The W8 Resumes

Back story: Last November and December I had some stomach issues. Each episode (4 in total)  lasting 3 - 5 days. The doctor couldn't figure it out. It seemed to go away.

Present day: Sunday during the prepar8ion stage, I had a relapse. Sunday was really bad. Monday morning I felt okay and started the cleanse. By 4pm Monday I was back in bed. Missed work Tuesday. My doctor referred a gastroenternologist and recommended I w8 until after my appointment and probable testing before resuming the Challenge. She was familiar with Advocare and was confident that it had nothing to do with my relapse - especially since the relapse started before the cleanse. Soooooooooooooooooooooooo...
I w8.

Keep checking back for more, or let me know how you're doing on your healthy habits.

Prepar8ion complete

Yes, I was initially going to start the 24 day challenge on the 8th. Life got in the way, and I was not able to complete my preparations. But they are now complete. Saturday was the big shopping visit. Asparagus, hummus, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, salmon, tilapia, orange roughy, chicken, turkey, roast beef, water, V8, navel oranges, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.

Right now my eggs are boiling. They are my mid-morning snack and an easy protein to take to work. My lunch "box" is ready. My ice pack is freezing. Now it's time to fill it.

The overview of the daily schedule is this:
Rise
Take 3 Catalyst with 8 oz of water
Followed by a Spark while getting ready
When the Spark is done, I'll drink my Citrus cleanse drink.
30 minutes later, I'll climb in the car and drink my chocolate breakfast shake on the way to work.

Around 10:30, I'll have a fruit and an egg or two

Around 12:30 or 1pm I'll have my salad. I purchased turkey to put on my salad tomorrow. After that, I usually use leftover meat from the night before. My salad will also have bell peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, possibly egg, and asparagus on it. My dressing, which might be a bit off the diet but not by much, is the Makoto ginger dressing. I could drink the stuff. It only has 1 gram of sugar, so I'm thinking I'm okay.

I'll have another Spark in the afternoon. My 4pm snack will be either cucumber and hummus (YUM) or asparagus wrapped in roast beef.

Dinner is going to be cedar plank salmon with olive oil and garlic grilled outside with grilled squash, zucchini and onions. Now, do I sound like I'll be suffering? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. If I need something sweet I'll eat some berries before bed. I'll take my cleanse tablets and sleep tight.

There is a lot of water consumption going on at the same time, but I won't bore you with those minute details.

My farewell dinner is of course, SHRIMP and GRITS! I will miss my shrimp, but will be fine. I know of two challenges coming up this week. A lunch meeting and a dinner with friends at Chart House. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Kudos to my sista, Amy who has been cranking up the treadmill. Go sista go! She's in Tennessee where it C.O.L.D. Let me know what you're doing and if you have any snack or meal tips that avoid the No!No! List.

Looking forward to ending the W8!

Elimin8 List

Okay, we know it every time we want to lose weight. Something has to go. We also know it's going to be something we love to eat. I mean, we love to eat it, we eat it, we gained the weight. We probably wouldn't be where we are, if we hadn't eaten so much of it. So, Advocare has what I call the Elimin8 List for the 24 Day Challenge. Before we start building our initial eating plan and grocery list, let's see what WON'T be on that list (and eat it all now before the 8th!)

Here it is alphabetically:

Alcohol - you can't be surprised by that one

Bread - I love sandwiches at lunch! But I'll live.

Butter - I cook with it. Not now.

Cereal - no sacrifice really. I rarely eat breakfast, so cereal I can give up without much angst.

Cheese - ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! I come from a cheese-eating family! I remember giving my Grandpa a cheese puzzle one year - picture of cheese, not made of cheese. He hung it in their kitchen after it was completed. Seriously, cheese is a staple for me. But okay.

Chips  - I like chips, but they're mainly a lunch thing. I can live without those. Don't tell my grandson I'm giving up spicy chips. :-)

Coffee - Due to stomach issues back in November and December, I gave up my morning Starbucks coffee. I think I'm cured of that one.

Corn (first 10 days) - love it, but don't eat it that often, unless it's a corn chip.

Crackers - Love crackers, but only if they have CHEESE on them. I do like crackers with salads too. But I can do it.

Donuts - Sorry NetOps Department. No more jelly-filled Munchkins or Boston Creams from Dunkin.

Flour - That just makes me think too much. I don't grab a handful of flour and eat it. I'm thinking by giving up crackers, bread and fried foods, I'll pretty much take care of the flour.

Fried Food - no surprise.

Fruit Juice - rarely drink fruit juice unless it the Naked Juice brand. Love that stuff, but can live without.

Lobster - I don't mean to be a snob, but my husband cooks lobster for us at least once a month. LOVE IT! Especially dipped in butter. And I wonder why I'm overw8.

Margarine - who needs it when you have butter?! Oh, no butter either. Okay. Naked popcorn. Oh, that's corn isn't it. Now there's a problem. But I am woman, hear me roar...I can do this!

Mayonnaise - addicted. Once I had french fries with mayo in Holland, I've been hooked. I'd normally say, don't knock it 'til you try it, but DON'T try it. We aren't eating fried foods OR mayo.  

Milk - love the Chai from Starbucks. That's okay. I'll save a buck ($4) and the gas it takes to go through the drive thru each morning.

Pastries - Seriously, they're just being fancy for cookies, pies and cake. You know sugar is coming up, don't you?

Shrimp - Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! Don and I eat shrimp at LEAST once a week. They are bottom-dwellers and eat fish crap (literally), so if we're trying to cleanse, probably not the best food choice. I shall miss you my little friends. I better warn the seafood guy at Publix. I think he wraps up a few pounds of local shrimp when my car hits the parking lot.

Soda - water is fine with me. I like a good, cold diet coke or diet Dr. Pepper every now and then with my now elimin8ed popcorn or crackers and CHEESE! So what's the use?

Sugar - DUH!

Anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup - If it's sweet and isn't whole fruit, spit it out!!!! Or don't touch it to begin with.

Anything with over 30 carbs - I'm thinking they've covered that already.

There we are. We'll naturally lose weight because there isn't much else that we like to eat left to eat. I jest. Last time I was doing this I found some great new tastes that I love. Hummus and cucumbers. YUM! Asparagus wrapped in turkey - YUMBO! The key is planning it out before you walk in the grocery store. We'll be working on the grocery list in a couple of days. Get fired up! I KNOW I WILL FEEL BETTER. If you do what I do, you'll lose weight and feel healthier. If you do it with Advocare products, YOU WILL BE AMAZED!!! I promise! Stay tuned, I'm going to finish up all the cheese in the fridge right now. :-)

In the beginning...

In the beginning we are probably more healthy than we feel. At some point we have a friend who is thinner, cuter, more popular and more stylish than we are. So we start thinking we are fat. Then, we become fat. I look at pictures of myself when I THOUGHT I was fat, and I wasn't. Well, now I am. I'm at least 70 pounds overw8. I keep saying, I'll start my diet on Monday. No, the first of the month. No, when I finish this project. No, when I... And I never get there. It's the gr8 w8. And the number on the scale is the GR8 W8. So, no more.

My son and daughter-in-law are Advocare distributors. I purchased the 24 day challenge to help their business. BUT IT WORKED. At least the cleanse did. I didn't do the extra 14 days because - you know - the project, the travel, the going-away lunches. WHATEVER!

Now I have a big promotion at work. I'll be traveling representing my organization. To top it off, we're kicking off a Nine Healthy Habits product for young people. Hello!?!?!?!?! I'M NOT HEALTHY. Now is the time to get there. And I choose Advocare. I like the products. I like the way I felt using them. So, now is the time to focus and just do it! (thanks for the slogan Nike).

Since this blog focuses on 8's - I'll start January 8. Why w8? I didn't order my product in time to start earlier. Plus we do have an 8 theme going. So, I'm 48 and overw8. By 49, I will be feeling fine! So why the blog? You might want to join me. You can start with me, or you can follow my progress at any time. I'll blog what I 8, and you can replic8 it - or modify it and do what works for you.

I hope you'll join me on the journey to being healthy and being who we were meant to be. I can't W8!