24-day recap...
I cannot express how overly joyed I am that I took on this challenge and have completed it. Me! I am impressed with myself. Willpower was never in my vocabulary.
I am a foodie. I love to eat! I also love to cook. I like to make people happy with the food I cook. It is simply how I was raised. My mom is an amazing cook, and because of that, we were amazing eaters. (Haha) My Dad was an over-the-road truck driver who ate out all the time when he was on the road. When he was home he looked forward to nothing more then eating my mom's home cooked meals, and I joined in. It seemed so natural and normal then, but looking back, it tainted me. We would eat big dinners with pastas, breads and butter, soda, etc. followed by big desserts, like my Dad's favorite root beer floats. Calorie counting didn't exist. My Dad was tall and thin. My mom is a peanut. My sister and I, we gain weight.
For years and years I tried fad diets and tried cutting calories where I thought they mattered. (Ex. I'd skip breakfast and lunch to eat wings and drink margaritas all night) I joined 'Weight Watchers,' did Adkins.. gained, lost...
I started working in a gym as front desk help. I learned how to work out, and liked it. I liked pushing myself with weights, taking cardio classes, and enjoyed the social aspect of the gym. (Still do!) I started educating myself on diet. Not fad diet. Diet... As in what your body needs to gain muscle, sustain energy, and how to tone and reach goals in a healthy manner. Guess what Weight Watchers: your endorsed frozen dinners and processed chocolate snacks aren't the way to do it. And guess what Dr. Atkins: those 12 pounds I lost piled right back on once I started factoring carbs into my meals again. The yo-yo weight gain and loss would drive anyone mad.
I started eating 'clean.'
If you follow along, you know I prepare my meals for the week. You know I take the words 'dedication' and 'motivation' to a healthy level. And you know I have started to see results in my body tone, energy level, and weight.
The 'Advocare Challenge' put my 'dedication' to the test. I started on this journey as someone who [thought] they had their diet in check. Someone who [thought] they ate clean. Someone who [thought] it would be a breeze. The first 10 days flew by! I would reccomend the '10-Day Advocare Cleanse' to anyone willing to try it and take it on. I ate along the diet regimen and saw fast results with the small changes I had made during that short period of time (cutting out dairy, alcohol, bread, processed snacks, etc.) I lost 2 inches in my waist alone! I was stoked! So, I took on the remaining 14 days to complete phase 2. Like I said, I thought it would be a breeze. It was not (for me.) Everyone is different. Everyone has different
levels of willpower, different cravings, different body weight. I'm going to be honest and tell you I had quite a few cheats within these last 2 weeks. I ate Fiber-One cereal with Fat-Free milk. I had a few pieces of dark chocolate along the way. That's not so bad. But, I had a margarita at a dinner out at a restaurant, along with a piece of bread with butter. I craved things that I didn't think would bother me, nevertheless get the best of me... But they did, and I'm ashamed of that. So 'willpower' and I are head-to-head again. Story of my life!
These are the final results of our challenge:
closest guess!
I, even considering my cheats, did not lose as much as I thought I would have. But I suppose I didn't have as much to lose, and because of that I think the cheats were vital. I lost weight, inches, and body-fat and gained a lot more knowledge about dieting down and eating even cleaner through taking on this challenge. That's a win in my book! Although it was, in fact, challenging, I plan to follow the clean-eating meal plan they have set up 85-90% of the time. (Like Jillian Michaels requests doing) and continuing to take Advocare supplements and drink the 'Spark' energy drink 1-2 times/ day. That being said, it is important to understand 'everything in moderation.' So back to calorie counting.
**During the challenge, you do not count your calories, but follow an eating plan they have set up by portioning out your meals.
I am going to share some pictures of my weight loss. Please do not judge too harshly. I had a baby. I ate badly. I stopped going to the gym and focused a lot of my time on being a mom. I gained weight, and was unhappy. That is why I am using my knowledge to do something about it now...
*HERE ARE MY BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES. BE GENTLE, I'M STILL NOT WHERE I WANT TO BE. I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SHOW THE CHANGES A CLEAN-EATING DIET CAN MAKE IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME:
For those of you following me on 'myfitnesspal'
(MissPipersMommy) I will be using that app more frequently now that the challenge is over. Being I was not counting calories during this time, it began to be repetitive and unnecessary.
These are some things, amongst many, that I can't wait to put back into my diet again:
(For more on clean eating, visit this post.)
I cannot express how overly joyed I am that I took on this challenge and have completed it. Me! I am impressed with myself. Willpower was never in my vocabulary.
I am a foodie. I love to eat! I also love to cook. I like to make people happy with the food I cook. It is simply how I was raised. My mom is an amazing cook, and because of that, we were amazing eaters. (Haha) My Dad was an over-the-road truck driver who ate out all the time when he was on the road. When he was home he looked forward to nothing more then eating my mom's home cooked meals, and I joined in. It seemed so natural and normal then, but looking back, it tainted me. We would eat big dinners with pastas, breads and butter, soda, etc. followed by big desserts, like my Dad's favorite root beer floats. Calorie counting didn't exist. My Dad was tall and thin. My mom is a peanut. My sister and I, we gain weight.
For years and years I tried fad diets and tried cutting calories where I thought they mattered. (Ex. I'd skip breakfast and lunch to eat wings and drink margaritas all night) I joined 'Weight Watchers,' did Adkins.. gained, lost...
So that's how I lived my life. I worked out hard, I counted calories, I gained and lost, I got frustrated, I ate everything in the house, I worked it off on the stair-master the next day because I felt guilty, or fat... And went through that process for just way too long.
I started working in a gym as front desk help. I learned how to work out, and liked it. I liked pushing myself with weights, taking cardio classes, and enjoyed the social aspect of the gym. (Still do!) I started educating myself on diet. Not fad diet. Diet... As in what your body needs to gain muscle, sustain energy, and how to tone and reach goals in a healthy manner. Guess what Weight Watchers: your endorsed frozen dinners and processed chocolate snacks aren't the way to do it. And guess what Dr. Atkins: those 12 pounds I lost piled right back on once I started factoring carbs into my meals again. The yo-yo weight gain and loss would drive anyone mad.
I started eating 'clean.'
If you follow along, you know I prepare my meals for the week. You know I take the words 'dedication' and 'motivation' to a healthy level. And you know I have started to see results in my body tone, energy level, and weight.
The 'Advocare Challenge' put my 'dedication' to the test. I started on this journey as someone who [thought] they had their diet in check. Someone who [thought] they ate clean. Someone who [thought] it would be a breeze. The first 10 days flew by! I would reccomend the '10-Day Advocare Cleanse' to anyone willing to try it and take it on. I ate along the diet regimen and saw fast results with the small changes I had made during that short period of time (cutting out dairy, alcohol, bread, processed snacks, etc.) I lost 2 inches in my waist alone! I was stoked! So, I took on the remaining 14 days to complete phase 2. Like I said, I thought it would be a breeze. It was not (for me.) Everyone is different. Everyone has different
levels of willpower, different cravings, different body weight. I'm going to be honest and tell you I had quite a few cheats within these last 2 weeks. I ate Fiber-One cereal with Fat-Free milk. I had a few pieces of dark chocolate along the way. That's not so bad. But, I had a margarita at a dinner out at a restaurant, along with a piece of bread with butter. I craved things that I didn't think would bother me, nevertheless get the best of me... But they did, and I'm ashamed of that. So 'willpower' and I are head-to-head again. Story of my life!
These are the final results of our challenge:
Me:
weight on 4-1-13: 149.6
thigh- 20 1/4
waist- 34
bust- 36 1/2
arm- 11 1/4
neck- 12 3/4
hips- 36
calf- 13 1/4
weight on 4-24-13: 145.2
thigh- 20
waist- 32 1/4
bust- 35 3/4
arm- 10 3/4
neck- 12 1/2
hips- 35
calf- 13
total inches lost: 5.75
total weight loss: 4.4
Lisa:
weight on 4-1-13: 197.4
thigh- 23
waist- 38
bust- 44
arm- 13
neck- 13 3/4
hips- 41
calf- 15
weight on 4-24-13: 188.2
thigh- 22 1/8
waist- 37 1/4
bust- 42
arm- 12 1/4
neck- 13
hips- 38
calf- 15
total inches lost: 8.75
total weight loss: 9.2
TOTAL COMBINED WEIGHT LOSS: 14 1/2
TOTAL COMBINED INCHES LOST: 13.6
That leaves HEATHER HOUCK as our SPARK GIVEAWAY winner with the closest guess!
I, even considering my cheats, did not lose as much as I thought I would have. But I suppose I didn't have as much to lose, and because of that I think the cheats were vital. I lost weight, inches, and body-fat and gained a lot more knowledge about dieting down and eating even cleaner through taking on this challenge. That's a win in my book! Although it was, in fact, challenging, I plan to follow the clean-eating meal plan they have set up 85-90% of the time. (Like Jillian Michaels requests doing) and continuing to take Advocare supplements and drink the 'Spark' energy drink 1-2 times/ day. That being said, it is important to understand 'everything in moderation.' So back to calorie counting.
**During the challenge, you do not count your calories, but follow an eating plan they have set up by portioning out your meals.
I am going to share some pictures of my weight loss. Please do not judge too harshly. I had a baby. I ate badly. I stopped going to the gym and focused a lot of my time on being a mom. I gained weight, and was unhappy. That is why I am using my knowledge to do something about it now...
*HERE ARE MY BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES. BE GENTLE, I'M STILL NOT WHERE I WANT TO BE. I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SHOW THE CHANGES A CLEAN-EATING DIET CAN MAKE IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME:
For those of you following me on 'myfitnesspal'
(MissPipersMommy) I will be using that app more frequently now that the challenge is over. Being I was not counting calories during this time, it began to be repetitive and unnecessary.
These are some things, amongst many, that I can't wait to put back into my diet again:
OH... AND SUSHI!! Which I totally ate for lunch on my first FREE day!
(For more on clean eating, visit this post.)
..don't be shy, and thanks for stopping by!..
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