Progress

So, this week I've finally gotten back on board with exercise after too long a break! I've also started the Catalyst from Advocare once a day right now, 30 minutes before breakfast.  My muscles are sore, but that means I'm working something!   I got the workout calender from the Advocare Can You 24 website and I'm following it for the next three months!  You also get to tailor beginner, intermediate, and advanced over the same DVDs.   After the holiday I'm going to start a cleanse and up the Catalyst to twice a day to get the belly off! 
Between now and the holiday, I'm going to do more research on pinterest and other online places to get recipes to give some variety to the diet!

Catalyst

So, I have learned a few lessons this month.  First, don't do a challenge to get yourself vacation ready.  It got me there, but then I slacked off because I was on vacation and undid whatever work I did do.  Second, don't take more than one day off from working out, because next thing you know it's been over two weeks.  Third, possibly the reason I didn't have as huge results as before isn't because I've lost weight already, but may be because when I started this journey over a year ago I was taking Catalyst and I stopped. 
Catalyst is an advocare product that I'm told was developed to help the US Olympic Wrestling Team preserve muscle while trying to lose weight to get to a lower weight class.  The idea is it protects the muscle from being used for energy while working out, hence the greater fat loss.  So my newest plot to keep myself healthier, skinner and with more energy is to add Catalyst everyday to my routine, do the advocare Can you 24 DVDs per the Advocare Calender for the next few months (only do the treadmill when the thought of doing a DVD makes me feel like skipping all together), and do another Herbal Cleanse in a few weeks to help "reset" my diet. Advocare recommends the Herbal Cleanse every 3 months, which I wouldn't necessarily do except it really helps me get back on track to what I'm eating which tends to be every 3-4 months I notice I'm doing  bad!  :) 
Also added some Grape Spark to my drinks- think Grape Kool-aid with a kick!  So my three go-to Spark flavors are Fruit Punch, Grape and Mango Strawberry.
Time to get back on track!

Vacation

So, I am back from vacation and any progress I had made is gone!  Oops.  Didn't exercise at all except for walking around Disney and taking care of a sick little boy, and ate a ton of food, especially when we stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge!  Great food is worth it though, one of the reasons for living.  So now I need to regroup and make a new plan to keep myself on the healthy track again!  :)  Talk to you when I have a plan!

24 day challenge results and disclaimer! :)

Okay, so my 24 day challenge took more than 24 days with night shifts, missing days, and now a hospital stay.  Eli was overnight in the hospital on Saturday to Sunday with essentially an asthma attack which turned things upside down, messed up my exercising and definitely screwed the diet!  Burgers and fries for meals tasted yummy but definitely skewed my results.  It's weird how when you do the "pinch test" on the fat on your belly how a few meals can make that fat roll at least feel bigger.  So here's my results for the whole 24 days...
    Weight- down 6 lbs
    Belly- down 1 inch
    Hips- down 2 inches
    Chest- down 3 inches
So, overall I had good results!  It's just the moral of the story is if you want bigger results you need to really commit, because most of this was during the first 10 days of the challenge when I was doing really well and not cheating much. 
Also, after all this is done, I really recommend the Can You 24 DVDs.  I get bored with DVDs and still may eventually, but so far these are effective, not so hard that you feel like you're killing yourself right away, and have different levels worked into them.  At less than $30, compared to products like Insanity and Zumba it's a really good investment and can prepare you to tackle harder things like Insanity. If you're interested in any products you can order at http://www.advocare.com/130346245
If you don't think the 24 day challenge is for you the 10 day herbal cleanse is what I lost 30 lbs with last year and is a good, and more affordable starting point :)
Sometime this week I'll try to take an after picture to see if I can see the difference in my muscles, which are definitely more there than before! :)  So we'll see what the picture shows and see if it can be counted as a bigger success than the numbers show.

My goal for the next two weeks is to get eating better, and to figure out what rate each of my songs are on the treadmill so I know how fast I'm running or walking if I go with the beat since I've been running outside a little more than normal.  This way I can use my playlist to figure out approximately how fast I'm running and the calories burnt.  I'll probably organize the songs in a way to build up and down in speed and time out the calories on the treadmill. 
If I can get my butt back in gear for the next two weeks, then I get to reward myself on vacation on not worrying about desert and enjoying my meals at Disney World! :)  A treat indeed!

Missing days

I've lost a few days again!  Not sure where they went but I think I'm supposed to be done with my 24 day Advocare challenge and I still have 5 days left!  Oops.  Had a busy weekend and haven't exercised since Thursday, but I totally kicked butt today to make up for it.  3.5 miles on treadmill running, then the Advocare Melt video, then walked another 2 miles while reading my book, then mowed the yard, then did the Advocare Core Stretch workout!  Feels righteous to kick butt after not being able to or feeling good enough for several days! 
So a few more days then we'll see my results!  Feeling stronger and happy that I can kick butt! :)
Happy Tuesday!

Challenge update

So....a day has gone missing. 

Did anyone else notice it?  :)

Somehow while working overtime on nights this long weekend I missed a day, I got a day off on my workouts and missed a day of the challenge supplements.  No big deal, I'm still going. Apparently it's my 25 day challenge :)
I haven't done measurements again, I want to wait until I am done with the supplements but I do want to say that the MNS appetite control supplements (Days 11-24) really work for appetite control!  While I can still eat food that sounds good, I'm not craving and wondering to the kitchen all the time because I'm hungry!  This is good.  Now I just need to stop thinking about how good a nice hot pizza is so I stay on healthy food!  I'm also feeling stronger, which is good since the biggest reason for this challenge is to tone up.  I actually have biceps you can see, I can really feel my leg muscles, and abs....well I did carry two children so I don't expect miracles.  :)

Have a happy day and I'll keep updating :)

Advocare Day 10 Results

So today is day 10 of the Advocare 24 day challenge for me, and I took my weight and measurements.
Results are.........

*Down 5 lbs*

*Lost 1 inch off of waist*

*Lost 1 inch off of hips*

*Lost 1/2 inch off of chest line*

On top of this, my muscles are sore and I still sweat it out when working out!  Toning up is the major goal so I really hope pictures at 24 days will be AWESOME.  I want to be fit and firmed up for our vacation in 7 weeks!  :)