The Challenge Continues...Day 9

So you might ask...how do "Foodies" like you and Bill do something like the 24 day challenge??  We have really taken it as a challenge to make this "palatable", staying true to our FOODIE heritage!

If you want to check out what the Advocare program is like check out this link:
http://www.advocare.com/24daychallenge/default.aspx

This gives you a good overview.  I have other great resources I can share with you if you are interested. 

But back to the food...because THAT is what the bottom line is for me!!

So, for instance...dinner says "protein, vegetables and complex carb (if needed - yes, I need it)"
SO you could have this (which doesn't actually look all that bad)

But THIS is what we had for dinner the other night:

Mashed potatoes??  NOPE!  Mashed cauliflower.  Grilled pork loin chop sans salt seasonings (thank you Penzy's for all the wonderful salt-free seasoning blends).

So, yeah!  It has been fun.  And yummy!!

Now, to how I feel....I do feel much better.  It is CRAZY....I do not hit the mid-afternoon slump.  I feel more alert.  Tons more energetic and just healthier in general.  And that is after only 8 days.  I am sure that some of it can be explained just by the healthier diet, and tons of water...but I think it might be explained by the balance of nutrients and vitamins provided by the supplements...it takes a lot thought to make sure one gets everything they need throughout the course of the day.

I typically NEVER get enough fiber or enough protein...sure I might lose weight...but it something that is not sustainable.  My DIEts of the past have consisted of skipping breakfast, a plate of veggies for lunch, and then a fairly 'normal' plate for dinner. 

What the ADVOCARE supplements and program do is make sure I get my nutritional needs THROUGHOUT the day...keeping my energy up...keeping my body insides functioning like they should!!

Seriously?  Let's see the results...only a few more days till the scale reveals!  STAY TUNED.

Thank my Lucky Stars??....yep. 

Can I 24??????

So...enough is enough!  Should have said that pounds ago.  As one who has struggled with my weight all my life, you think I would eventually learn...but alas, NO.  Here I am 50+ years old and still struggling to find...no, wait, that is not true....to maintain balance in my life...as least dietarily.

Oh, I KNOW where to find it....I KNOW how to find it...it just seems to be like greased pig (ok, definitely NOT the best metaphor given my topic)....slips right out of my hands.

Life changes (becoming older, and becoming more sedentary in my work, and working in general, which leads to less free time to work out or work in the yard/garden) has resulted in the pounds mounting up.

But, I have chosen to do something!!  And that is the BEST news yet!  And even better...my "house buddies" are doing it with me!! 

I needed a kick start...something to get me off and running with at least some midicum of success.  I have recently begun using ADVOCARE products.  I am now doing the 24 day challenge.  I really intended to start this blog on Day 1...but alas, life gets in the way.

The 24-Day Challenge™ is a comprehensive supplementation and nutrition program. Giving your body the jumpstart it needs to help you reach your goals.

The 24 day challenge is comprised of 2 parts:
1)  The 10 day Cleanse...designed to get the yuck out!!  There are three components of the Herbal Cleanse: Fiber Drink – which is mixed with 8 oz. of water, Herbal Cleanse caplets and ProBiotic Restore™ Ultra Capsules.  In addition, you take OmegaPlex vitamins and the Herbal Cleanse tablets.

2)  A 14 day follow up designed to get the GOOD in...The Max Phase is about fueling your body in order to achieve maximum results.  During this phase you will take three products (Metabolic Nutrition System - MNS^®, Meal Replacement Shakes, and Spark) that work together to provide you with sustained energy, appetite control, core nutrition and overall wellness.

All this while following a fairly well defined diet..I hesitate to use the word diet...THAT IS ONE NASTY 4 LETTER WORD!   As I looked over the can-Do's and Don't dos...it seemed do-able!  Lots of foods I like..of course there are plenty of NEVER foods I like as well....butter, mayo, white creamy sauces...etc.

But the reality is this should be NO SURPRISE.  If anyone thinks that they can lose weight or get healthier with a diet full of these things, they have another thing coming.  Does it mean I can NEVER have them again...NO.  Maybe not during the 24 day challenge, but certainly on an occasional basis.

SO back to the Challenge...I am on Day 8. 
Has it been difficult - NO
Have I been hungry - NO way
Do I feel better - Surprisingly so
Have I lost weight - don't know yet...trying to be disciplined to not weigh myself till AFTER the 10 day cleanse...STAY TUNED.

I Like Shiny Things

So, my friend Pam has inspired me...at least for moment.  I used to work with her, and now I don't.  We never had any other connection, except through work..never became "going out" buddies, no past history...but I sure loved working with her!!

So now that I am gone from that employment, I NEVER see her.  Sure, we are facebook friends...so I get the status updates...but still, I miss HER.  But I do get a little glimpse and get to partake in her life (if only electonically) through her blog.

I think it is awesome...makes me feel a little closer, more connected than a FB status update.  The whole time I have known her, I thought, "I wish I could do that" - blog, that is.  Her blogs are always so fun to read...I am sure mine would be boring and rambling (kind of like this..)...so I never did it.

So my life is seemingly dull, and I feel I never have anything great to talk about.  Then I realize several things:
1) Sometimes sharing the "ordinaryness" (yep- pretty sure I just made THAT word up) of my life, might make others feel like ORDINARY is OK.

2) sometimes I do have great things that I WOULD like to share...but alas, too much of a story for a FB status update!!  So, only my closest riends and family MIGHT hear about it.

3) as my friend, Pam pointed out in her blog...someday, it will be great to have my rambling thoughts preserved in something other than my chicken scratches.  Tried that whole journal thing...not for me.  I kind of envy those people who carry around those beautiful books, and have perfect penmanship with which they narrate the details of their lives. Not me.

Those of you who REALLY know me, I very rarely have a legitimate writing utensil in my possession...if I can't do it on my iPad or phone...it looses it's hopefulness of being done!!

So now that I have rambled...I will get onto my "Too Long for a FB status update story" :

I LIKE SHINY THINGS.

So I come home today and see these amazing reflective spots all over my ceiling and walls...middle of the day.  SO COOL.  It doesn't take long for me to discover that they are coming from the sun shining in my big beautiful windows, onto a mosaic glass candle holder that sits atop the mirror tray on my ottoman.  It was spectacular (this picture really does not do it justice).  Then it comes to me...after yesterdays incident...I need to THANK MY LUCKY STARS...and the ONE who created them!!

What happened, you ask?  A normal day...drive bus, work at office, drive bus, clean bus, go home...  FINALLY FRIDAY!!  Yippeee. Sittin' in my favorite chair by the window, checkin out stuff on my iPad...when I look down...and just about THROW UP. 

The diamond from my ring IS GONE!!!!! All that is left is the setting...the prongs staring up at me....man, the gaping hole between those prings looks SO HUGE, so EMPTY!  I have never had such a feeling in the pit of my stomach.  That little stone has been with me day in and day out for 24 years...8760 days...210240 hours...12614400 minutes.... (that was my little tribute to Rain Man).

We frantically search around the chair, in the carpet, in the garage, in the car...NOTHING.  Where does one even begin??  Bill and I decide to try to retrace every step of the day.  Connor joins us.  Luckily, I made no stops between work and home.  So if it was not at home...it would be at work, right?  So we drive back to the bus barn (I Drive for Middleton School District) -

AS we drive up, I remember that I put gas in the bus...Bill yells, "Wait, wait...he jumps out of the car...runs over to the pump I had used"...I can't believe it...He bends down and picks something up...my heart is a flutter.  NO, it is just a bead from a little girls hair.  I definately recall sweeping them out of my bus earlier.

I had emptied my trash.  YES, I resorted to digging through the trash bags..not just in the can by the pumps, but even in the big dumpster...trying to discern which bag had come from my bus.  Let me just say 2 things: GROSSSSSSSSSS and NO LUCK.

so we retrace my steps from back to my bus, searching feverishly.  through the 6-8 swath of landscape stones (yeah, not fun trying to look in all those crevices)...across the asphalt parking lot..trying to remember if I walked from the East door or the WEST door.  WEST, yes, that is it.  Open the door to the barn and before me stand 60+ buses that were not there when I left.  So the odds of retracing my exact path have greatly diminished.  But we do our best...searching the floor every inch of the way.  Connor even takes to lying down to look across the vast expanses of concrete along the way.

NO LUCK.  What did I expect.  This was worse than a needle in haystack.

We get to my bus...I am ready to crawl through on my belly...I get up in the drivers seat to turn the overhead lights on when Connor yells, "I found it!".

Those of you who know Connor probably have the same thoughts going through your head:
1)  "Yeah right!  THAT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY" -  because he just might say such a thing....cuz he is known to have such a sense of humor...in his head he thinks he is trying to lighten the moment...

2) "Yeah right!"  Cuz if ANYONE is going to have such luck - it would be Connor.

I run to the back of the bus, and he has the back emergency door open.  He is holding a beautiful shiny diamond...this is NO HAIR BEAD!!  "Where was it", I scream with joy.

"Oh, it was stuck here...into the foam of the seal on that door"....are you kidding????  "How did you spot it", I ask.

"Oh, " he says, completely matter of factly, "I like shiny things".

That simple.  I was so relieved.  Not sure WHY I was so upset.  It is not as if that stone WAS my marriage (though it is a symbol of it)...It is not as though  my marriage would end if the stone was gone... I KNOW THAT.  My husband is more solid that little piece of rock.  I know in the grand scheme of things, my life would go on WITH or WITHOUT than stone...so maybe it just that I, too, "LIKE SHINY THINGS".

A so those little reflective dots on my ceiling today..remind me that Shiny things show up every where...you just have to look.

Shiny Things...Lucky Stars...Thankfulness

I am thankful for: My God, my life, my husband, my children, my friends, the people who are yet to be my friends, the family that is yet to come (via my kids...not myself -haha)...It is not the THINGS in our life that are SHINY...it is the people!  And my world is sparkling!!!