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:

25 pounds . . . and my "roll"

Whoop! Whoop!!!!!!!

25.6 lbs down!  *Finally*   186 was the 25 lb mark and I was 186.4 the day I left for Europe.  Gosh it took me a bit to finally see this.  And what else do you see???   Finally a "normal" BMI.  The last time I used the fat monitor my BMI was over 27 and it was "high".  Woo hoo!!!!  

Yesterday I woke up wither either allergies or a head cold.  How do you tell?  I never though I had allergies until these past several years.  Blah!  My throat was scratchy, my eye itched, my nose was a leaky faucet.  . . that all probably helped me see this number on the scale.  I just didn't feel much like eating, but I did run 3 miles, ride Eli and do errands.  So I was active. I ate a crap ton of fruit cause when I have a sore throat I like food to go down and scratch/rub it.  :)  Strange I know.

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Saturday we went to out first Cardinals game of the year.  I got a new shirt before I left for Europe and I gotta tell you I felt like I looked good and bad at the same time. The shirt didn't hide much cause it was fitted and white.   I had my hubby take a photo. 

*ALL* I see in this photo is my dreaded fat roll.  Ugh.  I told my hubby to let me know when it's showing.  I can hide it.  I can stand in ways that hide it.  I just don't always know when it's making an appearance.  I had him take one from the waist up cause I was afraid it was showing.  That's the one I posted to FB. :)   I swear. . . .   back in the day I had this friend who has quite the belly pooch.  We would shop a lot together.  She was jealous of the fact that I didn't seem to have a pooch.  I would say that isn't true and never was.  But my stomach has always been less poochy than hers.  However she doesn't have a muffin top roll.  She once said she wouldn't give up her pooch if it meant having a roll.  Cause she sees how hard it is to hide.  However, even though I hate it, I'm pleased with my progress and how I look :) 

I'm really trying hard not to push Advocare on my FB.  I get sick and tired of friends that only post about shit they sell.  But it's hard cause I'm so excited about it.  I just never dreamed I'd reach 25 lbs this early in the year.  Really I thought it'd be fall before I saw the 180's.  This is exciting.  I feel good, have more energy, have clearer skin. . . .and I get excited talking about it.  I want to help everyone! :)  But I know I have to wait and let them tell me when they are ready. 

Fat Percent

One of the things I monitor in my weight loss journey is fat %. It's one the measurements taken at the gym. I decided a few months back that I wanted to own the same monitor so I could use it at the same time of day a few times a week to monitor my loss. Apparently fat % monitors are sensitive little things. You shouldn't take your measurement within so many hours of eating, working out or showering. So I take mine in the morning right after getting off the scale and before I shower. I don't do it every morning. I don't even write it down every time I do use it. It does go up and down just like the lbs on the scale. But usually only within the same % - so up or down a few tenths of a percent. What I do pay attention to is that I'm basically the same. If my scale jumps up several lbs (like over the holidays) I don't want my fat % to increase too much. Or if I my scale goes up and the fat % goes down then I'm gaining muscle.

I don't know where my fat % was when I first started with my trainer in 2010. It was in probably in the mid-30's. But of course that's taken in the afternoon when I meet with her and likely not long after I've eaten a snack. My personal goal is 25% on my monitor at home in the morning. I recently made a good bit of progress on my most recent diet in regards to the fat%. But since I've owned the monitor I've been as high as 29.0% and as a low as 28.3%. I generally stay around 28.5-28.7%.

Today:

So 28.0%. Yay! I decided to start posting a photo like this. Hopefully once a week as my way of recording my progress. Cause I track my weight through my SparkPeople app on my phone. But there's no easy way for me to track this. I have a spreadsheet of my weight with lots of data on it and if I remember I have a column for fat % that I fill in when I remember the number. But this seems a bit more. . . well accountable maybe? :) We'll see. The BMI - you can see it's high. However, everyone tells me that these monitors don't do BMI well and to not go by that. But I hope that if I ever reach that magical 25% that maybe. . . just maybe. . . I'll be in a normal BMI on this monitor. But I don't really pay attention to that number and I never track it. The input to the monitor is normal/athlete, height and weight. . . I can't remember if sex is in there or not. I'll have to look. And yes my scale does calculate fat % as well but it seems way off. It puts me in the mid-30's and even my Dr said no way. So since we use this thing at the gym that's what I decided to use as my reference.

So I think. . . I "think". . . I'm not going to pack my scale when we go to Cancun. It's going to kill me! There is going to be a big old gap in my spreadsheet. Not sure my anal mathematical self can handle that. Yikes! Maybe I should take the fat % monitor? But I'm not sure that will help much on a daily basis anyways. Plus the heat and humidity might skew the results. . . at least the first day. You know what I mean? So I may panic when there is no reason to panic. I don't know. I think since I'm generally more active on vacation than I am sitting at my desk during my 40 hour work week that I should be ok. I have been previously when we've traveled this fall. And yes I packed my scale then. LOL! But . . . those weren't all inclusive vacation with yummy alcoholic drinks! If it was just the food I have total confidence in myself. But it's not. . . it's purple rain, electric lemonade, Caribbean punch. . . maybe a dirty monkey . . . or not since that has coconut. But you get my drift. . . wow.

So I've been having some issues with giving myself a day off from the gym. I can't do it. I feel guilt. Yesterday I know I ate too much. I went to the barn to ride Eli. But I knew I had to stop at the mall after. Why? Because my dumb self mailed my Maurice's payment without the check. And I sent the check a few days later. But it hasn't arrived. So my options are pay by phone and pay a $15 fee, wait it out and hope I don't get the late fee ($20-30) or go to the mall and pay in store. It's due tomorrow. As it is paying last night will post on Friday but they told me on the phone they have a one day grace period. They freaking better! So I went to the barn. I got my horse from the pasture. I was feeling all fat from eating crap during the day. I put him in his stall and changed clothes for the gym. Popped into Maurice's to make the payment and hit the gym. I'm a mess! I needed to ride cause Eli will have a week off while I'm in Cancun! But I couldn't. . . I wanted to run on the treadmill. Like I really really *wanted* to. So I did. And I ran 2 miles without stopping! First time I've ever done that. It felt fantastic. It wasn't fast. My pace is 4.8 or 5.0. Last night I stuck with 4.8 since that is comfortable I knew I could do it. Then I did 30 mins on the treadmill. I'm SUPER sore today. I think my body needs a day off. My hubby said I work out too much. *shrug* Maybe. But I think there are other issues with that comment. So I let it slide. I have a session with my trainer tonight. Then tomorrow I have a massage and I promise that I will NOT work out. I probably can't even walk a mile during my lunch break cause the high will be like 29 and we are expecting a teeny tiny bit of SNOW!!!! YAY!!!!