Day 1.

First thing in the morning- drink Spark and take Probiotic Restore and Catalyst.

Breakfast-

Good old fiber drink. I actually drink this daily, so it wasn't much of a shock to my system.

Delicious, delicious meal replacement shake. This is a typical breakfast for me. I make it blended with 12 oz's of water and a bunch of ice. Tastes like a milkshake. 

Workout- 30 minute walk on treadmill at 15% incline; 15 minute (roughly 2 miles) rowing; abs

Morning snack- 

Grapes and hard boiled egg after my workout.

Lunch-

Clearly I am not a good photographer. Lunch was a delicious chicken and vegetable stew that I ate over 1/2 cup brown rice.

30 minutes before afternoon snack-

Afternoon snack-

Tuna salad made with mashed up avocado, one hardboiled egg white and some Mrs Dash. It was delicious. I used the celery to scoop it up and eat.

Dinner-

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html?m=1

I omitted the corn, and I threw some cut up avocado on top- about 1/4 of an avocado. 

Also took my Omega Plex, which is my favorite fish oil supplement regardless of if I am doing a challenge or not.

I have been trying to eat dinner with the kids and they eat early, thus, I think this challenge I will likely implement evening snack most days.

Tonight's snack-

Grapes and Edamame.

Before bed:

3 more Catalyst and herbal cleanse tablets. 

My notes about day 1-

I love eating healthy, nutritious foods. I am coming off the holidays and I had a lot of treats. My body is not used to all these great foods! I was most expecting to miss my coffee, as I truly just cherish my morning cup. It's just hot and delicious and habitual. I honestly did not miss it today. So, winning day one.

Another ALL IN 24 day challenge

I'll be honest, I have derailed a bit. I got pretty sick back in September and just never quite got myself back on track after that. So despite timing of this challenge not being the best for me, I decided to just do it. I mean, I KNOW it works, and that's pretty much the kickstart I need right now. I love how it really gets me back to eating mostly healthy, whole, real foods. 

I will attempt to log my food here, as I do the challenge. 

I am ALL IN.

New meal plan fun

As far as meal planning goes, I hate it. I actually love to cook, but with 3 little kids always needing something from me, it is just so tedious planning the menu and following through on it. 

A groupon came out of 5dinners1hour.com and I decided to give it a go. The gist is, you pick 5 meals from their various menu types (skinny, Paleo, Classic, etc). They give you a shopping list and directions for (a) how to put the meals together ahead of time and (b) how to cook the meal the day of. Finding meals that will be accepted by my kids and husband, while still meeting my healthy needs, is always interesting no matter what, but I do my best. This week I only made 3, and I let my oldest son pick one meal, my husband pick one meal and then I picked the third. I figure there will probably be dud meals along the way, but I love trying new things and (hopefully) finding new things my kids will eat.

Our menu this week, courtesy of my fun new chalk board I got for the kitchen:

Most of the stuff used to make the 3 dinners:

Literally 20 minutes later they are ready to go. The coconut chicken gets baked in the oven, while the other 2 meals are going in the slow cooker.

I'm hoping this goes well this week!

New breakfast recipe!

I am forever on a quest for protein packed pancakes for the morning that I just gotta have a pancake. These are delicious! One packet vanilla MRS (meal replacement shake), 6 T liquid egg whites, 1 tsp baking powder and a handful of blueberries. Topped it off with some sugar free syrup. 34 grams of protein in these bad boys!

Well hello again.

As always, I am undecided on keeping up with a blog. Too much work- ha! I do have a new before and after picture though, so I will at least so that. 

Beginning of my journey to now. I was I think 212 in that picture (my highest pregnancy Weight was 235, but this is 5 months later, after I lost the initial stuff).

Currently I am around 155 (depending on the day). 

My first Half Marathon!!

I am not sure I have words to describe this feeling. I literally never in a million years, thought I would ever run a 1/2 marathon. It was always something other people did. Surely someone like me could not run for 13.1 miles. Surely not.

Last Spring I started the Couch to 5k plan, yet again. If I had to guess, I'd say this was the 4th time I had restarted it in the last 5 years. A few times before I had actually completed it, only to quit as soon as the first 5k was finished. I repeatedly told myself and others that running just wasn't for me. Some people are just built for running and some are not.  I am not completely sure what lit the fire under my ass this time, all I know is I was determined not to quit. 

 After signing up for the Disney Princess half marathon, I got a training plan going and just got to it. The path was riddled with issues. Problem after problem arose. Pain in my knee/leg/hip brought me to an orthopedic doctor and PT.  PT was close to impossible when you are a stay at home mom to 3 young kids. I went when I could, which admittedly wasn't often. Shortly after overcoming that, I was diagnosed with kidney stones. Not fun people. Passing a stone is horrific, the surgery to remove the 6 or 7 remaining stones left me with a stent that was also horrific. Eventually though, I got better. I went into Christmas vacation thinking well there is no way I will run a half marathon in February. I set out for my first run in weeks and managed the 4 miles my new training plan required. And then, I just kept going. 

Two runs during the week, and one long run on the weekend, gradually increasing the mileage. That's all it took. Nice slow pace, and even that eventually got a bit faster. As I did longer runs, my shorter runs got a bit quicker. As I lost more weight, even my long runs picked up speed. In another post I will tell you about the amazing supplements I added to my routine, they have made a world of difference in both my pace and endurance. 

I didn't really set a goal, but in my mind I wanted to be between 2:45-3:00 for my finish time. Somehow I blew that out of the water!

This week I got an email with my official results, and I have to stay, I did way better than I ever expected. 

This whole journey has been so amazing. I accomplished something that I never in a million years thought I would. It means so much to me that I followed through on this. And no, I'm not giving up running now either. This is just beginning. ;-)

Chipotle!

Proving to myself that I CAN eat out, enjoy a meal, and have it still fit my plan. Today's lunch, Chipotle. I just love that place.

Here's what I got:

Salad with lettuce, 1/2 serving brown cilantro lime rice, fajita vegetables (asked for extra), chicken, and mild salsa. I got the guac on the side and only used 1/2 of the serving cup. No salad dressing- the salsa and guacamole were enough to make it taste good. Best of all, I am completely satisfied and not so full I feel sick. I love being able to eat and with no guilt.