AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge Meal Ideas - Days 1 to 10

The first 10 days are the most important days of the 24 day challenge.  These are the Cleansing days.  These ten days are going to remove all the toxins and other waste from your body.

Think of your body like a car.  If you stopped at a crappy gas station and filled your tank with bad gas,  your tank is full of all kinds of debris.  Even if you stop using the bad gas, and start using premium, there are still debris in the bottom of your gas tank that can and will decrease the gas efficiency.  This cleansing phase is like going and getting your gas tank totally cleaned out.   The flush is ridding your car of all the bad gas and debris.  Once the fuel tank is clean, your engine is ready to take on and efficiently burn the clean gas.

The cleanse phase does the same thing as cleaning out your gas tank for your car.  It cleans all the toxins and waste from your body so that your body can properly digest and  take in the nutrients it needs to function the RIGHT way.  Now if you are cleaning out your system, you don't want to be counterproductive and fill it back up with garbage.  You want to fill it up with foods that are rich in nutrients and vitamins.   This is why I have decided to prepare some meal plans that are full of nutrients and good "fuel" for your body.

Some of these meals are very basic and some take a little more planning and experience.  Most of the items can be made ahead of time and warmed up when needed.  I have created them this way because I am an on the go kind of person.  Even though I love to cook, I don't always have the time to sit down and prepare the most nutritious items.  These items will be filling and nutritious.  I won't use any added salt or sugar so if you are a salt or sugar addict, you will have to get used to using fresh (or dried) herbs for seasoning.

I am good with eating leftovers, so I will most likely be making one of the soups and having that at lunch.  Dinners will be different since I don't believe in cooking separate meals.  The family will get to enjoy healthy dinners.  They might even suggest that I put the meals on our dinner rotation. 

Breakfast

• 1 Large Hard-boiled egg & Almond banana breakfast oats
• Make ahead eggs on whole grain toast, (please note, I only make a few at a time to ensure freshness)

Lunch

• Grilled Chicken or Beef over Spinach (or salad greens), with plenty of vegetables.  You can make dressing from oil and vinegar and many dried spiced and herbs.  Be creative!
• Tuna, spinach and cucumbers on a whole grain wrap.  Use the dressing option above and have vegetables on the side to help fill you up. 
• Chicken and Lentil Soup - plenty of leftover for days
• Kale and Potato Soup - also good for leftovers
• Leftovers make the best lunches! Remember that when cooking the night before.  Cook a little extra and package it from lunch the next day. 

Dinner

• Fajita Chicken with Brown Rice (see recipes)
• Pan-fried tilapia or cod, sauteed green beans, roasted red potatoes 
• Turkey Chili over rice 
• Crock-pot Roasted Chicken with steamed broccoli and rosemary roasted potatoes 
• Taco cups with seasoned black beans 
• Spaghetti with tomatoes and shrimp- substitute regular pasta for 100% whole grain pasta and add a side salad
• Kenyan Braised Collard Greens and Ground beef - with all the other flavors going in, you can surely omit the 1 tsp of salt
• Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken served over brown rice

Snacks - Keep snacks to 150 calories or less. Pack your snacks soon after you bring them home to help you stay on track.  I always find it easier to snack healthy when items are quick and easy to grab

• Nuts and seeds (raw or roasted - no added sugar, salts and oils) - 1/4 cup servings
• Raw fresh fruit
• Rice cakes with raw or natural nut butter

Let me know if you have any other recipes for this challenge.  I'd be interested in learning what keeps you full and satisfied.

Advocare 24 day Challange

2015 is the year of ME.  I need to seriously work on being the best me that I can be.   I love being a wife, mother and business woman, but it can be draining on your emotions and spirit.  Let's not forget the strain it puts on your body.  It's hard to find time to work out when you have sports, church, family time and work to do.  When I get home, it's time to cook, eat, clean and go to bed. 

I do fairly well at eating healthy and unfortunately my family has to deal with the my crazy meal plans.  There are times I fall off the wagon and eat some not so great things.  I have learned how to eat terrible.  If I want the cookies or cake or fried foods, I'll eat at lunch so that I have time to burn off the extra calories.  This is not a good way to live and at times eating that during the day just makes me feel sluggish.  After much debating with myself, I decided it was time to really do what was right for my body.  Having overcome Stage 0 breast cancer, it is time for me to get everything else in tip top shape. 

I have seen what the 24 day challenge can do for a friend and I am very excited for the opportunity and ability to be able to finally join in on January 7, 2015.   This woman not only dropped weight, she's also gained the energy to go out and run (something she hasn't done in a long time).  She's even taking boxing classes a few times a week.  I am so very proud of her and her accomplishments. 

Although it's a nice perk, losing weight is not my goal.  I am interested in getting my energy back.  At the beginning of this year, I was into working out and even started running.  When I received my diagnosis, that slowed, but I still had the energy to go out and run because it helped with stress.  After each (three total) surgeries, I feel as though I have lost more and more energy.  With the last surgery, that was earlier this month, I felt completely drained.  I am still very drained and most days take a nap when I get home from work and get eight hours rest each night.   I try to push to work out.  Sometimes it works, but other times I just end of crashing from exhaustion.  I am 34 years old and shouldn't be this tired.

I became an AdvoCare distributor, not only for the discount, but as a way to help others who also suffer as I do.  I don't need  to lose weight, I NEED to gain energy.   If you are interested in following along with me, please feel free to pick up your 24 day challenge before December 31st to receive some wonder perks. 

• Free expedited SHIPPING. (so it arrives prior to Jan 7th)
• Free blender bottle.
• Free wristband.
• One-time free shipping on your next order of $250+ (retail, not out of pocket with your discount) in January.
• Daily virtual coaching and a new, updated 24 Day Challenge app with daily reminders for taking supplements.
• Meal & snack ideas, recipes, & tips.
• Pre-orders that won’t process/charge on your card until after Christmas.

Challenge :: Lunch for under $12 PT 2

Here is what I managed to purchase this weekend for lunch.  It doesn't look like much, but I can tell I will be full everyday after lunch.   The bread smelled AMAZING.  It's Garlic - Herb French bread from Wal-Mart.  I also picked up "Cracker Pepper" turkey breast.  There were so many different types of turkey at the deli case.  My husband was eying up the Buffalo turkey breast

Cost breakdown:

	Est. Cost	Actual Cost
Canned soup (2 servings per can)	1.50	1.88
French Bread (used for sandwiches too)	1.00	1.00
Cut carrot sticks	1.00	0.75
Lettuce	1.50	0.00
Tomato	1.50	0.92
Chunk cheese	2.00	1.98
Apples (bagged)	2.00	1.94
Tuna (canned in water)	1.00	0.74
Turkey (deli sliced)	3.00	2.51
Totals	$14.50	$11.72

After unpacking and organizing, I did some prep work.  Carrots had to be peeled and cut into sticks.  I also cut the cheese (LOL!) into small cubes and separated them into baggies.  Doing a little bit of prep work helps when I have busy mornings.  Sandwiches couldn't be made ahead of time because I didn't want the bread to get hard.   Eggs were boiled and tuna salad was made.

This challenge was fun.  It made me think about what I was purchasing and how much I could eat each day. I'll update you later this week to let you know how everything went. 
 

Challenge :: Lunch for under $12

Recently a coworker and I were discussing spending less money on lunch for the work week.  He said it was cheaper (and easier) to just purchase lunch.  With the cost of lunch costing between $5 and $10 a day, I told him that I could do it for less!  I explained that while you are spending $8 on that sandwich, you could have purchased all the materials for the same sandwich, but could eat for two days instead of one.

See my break down: (estimated prices from my local Wal-Mart)

Italian bread loaf	1.00
Ham (1/2 lb)	3.00
Deli sliced cheese (1/3 lb)	1.00
Lettuce	1.25
Tomatoes (pack of 3 small)	1.50
GRAND TOTAL	7.75

If you add on a bag of chips ($3.00), the total is $10.25 and you could easily make 3 sandwiches. I didn't include mayo or mustard, because those are staples you should already have in your pantry.  If I ever forget them, these items are easily picked up for FREE in the break-room.

I don't normally accept challenges, but I felt passionate about this one.  I too can spend a pretty penny in the lunch cafeteria.  My meals are a more modest $4, but it still comes out to $20 a week.  The meals I am purchasing aren't that healthy (fries, fried chicken tenders, corn dogs, desserts, pizza).  I could be spending less and eating better.   

This weekend, I have made it my challenge to go out and purchase lunch fixings for next week. This challenge was hard, because I wanted to show that you can eat healthy on a budget. 

Here is my menu for this week:

• 2 days = soup + bread/butter, apple slices w/ peanut butter
• 2 days = turkey sandwich on french bread, apple, cheese chunks and carrot sticks
• 1 day = tuna sandwich, carrot sticks, cheese chunks

Approximate Costs

Canned soup (2 servings per can)      1.50 French Bread (used for sandwiches too)      1.00 Cut carrot sticks      1.00 Lettuce      1.50 Tomato      1.50 Chunk cheese      2.00 Apples (bagged)      2.00 Tuna (canned in water)      1.00 Turkey (deli sliced)      3.00
Total            $14.50

Mustard, mayo, celery, peanut butter and eggs are items that should already be in the pantry, so there is no need to purchase them.

I will do some bargain hunting and hopefully find some deals to bring the total to under $12.

I will keep you posted on how well I do.

10 + lbs in 7 days? Hmmm

Last week I decided to do a crash diet I found on Pinterest.  It claimed that you could lose 10 + lbs in 7 days. 

One the first day, I ate a small amount of baked macaroni and cheese.  It was very good and worth it. After eating a bunch of fruit all day, I was tired of looking at grapes, apples, clementines and pineapples.   I did manage to drink the sassy water (flat belly diet) all day it it did help with the hunger.  

On day 2, I packed what was in my refrigerator ( I did not plan this out very well).  I had carrots, celery, bell peppers.  It was hard eating these items for breakfast.  I quickly got tired and opted to eat what veggies were on the menu in the café at work.  I had green beans and roasted red potatoes; that seemed to satisfy my never ending hunger.  For dinner I sauteed up bell peppers with some yellow squash and mushrooms in olive oil and Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning.  If you have not tried the Mrs. Dash seasonings, you should.  My favorites are the chipotle and the garlic herb flavors.

Day 3 was not as bad as day one and two, I had my fill from dinner the night before so I did not wake up so hungry.  I had a fruit salad for breakfast, which kept me full until lunch.  For lunch, I ate a Santa Fe Chicken Salad from Chili’s.  One of the suppliers came in and asked us all to lunch.  For dinner, I had some more fruit salad, leftover sautéed veggies from the night before and a small slice of Mediterranean Chicken pizza from Papa Murphy’s. 

Day 4 was the trickiest day.  I picked up 8 bananas from the grocery store and a 6 pack of greek yogurt.  All day I ate and ate and ate my fill of bananas and yogurt.  At first I thought I would get sick of it, but it was actually manageable.  The bananas and yogurt gave me the nutrients I needed to push me onto day 5.

Day 5 was easy; I ate a pint of tomatoes for breakfast.  You would be surprised how filling they are.   For lunch, I went to the Chinese restaurant and ordered a pint of chicken with veggies.  I took the rice home and gave it to my daughter.  For dinner, I made some barbecued chicken thighs with some sides we had leftover from earlier in the week.  I ate my chicken thigh without the barbecue sauce and had some sauteed veggies.

Day 6 I did not have chicken for breakfast.  This day I went for my 4 mile run in the morning.  It went well considering the lack of exercise I had for the past week and half.  I went to Starbucks afterwards and got a chocolate banana smoothie.  It was good and I deserved it considering what I had the willpower to decline during the week.  I went home and snacked on fruit all day until dinner.  My husband was in the mood for Thai so that’s what we had. I had a thai dish that included chicken, bell peppers and mushrooms in a sauce.  It was very

On day 7, I went without the soup.  I did however eat lighter than I normally would.  I snacked all day on oranges and fruit.  I drank my sassy water and for dinner had grilled chicken and asparagus!  

After the 7 days, I lost 6.5 lbs. I will be honest and tell you that I cheated.  I also was still recovering from the biopsy pains and did not exercise at all during this.  I guess if I had planned this better and exercised I could have lost the 10 lbs.  

If you do try this, I do suggest taking a multivitamin each day as well as making sure you take any other supplements.  I am iron and vitamin D deficient so I  had to set these items out each day so that I remembered to take them. 

Jump start - Re Do!

I was supposed to start the Flat Belly Jump start this week, unfortunately, life got in the way.  With a biopsy and softball game on Monday and another game that ended at 9:48 pm, I didn't have much time to cook a nice meal for dinner.  Monday's dinner wasn't bad.  It was a small bowl of Frosted Mini Wheat cereal.  Tuesday's dinner was much worse, a meal from McDonald's. YIKES!!

Starting tomorrow, YES I SAID TOMORROW, I will be redoing the jump start.  This will make it so that I can start eating some what less restrictive next week.  The first few days are always the hardest!

I'll hopefully give you all a rundown of my days so that you'll know how you will feel during the jump start.  Like I said before, the first couple of days are the hardest.

Oh, just in case I forget, if you get a chance, make sure you stop by and follow my brother's blog.  He's a great cook and is currently attending culinary school.  He'll be posting some recipes and such that I think (hope) are cheap yet healthy and delicious food!
 

FBD: 4 Day Anti-Bloat Jumpstart

I was busy this weekend and early this week with life, that I decided not to start the Jumpstart until Wednesday.    The Flat Belly Diet is always the option I use for eating healthy and staying full and satisfied.  What's the use in eating a bunch of healthy stuff and your belly is still being stretched.

For the first four days, I have to avoid all the listed items alcohol, carbonated beverages, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, acidic fruit juices, spicy foods, fried foods, sugar alcohols (including sugar substitutes like: xylitol or maltitol), chewing gum, bulky raw vegetables, excess carbohydrates and put the salt shaker and any seasonings containing salt away; these cause bloat and water retention.

Here is the meal plan for the first four days.  I don't usually buy all the stuff on the list.  Why buy a whole box of Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies?  I'll likely just eat the Rice Krispies for the first four days.  

DAY 1

BREAKFAST

-         1/2 cup, unsweetened Applesauce

-         1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

-         1 Cup Cereal, Corn Flakes, unsweetened

-         2 tbsp Sunflower seeds, raw

-         1 glass Sassy water

LUNCH

-         4 oz Turkey, Applegate Farms Antibiotic-Free Honey Maple

-         1 pint Tomatoes, grape

-         1 piece (1 oz) Cheese, string, light

-         1 glass Sassy water

SNACK

-         Blueberry Smoothie: Blend skim milk & frozen blueberries in blender then add flax oil

o    1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

o    1 Tbsp Flax oil, cold-pressed

o    1 cup, unsweetened Blueberries, frozen

-         1 glass Sassy water

DINNER

-         Grilled tilapia, green beans, and roasted red potatoes drizzled with olive oil

o    1 Tsp olive oil

o    1/2 cup, roasted Potato, red with skin

o    4 oz Tilapia, fresh, grilled

o    1 cup Beans, green, fresh or frozen, steamed

-         1 glass Sassy water

Daily Analysis : Calories 1098; Carbs 117 g; Fat 33 g; protein 78 g; fiber 14 g; sodium 1546 mg

DAY 2

BREAKFAST

-         1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

-         1 Cup Cereal, Rice Krispies

-         2 tbsp Sunflower seeds, raw

-         4 oz Pineapple, canned, tidbits, in juice

-         1 glass Sassy water

LUNCH

-         1/2 Can (3 oz) Fish, tuna, canned in water

-         1 cup Carrots, baby, steamed

-         1 piece (1 oz) Cheese, string, light

-         1 glass Sassy water

SNACK

-         Pineapple Smoothie: Blend skim milk, pineapple, and handful of ice in blender until smooth; then add

o    flax oil

o    1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

o    1 Tbsp Flax oil, cold-pressed

o    4 oz Pineapple, canned, tidbits, in juice

-         1 glass Sassy water

DINNER

-         Grilled chicken breast with brown rice, and crimini mushrooms sauteed in olive oil

o    1 Tsp Olive oil

o    1 cup, crimini, sauteed Mushrooms, cooked

o    3 oz Chicken, breast, grilled or roasted

o    1/2 cup, steamed Rice, brown

-         1 glass Sassy water

Daily Analysis: Calories 1177; Carbs 126 g; Fat 35 g; Protein 86 g; Fiber15 g; Sodium1205 mg

DAY 3

BREAKFAST

-         1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

-         1 Cup Cereal, Corn Flakes, unsweetened

-         2 tbsp Sunflower seeds, raw
2 tbsp Raisins, seedless

-         1 glass Sassy water

LUNCH

-         4 oz Turkey, Applegate Farms Antibiotic-Free Honey Maple

-         1 pint Tomatoes, grape

-         1 piece (1 oz) Cheese, string, light

-         1 glass Sassy water

SNACK

-         Peach Smoothie: Blend skim milk & frozen peaches in a blender and then add flax oil

-         1 cup, unsweetened Peaches, frozen

-         1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

-         2 tsp Flax oil, cold-pressed

-         1 glass Sassy water

DINNER

-         Grilled turkey breast, green beans, and red potatoes drizzled with olive oil

o    1 Tsp Olive oil

o    1/2 cup, roasted Potato, red with skin

o    3 oz Turkey, breast cutlet, grilled or baked

o    1 cup Beans, green, fresh or frozen, steamed

-         1 glass Sassy water

Daily Analysis: Calories 1016; Carbs 117 g; Fat 25 g; Protein 75 g; Fiber 11 g; Sodium 1589 mg

DAY 4

BREAKFAST

-         2 Prunes Plums, dried, Sunsweet Ones

-         1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

-         1 packet Cereal, Cream of Wheat, Instant

-         2 tbsp Sunflower seeds, raw

-         1 glass Sassy water

LUNCH

-         4 oz Turkey, Applegate Farms Antibiotic-Free Honey Maple

-         1 cup Carrots, baby, steamed

-         1 piece (1 oz) Cheese, string, light

-         1 glass Sassy water

SNACK

-         Strawberry Smoothie: Blend skim milk & frozen strawberries in a blender and then add flax oil

o    1 cup, unsweetened Strawberries, frozen

o    1 Cup Milk, nonfat skim

o    2 tsp Flax oil, cold-pressed

-         1 glass Sassy water

DINNER

-         Grilled chicken breast, brown rice, and sauteed yellow squash in olive oil

o    1 Tsp Olive oil

o    1 cup, sauteed Squash, yellow, cooked

o    3 oz Chicken, breast, grilled or roasted

o    1/2 cup, steamed Rice, brown

-         1 glass Sassy water

Daily Analysis: Calories 1119; Carbs 123 g; Fat 28 g; Protein 84 g; Fiber 17 g; Sodium 1412 mg