Advocare Challenge Final Results!!!

So here we go folks!!  The results are in and....We both WON!!!

Below are our AFTER photos right next to our BEFORE...Kind of hard to tell, but...if you click on the photo, it is a little bigger.  I think we both look less jowl-y - which was a big goal!!

 AFTER

 BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

My final weight was 168.2 (vs. 172.2) - Lost 4 lbs in 24 days!  
May 16th starting weight of 180.6 = total lost so far = 12.4 lbs!!!!
My Chest stayed 36 inches
My Waist went from 31.5 to 30.5!
My Hips went from 41 to 40!
My Thigh went from 24.5 to 23.5!
And my flabby arms are slightly less flabby at 12.75" (vs. 13) - and arms seem more toned!

Mark's final weight was 214.6 (vs. 219.8) - Lost 5.2 lbs in 24 days!!!
May 16th starting weight of 228.3 = total lost so far = 13.7 lbs!!!!
Mark's Chest went from 46.5 to 45.5
Mark's Waist stayed the same at 42 inches
Mark's Hips went from 41 to 40 (holy crap...Mark and I have the same hips!!)
Mark's Thigh increased a little from 22 to 22.75 - must be muscle!
and we didn't measure his arms because he has muscle and no flab already!

All in all, very cool!!  Except for my stomach issues and our TERRIBLE will power (we suck)...I think the results are great!

I would probably do the Cleanse Phase again, but probably not the Max Phase.

Still can't button my Green Size 10 Goal Pants...so still some work to do - Back to working out and eating right!

BIG Thanks to Lauren Finn for showing us how it is done and for all of the encouragement!!  And Thank you to Advocare too!!

SPARK!!!

Last Day of Advocare 24 Day Challenge!!

Okay...I admit it...I kind of went off the plan for the last 5 days :(

My stomach was killing me - I guess that is one way to control appetite & lose weight, but not a fun way.

So I tried to keep up with the food plan and we did great working out.  I did Spark in the morning also.  But I stopped taking all of the pills.

Mark has a cast iron stomach so he is finishing out the challenge...and may extend a few days using my pills and shakes...

On the positive side, I did my measuring early - I lost an INCH on all the measurements except the chest (which is good...because I need to keep all the chest I have!).  Very happy with these results!!!  AN INCH on my waist, hips and thighs!!!  YES!  I also measured my flabby arm and lost 1/4 inch...still working on that.

So tomorrow, I will post Mark's measurement results plus our final weigh in results.

I am going to add coffee back in as that is one of the joys of my life...it has been tough not having that in the morning.  And beer during Oktoberfest season will probably be out of hand...but that will be my splurge.)

The plan is to keep limiting dairy, fat, red meat & carbs per the Advocare guidelines - we pretty much do that anyway.  We will try to limit going out to eat...as that is when we make REALLY bad choices.

Not doing so good...

In more ways than one!

So this weekend, Mark and I kind of went off the reservation with the Advocare Max plan.

Germania Oktoberfest.  

I was feeling woozy due to the heat/humidity and all of the Max pills making my stomach queasy - so to stop that I ate a Schnitzel sandwich.  Definitely NOT part of our diet guidelines!  Deep fried veal covered in Sauerkraut & mustard.

AND I then proceeded to drink my weight in heavy beer...and then eat a bratwurst, AND THEN stop at Steak & Shake for a double bacon cheeseburger & fries on the way home afterwards.  Ya...not my finest moment(s).

Luckily, I was really sick the next day because of all the beer...so most of the terrible food didn't stay with me long...(ewwww!!!!!)  I am too old for this!!!

So, I gained 1 lb since last Thursday...and my stomach is even MORE messed up.  I have kept with the pills and shakes, but I still don't feel right.  Monday at workout time, I did my 15 minutes on the eliptical and the weights...but started to feel woozy again, so I went home and went to sleep.

I am feeling better today (Wednesday) after our workout, but I can't say I am loving the Max phase.  I think I just have a sensitive stomach and pills make it more sensitive.

On a positive note, I can now fit into my other skinny work pants - my gray suit pants.  First time in 2 years!  So that is nice.

We also have our formal couples photos tomorrow night, so I guess I feel pretty skinny for those too.

BUT still 8 more days of Max Phase.  We shall see...I have never wanted to eat a Club Sandwich so much in my life...but I can't stray anymore!!!!

Cleveland Oktoberfest this weekend...I may skip it since I can't be trusted.

Max Phase...only Day 2??

Okay...so Day 2 of the Max Phase was not so great.

Woke up at 6am, chugged the Spark and the 1st packet of MNS pills and then we went to work out.  On our cool down track walking...my stomach started hurting (nauseous and crampy).  We kept walking but then I started to see red spots and thought I was going to pass out.  I went to sit down and we called it quits for the workout.

I went to work, drank my milkshake (which at work I have no way of properly blending, so it was chunky & kind of gross in texture.)  My stomach felt better, but I was dragging and SUPER cranky.  I feel really bad for my co-workers as I was a grumbley jerk!!  The day got progressively worse after lunch with an insane shipping/order disaster that A) wasn't my fault and B) I had to deal with in any case!  Did NOTHING to improve my bad mood.

Luckily, I was able to come home, take a lavender Epsom salt bath and then read/sleep/read until I passed out.  Mark is in Indiana at a gig so I had the place to myself.  He is lucky that he missed "Superstorm Kris"...he may have been part of the collateral damage.

I think my blood sugar is just reacting very weird to this new phase.  I have also been super bloated and gassy - also not helping my overall cheer level.

I read a blog yesterday about a girl who said it took about 4 days to adjust to the Max Phase & all the MNS pills.  So I will stick with it...hopefully today will be better as it is Saturday and the only thing to annoy me is Zep.  He already knows to stay out of the way or I will paint eyebrows on him again! :)

Keep on keeping on...

Let's start this MAX Phase!!

Look how happy were were being fat!!

But not anymore!!  Today marks the 11th Day of Advocare & the beginning of the MAX Phase!  This means we are done with Fiber Drinks and done with eating regular breakfast foods.  We start taking more pills and drinking a milkshake for breakfast instead.

The Meal Replacement Shake is interesting.  I don't really like sweet stuff in the morning so my stomach is not a fan.  I would actually rather have nothing, BUT I know that is not following the plan and that breakfast is very important!

We plan to keep up with all of the food restrictions of the Cleanse Phase - no sugar, no dairy, coffee, limited alcohol, limited carb intake, etc. but just adding all the "Super Charged Fat Burning" stuff.

As of the end of the Cleanse phase, I have lost 3.5 lbs and Mark has lost 2 lbs.  He is disappointed with his results, but I think 2 lbs in 10 days is pretty amazing!  AND he has lost 10.5 total since we started our weight loss journey and has left "Obese" on our Wii Fit!  Both great accomplishments!

I was able to fit (barely) into my skinny work pants - which was another goal.  My fat work pants are starting to fall apart due to over-use and I didn't want to buy more fat work pants.  Motivated by me being cheap!! :)

So, I have 8.7 more lbs till I reach my weight loss goal of 160.  Mark was thinking of aiming for 200 lbs...so he still has 17.8 lbs to go with this aggressive goal.

The plan is to keep up with working out 3 times a week at the gym, keep being more active overall, keep with the good and easy to follow Advocare eating plan, and hope the MAX Phase really maxes us out!

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!!