Down 4!

Happy Hump Day!

I am excited to share I am down 4 pounds! WAHOO! I feel uh-ma-zing! Took me a while to get there...finally lost the headaches and exhaustion...now I am feeling energized and lighter? I dont know if lighter is the best word to describe how I am feeling but... I am feeling good needless to say! I was telling a girlfriend yesterday I feel like my tummy has shrunk! I get full much faster and am eating all day. When I say eating all day, I mean.. I try VERY hard to stick to the 2-3 hour small meal concept. Being a teacher, that is tricky at times, I have to set alarms and I tend to graze because I work through my meals...  but I am putting the calories in and wouldn't you think that's even a better way to keep your metabolism going? Eat slowly throughout the day? ha!

I went to turbo kickboxing tonight-- if you know me you know I am addicted and I LOVE this class. Hello  Goodbye 800+ calories in an hour! :) And I find it quite therapeutic--- picture ex boyfriend as I "jab-cross-hook-uppercut" hehehe! This is my 3rd time to hit the gym since we've started... It took me a while to balance out and not feel completely exhausted, Ideally I want to be in the gym 5 times a week.... and had planned on trying a cardio dance party class tomorrow but am attending an Advocare training instead. I am excited! =)

Anyhoo- I was STARVING when I got home from the gym today and I ran to the fridge to make my stuffed red bell peppers to realize I forgot to pull the ground turkey out- good one Lauren! Not the thing my starving tummy wanted to see. So luckily my girl Angela was in the area and we met at this little restruant in Coppell. We ordered something I typically would never order... blackened tilapia fish tacos. Don't get me wrong, sounds delish, but I like grease... and I would have gone for the chicken sandwich and french fries had things been a little different. Anyway- we ordered our tacos on corn tortillas and had a small side of black beans. **proof you can eat out and eat healthy!** I think we both were dying for something that wasn't total veggie or fruit fest. If I had to eat another salad I was going to vomit. I needed to mix it up!

I have been taking an optional supplement on this challenge, Catalyst, and I loooove it!

Catalyst - "Lipo in a Bottle," "Gut-Be-Gone," "Butt-Be-Gone". - Pulls loose water out of fat cells and into lean muscle tissue to give an instant "toning" effect. - Preserves muscle during times of calorie restriction and fat burning. - Keeps muscle toned and fed. - Take three first thing in the morning and, if desired, mid-afternoon or before exercise with Spark.

Day 5

This is going to be short and sweet... Day 5=NO HEADACHES and Not exhausted!! I finally hit the feel good stage! =) YAY! Were on the downhill slope from here-- cleanse wise. I haven't been feel hungry as much lately (because I am keeping my snack/meal times on schedule preventing myself from going to starvation mode).

As far as weight loss goes... I am avoiding the scale until atleast day 10. =) However, I think the girls I am doing this challenge with have been shedding some poundage- holla!

This is definitely a lifestyle I want to adopt... with the exception of adding in some wine here and there ;) Like I said yesterday...It's amazing the crap we put into our bodies and even more sad that our bodies go into shock when we attempt to cleanse it out.

I hope everyone has a fabulous week and I will leave you with this!

Day 4

Ahem, am I the only one who is blogging here (tapping the microphone....)...where are my fellow 24 day challengers!! :)

So, today is my day 4. It is a Saturday... let me answer you a few things:
1. I REALLY wanted a diet dp today. I got a little crabby (sorry Steph!)
2. Went to the gym for kickboxing... only made it half way. I blame a) new instructor b) been busy/haven't made it in a while c) running low on energy! *but hey, I went!
3. it was G-O-R-G-O-U-S in Dallas today...can I get an Amen!? Wanted to go on a hike with the doggies, but I am still tired once 1pm hits so I took a nap and then needed to pack. (Which I am supposed to be doing right now, and look at me... how productive am I?)
4. All that to stay I stuck to my meals and snacks and NO MIMOSAS or DDP! =) WOOHOO! I am proud of myself!

I am hoping day 5/half way mark through the cleanse I begin to feel a little better. It makes me sad how crappy I have felt. Well, not crappy... I feel fine but, I have been getting these killer headaches. Daily. Sometimes maybe twice a day. :/ My body is pushing a heck of a lot of toxins out of my body, apparently. The crap we put into our bodies....is not cool. And this verse comes to mind when I type this:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The past 4 days and I am sure I will continue to feel this way, makes me really embrace that scripture. We all need to remember that our bodies are a temple and treat them as one. We have to stop putting crap in our bodies!!

All that being said I finally made Spaghetti Squash! I feel like there is some hype about this, or maybe i watch too much of the biggest looser, so I have been wanting to try it. Let me just say-- it was DELISH! See awesome photos below for instructions!

The ingredients I used (i feel like you could throw whatever veggies you liked into create your sauce these were just ones I liked)
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 can of organic tomato sauce
- 1 squash
- 1 zuchinni
- 1/4 onion
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 lb ground turkey
- salt, peper, 1 tbs olive oil

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! :)

Day 4

Sooo day 2 and 3 were kind of tough...bad headaches and tummy aches.Today is day 4 (didn't have to drink the fiber today!! Yay!!) and I can honestly say I'm going strong!

 I made yummy taco salad with ground turkey meat tonight for dinner! It was so good! For dessert I sliced apples, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and baked them at 350 for 50 minutes. They were perfect for my sweet tooth.

Tomorrow I plan on making yummy chicken tortilla soup (minus the tortilla). Will post the recipe later!

Day 2 & 3

hehehe, this made me giggle and I thought it would be a good way to start my uneventful post!

Alright so heres a little update for you, ya know...since it's Friday and I have nothing better to be doing. :p Typically the girls and I are at our favorite watering hole... but it's ok I made good choices! 

I may or may not be pretending this is beer, wings and cheese fries...

I WILL celebrate this little photo

annnnd the night is YOUNG! :) 

Anyhoo- I have been sticking with the challenge as directed. Day 3 is the last day for the fiber drinks, which I actually haven't really minded. ((be sure you get peaches and cream!)) The one thing I can say is that I have been exhausted! Well, I take that back, I have been feeling very energized in the morning but by noon I am done for the day. I am hoping tomorrow, Day 4, I am feeling a little more energized throughout the day. I'm planning on going to Turbo kickboxing tomorrow so I will definitely need that energy. 

Tomorrow, I am making some spaghetti squash and will share my recipe then! 

Happy Friday!

The Gluten-free 24-Day Challenge Begins!

     Researching and prepping for a gluten-free challenge has been just that "a challenge".  I finally decided that I could safely drink the fruit punch flavored Spark, and do all of the herbal cleanse except the bedtime tablets.  Luckily I already have something comparable that I can use.  The last 14 days of the challenge I am tweaking a lot.  We will see if this works.  I am going to replace one meal every other day with the meal replacement shake, take garcenia cambogia as my appetite suppresant and continue omega -3 and the Spark, and continue with my altered diet and workout plan.  There were 3 parts of the MNS C that I couldn't get enough information on their ingredients, so I decided to play it safe since I have Celiac's Disease. 

More information on another post about how my challenge is going so far.  Caffiene withdrawal headaches and all!

Jill

1st Day

Hey ya'll! 

Okay so day 1 wasn't too bad I should say, except for my fiber drink mishap. This morning I woke up at 5am drank my spark (fruit punch flavor) with no problems and than 30 minutes later it was time for my FIBER drink! I decided to add it to my 16 oz bottle of water. BIG MISTAKE! As I was drinking it on my way to work, I noticed that the drink was getting thicker and thicker. It was so nasty and gross! It turned into a bottle of GOO! So I threw it away...and drank a glass of water instead. After speaking with my lovely teachers who are also doing Advocare, I now know that I must drink it with ice cold water and take it like a shot. Thank ladies!

Overall I did pretty well today (except for the FIBER drink). Here was my schedule:
5:00am-Spark 
5:45-Fiber Drink followed by a bottle of water
7:00-Egg white muffins (consisted of two egg whites, turkey bacon, spinach, and mushrooms) and a cucumber
10:00-1/8 cup of raw almonds and a small cutie orange
11:45-Spark
12:30-Salad with lemon juice instead of dressing and 5 Strawberries
3:00-small Gala apple and 1/8 cup raw almonds
5:45-Turkey Chili Soup (It was supposed to be chili, but it was more like soup)

Day 1...

Well, Day 1 of the 24 Day Challenge is coming to an end and I am proud to say I stuck with it! =) I am a little worn out due to lack of caffeine, carbs and protein. We read that if you stick with fruits and veggies for meals 2-5 it would "jump start" your cleanse. So... that was the plan. I stuck with it pretty well, however, after talking to my advocare leader and her telling me that she's never heard of that... i've decided on FISH tonight! I never thought I would be so excited for fish... (im not a huge fish fan)

So my day looked a little like this:





YES- I set alarms. I teach kindergarten... life is crazy in a kindergarten classroom so I wanted to be sure I fit in my snacks. I am awful at a)not eating unless im hungry b)getting busy and forgetting to eat c) waiting to eat until im STARVED. So I strongly suggest alarms to help you keep on track with the food every 2.5 hours! It saved me today!

I got home and talked with an advocare friend and she gave me some great information on products! I understand some of the things a little better! I had another spark (#3) when I got off the phone with her and took 3 catalyst. She suggested that I take them not only before a work out but anytime I notice I am hungry between meals. Catalyst is like eating a chicken breast, except for the calories, according to her. So I was a little hungry, ya know since I hadn't eaten much aside from my fruits and veggies... and sure thing! It filled me up until it was dinner time! For dinner I am having Cod, brown rice and asparagus (oh and of course some water!) With that being said I am off to eat and then RELAX!

Mediterranean cod, brown rice and asparagus

I am looking forward to day 2.... 23 days to go! :)

Lauren

Who Are WE!?

Lauren here! :)

So, I am exhausted. I spent all afternoon prepping for our first day of the cleanse. Grocery shopping with my favorite, Angela. Meal prepping. Cooking. Sigh. My. Feet. Are. Killing. Me.

I did get to meet my bestie for one final diet dp and cheese burger at sonic. We had a little patio date, caught up, and destressed! (today was a tad bit on the ridiculous side)

Anyway, I wanted to post real fast because I must get to watching The Following (if you haven't watched you're a freak missing out!! Oh- so why I am posting. #1 a little background on why we are writing this blog and #2 to show off my mad prepping skills!

So, #1- we are a group of incredibly awesome and HOT teachers in the great state of Texas y'all! (can I get a yeehaw???) No, but in all seriousness... we live and teach together in the Dallas area. We are wanting to get healthy, as most people, and sort of stumbled on to the 24 day challenge! I have heard about it from various people and have always been quite skeptical of these types of things... especially when theyre over $100!!!! My girlfriend, Mandy, had AMAZING results though and I am hoping for the same... which I feel like I can safely speak for all of us when I say we all hope for amazing results. Being the teachers we are... we all hit up pinterest for ideas on what exactly to do on this crazy challenge and didn't find a whole lot. (recipe wise and food log wise.) So my wish for this is to archive our journey... share things that did and didn't work...encourage others...celebrate our success.... help people? :)

I read that to help jump start the cleanse to eat only fruits and veggies for meals 2-5 on day 1... so tomorrow that's my plan. I made some egg muffins...

I may or may not have put too much egg in the muffin tins...oopsies? :/

preppng fooooood!

Anyway- I must relax now but wanted to share. Food Logs and more details to come tomorrow! =)

hello world!

hi!