Day 19

Hi everyone! I want to take a quick second to thank you all for reading and to remind you that if you don't have nice/positive/supportive things to say, I'd appreciate you not saying anything at all. I got some negative/unsupportive feedback today and I don't need that in my life. That being said, let's get back to happy, healthy posts!

Today has been a good day. So far I've had 14 cups of water and it's only 8:30. I'm sure I'll meet my 18 cups today. This morning I had my pills, meal replacement shake and Spark energy drink, as usual. I went to the gym with the intention of doing 9am Aerobics and 10am Zumba. 

I was even there early!!

I've had a lot on my mind the past few days and I try to use my workouts as a healthy outlet for stress, anger, and other emotions. Today, I think I took it too far. During the first 30 minutes of aerobics I was working hard! I added the extra hops, skips, jumps, etc. and was feeling GREAT! Until I rolled my ankle and was unable to finish the workout. If you know me, you know I have weak ankles from years of competitive ice skating, softball and basketball. Between my 2 ankles I've had 6 sprains and a break. I SHOULD have been wearing an ankle brace, but my ankle brace is from high school and is dirty and falling apart. I SHOULD have bought a new one, but I hate the ones with Velcro that they're selling nowadays. So, instead I ended up with only 30 minutes of aerobics and this instantly bruised, swollen ankle.

Outside. Yes, I know I need to shave.

Inside.

I iced my ankle for 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off for 2 hours and took 2 Aleve to lessen the swelling. It's for sure sprained, bruised and swollen but it's not as bad as it could have been. You'll be happy to know that I ordered an ankle brace this evening. My mom was insistent and I allllllways listen to my mother. :)

I was REALLY bummer that I'll be out of the gym for a while, but my friend Mel suggested arms and/or swimming. Tomorrow morning I'm going to check out the pool at the Y to see what I can do! I'm excited that I have options! By the way, Melanie also blogs about her health journey here: http://tinierpants.blogspot.com and her amazing design work here: http://creativetinypants.wordpress.com. Check them out!

For lunch I had tacos again. They were really tasty as always. In case you haven't read my blog before, I use whole wheat mini tortillas (50 calories each) with lean ground turkey I cooked with veggies. I use 2 tbsp light sour cream, 2 tbsp salsa and 2 pinches of fat free shredded cheese. They're always tasty. Never fails.

Between icing my ankle and being upset about everything else going on I took a 3 hour nap. It was glorious. For dinner I decided to cook. I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be used before they went bad, so I decided to make mashed cauliflower (instead of potatoes), homemade french fries, and turkey burgers. I also cut up the rest of my veggies to make a salad for eating this weekend.  This was my first attempt at mashed cauliflower ever. 

Steamed.

I cut up a whole head of cauliflower, steamed it, strained it, then mashed it. I added black pepper, garlic powder and a pinch of kosher salt. I also added 1 tbsp light country crock, which I won't add normally but I'm trying to use up what I have in the house. From now on I'll buy I can't believe it's not butter. I also make homemade fries for the first time.

Rinsed, sliced potatoes.

EVOO, pepper, garlic powder.

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, flip for another 5-10 mins.

Let me assure you they were delicious!! I love that I'm eating healthy and enjoying it. I also threw some turkey burgers on the George Foreman grill. I seasoned them with the same seasonings previously mentioned.

Already measured into 4oz burgers, super easy and healthy!

Look at all that fat dripping off! Love it!

While everything was cooking I cut up lettuce and tomatoes for topping my burger. I realized my lettuce was about to go bad so I ended up cutting up extra pieces for the other burgers and then chopped the rest with some tomatoes and cucumber for a salad to eat this weekend.

So much green goodness!

I absolutely loved the meal I ended up with! Everything was SO tasty and I'm happy to have added to my list of things I've learned how to cook. Here's what dinner looked like:

I'm really proud of myself for eating as well as I have the past few days. I've had a lot of BIG, sad stuff going on and the old me would dive into pizza, ice cream and anything else I craved. While I can't say I wouldn't love to jump into a pizza, I can say that I've chosen not to and I'm happy with my decisions. Life goes on and I want it to be a healthy life in all ways! Until next time...

Day 18

Today was an interesting day and I'm exhausted so it's a quick post. I woke up, did the morning MNS, meal replacement shake and Spark energy drink. I went to an awesome step class and worked my but off. I also happily got on the scale this morning, as you can read about at the end of my last post.

Food-wise I did pretty well. For lunch I had a turkey wrap at Jason's Deli with fruit as my side. For dinner we ate at Cheddar's and I had some more Idaho nachos and I ordered the lunch size portion of salmon. I had it grilled without any herbs/oils/etc and chose steamed broccoli and green beans as my sides. I also had a skinny margarita because I had a hell of a day. Between yesterday and today I'm ready for this week to be over. I had 14 glasses of water today which is decent but I really want to kick it back up to 18 a day. Best part of the day today? I learned I can have a no good, very bad, horrible day and still exercise and eat healthy. That, my friends, is a success!

Day 17

Wednesday was another rough day. I started out by waking up too late for the 9am workout class. I didn't work out on Tuesday so I told myself I'd go to the 4:30 class instead. That didn't end up panning out since I didn't get home until almost 10pm.

For breakfast I had my MNS, Meal replacement shake and Spark energy drink. I had forgotten to carry up my new case of water so I had to use tap water and measure it out. I'm not a fan. I know it's wasteful but I really love the ease and convenience of bottled water.

I ended up going to Lamar to take care of some loose paperwork and ended up staying until almost 5 to do work things and get a surprise ready for a party one of my friends is having for the 5th of July. Sadly, while I was at work I finally got a response from the sellers of the house I had under contract. Yes, I just said "had." Due to the sellers being unwilling to make foundation repairs (along with some other minor repairs), I decided to terminate the contract. It sucks and I'm not really excited about getting back to the house hunt. I am, however, motivated to get out of my crappy apartment so hopefully in a few days I'll feel re-energized and be back on the hunt.

Just call me Sherlock Katz.

In all the mess of the day I forgot to eat lunch. I know that's not good for your body, but I'm pretty sure it's the first time in history I've forgotten to eat a meal. I usually have my meals planned in my head (or at least options) at least 1 or 2 meals ahead. The fact that food wasn't on my mind has to be a victory in some way.

Marjan took me to dinner to cheer me up. We decided to split a Crispy Chicken Salad, with RANCH dressing. Mmmm, I missed Ranch. I have to say, though, my Walden Farms dressing makes me just as happy on a day to day basis.

I had one pinch of the croissant, too,
while we're being honest.

We also decided to split Idaho Nachos.

So amazingly yummy.

Now, clearly I "cheated" on my diet last night, but I'm not upset about it. Not only did we leave at least a third of each dish, but when we used to meet we'd both order our own salad, and we'd split a spinach dip appetizer and Idaho nachos or cheese fries. As she pointed out to me, we're both eating so much healthier than we used to, even when it's a cheat night. I should have taken a picture of the after to show you guys but we didn't think of it until we were walking out of the restaurant.

I also had my first alcohol since I started my journey. Don't judge me. The house stuff took a toll on me and my 100 calorie Skinny Margarita was worth every calorie!

no salt = no extra sodium intake

The best part of yesterday? While I was driving up to Lamar the ring I usually wear on my pinkie finger fell off when I went to grab my phone. So, now I get to wear it on my ring finger!  (How do you spell pinkie? Spell check didn't like "pinky" and I hate the "ie".) Also, the ring I wear on my other hand on the ring finger got moved to my middle finger as well! I like to think of it as flipping the bird to the weight I've lost. :)

The best part of day 18? I woke up this morning and had lost 1.6 lbs since yesterday morning, making my total 12 pounds! So, even with my cheat meal I'm still losing weight!  Don't worry, I'll post a full day 18 post but I couldn't wait to share the good news. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I hope to see you back here for my next post!

Day 16

Today was an excellent day all around!! I started the day with my vitamins and drinks. I will say that both of my shaker cups were dirty in the dish washer so I decided I'd just stir my meal replacement shake into a cup. Big mistake. By not measuring the water and/or mixing it enough I created a clumpy, and then too watered down drink. I managed to get it all down, but it was not good this morning. My dishwasher was immediately run and both cups are clean and ready to be used tomorrow and Thursday mornings! While we're talking about them, does anybody have suggestions for good shaker cups? I like one of mine better than the other and I want to buy a few more. Please share your input by commenting on the blog or emailing me directly!

I went to the 9am Step class at the YMCA this morning and had a much more successful workout today! This was such a huge relief to me after yesterday's fiasco. I still got cramps in my calves a bit but I was able to push through it today and only had to stop once to stretch. I'm still not sure what's causing this. I've been told I need potassium and I've been told I'm dehydrated. Considering I've drank more water in the past 16 days than I think I have in the rest of my life I doubt dehydration is the culprit. Either way, I got in a good workout this morning and I'm very happy about it! 

This is basically what I see during a step class.
Lots of feet and calves and steps.

For lunch I cooked up some more taco meat (lean ground turkey and veggies).

Green & Red Bell Pepper, Mushrooms & Red Onions
I thought the colors were pretty!

Add browned, drained meat. Mix together.
(Seasoned with garlic powder, black pepper, and cumin). 

I went to my most recent "go to" and had 2 mini tacos for lunch. I think I'm not going to buy more sour cream because I always think I'm using so little until I post the pics. I swear this was only 1 tbsp per taco. I used whole wheat fiesta mini tortillas, salsa, and fat free cheese.

Lunch.

I did work related tasks this afternoon, some of which were surprisingly exciting. More to come on that later. Afterwards I met up with Marjan again and ran errands. We ate Jason's Deli for dinner. I decided to take a chance and I had the Zucchini Grillini with fruit as my side. I normally am a meat person and sandwiches are a favorite of mine, so venturing into the non-meat sandwich world was new to me. It was good, but not as good as what I usually get at Jason's. I also decided to use some of the fruit dip, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea. Jason's describes the sandwich as: "Grilled zucchini, muenster, organic spinach, red onions, roma tomatoes, kalamata olives, roasted red pepper hummus, toasted on 9-grain artisan bread. I ordered it without the olives.

A vegetarian option! I actually chose a vegetarian option!

Overall, today was a good day. I drank 16 cups of water, ate well and exercised! I'm hoping this means I'm back on track like I was the first 7-10 days of the challenge. I'm also hoping this will show on the scale again soon because I'm starting to get frustrated. I know I'm losing inches too, I can feel it, but I want to see the numbers drop on the scale faster than they are. "Talk" to you tomorrow!

Day 15

Monday was a MUCH better day for food. I started my morning with a Spark and a Meal Replacement shake.

Breakfast of champions!!

Then I went to 9am Zumba and it kicked my ass. Here's a picture I took before class started to prove I actually go workout. :)

Zumba!

This was by far the worst workout I've had that I can remember. I'm not sure if it was missing 2 days, the bad food the day before, or what the deal was but my calves kept cramping. After stopping about 4 times to stretch because I was hurting so bad I got frustrated. I walked out on the class, which is something I've never had to do, but I felt the tears coming and refused to do that in the room with everyone around. I went to the locker room to stretch and have my little cry and then I went back. I have to say that everyone is super supportive. A lady named Angie that is always at the classes stopped to check on me and of course Shelley did too. I'm not sure if I needed to get some tears out or what but I was able to finish the workout once I got back. It was by far my worst workout but I'm proud that I stuck it out until the end. This quote was in my head the whole time.

I dream of being on The Biggest Loser. I hate that
I'd have to make a video submission to get on the show. 

For lunch I enjoyed the last of the whole wheat spaghetti. I cut up extra mushrooms and tomatoes and added the last of the taco meat. 

I wonder who came up with the
spaghetti monster? Why is (s)he called that?

For dinner I ate at McAlister's Deli with Marjan. I ordered from their 2 for under 500 calories menu. I had half a Turkey Melt and half a Southwest Cobb salad, with no dressing. Dinner was delish and I was so stuffed by the end of the meal!

I removed the chips and guar from my plate! Go me!

Somehow I only managed to get 13 cups of water in, but the good news is there's always tomorrow to do better!

Day 14

"If at first you don't succeed, try try again." - My Bubbie. Or, as the Internet and research would show, William Edward Hickson. Either way, it's encouraging to me.

Sunday was not a good day for my healthy lifestyle/diet at all. Everything from Friday evening/Saturday caught up with me and I made bad decisions. I did have my morning drinks, but by lunch all bets were off!

For lunch Justin and I had Sonic. We were out running errands and I made a bad choice. Errr, choices. Once we at the drive-in I decided if I was cheating I was going to make it "worth it." I had a Sonic cheeseburger with mayo and ketchup, no onions AND an order of cheddar peppers with ranch.

My biggest screw up thus far.

I'm not going to lie. It was DELICIOUS. Then, as if lunch hadn't been bad enough, I had take out Chinese food for dinner. I know, it's humiliating, depressing, and astonishing how I could throw away so much hard work for one day of unhealthy food. I paid for it, though. By 7pm on Sunday my body was clearly letting me know it was not happy with me. I'll spare you the details, and just say it was not fun. I don't plan on doing that again anytime soon.

Bahaha! I couldn't resist! I'm just kidding!!

Instead of getting caught up in the guilt , I've tried to take some lessons from the experience.

1. I now know I can survive a bad food day. 
2. I can have a bad day and go back to the diet/healthy eating the next day. Bad days will be an exception not a norm. 
3. Just because it looks good on the menu or in my head doesn't mean it's actually all that good in reality.
4. A bad day doesn't mean I'll instantly gain back all my weight. I will, however, pay for it in how I feel and that makes it not "worth it."

A reminder I could have used on Sunday.
Hopefully it will help you TODAY!

Day 13

DJ Dawgie Dawn is.

Saturday was a terrible day for me. I had some personal stuff going on and normally that would mean all kinds of binge eating. All freaking day I wanted an Oreo shake from Jack in the Box, but I resisted. I didn't work out and I didn't track my water. I did eat healthy, but in large portions. I started with my meal replacement shake and Spark energy drinks for breakfast, and thanks to my good friend Marjan I managed to make it through the day without doing too much damage. For lunch I had not just salad but also shrimp and salmon. And then I had more shrimp. I literally ate about 3/4 lb of shrimp throughout the afternoon. 

Disclaimer: it was a small plate. Confession: I at least doubled up on the shrimp.

I'm not proud, but it's better than all the fast food and pizza I wanted. I also at a ton of lentil chips with a bean dip our friend Jenn had made for salad night earlier in the week. I know I drank at least 16 cups of water, but I'm not entirely sure exactly how much I had. Let's just say I'm glad Saturday is over and I didn't completely blow the diet. I waited for Sunday to do that...

Day 12

As of Friday morning I'd lost 9 lbs in 11 days! That, my friends, is reason to celebrate!! How do we celebrate? Not with cake and ice cream!  Instead I celebrated with healthy morning drinks (complete with my photo-bombing cat)!

MNS, Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake,
Spark Energy drink, and Sunnie under my glass coffee table!

And then, just to kick the weight-loss celebration up a notch (who'd I just quote? leave a comment with your answer!!), I met Shelley for a double workout. That's right; DOUBLE. We did Aerobic Workout class at 9 AND the Zumba class at 10. Let's just say I was exhausted and sore by the time I got home, and I've never hated the stairs leading up to my apartment more than I did this morning. We'll see if I make it to the gym tomorrow, but I'm considering giving my body a day off. 

For lunch I went back for the same tacos I had last night. In posting the picture for yesterday's blog I realized how much sour cream I actually used, so I made a conscious effort to use less today. I could taste the difference, but not enough to be sad about it. I'd rather be healthy than have a little extra sour cream. Even though I'm still eating small portions for meals, I'm getting REALLY full. I was a little uncomfortable after lunch, which I haven't felt since I started the challenge, and I don't like it. It's crazy to think that I used to do that to myself after almost every meal as recent as 12 days ago. Smaller portions shall be had going forward.

Good thing I don't like rice that much....

For dinner I had a chopped salad from Subway, with my new salad dressings. I'd ordered some Walden Farms dressings because I read on someone else's Advocare blog that it was the best dressing. They were correct! I had the Bacon Ranch flavor. It is calorie, sugar, fat, carb, gluten and cholesterol free, and it tastes FANTASTIC!  It was kind of stinky though, says my boyfriend. The salad itself was lettuce, spinach, cucumber, tomato and chicken.

Subway. Eat fresh.

Day 11

Yesterday, Day 11/Thursday, was the beginning of the Max phase of my Advocare 24-day challenge! Basically from this point forward I'm just supposed to eat healthy, the way I plan to eat the rest of my life. I'm still doing a meal replacement shake for breakfast, energy drinks and MNS Color Packs, which are vitamins. Here's what they look like!

MNS Color Packs

I did an hour long step class, walked (and ran a whole :30) on the treadmill and then did 6 more minutes on the elliptical. For lunch I had spaghetti with ground turkey and veggies, and then I went to my foundation inspection on the house. I had 1 cup of mixed berries as a snack in the afternoon as well.

Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

For dinner I had the best meal yet! I had the same ground turkey I've been eating, but I ate it on whole wheat mini tortillas. The best parts? Fat free cheese, light sour cream and salsa. SO GOOD!

Sorry it's fuzzy. Not sure why....

I snacked at a friends house last night too, but it was all healthy things. Overall, it was a great day!

Day 10

Day 10 was a good one!  I started the day Wednesday losing weight and then doing 60 minutes of Zumba! It was also a great day because it was the last day of the cleanse period, which means last fiber drink. While they were tolerable, I'm not going to miss them! Cleanse complete.

For lunch ate leftovers from BYOS the previous night, and I know I ate healthy dinner but I really don't remember what I had. The main things I remember from Wednesday are all the items that came up on my house inspection. My realtor is pretty sure the seller will fix everything but we'll have to see. Because the day was so full I didn't take any good pictures for you. Instead, I'll share a few more of the interior of the house. Here's the kitchen I'll be eating clean in. Keep in mind these are "before"pictures. Paint and matching appliances will hopefully happen before I ever move in!

Kitchen

Pantry

Day 9

Day 9 started rough. I woke up to my alarm to go work out, but had a headache. Ultimately, I went back to sleep and skipped my workout. Not my finest moment, but hey, I'm human!

For lunch I tried to eat the turkey cutlets described in the Day 7 post. I took one bite and this is when I threw it all away. I ended up with the spaghetti again instead.

Yuck.

Yum.

For dinner I went to a friend's house for BYOS night with the girls! S is for "salad"!  Perhaps it's not as exciting as adult beverages, but it's healthier!!  I ate more food Tuesday night than I have since I started my challenge. I brought 2 types of healthy chicken salad and a hummus/veggie tray.

Ingredients for one of the chicken salads I made.

One friend brought a health bean/veggie dip salsa. The hostess with the hostess made a very healthy pasta salad with shrimp and her famous spinach dip. She also made a healthy pistachio/fruit salad desert. It was AMAZING! I was so full and convinced I'd be sick from eating so much when I left, but miraculously I didn't get sick. Here's a sample of the smorgasbord of food! Overall, salad night was excellent! Great food, great company, great times!

J's bean salsa with veggie chips and whole wheat crisps. 

My chicken salads - served with whole wheat
carb options that nobody ate and we put away!
I was so proud of everyone for resisting the carbs!!

The hostess's shrimp pasta salad!

Here's my leftover container so you can see a bit of everything. :)

I managed to drink 16 cups of water, so that was an improvement! I also thought I'd share with you the painting I made for the hostess. She's an amazing friend and has helped me throughout the house buying experience, helps watch my cats when I'm out of town and has helped me in more ways than I could ever list here. She's pretty much amazing, and after spending literally months trying to decide what to get her I decided I'd sit down an paint. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Thank you, friend!

Day 8

Not another manic Monday, whoooooaaaaaa whoa. Wish it was Sunday!

Monday was a good day! I went to the gym and improved my mile time on the elliptical! I did the full 33 minute workout and did the in and out hip abduction machines.

A week ago my time was 15:29!

22 minutes, and almost 2 1/4 miles. 

For lunch I had more of the whole wheat spaghetti I made earlier in the week, with some newly cooked lean turkey and veggies.

Same old spaghetti you keep seeing. I like it.

 For dinner  I chopped up some veggies to eat with grilled chicken in a whole wheat tortilla. I also cooked some white rice for Justin, which he ate instead of veggies. It was nice to be able to easily cook food that we both like/can eat.

Mushroom, green & red bell peppers.

Chicken seasoned with garlic and black pepper on the Foreman.

I only had 10 cups of water on Monday so I made sure to amp it up the next few days!