Day 17 - April 27th

Good Morning! Today was an early start for me! I had a breakfast meeting I had to coordinate, so I had to be up earlier than usual.

I'm going off track a little before I continue my recap of today... I just wanted to touch on the AdvoCare Meal Replacement Shakes. With the 24-Day Challenge, it comes with a package of 14 Meal Replacement Shakes. People have told me.... "Oh they're so good" and what-not and I was thinking... I did the whole Slim Fast Diet with the meal replacement shakes, yes, they were good, but the mixture of the Slim Fast powder and milk, it really messed me up big time... And by "mess me up", I mean, the Slim Fast wanted to leave my body as fast as I put it in. I never had a problem with milk itself, but gosh, did I have the WORST rumbling stomach after I drank an 8 oz. glass of the Slim Fast mixture. UGH. I thought it was "part of the process" of losing weight. I didn't know that I was actually harming my body!

What I am saying is that I've tried the Slim Fast method and lost some weight. What I didn't know, was the fact that I was "running" to the bathroom all the time, I caused myself to hurt my rear (I am not going into details, because that is just gross and uncomfortable {literally!!!}). I had to go to the doctor to get checked out. But once I stopped with the Slim Fast, I then progressively got better and I'm do well to this date.

I knew that I couldn't let myself get that bad and be that uninformed about a product that I would put in my body. I couldn't sacrifice my health for the cheap price and the "guarantees" to lose a pant size in a certain amount of weeks.

I did my research on AdvoCare and I am still learning about the AdvoCare products. One thing that I know for sure is, is that I am putting the highest quality nutrients in my body that all work together for my better wellness.

A lot of times, people are worried about how many pounds that a person has lost. To me, pounds come with time and effort. The FEELING I am receiving from AdvoCare is so great! Also, a lot of times, people have the pre-conceived notion that when you are taking "vitamins", you've got to be careful and be aware of "this and that" ingredient... but did you stop and look at all the ingredients on the side of that bag of chocolates? Or what is in that burger to make it taste SOOO GOOD? There are so many things that people are unaware they are putting in their bodies. And I was EXACTLY that kind of person. If I may quote my friend Becky before she discovered AdvoCare... "AdvoCare is just a bunch of expensive pee". I think that is one of my favorite AdvoCare quotes! And that is what I thought. Vitamins, schm-itamins. I don't need them, nor do I want to take all this crap to be "healthy".

SERIOUSLY!?!?! If you don't take vitamins or other supplements, how can you combat all the mixture of ingredients/crap in the other food you are currently eating!? I mean, you can barely get fresh veggies or fruits without having them injected to LOOK pretty. I am not here to be a "hippie" and be all "love the earth", "natural is best" and yadda yadda yadda... but ya know, so many things now-a-days have to LOOK good in order to have someone eat it... YEAH, IT LOOKS GOOD... but what have they done to the food to make it look like that?!

Ok, ok, enough soap-boxing for now. But, I just wanted to let people know that I was there before AdvoCare. I was that person that didn't care about what was in the food I ate, as long as it tasted good....

I love and care about all of my family and friends. I want them all to be around for a long time! The world isn't getting any easier to make the "right decisions" when you see the commercials of giant lips talking about ice cream cakes and girls licking their ankles from dripping burger sauce. Com'ON!!

AnyWAYS! :)

Today, my vitamin packets went down well!
8:30 a.m.
(✓) 1st Yellow Packet with water
9:00 a.m.
(✓) 1st White Packet with water
(✓) 4 Strawberries
(✓) Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake
11:30 a.m.
(✓) 2nd Yellow Packet with water
12:00 p.m.
(✓) 2nd White Packet
(✓) Leftover mashed potatoes & corn!! It was so good!
(✓) 2 "on the vine" tomatoes (I HEART TOMATOES!)
(✓) Handful of unsalted peanuts
1:30 p.m.
(✓) 1 tomato
4:30 p.m.
(✓) 2 Catalyst
5:15 p.m.ish was supper with Charlene! YAY! I love getting together with her! :)
(✓) Apple Pecan Salad - romaine and iceberg lettuce with apple and grape slices with a sprinkle of pecans, and raspberry vinaigrette on the side. To tell you the truth, this is probably one of my most favorite salads that I have EVER had! (Aside from previously loading the cottage cheese/cheese.../cheese.../and more cheese/bacon bits/sunflower seeds/croutons/ranch dressing) Just my taste buds CRAVE the mix of fruit & veggies and with the Grizzly's Apple Pecan Salad... it's just a SUPERB combination!
6:10 p.m.
(✓) 3 Catalyst
6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
ZUMBA Toning with Becky!! WOOT!
7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
ZUMBA with Becky!! WOOT²!
Water, water, water!
All I have to say is WOW...... ZUMBA Toning & ZUMBA with Becky was GREAT!! Oh my goodness! I was shakin' it like a stuck salt shaker! It was so much fun! BUT! The best part of the night was GROCERY SHOPPING!!

Seriously, I am the WORST when it comes to grocery shopping. I have no idea what I am looking for etc. It was so awesome, but after ZUMBA, Becky asked if I wanted to do a "Power Walk" at Woodmans. I was like...whoa... 2 straight hours of hard-core working out and NOW you want to do a "Power Walk" around Woodmans?! My thoughts were "Girl, you've gotsta be CRAZY! I don't want to go for another walk!"

Hahaha, I was TOTALLY wrong. Becky and I headed to Woodmans and she took me under her wing and showed me the tricks of the trade... "Power Shopping at Woodmans". I know it probably sounds silly, but I was so excited! Like I said, I have a HORRIBLE time grocery shopping.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm chocolate, ice cream, chips...... I hardly ever look at the ingredients. AND I love SALES. It was so great to go shopping with Becky and she showed me the "hot spots" where all the sale foods to look for and she also showed me what NOT to buy.

I was totally pumped because I needed groceries and now I know what to look for! I got, potatoes, tofu, chicken, lettuce, strawberries, spicy marinara sauces, 4 packages of frozen veggies, Almond Milk, (WHICH, I found out, by the way, can be used for cooking!!) and Smart Balance Buttery Spread. Grand Total: $16.53. WOOT WOOT! Holy Crap, that totally made my night. (Besides 2hrs of ZUMBAing!)

Here is my BIG props & thanks to Becky!! Ah! So fun/awesome/helpful! :)

So, when I got home, I was kinda hungry. I knew I shouldn't eat so close to bedtime, but I had some Salmon and a couple of strawberries that I just bought! YUM!

YAY for Day 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!