tuna, pickle relish and eggs) on top a bed of quinoa for lunch and a new recipe - Autumn Minestrone Soup for dinner.  All of these were YUM!!  When I really eat clean I crave that lunch combo all the time.  I don't question it.  I just eat it. My snacks were carrots and hummus, strawberries and cashews . . the protein ball after dinner.  And handfuls of grapes every now and again. I snack often and a lot.  If I get hungry I blow it.  Big time.

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So the results. . .

I'm down 9.6 pounds.  

I don't have a before of the fat %, but it was 32.8.  So I'm down only 0.6% in fat.  I thought that was a bit on the low side. 

As for the inches, I lost a total of 6.5 inches broken down like this:

Chest: -2
Waist: -2
Hips: -2
Thigh: -0.5

Overall I'm pleased with the results.  I had hoped for more.  And I had hoped to reach 183.  Why that number?  I was lower last year (in the 170's) when I got sick.  I bounced to 181-183 and held there for some time.  My body likes that range and I wanted to get back there during the challenge and proceed to get myself over that hump.  But I will get there. . . I am motivated. 

One thing that motivates me is before and after pics because you can "see" the difference.  I'm very suspicious of many before and after photos.  I think many are rigged in some way: clothing, camera angle. . . I wear the same clothes, take the photo in the same place in my house and do the same poses.   

You probably have to make that bigger to see, but the differences are there.   And that's motivating to me for sure!!!!
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My husband did the challenge with me.  He lost 8.2 lbs and 5.5 inches.  I can visibly see him shrinking.  I guess cause you can always see progress in others before yourself.  We are always so critical of ourselves.  

I really want to see the 170's and reach a certain hole (that I punched last year) on my belt.  So those are my next goals.  I felt like I did so much better on the challenge last year but I need to stop downplaying this year's results.  I think I struggled more this year regardless of the numbers that resulted.  Mentally is was harder and I was discouraged by that.  I love the challenge though and I love the Advocare product line.  So the goals are within reach!  I just gotta get there. 

I made this fun collage of some of the food I've eaten over the past 24 days. 

Encouragement needed

I've gained a solid 10 lbs since I got sick.  I was around 178 when I got sick.  I'm now 188.0. 

I really wanted to kick, scream, cry. . . throw a two year old temper tantrum this morning.  But this is *my* fault.  I own it.  I've been eating like crap.  I've been drinking soda.  I'll do go for a day at most and then it's back to crap eating. 

I don't often use this fat monitor, as you can tell by how dirty the screen is.   I was running late for work (as always) so I didn't feel like making it pretty for a picture.  But I'm up about 2% I think.  Again I don't use this thing that often, so hard to know what my lowest was.  But I don't think I ever got below 30%. 

And this is why I'm gaining weight. . . I'm doing things like this.  This is a Gus' Pretzel. . . it's a St Louis thing - they've been around since 1920.  And that's a Shock Top in my hand.  And yes it's a playoff game.  And yes, it's the Cardinals and the Cubs.  It's historic.  But whatever.  I can't keep eating like this.  So I've got to buckle down.  I have another playoff game Thursday (if we make it that far).   My goals are to be pretty damn perfect between now and then. 

I welcome all advice for how to get back on the wagon.  I know people struggle with this.  I know that this isn't rare.  What do you do to get back on track?  Cause I gotta stop the scale before it hits 190.  I've worked hard for this!   I can't let it slip away. 

To step off on the right foot, this is breakfast:

180.4

The first week of lent proved to be moderately difficult. Generally when I do something like this, it's pretty black and white. I cannot eat chocolate or candy. I didn't have much difficulty until yesterday. Every month at work we have a birthday cake day to celebrate the birthdays for that month. Yesterday's cake was chocolate. Ahh! I really wanted cake. Darn it. So that was hard. I did eat some icing off the cardboard base.

Yesterday I was also promoted to head baker in my office. It's an inside joke but I did bring in oatmeal raisin and funfetti cake cookies today. I've eaten too many. :( And there are a bunch more goodies upstairs in honor of leap day! Oh my! It's going to be a bit of a high carb day. Uh oh!

We had a mandated 8 AM start today because of a scheduled power outage. I took advantage of the extra hour and went to the gym. Ran 3 miles and burned about 500 cals!

But the big news is that since last wed I am down 3.2 lbs. Now that's something huh?

I'm pleased with that. A bit disappointed because yesterday was my weekly low of 179.8. And I thought I was very well behaved yesterday. But I did have a fat burn type workout and sometimes my muscles retain water. I won't know because I'm stuffing my face with carbs today so tomorrow I may weigh more than this. :( I never went above that 183.6 last week. So that was a good thing. But I'm really close to my reset maintenance weight which is about 177-178. So this week is going to prove to be challenging I think.

My fat % was estimated at 29.3% last week I believe. I know for a fact I was in the 29's and I was disappointed about it. I didn't take my measurement first thing in the AM last wednesday. So that may have threw it off a bit but I don't know in which direction. However, 28.6% is the answer today! Woo hoo. I will say that this is generally the number I get when I'm in my maintenance weight range. So now the struggle to drop lower will begin. I've seen 28.3 and maybe a 28 once? But it will be hard to get down there. We'll see what happens. I'd just like to have these exact same numbers next week. I'd be ok with that! :)

So in other news I've been really struggling with my horse. So much so that I have 2 plans. We both take a month off. Or I take a month off and he goes to my trainer's for a tune up. I can't decide. The tune up will be expensive. And I just got a $600 vet bill for him due to urine crystals. Blah! So I'm undecided. He can't go till after March 15th due to my trainer's vacation. But I still do need to decide. I really want us to get back on track, but I'm not sure this is the answer. Do I really spend more money on training that I might undo? I have a lot to think about.

And currently I'm thinking about new shoes for the gym. . . I'm searching for bargains online. I would like some pink, but I'll take a good deal. Not having much luck :(