Day 6- chili with a chance of snow...

Parky decided today was a great day to wake up at 6:30....why not? It is Saturday after all- why sleep in? I decided since I had to be up anyway when I didn't want to be, why not just get exercise out of the way, so Zumba it was at 7am this morning...





Had leftover red pepper hummus and egg white salad for breakfast, really wasn't that hungry so I just ate it by it's self and got to sneak in a nap while Parky napped :) YAY!



Had a snack bar when I woke up and later on knew I needed to eat lunch but still wasn't feeling a "meal" so I had a chocolate peanut AdvoBar Meal


Figured Parky needed some fresh air so headed out to the park in the stroller and our path was detoured by the AZ Giving Challenge Festival being held at main park and it looked a lot more fun than the park! They had snow, bounce houses, live music and a chili cook off- SOLD!

Parky spent about 10 minutes with the bubbles..






...and 2 1/2 hours in the bounce houses- we only took about a 30 minute break for some chili and music!



He even went down the giant mega-slide 2 times- of course I had to climb up there with him, and for the record I am counting that as another workout for the day- looks easier than it is- Geesh!








Parky and me in the pine tree and snow photo booth...it actually looks like we're cold!

Are you ever too old for slides? I say nope!



Day 5- Finally Friday!

If you are following along you know I had hummus for dinner last night and I've gotten pretty creative over the past few years in getting the most of the money I spend- especially food cause it really does add up. Breakfast today was my leftover hummus, plus 4 egg whites chopped.





Served it up with my leftover whole wheat pita bread, and only was able to finish about half of both- Parky ate the rest of the pita. I really wanted the celery in the background but my tooth is still bugging me so no super crunchy foods yet :/







Paul is on vacation all week and we had some errands to run to lunch was a treat- YC's Mongolian Barbecue- my FAV! I do mine with all white meat chicken, zucchini, cabbage, spinach, green onions, and broccoli- super filling!

This really was an awesome lunch, one of my favorite "eating out" meals while challenging- just really watch what you are adding for making the "sauce" so you don't get added sugar and they even have whole wheat noodles and brown rice you can add if you are on a refuel day.







Lunch was so filling I really wasn't hungry for dinner so I worked out instead while everyone else ate....McDonalds...yep- I'm that cool! I did steal 2 fries though, not gonna lie...



After my workout I had an Orange Cream Meal Replacement Shake for dinner. We rented movies earlier and got suckered into a popcorn tin at Walgreens, luckily my Carb Ease Plus arrived today (it inhibits the breakdown and absorption of the carbs you eat) so I figured I earned some popcorn with the move. It wasn't that great so I really didn't eat more than about three handfuls. Crappy popcorn is really a downer... :/

 

Is it even possible to watch a movie without popcorn? For me that would be like watching a movie with your eyes closed...what's the point?

Day Four- ....I got nothin' streaks over

I might need to change this week to hail to the hummus week- who knew? Same breakfast today as the first three days...boring I know!







Was super backed up at work today since I had yesterday off and of course that's when bottom drops out and everyone is in a panic...added some mixed nuts to my pickled nuts for a bit of flare.






Got a brilliant idea at lunch to make "egg salad" with egg whites and hummus- TA-DA- AMAZING!







I steamed up some brussel sprouts to make sure the house was EXTRA stinky.....













Parky decided to try out the Rock Diet....probably not so great for your teeth...







I blew it on dinner and exercise today- Paul is on vacation and we don't have the NFL network so we HAD to go see the game at the local bar...I had hummus and whole wheat pita for dinner...and a couple beers....and some garlic fries.... :/   I'm blaming the garlic fries on the punk sitting next to us cause if I didn't have to smell them for 30 minutes I would have been in the clear!

What's your fast food cat nip? Definitely fries for me!



Day Three, Dr Appointments-Yipee!

Getting lame already, I know...

Super crazy day today starting with Gyno apts first thing for me and Alyssa....YAY :/ So Breakfast Bar in the car for meal one.




Since we both had apts it took forever and we both were starving so hit our favorite breakfast spot- The Good Egg, and this was soooo good!
Egg whites, spinach, onions, and chopped tomato with a side of fresh fruit!









 We had about an hour to kill and then had to head for another set of apts with the dentist, luckily I always carry a Snack Bar in my purse so I ate it on the hour drive to the dentist.





After spending two hours at the dentist getting a temp crown put in I was starving so we walked to QT to buy our winning power ball tickets and get a snack. Since half my mouth was numb I had few choices and opted for the small mocha frappachino- no where near close to the best choice but I was light headed from the Novocain and needed something to get me home.

As soon as I got home there was still no chewing...made a banana berry Meal Replacement Shake and started dinner.


Determined to use the remaining turkey I didn't freeze, I concocted turkey noodle soup; 1 box and 1 can of chicken broth, add 2 C water, 1 whole tomato, 1 med onion quartered, 2 celery stalks halved, half a bag of mini carrots, 2 garlic cloves smashed, and 2 tsp of 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joes- bring to a boil and simmer for an hour.

Chop your bird while that simmers...




After the hour you remove all the vegi's/garlic and toss everything but the carrots- I chopped them up smaller and threw back in. Added my chopped bird, a bag of frozen mixed vegi's and about a cup of spiral noodles - preferably whole wheat (you can omit if you are burn day). Bring back to a boil and cook until noodles are cooked through.

I wasn't hungry yet from the MRS I had while cooking so I actually did my Zumba for the day while everyone ate- appetizing for them I am sure! Today's DVD was the Ripped one and they ain't joking...who knew you could get such a great workout with a chair!



I still couldn't chew well (hence the noodles) as the chicken was hard enough for me to break down, but Caden had 4 bowls of this and I do have to say it's the best broth I've ever made. You will notice my lunch packet to the right since I didn't really have lunch I just added them at dinner:)

With nothing personal to either, Dentist or Gyno appointment...which is more dreaded?

Day Two- Through!

Not sure how long I can keep the rhyming up, but I don't shy from a challenge! =)

Day two and life already kicked in...still on DayQuil so breakfast was the same as yesterday and my snacks were as well (pickle nuts anyone?). I pretty much stick to a schedule when I'm working from home because it's easy and it works- why mess with it?






Lunch was not so planned an ended up being on the fly....so we stopped by Quizno's and I was famished (meaning I waited too long to eat) so I knew a salad wasn't going to cut it so I got a small turkey sandwich with every vegi they had on it :)









I remembered to take my before lunch supplements but got so excited to eat I forgot to take my with lunch ones so I took them with dinner...which is why I was starving again by dinner time so I had a hard boiled egg while I cooked dinner- baked salmon and carrots.



Obviously I almost forgot to take a picture again before I scarfed it all down...grrr!








Exercise was Zumba Fitness again, Exhilarate DVD- which basically means you better know what you're doing or be missing a vertebra or something cause that chick on there is ridiculous- the opposite ridiculous of what I looked like trying to copy her....another half serving of protein after my workout and that's it for day 2:)

Zumba advise anyone? I could use it!



Day 1- Done!

Day 1 of my fight against fat Santa's and go figure I'm coming down with a cold :/ Same thing happened to me when I very first started The 24 Day Challenge and I powered through then so here we go...

Felt I needed more in my substance in my breakfast today since I had to add Dayquil to my mix MNS Max C, so had a Breakfast Bar instead of the usual shake.

Lunch was leftover sliced turkey breast with some bagged vegi's I snagged at Fry's last night for $.50- booyah!

Both snacks today were regular cashews mixed w/pickled cashews about half/half...as the day went on I started to forget to take pictures until I was actually halfway or more through eating...so no this is not a portion size- it started out as 1/2 a cup

I snacked on green and black olives while making dinner cause I was starving....hence I almost forgot to take a pic of dinner. I used ground turkey and added 1 egg white, spices, and a couple dashes of Worcester sauce to make portioned patties, steamed up some Brussel sprouts and yum-yum!

Did 45 minutes of Zumba with Lyss and Parky to round out the day- my goal for the first 10 days is to follow the clean eating and supplements of the Lean and Burn phases of The 24 Day Challenge and then add in the suggested workouts for the Zumba 10 Day jump start- YAY ME!

Gettin serious this round- I want awesome comparison pics!





****When you are adding workouts to the challenge, don't forget your Catalyst and Spark prior, and then a half portion of protein after to ensure you are protecting and then feeding the muscles you are working- maximum effectiveness <3 it!

Where do you fit in your exercise? I can't do mornings, so nights are for me!