Advocare Cleanse results. . .

I love love love doing the Advocare 10 day herbal cleanse. 

It consists of a program of clean eating.  In the morning you take a probiotic 30 mins before breakfast.  You drink a fiber supplement with breakfast and then in the evening when you go to bed you take the herbal cleanse capsules.  The eating program is really easy actually.  You just eat clean.  And honestly I eat often and I'm satisfied.  I struggle with a really strong sweet tooth so the first few days can be rough.  It can also be rough to be around sweets or foods I can't eat during the cleanse.  But it's 10 days and I'm here to tell you that *you* can do anything for 10 days.  It resets me, detoxes me from sugar and sets me up to maintain a good eating program following the 10 days.  The eating has become habit and because I feel so good I maintain it.  I have more energy and I sleep better when I eat like this.   

Anyways, here are the results.  I'm down 7.8 lbs, which is pretty typical of what I lose during the cleanse.  I lost 1 inch *each* on my bust, waist and hips for a total of 3 inches overall there.  I also lost 1/2 inch on each thigh.  Do you count both of those and end up with a total of 4?  Or do you only count on thigh for 3.5 inches? I have no idea!   

You can see my daily weights above.  It takes a while to see a difference in fat % and I'm not sure how accurate those hand held monitors are, but I lost 0.5% of body fat.  Normally I would only take that measurement every month or so because I feel like too many factors, like hydration, come into play and it's hard to get a consistent reading.  

I'm really pleased with these results.  I still want to see 176, but I feel like I got control of the scale creep.  I just hope that I can maintain it for some time right now and continue to lose.  I do the cleanse about every 90 days or so.  When I have 10 days with no real social commitments that will sabotage me.  Advocare says not to do it more often than every 90 days.  So I do it 3-4 times a year. 

Other than that life has been way too filled with drama that has been stressing me out but right now I'm not comfortable talking about it.  Unfortunately I find the position my life is in right now to be rather embarrassing and uncomfortable.  I woke up Tuesday morning thinking that life was a dream.  Then I realized it wasn't.  I sometimes wonder how I got here.  But in anycase, I'm trying to distract myself and plan a hot date with my 5 year old nephew this weekend.  We want to take him to see Pete's Dragon.  Has anyone seen it? 

Cleaning it up!

On Monday I started the Advocare Herbal Cleanse.  I do this 3-4 times a year.  They recommend not more often than every 90 days.  I love the cleanse!  It gets me back on track.  I eat a lot of food.  But it's clean.  No cookies, pretzels, cupcakes. . .  And I was becoming a sugar monster!

The amount of *crap* I was stuffing in my mouth was shocking.  I'd eat just because honestly.  The stress doesn't help.  Once I clean up my food choices, I feel so much better!  Less fluffy - goodbye bloat!  I have more energy and I sleep much better.   I might be less moody too, but that's hard to judge cause my stress level impacts that quite a bit.  

After 4 days of eating clean, I'm down 5.6 lbs!!!   Today is day 5, so almost half way there. 
(read the weights from the bottom up!)

I had let my weight creep up too high for comfort.   My goal has always been to see 176 and I never quite make it.  I get to 178 and start going back up.  I'd like to finish the cleanse in the 170's . . . even 179.8 (my scale only weighs in even increments. .  179.9 isn't possible) would be ok!  It would be a big boost to motivate me to keep my eating clean.  Right now I'm rocking and rolling.  I'm determined the weekend will be no different than this week.  I like routine in my eating, so if I can maintain this routine and eat the snacks when I normally do I will be golden. . . I hope!

This week Advocare released a new spark flavor. . . .

I've had two so far and it's yummy.  The flavor isn't as strong as I'd hoped.  I like the strong flavors so I can add more water. . . but it's still really good.  It will be high up on my list of favorites. 

Have a great weekend!  

10 day cleanse results!

I haven't been posting because I've been waiting for my cleanse to be over.

On Sat April 9th, the hubs and I started the Advocare 10 Day Cleanse.  You can do this as part of the 24 Day Challenge or you can do it solo.  As you know in Jan we did do the full challenge.  The recommendation is to cleanse every 90 days.  Some people do the challenge every 90 days.  We have been eating pretty much like you do on the 24 day challenge 90% of the time, so we just did the cleanse.    I'm going out of town next week and we found 10 days where we didn't have any events.

The consists of 10 days of clean eating.  You *eat*.  You don't starve yourself.  You eat three meals a day and 2-3 snacks.  It's all clean, avoiding things like dairy, sugar, alcohol, condiments, bad carbs. . . we eat very little carbs.  You can have whole grain breads, but we don't. I know for myself that I will have better success if I don't.  But I do eat grain like quinoa every day.  Since I run, I really need the carbs to keep that energy level up.  I eat three snacks as I have that extra/optional one after dinner, before bed.  That's my snacky time and I just can't give that one up.  But snacks are clean: fruits and nuts.  That kind of thing.

My start weight was 188.2.
My hubs start weight was 207.8

My final weight this morning was 182.6.  That's a loss of 5.6 lbs.  I'm happy with that.  I wanted more, but I did the best I could and this is what my body gave me.  I lost half inch off of: hips, waist and both thighs, for a total of 2 inches lost.  I really want to see the 170's soon so I'm going to keep up with the clean eating and see if I can get there before I go to KY next week. 

My hubs however ended up in ONDERLAND!!  His final was 199.8.  I don't think he's been in the 100's in his adult life.  He was much larger before I met him and lost weight prior to meeting me in 2006.  But I know that he has always been in the 200's the whole time we've been together.  He's pretty excited!  He also lost a total of 2 inches: 1 from both the chest and hips.  He's kind of shrinking before my eyes.  I think he's loving it.  He was resistant to any kind of "cleanse" or limiting food groups/eating before.  But he's loving the reaction he's getting from people and I know he feels better.

The thing I love the most about the cleanse and clean eating in general is that my weight is more stable.  I don't have wild fluctuations of going up a few pounds in *one* day.  Here's my daily weight since the start of the cleanse (from the bottom up!)

You will notice that my fat % went up.   But gosh darn, those monitors are something else.  Any change in hydration can affect it.  It seems to take much more than 10 days to see results.  So I'm not too worried about that.   I've been stuck since Saturday morning at the exact *same* weight.  That's becoming a bummer.  And even more of a bummer is that it's my TOM starting today.  So I suspect I will fly up 3 lbs in a day or two from that bloat.  That's one thing clean eating can't control.  The bloat from Aunt Flo!  Ha!  

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I thought since I haven't posted in a while, that I'd share some images from this weekend.

First - my horse, Eli is lame.  I don't know what he did and I don't know if it's related to his neck arthritis.  But there's no riding right now and I don't know when I'll call the vet yet.  I leave town next Wed so I may address it when I get back, unless it gets worse.  This is a sad face selfie.  I was excited to try a horse selfie with my new phone because the front camera is wide angle.  It's much easier to fit a horse head in the photo!

On Saturday I took my nephew to his baseball practice.  His Dad was working and his sister was sick, so his Mom couldn't take him.  I love that boy! He's so funny and so well behaved. 

He's a true farm boy and he loves working with his dad in the field (his dad does field work for someone when not working his *real* job @ John Deere).  So on the way home from baseball practice we stopped to check on my husband in the field.  Have I mentioned on here that my husband farms?  Probably not, cause in reality farming sucks and it sucks all your money down the drain. 

Sunday morning, before my husband went to the field, we went for a run. Whew - he's just too fast for me.  I really have to up my speed to run with him.  I know it's good for me, but as summer comes and the temperatures go up, it's getting harder.  I hate hot weather running.  But I sure am proud of myself when I'm done and see that speedy pace! :)

On Sunday, my nephew was at my Mom's house and she sent me this photo.  She said he noticed the tractor a mile away and starting getting excited that it was my hubby.  I thought this photo was about the sweetest thing I've seen in a while. 

Hope all is well with everyone that reads this!  Post a comment once and while and say hi! :)

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. 

Finally some progress!

So I buckled down as best as I could last week and told myself that I would not mess up this weekend.  And finally there's progress on the scale!  That being said I should say that I got a 24 hour stomach bug on Saturday night and threw up once.  That definitely helped the scale.  The next morning I was down 2 lbs.  Then yesterday (Sunday) I ate a lot of crap.  All I wanted for lunch was waffle fries from Arby's.  Don't ask me why, but I got them and a Jr roast beef sandwich.  Yum!   I had ice cream for dinner.  The scale went up but not too much.

That's a loss of 4.6 lbs.  I would bet a bit is artificial.  We'll see what happens this week.  I'll take it for now and hope to carry it forward.  My fat % went up which I thought was interesting.  So many things affect that fat monitor though including dehydration and I suspect I am a bit dehydrated.

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I got to ride Eli on Saturday before I got sick.  I put his Back On Track blanket on for 30+ mins before riding.  I've never been able to implement this well enough to know if it's helpful.  He's not making much improvement and I'm tired of sending the vet more videos.  He just requested more last night.  I'd rather just take him back for the bone scan.  That would be the next step.  It's hard to keep making videos of me riding.  I need another person.  And it's been a month since we had the neck injections and there isn't really any progress to be had.  So I'm ready for the next step.

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I won these mums from a local orchard on FB last week.  Who knew someone actually won those things? :)  I haven't bought any mums so this was great!

White pants

I'm back from my quick impromptu road trip to Churchill Downs in Louisville KY. 

I will talk more about my experience when I edit some photos from my real camera.  It was fun and I'm glad I did it, but I think my expectations were much higher. Both in terms of Churchill Downs and that whole experience as well as the Triple Crown celebration and American Pharoah's "victory lap".  Tell me what you think victory lap means in terms of a winning horse.


Churchill Downs has "Downs After Dark" which is night racing.  Apparently that's relatively new to Churchill.  The track didn't have lights for quite some time I guess. This is what my friend told me.  Saturday the theme was "White Party".  They said "wear your best summer whites".   I don't wear white.  Ever.  It's an invitation to spill something on myself.  But I was told from a friend that lives in Louisville that I really really really should wear white.  I didn't want to be the only person not in white. Hindsight is that it would have been no big deal.  Friday after work I went to Gordman's and grudgingly shopped for white capris.   I found an outfit.  The capris were a size 12.  Whoop!  That made me want to buy them even if they were white.  And you know what?  I felt like I really rocked the outfit.  I think getting ready and wearing this outfit was the most fun of the whole day. 

So maybe I'm mocking the jockey, but really I was thinking "yay!  Look at me in my size 12 white pants!"  Ha ha! :)

I honestly wish I had "hair".  Like a cute hair style.  But that is likely to never happen.  Saturday morning I did gel it up and let it dry down. I actually wore it down all the way to Louisville.  But that was all I could handle.  It was a hot day and I had no desire to wear it down once I was outside.  So back it went.  Oh well.   

I got through the night without getting anything on my white pants.  I have no clue why they would have a white theme at a racetrack.  The seats were all dusty.  I had to wipe off every seat I sat on.  No way was I walking around with a dusty butt.  

Now the big question is how do you keep white clothing white?  Do I wash these or get them dry cleaned?  I try not to buy white t-shirts cause I feel like over time they get dingy from washing.  I won't wear these much I'm sure so maybe washing will be fine.   Any advice peeps?  What products to use?  They are so comfortable and cute.  Maybe I'll wear them to a ballgame or something. 

Just so tired. . .

I've just been so tired lately.  It started when I got sick last week.  I had a cold/sinus/allergies or something like that and it slammed me.  I have a runny nose occasionally still, but my eyes are so fatigued.  They just want to be closed.  I thought maybe it's allergies.  I took zyrtec the last 2 days but didn't notice much difference.  Last night my husband and I both fell asleep in the living room by 8 pm.  It's very strange for him to fall asleep like that.  But it did help both of us with our evening snacking issue!   I think if this continues to next week I'll make a Dr appt.  Might be time to check my thyroid anyways.  I don't know if my weigh loss will affect the dosage of the meds.  I've kind of been waiting to hit 175 before I pursue that.

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Speaking of weight. . . I clocked in my lowest of the year.

Small little happy dance.  175 truly is my goal for now.  I want to see what I look like and how I feel.  Getting closer! :)  

I've made a different smoothie than normal this week.  Usually I use a chocolate protein powder, banana, ice and almond milk.   This week I've been using my Advocare Vanilla Meal Replacement Shake, almond milk, berries and ice.  Yum!  I make a huge breakfast smoothie. 

32 oz bubba there! :)  It's great. I sip on it at work in the AM.  And then I freeze my ass off cause it's cold in the my office *and* the smoothie makes me colder for at least 30 mins after drinking it. (yes that's my Yadi bobblehead peeking over my cup!)

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My car is in the shop.  I need new tie rods apparently.  I don't pretend to know what that is.  My husband's friend is a mechanic.   And apparently Toyota makes replacing the *inner* tie rods a bitch.  They won't sell them separately but they want you to buy the big huge thing they are attached to.  Yes I'm a girl and I don't know what I'm talking about.  What I do know is that inner tie rods run about $35-ish a piece.  And this big huge part runs about $900.  So we are actually trying to replace just the tie rods if it works.  Fingers crossed!  They should be in today.  I hope to have my car back no later than tomorrow. 

So I'm driving our truck.  It's a 3/4 ton Dodge Ram.  My work parking lot is so small it's kind of a PITA to park it.  I like driving it when my horse trailer is attached, but to just drive it as a regular vehicle - it's just too big.  I also drive it slower because of the size I guess. . . so it takes me longer to get to work.  Yesterday when I got to the barn I took my ring off and thought it looked pretty in the little place I found in the truck to stash it. 

I'm sure I've mentioned it before.  I bought that as a reward a few years ago when I got out of the 200's.  I won't let myself wear it if I weight 200 or above.  It's a ONEDERLAND ring :)   I often wear it as a wedding band because it's easier to wear than my wedding set.  And since I take rings off everyday when I get to the barn, it's easier to take off one than three.   I'm so thrilled to be wearing it almost daily now.  It was probably a whole year that I was in the 200's and that baby sat in my jewelry box. 

History was made!!!!

For the first time since the year I was born there is a Triple Crown winner!   This is the first winner in my lifetime.  I actually wondered if it would ever happen?!

I'm not a huge racing fan.  I think horses are raced too young and at the lower level tracks they are treated like crap.  That being said, I own my very own ex-racehorse.

Eli was raced 22 times and he won twice.  I think I remember those facts correctly. :)

On Saturday we were at my parents house for shooting party/ BBQ.  I set the alarm on my phone to get in the house in time to see the race.  So far that's all that I've seen.  No pre or post show.  Not even many facts about the race.  

I really honestly couldn't believe he won.  I have watched the triple crown series for several years now.  Holding my breath I watch every year hoping beyond hope that the contender will win.  This year during the KY Derby, the announcers had said that all the trainers were chattering that American Pharoah could win the crown.  He must just impress everyone that much.

On Saturday I went into my parents house and sat at the kitchen table to watch the race.  My little 4 year old nephew came along and I got him to watch them load the horses.  About 30-40 secs into the race he was leaving. . . short attention span you know.  I started standing up and jumping up and down.  My mom said my nephew came running back into the house to jump and scream with me.  She said he would look at me and as long as I was jumping and screaming so was he. :)  I told him that in 20 years when there still isn't another triple crown winner that maybe, just maybe, he will remember watching this race with me.

There is chatter that American Pharoah will race again - potentially 2 more times this year.  I know the Breeder's Cup is prestigious and that is one that is mentioned.  I really would let him retire.  I'm a big fan of going out on top.  I wouldn't want him to get beat.  He just did what no horse has done (and many have tried) in 37 years.  Let him make babies.  But above that, the risk of injury. . . the world would just be heartbroken if something happened to him.  I'd just protect that boy in bubble wrap.  He has enough to do with breeding.  If I'm correct, Thoroughbreds (in order to be registered with The Jockey Club and therefore be eligible to race) still need to be made live and in person with the mom and dad.  They can't do it artificially.  That poses enough risk.  If I were the owner I think Saturday would have been his last race.

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This weekend I was shopping with my mom and we ran into my sister in law and her kids.  My nephew wanted to come with us.  So with a swap of car seat we were on our way.  We made one more stop at a grocery story.  When I grabbed the shorty cart he told me that it was a funny cart!  My mom took this photo and it's interesting to me to see a full body shot of myself.  I wish I could freeze myself from the waist up and just lose from the waist down. My poor nephew is wearing his t-ball uniform and I have no clue why his shirt is so freaking huge. 

I'm back at 180.2 for the last two days.  It was eating at the BBQ at my parent's house that did it I think.  But that's ok.  I'm going to buckle down. . . I really would like to see 35 pounds lost.  I have a fun photo idea for that next milestone.  

Holy 30 pounds!!!!

Holy crap!  I don't even know where to start.  I'm down 30 pounds!!!!

I saw the number I needed on the scale on Sunday morning. I saw 180.8 (I needed 181).  But I didn't quite believe it. I didn't believe it cause I had to get on the scale multiple times to get the same number twice.  I hate that, but I took a photo.  I did my fat monitor.  Just didn't quite want to shout it out.  Then Monday I bumped up a bit and remained the same on Tuesday.  I kind of, sort of, maybe chalked that up to being my time of the month.  I was not feeling well due to cold weather making me sick.  I felt like poop most of Monday and Tuesday so I honestly didn't care what the scale said.  No joke!  Then today I got on . . . I got on 4 times. . . . *all* four times the same weight. . . 

Holy 170's!!!!  WHOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!   That's a loss of 31.4 lbs since Jan 7th. 

When I started Advocare in January I had hopes for success. I had a plan B.  Have I ever talked about that here?  I was going to do HCG again if Advocare failed.   I had talked to my Dr about it last fall and said I wanted to do it in the new year.  But I decided to give Advocare a try cause I wasn't in the mental state for HCG.  I'm SO glad I did.  I'm beyond glad I did.  This is much healthier and really much easier cause I can EAT!  

I struggle.  I talk about that here.  I probably minimize it a little bit, but the struggle is real.   Yesterday I ate sugar - chocolate covered raisins.  I'm not perfect.  I have weaknesses and bad moments.  But I never ever dreamed that I'd see the 170's in JUNE.  I had hoped to see this weight by the end of the year.  I cannot tell you all how excited I am.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the year and trying to formulate a plan to keep this progress going.  Not necessarily the scale progress, but I need to get off my lazy butt and do some weights.  I need some muscle tone!   I keep saying it and I don't do it.  

I just hope that this isn't a fluke and that scale doesn't skyrocket tomorrow morning. :)   

Plateau . .

I'm not crying but I am getting frustrated. I track my weight daily.  I put it in my fitbit app (which syncs to myfitnesspal I think?).  But I write it down also.  Call me old school.  

I ended the cleanse at 181.6.  I did it 181.2.  Keep in mind 181 is 30 lbs down.  I'be been hovering within a few lbs for too long!  184 was my highest, not sure what happened there.  That might have been when I pigged out on McD's and all kinds of other crap.  But all in all I've been consistent on the scale and it's frustrating!!!!

It's beautiful up here on this plateau, but seriously I'm done hanging out.  I like how I look, but I have goals.  Staying here is not part of the plan.  I've been eating really well the last 2 days. . . trying to bust through by being perfectly perfect!   It's definitely the biggest challenge I've had so far this year.  I'm determined to stay the course and get off the plateau.  I'm being patient. . . . 

Memorial Day Weekend cheats. . .

I'm still on this plateau of 182-183.  I need to hit 181 to get to 30 pounds. I never imagined I'd still be playing yo-yo with the scale at this point.  I really really wanted to hit that goal before yesterday when we went to a Cardinals baseball game.  I had that planned as my cheat "meal" and I decided I was doing it no matter what the scale said.  Since I'm kind of a cardio junkie I ran every day Thurs - Mon hoping to make some progress. I also really wanted to get some miles on my legs.  On Sunday morning I got in 5 miles and I can't tell you how long it's been since I've done that route.  My legs were beat and I knew I wasn't in shape enough to run it.  I walked twice for a total of 1 mile, so I was happy with that.  I really want to get to a point where I do 5 miles once a week consistently.

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So what did I eat at the ballgame?  I did not eat clean, that's for sure.

My husband and I shared nachos with pulled pork BBQ sauce, cheese, salsa and toppings.

I had two Shock Top beers.

I had one mudslide.  My cousin was drinking them and I had forgotten my love of the mudslide.  So I got one.  Funny how they put a lid on it.  It almost looks like chocolate milk for a kid.  I said I got mine in a sippy cup! :)

The game went to 11 innings and we won!  Whoop!  We got home much later than expected.  Then I topped off the day by having an oreo McFlurry from McD's.  Yes I really cheated. I prefer to just cheat one meal and not most of the day like this.  But at the same time I kind of needed to get this out of my system.  I'm ready for a good week and hopefully to get to my goal of 181 by the weekend.  Then it's on to to the 170's!  I think I'm going to take measurements and some updated pics on Sat.

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Speaking of pics. . .

I downloaded a new app on my phone so that I can make collages for instagram :) 

I know any before and after is legit, but I haven't been as heavy as I was in 2008-2009 since then. . . I have gone up and down.  I really want to get together some before and after from my Advocare journey.  However, I do think there is value in these photos.  I don't even identify with the 2009 version of me.  In the full body shot. . . gosh I knew I was big. . . I've seen that photo before. . . I just didn't realize how chunky my legs were.  I remember those pants. . . I loved them.  I was sad when they were too big on me, which is silly.  But it's hard to find pants in long lengths that I love.  I loved those pants!   But I never want to fit into them again.  I hope I gave them away, but I need to go through some clothes again and just purge. 

From my perspective these photos motivate me and keep me dedicated.  But I hope they motivate others too.  Sometimes it just takes the right photo to encourage people.  For me I've seen many before and afters, but then one clicks.  I'm like if she can do it I can do it.  I've seen some crazy before and afters - where the after is like bikini competition ready.  That is likely not realistic for me.  That is not my goal and I know that I don't have that kind of dedication.  I'm just the average girl looking to be more confident and hopefully have a better time shopping for clothes.  Though I've started to wonder if that's ever really easy as a woman?  I'm not sure it is, no matter the size you wear!

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend.  Summer is here and while I'm more active in the summer, I'm also in positions to eat more food.  So summer is always a challenge. I'm determined to make this one the healthiest summer yet!

Results of the Advocare Herbal Cleanse take 2

Saturday morning was the completion of my second Advocare Herbal Cleanse.  Whoop!  I cannot tell you how much I love being excited to get on the scale.  During the cleanse my weight never goes up.  It does stay the same - *exactly* the same, but in 2 rounds it has never gone up during the cleanse.   I love that.  I love not looking at the scale with dread.  

(drum roll). . . .  I lost 9.8 lbs!  I lost an inch off of each: waist, hip, thighs.  

My starting weight was 191.4.  I will admit that I wanted to kick the scale for not giving me that extra 0.2 for a grand total of 10 lbs.  But that's just my anal self wanting to see 10 lbs in 10 days.

I don't have a starting fat percent cause I don't always remember to use my fat monitor. But on the 3rd day of the cleanse I did use it and I was 32.2 % fat.  So about 1% down in fat %.  I will take that!

In a weird twist of scale freakiness, my husband lost exactly 9.8 lbs too. :)  He didn't take measurements much to my dismay.  Men! Hmph.  I can visibly see he's smaller, but I sure wish I knew my how much.

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This weekend was a bit tough.  I had a planned lunch with my friend on Saturday.  No big deal.  We went to a deli and I got a bowl of soup (very low calorie vegetable soup) and half a sandwich (not cheese - just chicken and a chipolte sausce).  I drank water.  But then we were at my husband's mom's house that evening for Mother's Day.  We were leaving to go home for dinner when she said "I'd take you out to dinner but you don't eat anything".   UGH!!  Did I want to scream.  My husband and I said at the same time "we eat".  I hate being judged on what I eat.  I hate it.  It's a huge pet peeve of mine and I think it's rooted in jealousy.  We eat.  We eat a lot.  We just don't eat crap food.  So off we went to dinner and we bought her dinner for Mom's day.  The choices where we live were limited and we wanted to go fairly close.  So I ended up with a chicken wrap which was ok.  I left some of the tortilla and I got some fries.  I admit I kind of ate the fries to show her I ate.  Which doesn't make me any better.  I left half the fries on my plate though.   And I left feeling full but not overly full.  I was up on the scale Sunday morning. . . . 

So Sunday we went to Ballpark Village in StL to get a free pink hat!  They do giveaways during Cardinals away game to generate more business when the boys aren't in town.  This is the hat - it has bling!!!  Pretty sweet for a free hat. 

 I ran 3.25 miles that morning.  Skipped breakfast and we at the Budweiser Brewhouse at the village.  Unless I wanted a dinner size breakfast of steak or chicken the healthy choices were limited.  But I got this salad. 

I used less than one of the little cups of dressing.  I gotta say that was a kick ass salad.  I always end up with a lot of toppings on my plate cause I need lettuce in every bite and the ratio is always off. But this salad rocked - there's bacon, chicken, apples, some kind of candied nuts and dried cranberries I think.  It was so good.  Not totally clean, but acceptable given that I ran I think.  I ate every single bite of this baby.  All the toppings were so good I didn't care if there lettuce in my bites or not.   My hubby and I had one beer at the bar before leaving.  I gotta admit I felt bloated after the beer.  And I was a bit sad that I poisoned my body with it after cleansing for 10 day.  Yes that's the anal part of me coming out.  

I was worried about the scale this morning.  Not going to lie.  But I was 181.8.  So just 0.2 up from Saturday.  I consider that acceptable.  My next goal is (well 181 will be 30 lbs so I guess that's next) 175 - that's the dream weight I wanted to hit when I started this in Jan.  But once I get there I think I will set a new goal.  That's still considered a high BMI for me according to the charts.  So I'd like to lose a bit more, but if I hang at 175 for a while that will be a-okay with me. :)

Advocare simply rocks my world

I'm down 7.4 lbs in 7 days.  Prior to this morning, the last three mornings were *exactly* the same weight.  It's also my TOM, so I was glad the scale didn't go up at all.  Today I got a good drop and I did a happy dance.  I haven't been in the 180's consistently since 2012.  I'm so excited.  The 170's totally seem within reach and I might have to have a party!

I'm so in live with my Advocare lifestyle.  I get so excited thinking about it. I need to take new full body shots of myself and hopefully I can get my hubby to do that for me this weekend.  I was looking back at my photos from the beginning of the year and I'm just so impressed with where I am now.  This is so freaking fantastic!!!

I love my morning spark.  I swear I look like that purple dude before I have it.  Of coruse today I look like him anyways, cause I forgot the hairspray.  I was going to take a selfie to show of my new shirt I got at Rolex.  Nope.  Wowza!  Frizzy hair is magnified in selfies.  Forget that.   I also laugh cause when I was a child I'd get up with total bed head. . . I have curly hair and it would be out of control. I was a crabby bitch till I had breakfast.  I'd immediately go downstairs, pour a bowl of cereal and hold my hair back with one hand and shovel the cereal in with the other.  I remember my dad once asking why I didn't do something about my hair before I ate?  I'm sure he got the daggers from me.  :)   Now it's not cereal that I run, but Spark.

For the few readers I currently have - I'd love to spark you if you haven't tried it.   I can totally mail you a pack.   :)

Rock on people!  Today is a great day!

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.