Gotta start somewhere right?

Am I really starting this all over

Looking back at the past few months I have completely gotten back into old habits. Drinking 4-5 Diet Cokes a day, eating bread like it is the last supper, going out for Mexican and having the poor waiter who can hardly even speak English bring me 3 baskets of chips and salsa...I have completely fallen off my band wagon. I have given up on myself and I have let myself slip back into where I was last August. I am ready to have that spark back. I am ready to be happy about who I am so lets go!

Betty Freaking Crocker is my neighbor!!

The past few months of my life have changed drastically. I have moved into a new home and have started my life back on the track it was going before. I also moved into a home right next door to one of my good friends, who happens to bake ALL THE TIME. Seriously, this is the girl that brings cookies and homemade bread to class for us to all just have a snack...If you can guess correctly you know where I'm going with this...Around the same time usually everyday a text is sent and they go a little something like this... "Hey, what are you doing for dinner?" "Oh how about we do this...?" "I will cook as long as you make desert?" "Nah lets just go out for dinner tonight."  It also doesn't help that this girl is an AMAZING cook/baker/housewife. :) So between both of our homes we always have sweets and if we don't have it at one house we can walk right next door and the sweet tooth will be resolved. Now I'm not saying that she is the one to blame for all of this amazing, wonderful, tastes like a 5 star restaurant food...I'm saying its hard to say no to homemade bread, chicken spaghetti, freshly baked cookies, chili cheese hotdogs, crapes, french toast, and many many other delightful dishes that I have consumed. 

GOALS SET. 

With all this being said, I have decided to go on and get this ball back on track. I have a huge support system backing me up and I plan on rocking this challenge just like I did my previous one. I'm mentally preparing myself for tomorrow morning when I wake up to consume that fiber drink that makes me gag and half of it is being spit back into the sink while the other half is coming out my nose...(its a texture thing, I just cant get used to it) but lets do this. Goals are set and I am ready to do it!

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This is just so delicious

I have talked with a few of you about how to start your journey to loose weight and overall feel better and some have asked "what are you eating and how are you sticking to the same food everyday?" Well, let me say this I had to change things up...because salad was starting to taste like feet (no I've never tasted feet but if I had I feel thats what they tasted like) I was getting to the point where I had to mix things up and thankfully I found some alternates that really helped me get back on track and feel great about what I was eating. The majority of this entry will be just different recipes that I found that work for me and thats the trick...do what works for you!

Tony's Tiliapia 
Defrost fish filet, preheat oven to about 450 and line a cooking sheet with aluminum foil, drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the aluminum foil. Place fish filet and then pour/squeeze lemon juice over the filet, after that sprinkle tony's or whatever seasoning you would like (I've cooked it with garlic powder) all over it. Then bake for about 15 mins I sometimes do longer because I like the edges crispy. Once you take it out again squeeze lemon juice over the filet.

Fajita salad
Grilled chicken and onions with a small amount of fajita seasoning
Avocado
Lettuce (Romaine)
Diced tomatoes
Cheese (if needed)
**IF you want a dressing you can use the Walden farms ranch dressing or just a small amount of low fat ranch.

Fajita salad with ground meat
Avocado
Lettuce
Extra lean ground beef or lean ground turkey & season with taco seasoning
Diced tomatoes

Crunchy broccoli 
Preheat oven to around 400. Cut broccoli, season with salt and pepper and put a small amount of olive oil. Shake it up in a bag. Place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Let cook around 15 mins!

Thats just a few for now, I will try to work on remembering some other ones that I eat, the ones posted are the ones I've used the last few days!

I have lost a total of 10.5 lbs on Advocare and feel great! I have so much energy and I really did not think that I could ever do this. I am enjoying going to the gym I got a membership and have actually been using it! I find that the amount of energy I feel everyday is completely because of my Spark drink that I have everyday! Along with drinking spark, because I have changed my diet and am not consuming things that are greasy and fried I feel a million times better!

I did start this journey saying how I am not writing this blog to promote a product, I still am not. I like most of you know have struggled with my weight my whole life. I have gone on several different "diets" and have even these past few months started looking into weight-loss surgeries. I had hit rock bottom until I decided I was going to try one last thing, I tried my 24 day challenge and lost 10 lbs from it! Thats not all I gained from these products, I have learned how to eat and what to eat to make my body happy and I also have learned these products do work! I would never try to push a product on anyone that I had not tried myself but I personally have and I personally love them! I want to help people thats all I have ever wanted to do and after this 24 day challenge I know that by signing up with Advocare I can do just that. If anyone else wants to start their Advocare journey let me know I would be glad to talk to you about it or get you in contact with someone! :)

www.advocare.com/130839629

Sun, Sand, Stars, and Struggles.

Going and going and going. 

Let me begin by saying I am so sorry for not updating as much as I began this journey saying I would. I recently took vacation to California which involved a whole lot of everything and not a whole lot of free time. Everyday was packed solid with sight seeing and trying to find the Kardashians. (jk we weren't really doing that) The one thing I did have to find out about California rather than back home is you walk EVERYWHERE! I'm not talking about like a block to get to a restaurant, I'm talking about 4-5 blocks to get to a restaurant, and site seeing yeah just get ready to walk which seems like miles upon miles. Sure glad I brought my tennis shoes because I felt like I was working out everyday, and in California unlike home there are hills every distance. If your not going up a hill your coming down one, aka your legs will feel the burn even when your just checking out the stars along a sidewalk. The weather does make up for all the walking because like us Baton Rouge people know, if I was to walk outside of my house back home I need to walk right back in to take a shower. In California, its a nice 70 degrees at 12 in the afternoon and it just gets cooler from there. (I must admit that part was super nice)

Lets go on and talk about food shall we?

Well, I did not eat as amazing and wonderful as I would of liked. I did hold back and didn't find myself snacking during the day and not eating as much as I would of a few weeks ago. At dinner I found that I put half of my food aside the majority of the time and couldn't of finished it if I tried. I did eat bad at times though, I mean come on who really is going to travel 3000+ miles and eat salad and healthy food everyday...? Yeah, not this girl who loves food as much as I do. I did continue to have breakfast everyday even if it was yogurt and granola. Which like I have said in previous posts thats good for me...I was drinking a lot of water and my spark which helped me not pass out during each one of our long activity filled days. Another thing about California that I have noticed is that if you wanna eat healthy there, EASY PEASY! Want to go to a salad place, a juicing place, a light meal restaurant...there is one on every block seems like. That is one thing that I wish we had back home, its so hard not to have places to eat that are quick and healthy to eat. I think the whole time I was there I saw 2 McDonalds and maybe 1 Burger King.  Wanna know what else helps those who live in California besides the fact that no one is ever at work seems like and they are always TONS of people walking around, its that there are sidewalks to everything and everything is within walking distance. I did like that, makes you realize how much more exercise one would get if they could walk to go eat rather than drive.

How did the challenge go?

I finished and I finished as strong as I could. I kept my weight off while I was in a place where I was tempted so many times. I did not gain at all while I was on this vacation of 8 days surrounded by food that could make even make the strongest person weak. I do not currently have my measurements but I will get them done sometime in the next 2 days. I ultimately am beyond proud of myself for what I have accomplished. I might not of lost as much as I wanted in the beginning but I gained something that will change my life. I learned how to change my life, I learned how to enjoy my food again but enjoy healthier choices. Like I have said from day one, this challenge to me wasn't about the weightless or promoting the product but they work. Do I know if I am going to sell the products? Nope, but do I want to share my story with people who were just like me? Yes. My journey isn't over I am just beginning. Stay tuned because this journey is going to be long, and hard but I will succeed and I will change my life by simply shrinking one day at a time. 

Vacation struggles

Hello all!!! I first and foremost have to apologize! I have not wrote in almost a week now! I am on vacation in California and between running here and there by the time I get home I'm delirious!! I have had 2 flex days since I've been here where I have eaten "not so good food" but everything has been in moderation. I will update everyone more later!!

Venice Beach, California

Sixteen smixteen.

Sometime we just need some direction...

I forgot to post this the other day so here we go. I have been following this guide more and more since I got it because it does make a lot of since and those of us who evidently don't know how to eat need some direction. If I didn't need help I wouldn't be overweight and could be eating a cheeseburger right now huh? Anyways, the guide tells you what you should look for in a meal and how your plate should look. With me going through this 24 day challenge to help and give me guidence this visual really does work. It shows me that although I can have that fruit I do need to limit it to a certain amount. 

Going and going

Today was one of those days that I just kept on rushing to do everything! This morning I woke up late which when you wake up late you know something bad is bound to happen. Anyways, I get up to make my smoothie and slice my finger open trying to cut a strawberry and then realize that the clothes that I'm going to wear are still wet. Keep in mind I need to be at the girls house to babysit in about 23 mins now, and I live at least 20 away. I forgot my supplements and then forgot my snacks on the table. Didn't forget my shake but that was only because I was sucking it down like I haven't drank anything in years. I made it to the girls house and finally I wouldn't have to worry about food for a few hours. When lunchtime came I had no idea what the girls were going to eat so just opened the fridge and we just had a bunch of different things. They decided on turkey roll ups, tomatoes, strawberries and ruffles chips. I mean hey I'm human. I bet you know what happened next, I ate a chip...well about 5. I must say I felt like crap after I did it. Way worse than the bite of cake that I had at the birthday party. If I could of thrown up just the chips I probably would of. Heres the big kicker! After I got done eating them I thought..."Yeah that was a huge let down, those weren't even that good." After climbing that mountain a few hours later me and the girls got back on track eating baked fish and salad for dinner. I must say it sure was yummy!!

Fifteen days and counting

Getting looser...

Like I have mentioned in my previous post that so far I have lost a total of 8 lbs. Now as excited about this number as I am I feel as though I have lost more inches than that number is leading me to believe. I have a pair of nike tempo shorts, and yes just like skinny girls they are my favorite. See the thing about these nike shorts is that I cant go out just like everyone else and go to Academy and stock up on them. I have to order my size from offline and of course they don't carry them in the stores. UNREAL. Back to my point, these shorts have even began to look and feel looser on me. My t-shirts have a little extra room in them than before which motivates me even more to keep on going. Am I to the point that I need to go and buy new clothes? Not at all. But overall I find that clothes are getting looser. To be honest thats the style now anyways huh big t-shirts that cover your nike shorts. (At least thats all my little sister wears) Same little sister who has 10 pairs of nike shorts and likes to pair them with one of my XL t-shirts. Soon enough I'll be fitting right in huh sis? 

Advocare world.

Everything has been great with all the products that I'm using from Advocare. I really didn't think that I would be able to handle a program that was the same everyday but its actually working out very nice. The meal replacement shakes that I have talked so highly about really do get me excited to eat/drink breakfast. I'm mixing up the shakes with different types of fruit everyday so I don't get tired of the same ole thing everyday. I have started eating not so much fish but a-lot of salads. I am finding that a salad will fill me up and I actually like the refreshing feeling after I get done eating it. I haven't cooked any more chicken after the last batch I grilled with chewy. I'm still stuck on the same type of tilapia that I mentioned from day one. I'm trying new snacks instead of just almonds that really are helping when I get super hungry! I'm using recipes from the Paleo diet which really has helped give me some variety. The Paleo foods are high in protein and low in carbs and thats just what I'm looking for :) This website has a great list of high fiber low carb foods which also has been very helpful! 

1. Avocado and a spoon. Simple and perfect! 
2. Boiled egg white. 
3. Blueberries, strawberries, rasberries with coconut flakes.  
4. Cherry tomatoes
5. Cucumbers and carrots
6. Frozen grapes
7. Turkey roll ups. 
8. Apple slices with natural nut butter
9. Hummus with 6 low fat croutons 
10. Bell-peppers

HALF WAY THERE...day 14!

TODAY IS THE HALF WAY POINT! 

Let me begin by saying...I am so sorry I haven't been posting the past 2 days but now I am back and more excited than ever! Today is the half way point and what better of day than today to go and visit family. (These people have not seen me since I started this journey) Anyways,  today was a test for myself to see if all this hard work has paid off. I would say that it surly has. I walked into the home and my family was in shock with the way I have changed in such a short amount of time. I will say that at this point I have lost 8 lbs which is beyond amazing to me! I know I keep saying oh its not about the weighloss but, it makes you feel so great when you see that number that you hate seeing on the scale get smaller. I feel amazing! I have so much more energy and I am just enjoying every moment of this. 

"No thank-you no biscuits."

Today I got to go to lunch with a woman who has supported me since I was very young. She has believed in me through thick and thin and who I look up to very very much. Anyways, at lunch we sat down to eat. Which we have done MANY times before. She knows my love for bread, I mean anyone who has eaten breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks with me, knows my love for bread. Used to I would of gone right to the hamburgers and ordered that with french fries, or fried shrimp with a diet coke which would of ended up  being around 4 diet cokes during my meal. Today was a whole different story. It started like this.. I ordered my water and then the question I used to get so excited I could hardly sit still came up..."Would you like biscuits?" I felt as though an inner strength responded for me. I calmly and without even thinking said "No thank you no biscuits" It felt AMAZING!!! Did I really just turn away bread?! I did and didn't even feel bad about it! I then proceeded to order grilled asparagus, tilapia and shrimp. The kicker with this was it was supposed to have this parmesan  cream sauce all over it, not on my plate! I asked them to put it on the side in which I tasted it but really didn't even like that! I loved my meal! I didn't feel horrible after I felt full and satisfied. Why have I not been eating like this for years?! 

All in all, today was great! I might not be noticing quite yet that my body is changing but I have gotten many different compliments from people saying they can see it. Advocare is helping me change my life and I'm ready!! :)