Day 17

Only 1 week left of this challenge. Seriously, I feel so much better in general. I'm excited to see my numbers this week. I won't know them until Friday due to having to move my personal training around.

Food Choices
Breakfast- Berry Shake

Lunch- My BBQ Chicken Egg Rolls. These things are so dang good and easy! I also had a spring mix salad with Olive Garden dressing.

Lunch today

Right after I made them.

Supper- I came home from working out to ham in the crock pot. Matt also made mashed potatoes, gravy and texas toast. I took my fibo trim and carb ease and indulged a little in the potatoes and texas toast. He knows I don't eat a lot of potatoes and bread anymore but he was being sweet and was so proud of himself. Plus, he also did laundry, folded it and put it away.

Snacks- Apples and peanut butter

Exercise- Wednesday two a day!!! Total body in the morning and total body at night. J pushed us hard at the night class. I can tell I'm getting stronger because of things I couldn't do before I can do now. Plus I've been taking the Bio-Tune supplement to help with my knees. Volleyball, basketball and softball were not kind on my knees. Neither is being overweight so this supplement helps with reducing inflammation.

Water- 123oz

Day 16

Downhill slope continues on this challenge.

Food Choices-
Breakfast- Berry Shake. Everyday I think about adding some of the frozen fruit to the shake but I am usually running behind so I just grab my shaker cup and go. Someday I will remember, hopefully.

Lunch- The last bit of chili that I made Saturday that didn't make it into the freezer bags. I think chili is one of those things that gets better over time. It is good when you first make it but leave it in the fridge for a few days and yum yum. I also had a knocker from supper the night before. If I would have been thinking I could have done a chili dog sans the bread.

Supper- Usually Tuesday night is the only night (besides Friday but who counts that as a weeknight?) I come straight home from work. I have class on Monday and Wednesday till 6, Thursday is swim lessons so Tuesday is the day that I get some cleaning or just hang with Reagan time. Well, since I have been losing weight and inches (because the inches come off faster than the weight) I have accumulated a bunch of clothes that don't fit and I just don't wear. I had sold some and planned on meeting the girl in the nearby town. I knew I wouldn't have time to cook because I also had a nail appointment so I grabbed Wendy's on the way home. I had a cheeseburger deluxe without the bun and Reagan and I split her kids french fry. I was even worse and had a diet coke. I am not beating myself up over this. I could have at something better but I needed easy and this was easy.

Snacks- Apples and peanut butter. I'm pretty sure I couldn't live without peanut butter.

Exercise- Non existent today besides some steps while watching tv. I had planned on getting up and going to spin/sculpt but slept through my alarm. I miss the gym, I miss my friends at the gym and I miss the way I felt when I would get done with a workout. This cold crappy weather needs to exit pronto!

Water- 102oz

Day 15

After being snowed in for 2 days I have never been more excited to actually go to work on Monday. I had cooked most of the weekend so I had plenty of meals ready for the week.

Food Choices-
Breakfast- 2 of my breakfast egg rolls (sausage, egg, peppers, onions rolled up in an egg roll and baked)

Lunch- Whole wheat spaghetti pasta with sauce and 2 small chicken breasts. I was dying for some pasta and this tasted so good!

Supper- Matt was at the local grocery store and they sell homemade all beef knockers. So stinking good!

Exercise- Since the weather and roads still weren't the best the gym was still closed. I was tired of not getting anything in so I went to my parents and walked on the treadmill and climbed their stairs to get my floors climbed. On my fitbit app it says I need to climb at least 10 flights of stairs a day. This is hard to do because I don't have stairs at work and home. So anytime I get the opportunity to climb stairs I jump on it!

Water- 120oz

Day 13 & 14

I have been really good about doing each day. However, this weekend was so uneventful since we were snowed in. Exciting events did happen this weekend as I did some awesome cooking and made some great items that I could throw in the freezer and grab quick. I will be sharing the recipes. The best part, they are so easy!

Food Choices
Breakfast
Saturday- Berry Shake
Sunday- Family breakfast of Eggs and sausage

Lunch
Saturday- Brats and Green Beans
Sunday- Chili

Dinner
Saturday- Homemade chili. I made a crock pot of chili, nothing better than filling the house with the smell of chili on a day when you are snowed in. It was so delicious!
Sunday- My baked egg roll chicken wraps. (Another thing I made this weekend, super easy and super delicious!)

Snacks- Apples, peanut butter, chocolate shake muffins

Water intake- 100oz each day.

Exercise- Chasing and constantly picking up after my very active 1 year old. Best.Exercise.Ever

Being snowed in this weekend was a bit rough. I could have put more effort into working out but it also felt good to relax and give my body a rest.

Day 12- Halfway

I know this day is technically halfway but I count halfway as being when I am done with the cleanse phase.

Food Choices-
This day was a huge struggle for me. I took the day off work because I wanted to get some cleaning done at home (ie take down the Christmas tree, don't judge!) Then because I was in the cleaning mood I didn't take the time to snack or eat at normal times. Excuses, yes but I'm just putting it out there that it does happen.

Breakfast- Berry Shake

Lunch- We were told we were going to have a nasty snow storm so I wanted to get to the store. Since I was out I ran through McDonald's quick and grabbed 2 hamburgers. I ate just the hamburger part. I wanted to be able to eat on the run and Subway is just too hard to do that. Well for me anyways!

Supper- We had friends come and visit. Matt braved the cold and grilled hamburgers and bratwurst. I made some of my green beans in the oven and we also had french fries. Our friends loved the green beans! I had 2 bratwurst and green beans. I did have a few french fries but not before I took my carb ease. Seriously, there is always a bottle in the bathroom and one in my purse. I never leave home without it.

Exercise- Does the cleaning count? I missed spin/sculpt in the morning because I was exhausted from the week.

Water- 80oz

Day 11- Starting Phase 2 Max Phase

Done with the cleanse. Done with the fiber drink! Ahh I feel so much better! It is amazing how much better you feel when you really focus on not shoveling crap into your mouth and eating only good clean, whole, unprocessed foods!

Before I started this challenge I was using the MNS packets. I had opted to try the MNS C for the maximum appetite control. Let me tell you, this has been huge in helping me not piece between meals (well besides my snacks!) There are times that I forget to take my snack because I'm not hungry because of effect of these packets. I will probably go back to the MNS 3 when I start another challenge and continue in that rotation until I get to where I don't need the maximum appetite control.

Food Choices- I know you can start adding in a few of the items back into your diet but I still limit my carbs and dairy. Limiting carbs works for me and with my PCOS it actually is recommended.

Breakfast- Berry Shake

Lunch- Our operations manager decided to buy pizza for everyone. Believe me the pizza sounded good but I knew it would make me feel blah so I ordered a salad instead. I still got to smell the pizza but didn't have to mark down those calories!

Supper- Well supper brought the same temptation of pizza as lunch did. I ordered the boneless wings and a side salad. However, I wasn't able to resist the breadsticks and had 2 of them. I did take my carb ease before eating the meal so I felt slightly less guilty.

Snacks- Apples and peanut butter along with the cuties clementines. Love those things because they are so easy to peel and help satisfy the sweet cravings I get.

Exercise- Spin/lift in the morning. Then we are doing parent child swim lessons at the YMCA. Holding my chunk of a child for a half hour sure is a bit of workout. This was also the reason we had pizza for supper!

Water intake- 99oz.

Day 10-Cleanse Results

After 9 days on the cleanse, I was down a total of 5lbs and 8 inches. Any weight loss during the cleanse phase is a complete bonus.

Last day of the cleanse. I feel so much lighter. My belly doesn't feel so bloated. To put it simply, I just feel good!

Food Choices-
Breakfast- I planned on having a berry shake but walked off and forgot it. Thankfully, I had a few chocolate ones in my cupboard at work. It wasn't my favorite to drink. Wayyy to chocolately for me. Old Megan would have skipped breakfast and then wondered why I was hungry and feeling sluggish. So win for me!

Lunch- Last day of the quinoa stir fry. This is kind of a big deal for me since I normally don't eat left overs and for this many days in a row! Yes it did get old but it was so easy to just reach into the fridge and grab my lunch and go. This food prep stuff is growing on me! Finished off the rest of my berry bowl from Kroger, blueberries, black berries and strawberries.

Supper- Nothing sounded good so we went with the quick staple of eggs and sausage.

Snacks- Chocolate shake muffin along with some peanut butter. My favorite apple, honeycrisp and peanut butter as well.

Exercise- Today was a 2 a day. Started with a butt kicking personal training session with J. Today showed me just how strong I have gotten. I've always been a strong girl (farm girl right here!) but when the weight piles on you don't feel strong. Today, I felt strong. That evening was a total body class and even though I was tired I pushed through.

Water- 133oz BOOM! Still not quite where I want to be but a dang good effort!

Day 9

One more day, only one more day of the fiber drink!!!

Food Choices
Breakfast- A rather odd combo this morning for breakfast. I thought I had seen we had ham in the fridge so I was going to make an egg and ham omelet. Well, apparently I was seeing things because my omelet ended up being 2 eggs and 15 slices of pepperoni. It was good and had a bit of a kick which was nice.

Lunch- Day 2 of the stir fry. I also finished off the spring mix and the pineapple.

Supper- Matt got a ham from the local store and put it in the crockpot. It was delicious! However, he didn't make any vegetable and by the time I got home it was ready. It happens and I just have to make up for it.

Snacks- Apple, no peanut butter though. Then a chocolate shake muffin with peanut butter at night.

Water intake- 99oz. 1 step forward and 2 steps back

Exercise- Spin/Sculpt for an hour. I love riding my bike but spin always intimidated me. So glad that I tried it because I love it!

Weigh in and measurements tomorrow!

Day 8

Into the homestretch of the cleanse phase! Unfortunately, that means the dreaded fiber drink is back. However, mixing it in my bullet mixer makes it not so gritty and much easier to take.

Food Choices-
Breakfast- Berry MRS

Lunch- Sunday night I decided that I was going to start to clean out the freezer in the kitchen and use up some of bags of veggies and such I had in there. I found a bag of Bird's Eye Stir Fry Mix. I had already started cooking chicken breast. Unfortunately, my chicken to stir fry ratio was a bit off so I added some onion as well. It did smell amazing with some soy sauce and stir fry seasoning. Yum! I also made some quinoa. By the time I was done I had enough for 3 separate meals. Makes lunch packing uber easy! I also went to Kroger's and container of their spring mix salad. I had a bottle of the Olive Garden Italian dressing at work already so I just used that. The pineapple looked amazing so I bought some of that as well.

Supper- Matt made corn for his lunch and there was plenty left for supper so I had that along with 2 bratwurst. Exciting, no, but I got my protein in!

Snacks- I picked up some honey crisp apples while at Kroger so I one of those along with some peanut butter. At night I had a chocolate shake muffin with peanut butter.

Water intake- kicked butt in this, 125oz. Still not enough but progress is progress.

Exercise- 2 a day! Total body for 45 minutes in the morning. We did circuits which usually end up being harder than they initially look. At night an hour total body.

Day 7

Tomorrow starts the dreaded fiber drink, 3 more days just 3 more days.

Food Choices

Breakfast. This morning Matt got us McDonald's. Now I know, you are thinking seriously McDonald's? Well he got me 2 sausage mcmuffin with egg. I ate the meat and the egg on both of them. No cheese and no bread. Best choices, no. Could I have made my own, yes. Sometimes though it is nice to be treated.

Lunch- Chicken breast chopped up with marinara sauce and onions. This is so quick and easy and is basically my fix for the pasta craving because I get to use marinara sauce.

Supper- Hamburger and corn. I know corn is a starch but we made it for Reagan and I didn't want it to go to waste so I ate it.

Snacks- I had a shake muffin with some peanut butter.

Water intake. So far I am at 66oz. I'm about to go to bed so that may be the best it gets. Water intake on the weekend is an area I struggle with. I'm not sure how to improve this, anyone have any suggestions?

Exercise- well maybe I should put lack of...

Tomorrow is the start of a new week and I'm ready to make it awesome!!!

Day 6

Today I went to regional Success School. Wow, what an awe inspiring inspirational day. What an amazing company I chose to become a part of!

Food Choices-
Breakfast- Berry Shake

Lunch- Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sans the bread. Loaded it up on veggies and more sauce. I'm not sure if it is cleanse friendly but I don't see why it wouldn't be. Plus, getting salads at Subway is expensive. It is so much cheaper to get the foot long sub and load it up with lettuce and spinach and you have a salad that you didn't have to pay for.

Supper- I didn't get home from success school till almost 7. I had no idea what we were going to do for supper. Luckily, Matt had it thought out and ordered New Riegel (a local BBQ place). He got me a half chicken. Yum! I also had the rest of my broccoli.

Snacks- I had an apple during school, yup snuck in my own food, I'm such a rebel. I also had my last Gingerbread bar =(

Exercise- Since I knew i would be sitting a lot I got up early and did step on my wii fit for a half hour.

Water- 74oz

Day 5

Halfway through the cleanse, wahoo!!!

Food Choices
Breakfast- Berry meal replacement shake

Lunch- Our company is going through a merger. Therefore, we are doing company tours. Friday, we had a tour come in and we had a catered lunch. It was boxed lunches. Crap, at that point I figured I should just run to Subway but I decided to stay and eat. I was able to eat the sandwich sans the bread with some mustard. Although it wasn't till the end that I realized that I didn't take the cheese off. I felt guilty for a minute but I didn't beat myself up over it. The world continued to turn even though I ate a little dairy

Supper- I had to go baby shower shopping so I knew I wasn't going to make anything. Matt wanted pizza and that didn't sound good (nor could I even if I wanted too). So I got my shopping done, Matt his pizza and myself Chipotle.

Snacks- Celery and peanut butter. Exciting, no but it got the job done.

Exercise- Spin/Sculpt for 45 minutes. I will admit that by today I was exhausted. However, I knew I needed to go because I wasn't going to Saturday's class and didn't have one on Sunday.

Water intake- 84oz.

I am so excited to see my results after this cleanse!

Day 4

Here we go, day 4.

Food Choices
Breakfast- Berry meal replacement shake. This are so convenient for mornings when time gets away from me. I can literally drink it on my way to work and know that I am not eating junk. Plus I get 24 grams of protein in only 220 calories. Where else can you find that?

Lunch- Leftover chicken and sauce. I know it sounds redundant but I am trying to eat what I have and obviously I have a lot of chicken. I also would like to really eat what is in my cupboards so soon I can go and replenish with more good stuff. I am just tired of going to the store and buying foods that we don't eat and just go to waste. I also had the last of my green beans =(. No worries I got broccoli out to make!

Supper- Hamburger (one from my freezer so it was not lean). I had mushrooms and mustard on top of it.

Exercise- Morning spin class. Kicked my butt!! Then Reagan and I had parent child swim. Not that it is full out swim, however I am carrying the chunk around the pool walking, bending, kneeling for a half hour.

Water intake- 74oz. Yea it stunk today. It happens and tomorrow will be better.

Day 3

Today was the last day of the fiber drink, thank goodness!! Although my mom found that by mixing it in her bullet it really helped with the gritty taste.

Food Choices

Breakfast- Egg and ham omelet plus 4 pieces of sausage. I had the discussion this morning with my advisers about not eating organic and not always eating lean meat. We all agreed, we eat what we have in our freezers. I cannot imagine going to the store and buying beef or pork when I have a freezer full of it. So again, that is why I eat the pork and beef that maybe others don't on the plan. The thing to remember is, it is okay! Life happens, and sometimes you cannot afford to buy organic or ultra lean but  you have hamburgers in your freezer that is so much better than eating pizza or not getting any protein.

Lunch- I had the rest of my chicken from Monday along with the rest of the green beans. Those green beans were so good. I need to see if I have another bag of veggies I can do that with. Yummo!

Supper- This one was tricky. I had made plans to meet a friend for dinner. When she suggested the Mexican restaurant I didn't think anything of it and where I would be in my challenge. Well, I once again asked advice (see a theme?) and about one of the only things available to eat was the chicken fajitas. So mom and I both had the fajitas, no sour cream, no tortilla, no cheese. However, I did get my favorite thing at the restaurant, the salsa!!

Snack- More of my frozen grapes. I also tonight when I got home made a muffin from the advocare shakes. Chocolate is the only one I've done it with and to be honest probably will be the only one. Tonight I added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Seriously, so yummy!!!

Empty a packet into a bowl and mix with 1/3 cup water. Microwave for 90 seconds. Then enjoy =)

Exercise- I had my personal training session this morning. Since I have been doing a lot of lifting here lately we did all cardio, 15 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill and then repeated. I was drenched but it felt so good. Since we went out to dinner tonight I didn't get a second session in but it was okay.

Water- As of right now I am at 91oz. I am planning on drinking another 24. Progress on the intake. Not where I need to be yet but slowly getting there.

Tomorrow is a spin class in the morning and Reagan's parent child swim class at night. Yup another busy day.

Day 2

Here we go day 2!!

Food Choices

Breakfast- 2 egg omelet with ham. I know lunch meat is frowned upon on the challenge but this goes back to my rules, life happens and I have to eat what I have until I have the time to go to store. So therefore I eat eggs and ham and not a donut or worse no breakfast at all. I wasn't in the mood for a shake and I had more time so I decided to mix it up.

Lunch- Chipotle!! Yum yum! Seriously this is one of my favorite places to eat even when I'm not on the challenge. However, being on the challenge finding places to eat when you can't prepare your meal can be a bit more difficult when your choices are limited. Chipotle is such a great choice, chicken, veggies (I always get double), corn salsa and the medium salsa, guacamole and lettuce.

Supper- Bratwurst. Again I know it isn't on the recommended plan but when you have a freezer full of meat, you eat it. Then I had some more of my delicious green beans. I did have 2 tablespoons of peanut butter because I wanted something and it satisfied the craving.

Snack- Since I was out and about over my morning snack time I didn't have one. However, I wasn't hungry which is good. I had apples in the afternoon.

 Exercise- I did a spin/sculpt for an hour this morning. I have never taken it with J and boy it was great (and by great did I think I was going do die, yes!)

Water intake- So far 62 oz but I'm thinking I will finish another 24oz before bed. Still need to keep increasing this.

So far so good, only one more day of the fiber drink before a little reprieve, thank goodness.

24 Day Challenge- Day 1

I'm backkkkkkk

Whew, the holidays then Reagan's birthday party, crazy weather and being gone for a conference for a week has thrown me off this blogging schedule I had set for myself. Excuses I know but sometimes life happens and it is okay but I'm back and ready to get back to normal.

I started my 24 day challenge today. I was going to start when everyone else did at the beginning of the new year but I knew I would be away for that conference and it would be hard to plan my meals and get my workouts in. Plus, I also got my mom to do the challenge with me and I wanted to wait for her to get her goodies. I am planning on chronicling the entire 24 days here.That will keep me focused as well as accountable. If I want this to work and I want to continue to succeed I need to be honest and I feel that this is the best place for it!

Food choices-

Breakfast was a no brainer, I didn't have a lot of time so the advocare berry shake was simple, quick and yummy.

Snacks- I know this will make me sound lazy but I LOVE the pre-sliced apples. I mean seriously, just open the bag and eat. No getting out a knife or a plate just yummyness right away. I also dug out my frozen grapes and OMG I don't think I will ever be able to ear regular grapes again.

Lunch- Last night I put half of one our farm raised chickens into the crock pot with seasonings and a jar of pasta sauce. I let it cook on low all night and when I woke up to work out this morning, the house smelled AMAZING! To put with that I took a bag of frozen green beans and let them thaw overnight. This morning I dumped them in a ziplock bag, drizzled with olive oil and Mrs. Dash seasoning and baked them for about 25-30 minutes. Those were so good. I could have ate the entire bag but left half of them for tonight's supper.
 

Supper- I'm thinking it will be the rest of the chicken and green beans just for simplicity sakes since I won't get home till after 6. I also will treat myself with an advocare shake made into a muffin with some peanut butter. Helps satisfy that craving.

Water- So far today I am up to 48oz that I have actually kept track of. I don't count the water that I drink with my fiber drink. Usually I am drinking so much so fast to try and get the nastiness out of my mouth I lose track.

Exercise- I went to the total body class this morning. I can only stay about 45 minutes but I still got a good sweat in! I am going back tonight for another hour and I know I will be sore but it will be worth it. I just love how exercising has made me feel lately.

At the end of every week I am going to figure out how to post my log from myfitnesspal on here. Just another form of accountability.

Here is to making this my most successful 24 day challenge yet!