Advocare - Day 22

I haven't mentioned this, but I have actually been doing well with working out every day. I have been trying to do a total body tone each day. I've walked hills on my treadmill while working on my pilates/ballet arms poses. I then do some abs and lunges/squats to get everything a little more toned. Austin mentioned yesterday that he is really starting to see a difference in how I am looking.. wow!! That is good news!! I am sitting at a almost 7lb loss at this point... I only have 2 more official days on the challenge, but I am going to carry it out until Saturday, when we go to Las Vegas... We leave from Las Vegas to go to Mexico to an all-inclusive resort with some friends on Tuesday, so I'll have 10 days of diet-free living. I am still going to try to reign it in so I don't ruin all of the progress I have done so far.

Today I woke up pretty late, so I just had some fiber cereal with my MNS packs and Spark. I ate fruit for lunch with MNS packs. I'm going to eat scrambled eggs in a whole wheat tortilla for dinner with some fresh salsa. I have to bake some brownies for small group tonight, so I better get going to do that... I WILL NOT eat the brownies though!!! :) See you tomorrow!

Advocare - Day 21

Monday.... ahhhh.... This is the first Monday I have loved for a LONG time!! I didn't have to go to work! ahhhhhhhhh....

21/black jack is fitting for this week because Austin and I are getting to go to Las Vegas this Saturday! I am excited to go because I have never been!! Austin has a conference to go to for work, but I get to just lay at the pool and soak in the atmosphere. I'm not a big gambler, but I am planning on playing some penny slot machines for fun! I think it'll be pretty cool! We have tickets to Jersey Boys on Sunday Night! Yay! I can't wait!!

I followed my diet pretty well! I did my whole morning thing like the last week... MNS, shake.... I ate fruit for lunch with a few nuts. For dinner, my book club went to Olive Garden. Instead of ordering some crazy pasta dish, like I usually would, or eating 10 breadsticks, like I usually would, I ate a grilled chicken flat-bread appetizer with a salad to start. I only ate one breadstick... which was a true test of self-control! ha. I know I broke the diet some, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it could have been!!! I would say I consumed about 600-700 calories instead of my usual 1200 at Olive Garden... baby steps, right?! :)

   

Mother's Day. Ouch. (Advocare - Day 20)

Happy mother's day!!

I was a mess on Sunday!! I woke up in just enough time to get ready for church and get out the door! I drank my spark and took my MNS packs. I didn't have a chance to drink my meal replacement shake though.. :-\ We met Austin's parents at the Amarillo Club for brunch at 11. I actually did pretty well for this place! It's an open buffet of all comfort foods in the world... biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, macaroni and lobster, etc... I opted for a healthy egg-white omelet and a salad! However, I did eat a few bites of Austin's oreo pie... I couldn't help it!! It was right there!!! ha. Oh well.

Today was a day of mixed emotions for me. It is a day when I have a special time to think about how blessed I am to have the mother I do. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met, and she is constantly concerned with bringing lost souls to Christ. She has never fallen short on uplifting, encouraging, and challenging me in my daily walk with the Lord. She is kind, patient, sweet, funny, quirky, intelligent, and she has suffered a lot and allowed it to make her stronger and more humble instead of bitter. Short story: my mother is INCREDIBLE!!

On the other hand, I feel it deeper today that I am still not a mother. At brunch, they passed out chocolate boxes to all mothers as the entered the restaurant... They asked if I was a mother, and I had to say "no", so they passed by me and gave the chocolates to the next person. Now, I am glad I didn't have to face the temptation of eating the chocolates, but it was a bitter moment for me that I was passed over. It was a physical picture of what my heart feels like constantly... That I am being passed over... That I am, most certainly, not a mother. It's hard. My sweet mom called me today to wish me a "happy future mother's day" in faith that God is preparing our own baby in His perfect timing. It was very sweet of her. Just a hard day. I deserved the few bites of pie.

My sweet mom:

Advocare - Day 19

Saturday seemed like a total blur... It was the first day of my summer break, and I actually stuck to the diet!! MNS packs, Meal Replacement shake, Fruit and turkey for lunch with MNS packs, and out for a friend's birthday Saturday night, and I DIDN'T get my favorite chicken green-chile farfale dish.. Instead, I got rainbow trout and wild rice with asparagus. I WIN! No wine, no candy at the movie afterwards... I am the picture of self-control! haha. JK. We went to see the Great Gatsby after dinner with our friends, and it was AWESOME!!!  I highly recommend it! I loved it!

Advocare - Day 18

Friday was a wack-o day all together. I didn't go in to work until 10:30 because it was the last day of the semester. (yay!!!) But I did everything I was supposed to in the morning... MNS packs, Meal replacement shake... At lunch, I had a meeting for the end of the semester at one of my favorite local restaurants. I tried to be strategic about what I ate! I ate some of the hummus with a little cheese and a few pieces of pita. I also ate half of a jalapeno turkey sandwich - leaving most of the bread - with a side salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Friday night was graduation for my nursing students.. again, YAY!! I was so proud and happy to see them finish their educations. I ended up just eating half of a sweet potato for dinner... I wasn't super hungry after the big lunch. Sweet potatoes are awesome sources of fiber and stimulate the good hormones for women, so it was a good, comforting and healthy choice!

Yay, Graduates!! YAY, SUMMER!!!!

Advocare - Day 17 - Seventeen... It's like strawberry wi-iiiine...

Haha. So I haven't thought about that song in FOREVER!! I LOVED that song!! I used to sing it all over the place... Of course, I had NO idea what that song was about. You should look it up on iTunes or Pandora and have yourself a little bit of nostalgia! ;)

So, I haven't "blogged" the last few days, but I've been keeping my notes up and I am catching up on the online documentation NOW!

Thursday I did the same thing I've done the last several days... MNS packs, meal replacement shake, salad for lunch... yada, yada... Except, I sort of cheated a little at dinner... I had a meeting for our Junior League, here in Amarillo, and they always serve dinner at the meetings. Usually they are pretty health conscious... I mean, it's a bunch of beautiful women trying to keep their figures. But this night, they served lasagna! YUMMMM... I ate a small piece and had a lot of the salad. I skipped the bread and only ate a bite of the dessert, but lasagna definitely did not fit the challenge plan!

Weight loss today: 6 lbs (still)

Advocare - Day 16

I woke up pretty late this morning since I didn't have much to do at work today. I took my MNS packs and drank my spark and meal replacement... I am meeting friends for lunch today, so I need to think hard about what is more important to me: losing weight or eating something comforting. I need to make the right choice. I don't have more weight I can sacrifice on food. It's not worth it!!

I think the thing that has killed me with the weight loss is that I haven't had time to exercise like I should be. I have had work every day and then commitments every evening... Some days I have had time in between work and my evening commitments, but I have chosen not to exercise because I don't want to shower again and dry my hair again and apply make-up again.... etc. ugh. I need to get over it and realize that it is worth it!!! After Friday, I will not have any commitments for the last week of the challenge, and I plan to exercise every day.

I am planning on eating a salad and a lean meat for lunch, and I will cook chicken and veggies for dinner tonight.

I think I can lose another 2-3 lbs by the end of this - which will bring my total weight loss to 8-9 lbs... which I think is a good number. I was hoping for 10, but I need to own up to my own short-comings and be proud of the weight I have lost!

To reach my goal weight, I will have another 14-15 lbs to lose. I am going to try to keep blogging and hold myself accountable until I reach my goal. It's time to stop letting that weight be a fantasy... It's time to make it a reality. There is no excuse!!