Day 24 (and beyond)

Whoops!

I meant to update after the 24 day challenge ended.

Here's how it played out.

I lost a total of 11 lbs in 24 days. I also lost 11.75 inches!

That's craziness!!!

My challenge ended on May 10. Since then, I've actually lost an additional 2 lbs (and idk how many inches. I'll have to measure this weekend) and have maintained pretty well.

What I missed on the challenge and have since added back:

1. Coffee. I love coffee. I can't live without this. I only drink 1-2 cups a day now (vs. a pot or more) and I sweeten it with truvia. No calories, no problems!
2. Wine. There is a very strict no alcohol policy on the 24 Day Challenge, but I love a good glass of wine every now and again.
3. Shakeology. This might have been my biggest miss of the whole challenge (after coffee). I really missed drinking Shakeology for breakfast. I've got it back now!

I love the 24 Day Challenge as a good way to break all bad habits of the traditional American eating style - all convenience, very little nutrition. 

I don't like all of the "you can't have" that's associated with it.

What I really don't like - the price! Ugh.

Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't work. It DEFINITELY works. I'll honestly probably do another one in August. I love the challenge. It's a nice - albeit expensive - way to reset your system. And Spark is sooooo good.

However, when it comes down to it, I'm a Beachbody girl. I've converted my fiance into a Beachbody believer as well.

We finish PiYo on June 19th. Then, we are going to move on to another Becahbody program. Idk which one yet, but we're looking at a few - 21 Day Fix seems to be a big contender.

I'm also in a challenge group right now with a few coaches. I'm hoping to lead my own in a few months! We all come at this from a very truthful perspective and, above all, we remember to do this in a Godly way. We know that it's honoring God to take care of your body and to not let food addiction consume your life. We use books and scripture along the way. It's very spiritual and very insightful!

The most exciting part - I'm now a Coach! I prayed about it for so long. Nick even wanted to do it. Then, when my mom started showing interest in 21 Day Fix and Shakeology, I knew it was time!

If you're interested in any Beachbody products (and you want an honest opinion) ask away! If I don't like a program or if I don't think something is what you'll like, I'll tell you. I'd never compromise my morals to make a sale. Honestly, what's important to me is helping others achieve their goals while I'm achieving mine. I also hope to help my friends and family grow closer to God as we fight this battle together. I want to inspire them and I know they'll inspire me!

If you want to browse products, here's my link:

http://www.beachbodycoach.com/gardneab

I'll be updating continuously as I go through this journey with my fiance! We're taking our health very seriously! You should too! :)

It's Day 18 (7 more days to go!)

First of all, we're in the final countdown! :)


Yes, I'm a dork.


But really, there are only 7 days left of this challenge! That's including today! I'm so excited! We've almost finished!


Before I jump into that, let's talk about my new puppy!!!

Oh my goodness. Can you just look at this preciousness:

We got him yesterday! Nick picked him up as soon as he got back into town from work. I was at physical therapy, so I didn't get to go :(

Anyway, he's done such a great job! We got him home, he ate some food, went outside to use the bathroom (and has not gone in the house at all yet, other than a small piddle when my mean cat, Luna, smacked him), and played to the point where he passed out in the bathroom for an hour. He was worn out.

Then, I gave him a bath and he got all cuddly in a towel. Christian came home and got to love on him for a little while. We put him in his crate for "night-night time" and he stayed there all night! No whining. No using the bathroom in it! We are very impressed with him!

Back to the purpose of the post: the challenge!

Yesterday was easy! It's always easiest on days that you've planned out well or on days where you stay super busy. Yesterday was both. I ended up with exactly 1300 calories in, which, according to MyFitnessPal, will still have me lose roughly 12 pounds in the next 5 weeks! Yay for progress!

I was extremely tired yesterday, though. Like, more so than I normally am. I don't know why. I don't think I slept well the night before. Waking up at 4:30 takes its toll on you, for sure. I'm so ready for Saturday. I don't think I have anywhere to go, so sleeping will be happening!

Anyway, time for some TMI: My bowels are starting to adjust again. I was having issues for a couple of days just due to being off of the "Cleanse" phase. Now, I'm good again, I think! Everything feels better and my body is digesting food like it should be.

Also, I think the healthy eating is something I can keep up after the challenge is over. My friend, Amanda, who is also my Beachbody coach, has me in a 7 Day Clean Eating challenge group on Facebook. Then, another group starts May 9th because I bought a challenge pack (I wanted Beachbody on Demand and I missed my Shakeology). We're going to go through a novel called Made to Crave. I am very excited about this! I think the challenge groups will help me stay on track! The next one, the one on May 9th, starts 2 days before my 24 day challenge is over, so it gives me something to hold on to.

PiYo: Core tonight. I think we've moved our rest days to Wednesdays. It's hard to get motivated in the middle of the week (hump day sucks). Plus, with my physical therapy on Wednesdays for my arm, I'm usually a little sore. I was on Monday and Wednesday, anyway. We're going to keep pushing play until we conquer our goals, though! We've got this!

I'll update more tomorrow (prepare for more puppy pics. I'm sure they're coming).

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY + Update (Day 17)

It's been a crazy week, thus far. It's only Wednesday.

Stahhhhhp. Time is going by so slowly!

On Monday of this week, I started going to Physical Therapy. I have tendinitis and PIN syndrome - both in my right forearm. I finally got in to see the therapist, and I'm now sporting this lovely Kinesio Tape (Rock Tape) down my right arm.

It looks like every Monday and Wednesday are going to be my "massage + ultrasound + electrical stimulation + tape" days. It is painful, but it helps a little. We'll see how it helps over the next few weeks.

Also, today we are getting our puppy! He's a black lab (probably mixed with something else, but it's so faint). Because it's Star Wars Day, we are naming him Kylo Skywalker (yes, yes, I know it's Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and he's not technically a Skywalker...but we're making it work).


Let's talk about the challenge:

Today is Day 17 of 24! 8 more days to go, including today, and we're done!

After the Cleanse phase was over, my body had to readjust to bathroom habits. It's finally starting to relax into some good habits, I think. It's a struggle, but it always has been for me (TMI, I guess).

Nutritionally speaking, it's been alright. For the past two days, I've been on the lower end of my calorie range. MyFitnessPal recommends that I get 1420, excluding calories earned from exercise. I've been somewhere between 1100-1200 for two days. I'm not trying to stay low; I'm just satisfied from eating less these days.

Nick and I both are still getting up at 4:30 for yoga and supplements. We are still doing PiYo 6x/week at night. Last night was Buns. I don't think I'm that sore, but man, it hurts while you're working it out! 30 minutes of sheer pain!

We've been doing mostly a good job with eating - except this weekend when I let Nick cook -_-

He also had an interesting, dairy-full Monday. I told him that I wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He can just watch his food himself. He's done better since!

Last night, I had two pieces of tilapia (cooked on the George Foreman, which might be my new favorite way to cook anything - especially fish) and some corn. I was satisfied after that. For me, that's a huge change because I love to eat.


I hope that I see some good results when we weigh and measure on Day 25.



As far as after Day 25, Nick and I have a plan in place, we think:

--Keep going with Spark
--Shakeology! I had to order more. It's so wonderful and makes me feel so good.
--Follow the 21 Day Fix eating plan
--Continue with yoga in the AM and PiYo at night. It's working, so why quit?
--21 Day Fix workouts after PiYo is over? Maybe?


Yay! I feel so good :)

Day 13-14 (and today...)

So, I didn't post at all this weekend because I stayed relatively busy, but here's a recap:


Saturday. Was. Awful.


Ok, ok, so it didn't start out that way.

I hung out around the house with my fiance and my son. We had a good breakfast and a healthy lunch. Then, I had to get ready and take my Beta Club kids to the Humane Society to volunteer. We had so much fun. The girls fell in love with all of the kittens and I - as much as it pains me to admit this - fell in love with a labrador retriever puppy. I held him for like 15 minutes, and now he's mine. I go back to get him on Wednesday. Nick is ecstatic. I have told him "no dogs" for months. Then, I surprised him with one. He had no idea, but he's thrilled! It's exactly what he wanted - a black lab.

His name will be Kylo Skywalker (this was set in stone when I reminded Nick that Wednesday is "Star Wars Day" - May the fourth be with you...hahahahahahaha).

Anyway, then we went to Fayetteville to go to Sam's Club for groceries. We go about once a month and stock up. I was so hungry by the time that we got to Fayetteville. Nick convinced me that we could have a "cheat" meal and we went into Red Robin for dinner. The wait was 20 minutes or less. Nick said no and we left. We were in a hurry.

Thus begun my bad mood.

I wanted a burger. Red Robin had healthier options. I wanted it!!!

We ended up eating cheese pizza at Sam's Club at the inClubcafe. -_- One freaking piece of cheese pizza was 580 calories. What the heck!?

Nope.

Bad mood extended.

Then, Christian acted like a crazy person the rest of the time we were there - I mean, he's 4 but WOW!

Bad mood can now touch the top of Sam's Club, and those ceilings are pretty high.

After we get to the checkout, Nick realizes one of the things is broken and has to go get more...leaving me alone with the cart and the checkout process. The total is ungodly and I'm ready to stroke out by the time he gets back.

Double what we had planned to spend.

Now, we can add stress to the bad mood.

We left there and went to Dick's to get my new yoga mat. That was a positive. I really like it thus far! I've used it for two days and it's nice!

Then to PetSmart for dog supplies (that we didn't get at Sams).

Now Nick's broke, I'm broke, and Christian is still acting like a crazy person!

I cried the whole way home. I was hungry, because the junk food had completely gone away. I was dehydrated. I was broke. And, because I was in a bad mood, I was scared that if I couldn't snap out of it, Nick was going to leave me.

^^Sidenote: Nick is not going to leave me. I'm irrational and I have panic disorder. I always jump to the worst case scenario before I rationalize anything out. Actually, I usually have to be forced to calm down and someone else has to rationalize things before I can see the clear picture. Nick loves me; I just have horrible relationship experience.

Luckily, by the time we got home, I was better. Exhausted, but better.

Definitely time for sleep...


Sunday was better (Day 14).

We didn't go to Church, mostly because I had such a horrible headache. Yoga made the headache worse. Inversions and blood flow reversal, ugh. My head was pounding.

After my parents got out of Church, they asked if they could come get Christian for a little while. He was so good yesterday while he was here, but they wanted to see him, so I agreed!

They all left and Nick made lunch. Velveeta (whole wheat rotini) and tilapia. One cup of the macaroni is like 310 calories, so it could be worse.

We watched Sherlock Holmes, did our face masks, showered, shaved, and got all pretty (<< hahaha. No. We don't do pretty after Church on Sundays. We do relaxed and comfortable)

Then, Nick's parents brought over a steam cleaner for my carpets. I spent the next 3 hours working. It was amazing. I've never steam cleaned my carpets. I've lived here for 4 years and they've never been done. I have two cats now and I've had two different dogs come through here. One of them peed everywhere and the other got sick and pooped all over one of my carpeted rooms. You can't even tell now. That was the best part of yesterday! The floors look amazing.

Nick tried to make a low-calorie dinner......He's never allowed to help me with "healthy" foods again. (One bowl of his dinner was 558 calories.) Lol!!!

Christian came home around 8:30 -_- Past his bedtime, but he had fun with his Grammy and Papa. We got him all clean and in bed just in time to do PiYo: Core. 30 minutes of "fun" later, it was time for yet another shower. So sweaty.

Then, bed.


Now, here we are, Day 15. Only 9 more days to go.

This weekend, we weren't perfect. We splurged, maybe a little too much. Saturday felt like a nightmare, but really wasn't all bad. We're getting a new family member - Kylo!

It's going to be a good week, although I'm exhausted now.

:)