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.