My Weightloss Journey...One Year Down

Life has turned me upside down the past few weeks. Our home was opened as a provisional foster home and we have two new little ones. My daughter had an appendectomy, my husband has a hiatal hernia, my husband's car broke down, the two new little have both been sick separate times, we had hiccups in getting my stepson here for Christmas break and I have been swamped with paperwork to get certified for fostering. I've definitely been humbled this month.

I've managed to stay on top of tracking my food and getting my workouts completed. I didn't lose any weight last week but I also had an unwelcomed visitor. I did splurge on Christmas Eve and Christmas more than I wanted to.

I have one more week left of this year and I want to lose ONE more pound. This would put me at 60 lbs lost for the year. Even with PCOS, that's an average of 1.15 lbs per week. Although there were plenty of weeks that I lost nothing...

I keep getting compliments and questions about my weight loss. People ask if I am at my goal weight and a lot of them seem to think I have lost enough. The reality is I still weigh 178 lbs. I am still a size 13/14. I am super happy about that but I know there is still progress to be made.

Rather than focusing on the scale, like I have my entire life, I am going concentrate on strength training. I know that to change the shape of my body I have to train with weights. This will be a learning process for me.  

This is the first year that I have not given up midway through and gained all of my weight back. What exactly did I do to lose weight? I tracked all of my food intake. I use Weight Watchers' previous points system. I made sure to keep up my intake of supplements. I love AdvoCare. I workout. True story. lol I love FitnessBlender videos on youtube.com. I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep. Easy enough, right?

I would say the two things that made the difference was giving it to God because I know I can't do it on my own and I committed to the process through affirmation statements. Have a support system if at all possible. If you don't have one at home or work you find one online. I love Instagram because you can follow real people on their fitness journey and find inspiration and motivation.

I gladly welcome others to join me on this journey to get healthy! :)  

Progress of 24 Day Challenge {Day10}

I meant to post a few days ago...then the weekend happened! We went rollerskating Friday night after work, I had a training on Saturday followed by a baby shower and then we visited with my momma for most of today for our birthday, which is tomorrow.

I completed my 10 Herbal Cleanse on Wednesday 10/12/2016. I weighed in on Thursday morning and my scale read 188.0. That's a total of  4.2 lbs from 10/3. I didn't really feel like the scale represented the true progress of the cleanse because Aunt Flo had visited me earlier in the week.

 

My typical weigh-in time is always Friday mornings. I went ahead and got on the scale Friday as well and it read 186.2!!! So I feel this is my more accurate results of the cleanse even though there was one extra day added to the total.

For those of you that don't know, I have PCOS and I typically get multiple warning signs when my visitor is coming. This time I had no clue. There were no crazy cravings, no mood swings and no cramping except a little on the first day. It was kinda awesome. I am usually always miserable a few days before and even after.

I have not taken measurements. I will save that for the end of the 24 Day Challenge that will end on 10/26/2016. I can tell you that my clothes are fitting looser...especially my pants!

Now I am on to the Max Phase and I am excited to build up my core nutrition and continuing to work towards my goals. Stay tuned for the final results!

Progress of 24 Day Challenge {Day 5}

I am super excited about my progress with the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge!!! I started on Monday 10/3/16. I had been stuck at 192.2 throughout September. Between our move and the kiddos back in school my stress levels where crazy high and with PCOS that just makes matters worse. I am happy I was able to maintain and not actually gain during September.

However, I know that I needed to step things up if I wanted to keep progressing towards my goals. My next goal is to get to 180. See where I started here.

  

I weighed in on Friday 10/7. That's 4 full days of my 10 day cleanse phase of the challenge. I have already lost 3.6 lbs!!! I've never been on a cleanse that was this easy before! I actually get to eat real food and I am not in the bathroom 27/4. I work full time and it hasn't interfered with my job. I feel pretty amazing too. I will tell ya around day three I was a little irritable. I vented to a friend and got over it and by Thursday morning I was feeling great.

 

I feel better than I have in a long time. I eat 6-7 times a day. I count Weight Watcher points to stay on track with my calorie intake. I know all too well how quickly calories can get out of control! I do follow the Herbal Cleanse precisely with the exception that I have added an extra dosage of OmegaPlex daily.

I will post an update after my full 10 Days of the cleanse and then my weight and measurements after the 24 days! So stay tuned!  

Quiting Coffee...What?!?

So I haven't posted in a minute. It's crazy how life can get away from you. We are back in the swing of school and all of the activities and homework that comes along with that. My youngest is in fifth grade this year and let me tell ya'll I am not smarter than a fifth grader! It's kinda embarrassing!lol

So I love coffee. If I could have had an IV drip hooked up I would have. Ha! I was drinking about 5-8 cups a day. Yes I am aware that was quite excessive. Here's the thing, my coffee would "wake me up" for about 27 minutes at a time (being a little dramatic here) but honestly it would wear off quickly and I would need more. I literally thought I couldn't live without it. I was addicted and dependent. I was still tired and oh so cranky.

I really didn't think there was a problem. I would drink it black often so I wasn't using my Weight Watcher points on in. A little over three weeks ago I was getting nauseous throughout the day and it happened for about 3-4 days. It seemed to happen around the same time I'd have coffee. It was seriously upsetting my stomach. I had to stop drinking it.

A month ago I would have thought I'd die without my coffee. Here I am three weeks later. Alive. I feel great. I haven't quit caffeine 100% but it has been reduced soooo much. I drink a Spark in the morning and then have a cup of hot tea in the afternoon.

I feel different. I am not sure how to explain it. I am less tired and less anxious. I have an anxiety disorder so I am sure that the coffee was not helping that at all. I am happy that I quit.

I know that I could NOT have done this without my Advocare Spark!!! I have been using Spark off and on for about two years. I'd use it for workouts or a late afternoon pick me up. I started having it every morning when I gave up the coffee. Spark is a unique blend of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and the right amount of caffeine.* I love it! It helps me focus, gives me enough energy to feel sustained and I get so much done during my day compared to the pot of coffee I was drinking before. It isn't like a crazy burst of energy which is what I like. I don't want to feel crazy out of mind. I do a good job of that on my own ;) My favorite flavors are cherry, fruit punch and pink lemonade.

Find out more about Advocare on my micro site. I signed up to be a distributor after two years of using Spark, CorePlex and OmegaPlex. I immediately got a 20% discount and free products. Advocare now has a preferred customer option if you want a discount on your products. You can even get up to 30% off!!! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me.

I am starting the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. Come back to see how that goes! Hope y'all have a great day. Don't give up on your weight loss journey!

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Weight Loss Update Since the Move: Back on Track!

We are starting to settle into the new home. Still have a garage full of boxes but life is starting to look normal again. I was scared to weigh myself since we had been grabbing convenience food for a week or so. I did finally get on the scale because I knew if I didn’t I would continue to let it get out of hand and it would end up worse than what it could be. I dreadfully stepped on the scale and it read 195.6. Okay. Not as bad as I thought. I only gained 2.4 lbs. over three weeks or so. I was really scared that it would be more.  

I know the only way to lose weight and even maintain my weight is to make healthy choices and keep track of everything I am eating. I did not do that. I was highly stressed and didn’t manage it well. Plus I ran out of my AdvoCare vitamins! 

I was starting to feel defeated again and starting to plan my next pity party. This is when I remembered my new motto: fall down seven times, stand up eight...I am only a failure when I give up!

 

During the midst of the craziness I decided I would try the 21 day fix. I wanted to change things up a bit. I thought it would give me something to focus on. I bought containers, made a binder, started a pinterest board and looked up as much info as I could. I failed on day one. 

Although the plan seems great, there wasn’t much wiggle room. I realize it is about clean eating and portion control but there was no “cheat” meal, no day off…nothing to look forward to lol. (Of course this is just the info I found online and I did not speak with an advisor for the plan.) It set me up for failure right away. All of a sudden I felt restricted and controlled. Don't get me wrong I still think this plan is good and can work for others but for me it just didn't fit. At least not at this time in my life. I do like some of the tips and food ideas and will incorporate them.

With that said, this is why I love Weight Watchers. Freedom. I get to choose. I track what I eat and stay within my daily points. I do plan out my days and I do the prep work. I love fruits and veggies so I always get 5+ servings in a day. If I get in a pinch for time, Weight Watchers is much more forgiving. I am back to following Weight Watchers since 9/4/16. It works. It’s all about portion control. I weighed in on 9/9/16 kinda nervous since it had been online 5 days but I was at 192.2!!!

I just know that this is where I need to be at this point in my journey and am excited to be back at it. I was feeling really blah! Next stop 190!!! See y'all there!

Failing Regularly But Still Fighting

I have been exhausted this past weekend. I napped for two hours Saturday afternoon…then I made bad food choices. I did get my wellness visit off my to-do list. (I love that my Dr. is open on Saturdays!) I am being checked for the following:

• B12 Deficiency
• Basic metabolic panel
• Complete blood count
• Lipid panel
• Liver function panel
• Thyroid/Hormone
• Vitamin D Deficiency

I am eager to get the results but it could be up to a week before I hear back. My moods have been up and down like a roller-coaster…thanks PCOS…

So I was going to do a body cleanse over this past weekend but I spent most of my time having a mini pity party and lying in bed. (My kiddos were at their dad’s house) I did manage to drink a tablespoon of Epsom salt dissolved in 8 oz. of water.  Usually it works within 8-12 hours. Nope. Nothing. Finally after 48 hours it hit me. Of course I was at the grocery store! Lucky me! LOL 

I have felt all out of sorts for the past few weeks. It’s like I started this blog to keep me on track and inspire others and I am a giant mess! I know that I have to keep pressing forward. Yeah I struggled over the weekend and I am super hormonal. I did go to the doctor to see if they can shed some light on what’s going on. I also got right back to tracking in my food journal, I continually hit 10,000+ steps each day, I am eating my fruits and veggies and I am getting plenty of water in. 

So I am not totally back to square one. I just have to keep practicing to stay on track over the weekend. This seems to be my downfall. I thrive in structured, planned environments. (Until I get super bored that is). Maybe I need to structure my weekends more. 

I am still doing my affirmations and I really have increased saying them more and more the last two days. I seem to be happier. Of course this is one of my affirmations. ;) I am setting goals and moving forward. If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time.    

I also signed up to be an AdvoCare distributor. I have been using their products for the past two years and I love them! I think this is something new and exciting and has breathed new life into me. As cliche as that sounds. LOL I do get bored easily.