Advocare Update

I have not been able to update this for a while due to our awesome internet connection!  Sorry!  I have had a lot of questions about the diet and workout program I have followed.  Here is the information and tips that I have done for the last 8 months! 

I started in June with the Advocare 24 day challenge and was very strict about following the eating guidlines.  I didn't eat any dairy other than the plain greek yogurt that is allowed, I also had no sugar and flour for the first two months.  I started working out three times a week for at least 20 minutes in July and when I added flour back in it was only whole wheat, almond, or oat flour!  NO WHITE FLOUR OR WHITE SUGAR!  I also used agave as a sweetener or Stevia.  (yes i know about the debate on agave and how it contains high fructose sugar, i still like it in moderation since it doesn't spike bloode sugar levels)  I have a page on Pinterest that I have saved the recipes I have made and liked and one with recipes to try.  I will share those below.  For the Advocare Recipes page remember I have not made these or changed ingredients to make sure they coform to Advocare. 

After 4.5 months I lost 13 pounds, and went from a tight size 6 to a loose size 4.  I started at 130 lbs and got down to 117.  I was not extremely overweight to begin with but am ecstatic with the results.  I am not only smaller than I ever remember being but I feel wonderful and the cravings have subsided!

After October I travelled a lot and with the Holidays around I tried to stay on my diet 80-90% of the time, I also lacked in the workout dept! The good news is I stayed around 120 and have gotten back on track. 

TIPS:

make salads ahead of time in mason jars (see previous post on this)
plan!  always have nuts on hand and celery or carrot sticks to munch on
have hard boiled eggs in fridge always
make a few protein balls to put in freezer for when you have a sweet tooth! (I like the cookie dough balls and date sweetened chocolate coconut balls)
Drink a lot of water
keep some lime, lemon, or orange slices in freezer to add flavor to water when it gets boring!
When you want a side dish make brown rice or quinoa
Make oatmeal in jar like salads so on the mornings you are in a hurry it is ready!
Use plain greek yogurt as sour cream, and in baking and for making cream sauces
if you drink milk make it 1% and limit it
Use plain unsweetened almond milk in recipes


http://pinterest.com/kdinalaska/advocare-recipes-i-have-made-and-like/

http://pinterest.com/kdinalaska/advocare-recipes/

please feel free to ask questions :)

March 2012

May 2012

June after first 24 day challenge

August 2012 after maintaining eating clean and working out

with my stud dad that started Advocare in Jan 2012 and looks amazing

 

Advocare Challenge and recipes

I have completed the 24 day challenge that I began the beginning of June and am proud to say have stuck with the healthy eating and working out since then.  I lost a total of 6 pounds, and am thrilled.  I went from a tight size six to a loose size 4!  I am positive that if I hadn't had two babies in the last 3.5 years and gained 50lbs with both of them, I would have a flat stomach right now.  So now my goal is to maintain this weight and tone up!

So here are my tips and what I did.  Once again, I AM NOT an advocare rep, I am just sharing what I did and some of the recipes I have found that we (my family) use to stick close to the advocare program.

Continue to drink a lot of water, do not drink coffee or alcohol.  I did 'cheat' two days of the 14 days because one was my dad's birthday and a week later was my mom's.  I had one cake pop for my dad's bday and I had a skewer with strawberries and 3 small pieces of angel food cake for my mom's bday.  I had a hard time with the burn days and honestly didn't do three in a row, I ate fruit when I wanted to because we had some fresh pineapple and raspberries.  I know you aren't supposed to but I did and I am still happy with my results.  I worked out a lot more the last half of the challenge and have kept that up also.

** Update as of August 8: I have lost 9 lbs and feel wonderful!

Below are some of the recipes that we like!

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers ( these are a favorite) click on link for original recipe

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 C dry quinoa
1/4 C ww bread crumbs *  This is half the amount original calls for
1 egg * I added to help hold them together
1 tsp chili powder * I don't measure just sprinkle it in and more than a tsp
1/2 tsp cumin * use lots more I love cumin
1 Tblsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic minced
some onion powder * I hate onions so I didn't add real ones just put in some powder

2 Tblsp honey mustard
2 Tblsp Canola Mayo

cook quinoa in a cup of water, mix all ingredients together well, form patties and cook in a little olive oil for 5 min each side.  These rock served with a little of the dip and some avocado on top!  I serve them to the kids with a side of sweet potato fries.

The best recipe so far for curing the sweet tooth has to be the raw cookie dough bites!  I don't like walnuts so I added more oats and no walnuts to these.

Another fav cookie is the peanut butter cookie:

1 C Peanut Butter

1 egg

3/4 C stevia

** water or coconut oil next time to combat dryness

These are awesome, I used my pampered chef scoop that is 2 tsp big and it made 26, they came out to 71 cal a cookie.  I also put one choc chip on top of them for the kids.  so mix together, drop on cookie sheet, press down lightly with damp fork, and bake at 350 for roughly 10 min.  Next time gonna add some water or coconut oil as they were a little dry...

Ok, and I love the Vanilla Meal Replacement Shake Pancakes!

Just mix in a blender one packet of vanilla replacement shake, 2 eggs and 1 banana.  Pour onto hot griddle and eat.  I sometimes sprinkle a little stevia on top, but don't need to!  you can sub applesauce for the banana!

Advocare cleanse tips

Ok so i haven't updated this in a while because I am finding that doing a blog with two small children and a list of projects is a little hard! At the moment I am visiting my parents and they convinced me to do the advocare 24 day challenge. My parents both started with the 24 day challenge in January and have each lost a considerable amount of weight. My father has never been super heavy, but had started to put a few pounds on and decided that he wanted to get into shape for hunting, etc. he has lost 33 lbs in the last 5 months and looks fantastic. I will post a before and after of him when i get to a computer ( I am on my ipad). My mother has also lost over 20 lbs and gone from a size 8 to a size 0. So they are my inspiration for doing this. I don't have a ton of weight i would like to lose, but i am tired of the leftover 5 lb baby belly, and to be honest i am in my thirties and need to learn how to eat properly. I am the first one to admit that i have an eating disorder....not anything that would be clinically diagnosed, but i have no will power if there are cookies in the house. I will sit down with 5-8 cookies and a glass of milk and eat them all, i used to be able to do this with little consequence, but find that as i get older and after having kids i can no longer do this and not see them on my ass later that day. So now that i have rambled let me get to the cleanse portion of the 24 days.

I was very concerned about being able to do the cleanse because I LOVE milk, cheese, yogurt, and I detest vegetables! The good news is that even though I couldn't have dairy, refined sugars, or wheat products, I did it and never once felt hungry! The no alcohol and caffeine didn't bother me because I don't normally drink them.

They say that you aren't supposed to expect to lose weight on the cleanse, but i went from 130-128 lbs. I also didn't exercise on the cleanse because the kids gave me a cold. Here are my tips and what I did:

I drank my spark every morning when I got up and on the days i needed to take the fiber drink, i only mixed it with 6oz of water and chugged it then chased it with another glass of water.

I didn't use the meal replacement shakes or bars on the cleanse. I did eat a lot of 1/2 c portions of steel cut oats, or oatmeal with chia seeds in it and used vanilla, cinnamon and a little stevia as my flavors. Also had the eggs a few mornings.

I made salads ahead of time! I prepped and am still doing this....5-7 days worth of salads in mason jars. It is the best tip i can give you! That way you never have an excuse not to eat your salad.

I also made sure that there were always boiled eggs in the fridge to add to my salad, eat alone as my protein snack or make a quick egg salad out of!

I personally never took the spark in the afternoon, but prob cause i don't need or crave caffeine.

I technically cheated and ate dry roasted peanuts as my nut snack instead of almonds or cashews because i don't like the options i was given.

I also used any salad dressing i felt like, i just made sure i only used a little on my salad at a time.

Keep a water bottle with you at all times, and i kept frozen oranges, and lemons in the freezer to add to my water.

When you gt your meat, cut it into 4-6 oz serving sizes and then freeze. That way you can pull out a portion and cook without having to worry about it being too much.

Here are some links to recipes i have used: make substituions if needed, with almond milk, chia gel, stevia, etc.

salads in mason jars:  I don't put the dressing in them becuase I am eating these at home, and I would suggest putting any veggie you like in them.  Seriously the BEST TIP EVER!!!!

Grilled Avacado:  Cut an avocado in half, sprinkle with olive oil and lime juice, and place face down on the grill for five minutes. Then fill with salsaand add a little more lime juice, and salt.

eggs fried in avocado (leave out toast)

lemon herb egg salad: use canola mayo

Breakfast cookies: use stevia and almond milk as subs

mint/herb water: 2L water, 1 medium cucumber, 1 lemon, 10-12 mint leaves. steep overnight in fridge and drink every day.

baked cauliflower: make sure they are all brown and crispy if you don't care for it to begin with or it will be mushy!

Avocado Egg salad: use canola mayo and no yogurt!

Link to my pinterest board on advocare