WIW and Cleanse results

I survived the first 10 days of the Advocare 24 day challenge.  The first 10 days is the cleanse portion.

I had to dig deep for strength.   It was not always easy.   I made a decision to do this and I was determined to do it right.

I only gagged on the fiber drink a couple of times. 

I missed my daily coffee, I had a total a 2 cups during the 10 days.   I had two migraines and sometimes coffee is the only thing that helps.

As much as thought that I would miss cheese, I was surprised to find that I did not miss it at all.

I focused on the good foods that I could eat like almonds, almond butter, avocados, eggs, fruits and veggies.


Day 1 of the cleanse was easy.  We were visiting my mother in law for Mother's Day and she sent my kids home with 6 packages of full size  M & M's.  No problem!  I did not even want them.

Day 2 I noticed my energy was low.

Day 3 I had a massive headache and took  a few naps.

Days 4-10 I felt great.  I was never that hungry.  I ate clean 95% of the time.    I exercised most days.

I watched as my family ate pizza, hamburgers, ice cream and did not cave in one time.

I do have strength and determination when I am motivated.  


Overall, I think the cleanse is a great way to get your eating back on track when you have fallen off the wagon.

I lost a total of 7.6 pounds.     My current weight is 181.5.

Unfortunately, I am still above my pre-vacation weight.

It's crazy how fast you can put weight back on when you stop exercising and eating healthy.

I have lost weight many times and at some point in the process I get lazy and quit trying.

I am recommitting to myself to keep trying. 

I still want to get to a normal weight range.
 
The next part of the challenge is 14 days.

I am going to keep this momentum going and increase the exercise.

I will back next week with an update!

I have lived in Oklahoma my entire life.   I have seen devastation from tornadoes.   It never gets easier.  

Please pray for these families that lost their homes and their loved ones.

There's many ways to help



  


Hello Apparel is donating 100% of sales of this tank to the Red Cross.

If you are interested in helping a family in need you can read Kimmy's post  here about a single mom who lost everything in the tornado.

Cleanse update and some things I wish I knew last year

I am on day 9 of the Advocare 24 day challenge.  
I feel great!
I have lost weight!  Wahoo!!!
I have stuck to the suggested food list, for the most part.  

I did eat a Carrot Cake Luna Bar, that might be considered cheating, but it was really good.




I start physical therapy this week.
I had a great evaluation last week and will be going 2 times per week for 4 weeks.
The physical therapist said that the problem with me knee is not my knee.   Say What?
It's my hips.   My hips are weak and when I run my knee is turning in and that's causing the pain.

Right now I can only squat 29% of my body weight and run with 65% of my body weight without pain.
The goal is to get me back to 100%   without knee pain.

 My daily homework for PT is to do 60 hip burners on each side,  100 of the exercises below on each leg and to strengthen my core.

When I started running last year, no one told me how important it is to have strong hips, quads and abs.
 I searched the web for running tips for months.
 
I found numerous sites that said to get the proper shoes, and to eat the right foods for fuel, but never found what I really needed to hear.

So for any new runners out there, do not neglect your hips and abs!!  You need them strong in order to carry your body weight.

I am confident PT is going to work!
I signed up for two 5k's for later this summer.

The Diva Dash and the Glow Run.


Has anyone else tried the Carrot Cake Luna Bar??
Any races in your future?

Weekend Recap and Weekly goals

I had a great Mother's Day.  I got to sleep in on Sunday Morning.   What more can a mother ask for?

Friday night was rehearsal for Mackenzie's dance recital.   It lasted 4 hours.  It was cray cray!
Saturday was the dance recital.  It was awesome!   I love watching her dance and she loves it soooo much.  It was so sweet watching all of the little girls and boys dance their little hearts out.

We went out for lunch on Saturday for Mother's Day because I started the Advocare 24 day challenge on Sunday.  Saturday was my last day to eat whatever I wanted.   I had seafood enchiladas and a mojito.
YUM! 
As far as the challenge, so far, so good. 
It's only day 2.

My goals for this week are:

Do not cheat on this challenge
Exercise every day

That's it.  Sounds simple enough!

What are your weekly goals?

This weekend is going to be super busy.
It's dance recital weekend for Mac.
She's a real champ for complaining about sitting through her brother's 1,274 ballgames all year.
So this is her weekend.  She works hard all year long just for one performance.
And she likes to make sure that her brother sits through every minute of the dance recital.
Ha ha!  For real, it's torture for him.

I finally had my appointment with the knee doctor.
I will be starting physical therapy next week for 4 weeks.   
My knee cap is off track.    I need to build up the inside muscles around my knee to pull the kneecap back where it's suppose to be.
Hopefully, PT will do the trick  and I will be ready to run again.
I wish now that I would have gone to the doctor weeks ago. 
It's such a simple fix, fingers crossed it works and the pain will disappear. 

I am starting the Advocare 24 day challenge on Sunday.
I ordered it earlier this week from Ashley and it should arrive today.   
For some reason I can not get back on track since vacation.
That's almost been two months.   

I was doing so well  at the first of the year and lately I can not get myself motivated.
I am excited to to start the challenge.  I think it's just what I need right now.

 I will leave you with a picture of the cutest picture ever, Mackenzie dressed up as Sacagawea for a school project this week.

And one more picture of my mom and I from November 2008.
 If you are still have your mom on this earth be sure to hug her extra tight this weekend. 
 I wish I could still hug my mama.

 Have a great weekend!

Top Ten Tuesday- recipes

I am linking up with Trista for Top Ten Tuesday. 


I am going to share my family's top 10 favorite recipes.

1. Sopapilla Cheesecake- 

This is so easy and delicious.  My kids can make all by themselves.  
2.  Cajun Chicken- 
Chicken with a kick.  It's the best chicken eva!   I use way less oil than what the recipe calls for.

3.   Buttered Egg Noodles-

4. M&M's Bars-
Easy, easy, easy.  These do not last long. 

5. Oven-Baked Chicken
This Bisquik makes this chicken.  YUMM!!
 
6. Fettucine Alfredo 

7.  Tortellini
Buy the frozen package,  add pasta sauce and it's the easiest meal. 

8.  Baked Tacos 
-
9. Monkey Bread



10. Cheese-Garlic Biscuits


I am stuck on Allrecipes.com and Tasteofhome.com
Any other recipes sites that I should check out??
What are your favorite recipes?   

Last Friday Night

I went with some friends to see Spank.  It's the 50 Shades parody play.   It was pretty funny!   The show was two hours long and we laughed the entire time.  It's a three person play.   They changed the names of the characters, since they are spoofing the book.   I did not have high expectation going in, but it was very entertaining and I highly recommend it. 
I was surprised to see so many men in the audience.   
  You can find the tour dates here.

I am also having a Thirty One party.    You can view the newest catalog here.  
You can order online through May 14 by clicking here.
I have my eye on a few things.    let me know if you have any questions.