Advocare Challenge - DAY 8!!

It is Monday and Day 8 of our Advocare Challenge.  Weighed in on Sunday AM and down another 1.3 lbs since Thursday :)  I am now at my pre-Ocracoke weight and ready to keep going down!

We went to a dinner on Friday and people kept saying how skinny we looked - that was motivating.  But then we proceeded to drink beer...oops!

I also forgot to take my 3 Herbal Cleanse horse pills on Saturday night...OOPS!

To be as prepared as possible again since that worked so well last week, I spent a majority of Sunday cooking food for this week's meals.  All three meals are just heat and eat:

Breakfast Egg Quinoa Bowls (with the oven out, no muffins!):

 Buffalo Chicken for Lettuce Wraps for lunches:

And dinner of Crockpot Chicken Fajitas to serve with pre-made big bucket of Brown Rice.

And I cut up a bunch of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and red peppers to dip in store bought hummus for snacks or side dishes.

I even let Mark buy fruit since he is enjoying having that as a snack.

We also purchased an additional big ole tub of Spark as I will soon be out of my flavors.  I have been doing 2 packets per day and the 24 Day Kit only includes enough for the AM Spark.

Working out is going very well - doing 20 minutes of Eliptical, a bunch of arm excercies to get rid of the jiggle and then walking on the track with hand weights for as much time as we can before we hit the shower and head to work.  Really liking the results so it seems worth it!

Everything is going well...I just need to stop missing pills!!  I need an iPhone so I can get the Advocare App to remind me...oh well.

Stay tuned...more weight loss to come!!

Greetings from Advocare Command Center - Day 4!!

Mark and I prepped a bunch of stuff and did our homework prior to starting.  Organization is KEY to this challenge as it is kind of complex.  We already messed up on the first day by entirely missing the OmegaPlex supplement with dinner.  It is in HUGE bold type and we both missed it.  We caught it on Day 2.  Oh well...

I also think that prepping food ahead of time is also KEY to making this (and any food plan) work.  It is when I have to scramble and panic that I end up eating badly.

So I made a few big batches of foods for Breakfasts during the first 10 days - Quinoa Veggie Egg Bites:

RECIPE for QTY (24) = 8 eggs, 1 cup of cooked Quinoa, sauteed veggies (spinach, red pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapenos), plus Salt & Pepper.  Pour & Bake in muffin tin for about 15 minutes or until set up.  

The first batch (which I had to throw out when our fridge died) was really difficult to get out of the tin, so this time I used cupcake liners.  Now just hard to get out of the cupcake liners!  We heat & eat two of these for breakfast each morning.  Super easy!

The first two days, I did not do the mid-morning Spark drink...and I crashed and burned.  By 2pm, I wanted to sleep on my desk (frowned on by management!).  On day 3, even with working out at 6am, with the Spark drink, I was peppy even after work.  Highly recommend going for that 2nd daily Spark...especially if you are giving up coffee...huge withdrawal for me!!!

I also made a big batch of Turkey Black Bean Quinoa Chili so that we had something quick to heat up for lunches.  We eat 1 cup of this each day for lunch. (Tastes better than it looks!)

All in all, it has been going very well!  I am already down 1.3lbs as of the morning of Day 4 and I have my Spark back :)  I get a few days off from the Fiber Drink (like drinking Tang with a little Oatmeal in it!  Not as bad as I expected...but...)

Keep on Keeping on!!

Advocare 24 Day Challenge - Cleanse Phase - Weights & Measures

After our food related disaster, Mark & I have officially begun our Advocare 24 Day Challenge.  We will be doing the Cleanse Phase for 10 days which is basically easy to follow guidelines for eating like we should (no processed foods, No high fat, limited dairy, very limited alcohol, no sugar, etc.) and introduces a fiber drink, a non-caffeine energy beverage and a herbal cleanse supplement. 

The program encourages you to take before photos, take measurements and weigh in at the beginning of the challenge.

So here we are in all of our glory:  

Kris official weight:  172.2

Kris Chest: 36"

Kris Waist: 31.5"

Kris Hips: 41"

Kris Thigh: 24.5"

Kris Flabby Arm: 13"

Problem areas to work on specifically:  Arm flab, thunder hips thighs, and face jowl-y-ness.

Goal Weight:  160

Mark official weight:  219.8

Mark Chest: 46.5"

Mark Waist:  42"

Mark Hips:  41"

Mark Thigh: 22"

Problem areas to work on specifically: Neck fat, love handles and overall big-ness

Goal Weight: 200

We joined the Jewish Community Center to get to toned in addition to continued overall weight loss.  We plan to go in the morning before work (6:30-7:30am) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - and I am thinking of doing after work Pilates on Tues and Thursday - as I really like Pilates.  The JCC also has a really great indoor and outdoor aquatic center which could be fun!

Very excited to start this next phase and see some results!!  Go Team!

And then Ocracoke Happened...

So we had a nice beach vacation...that was also full of great gig opportunities for the Queen City Silver Stars...in Ocracoke, NC in the Outer Banks.  We rented a huge house for the band plus the wives & kids.  There was lots of eating, drinking, and general merriment.  We had some guest appearances from famous locals like Coady Haga & Barefoot Wade - both legends in their own minds.

The drive was a bit much and next time, I will fly down and meet everyone there.  But it was still an excellent vacation & chance to bond with friends that we don't see nearly enough of.

THE BUMMERS X2

1 -

So we had a call from Stephanie on Tuesday - she was checking in on the kitties and noticed a horrible smell when she opened the door.  Apparently, the freezer door had not closed all the way.  The fridge must have overloaded and it was only blowing hot air at that point.  The flies were EVERYWHERE and nastiness abounded.  Stephanie is a SAINT and cleaned out everything she could & threw into our outside trash bin.  We owe her a steak dinner...if she is still able to eat meat, that is.

I had pre-cooked a TON of Quinoa Breakfast Muffins and stocked up on chicken & turkey breasts for our Advocare adventure...ALL LOST to the flies.  It is still sticky and a haven to maggots even after cleaning out the actual food and our house smells absolutely disgusting.

Pray that this never happens to you.  It kind of soured the trip for me and made starting back up to work even more miserable.

2 -

So we ate just terribly on vacation - fried foods, carbs, sauces.  Drinking our weight in IPA & rum.  And basically laying around in the sun for a week.

So I gained back 6.8 lbs of the 12.3 that I had lost - I want to cry!!  Mark gained about 3.6 lbs back.  It is probably water weight from the salty foods & beer.  I knew we would gain some weight, but COME ON!!  1 step forward 2 steps back.

AND

We have no fridge until Wednesday - when Sears will deliver a brand new fancy fridge along with our new double oven (stainless steel lining to this dark cloud) - so we are STILL eating terribly because we have no food in the house.  We have been trying to do salad bar from Kroger for most meals, but not all.

The Advocare program is on hold until we can get some proper food & re-prep some meals.  Maybe Monday 8/11/2014.

Advocare 24 Day Challenge - GOALS

Mark and I are leaving for vacation down on Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks, NC next week.  The members of The Queen City Silver Stars - with wives and children in tow - will be invading the small island town to spread the joy of the steel band music for the tourists (and to get tan, be drunk and make a bunch of money!!)

We had goals of being skinny and bikini ready for this trip.  Well...I am happy to say that I am officially down 12.6 lbs as of this morning - at 168lbs.  We started trimming on May 16th, so about 10 weeks at approx. 1.26 lbs per week - YIPPEE!!  I feel skinnier and think I look pretty good in my bathing suit.  Ocracoke here I come!  Need to tan this white Ohio booty!!

Immediately upon our return, we are going to jump into Phase II - The Advocare 24 Day Challenge.  Mark has hit a roadblock at 220 and I still have about 10 lbs to lose to get back to "Pre-Cincinnati" weight of around 158 lbs.  So we need this to jump start our weight loss.

As a means of measuring success of Phase II - I unearthed my favorite "Pre-Cincinnati" pants - That's right, it says SIZE 10!!!  I wore these pants the night Mark traveled up to Lakewood, OH in August 2005 and we saw each other again for the first time since 1998 - about 7 years.  I guess I looked foxy enough in these pants to ensnare his heart again after all that time, so I held on to them :)

BUT...this is what I look like in these pants now...I can't even get them buttoned!!!  (Although I am amazed that they fit over my thighs & hips at all!)

So Phase II starts August 5th and runs through August 28th.  I will get into these pants, button them and re-ensnare Mark's heart all over again (not like I have lost it or anything).

AND...we also have a photographer scheduled to take our first ever professional couples pictures together...so we can't be fat for these photos.  Even more motivation!!

Stay Tuned!

Progress Report 7/21/2014

It has been a REALLY long time since I posted a blog, so I thought I would catch up on where we are and where we are headed in the crazy journey we call life.

Mark made a big leap of faith with his career change in January - full time musician - no boss, no 9-5, no money...Just kidding.  Actually we are doing really well financially.  Mark has a lot of student lessons with Mariemont High School and Badin High School in addition to helping out with their drumline and Marching Band.  The Queen City Silver Stars are shooting towards great success with their recent debut into the Cincinnati music scene - "Making Soca Trendy"!!  Mark also had a stint as a country western drummer in a musical up in Dayton - "Play it by Heart".

In addition to Mark doing a great job bringing in money while doing what he loves, we have also learned how to live on less and I think we are the happiest either of us have ever been.

Winter has ended - thank goodness...we had a tough one...

Mark and I went to Disneyworld, Epcot and Hollywood Studios in March 2014 - his dream come true!!

House projects are going well - the paint job on the outside of the house turned out beautifully and did not break the bank.  And then Mark did a fantastic job on the renovation of the kitchen - new tile floor, painted walls, repaired the ceiling - just beautiful!!  Zep and his socks like the new look!!

Next week we go to Ocracoke island in the Outer Banks, NC to relax on the beach, eat great food and play music with our friends...

We truly are living a charmed life!!


More updates to come...Advocare 24 Day Challenge to begin after our vacation.  Since May 16th, 2014 - Mark has already lost 9.3 lbs as of 7/21 and I have lost 11.6 pounds!!!  WOW.  I am 169!!  I haven't been in the 160's since I moved to Cincinnati.  My goal is 160 lbs and I think Advocare will be the ticket!

OLD US:

NEWER ME:

Being a homeowner...

Being a homeowner...sometimes not all that it is cracked up to be.

When we moved in we were very amazed at how nice, remodeled and in shape our little 1000 sq foot homestead was.  Well since Oct 2009, we have STILL had to do some fairly major renovations, repairs and upgrades and there is an ever growing list for future projects as well.

This week we are tackling the crumbling stucco on the side and back of our house.  It has been falling off and looking junky for a while now and we are finally getting around to getting a professional to come in and deal with it.

As skilled as Mark is as a handyman, this task was daunting to even him.  From knowing how much to remove, what to do if there was extensive water damage from being exposed, and then making it look nice to match the rest of the house that is still in good shape...not something he was prepared to do understandably.

So this morning at 8am, Wayne from Phillips Drywall arrived and began the process.  He is currently ripping and scraping off the bad parts as shown in the photos below:

I like it...sort of looks like a Tuscan Villa...maybe we will have him leave it like that...OR not.

So next, Wayne is putting up a metal mesh to make it even stronger than the old timey lathe underneath.  Then he will put on the stucco and paint it.

Total of 4-5 days.  But we did get good news - NO water damage!  So his original estimate of $2000 is a going to be a little lower - only $1500.  Not bad!!!

NEXT PROJECT:
Paint the outside of the house - upstairs dark gray, repaint all of the white stucco and trim, AND paint the front door orange like I have always dreamed.  Oh how trendy our house will be :)  We have an estimate of $3800 for the painting...time to find that in the budget before mid-September when the painters arrive.  I might have to cut my beer budget...nah!

Stay tuned!
Kris