The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of AdvoCare Cleanse (1 week later)

This will be a quick post! I finished my AdvoCare cleanse last week. And the results were okay. I decided not to weight myself or measure just go by pictures. I felt great throughout however had a few temptations and gave in here and there. I had mentioned that I was leaving Baltimore (leaving on Saturday) and had a few drinks/dinner lined up throughout the cleanse. I drank twice sangria and a mojito and overall did look for the healthier options when eating out but who can say no to warm french bread ALL THE TIME.

I would love to do the cleanse again 100% and even think I would consider the 24 day cleanse. It definitely showed me that it is a mental game but 100% doable if you prep and want to do it.

Day 1 vs. Day 11

Birthday vs Day 11 

The biggest difference I saw was in my middle section and my face. I felt so uncomfortable  for my birthday and the day after the cleanse finished I couldn't stop taking pictures! I felt great!! 

I definitely understand the hype and would recommend AdvoCare for anyone wanting to do a cleanse without the craziness that some entail. 

xoxo 

Gigi

Follow Through Friday- Day 3 of the AdvoCare Cleanse

IT IS FRIDAY & I FEEL GREAT!!! I'm in such a great mood- it is sunny and Friday and I have lost 2lbs since I started the cleanse!! 

I can say that it is definitely doable to eat clean however it is such a mental game! This week I got a job offer in NYC (currently living in Baltimore) this means I will be moving in with my parents until late summer (will need  Xanax). I'm super happy and excited for this next chapter but cue in emotional roller coaster since I found out. I'm mostly in disbelief and going through the motions- I have 2 weeks until I make the move and start the new job. I have to say bye to people and hang out with a lot of friends which MEANS A LOT OF TEMPTATION DURING THIS CLEANSE!! I know worse timing ever because everyone wants to do dinner and drinks which I want to do but I want to do this cleanse. Last night was my first test- I went out to dinner and before I got there I picked out my meal which was the skinny salad with chicken (mixed greens, cucumber, and tomato) and then a side of sweet potato fries (counts as a good carb right? ) however I took a small handful then stopped eating them and ordered no alcohol. I think that was the first time I have ever ate that clean when I was out. Of course the fries and the 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette dressing isn't allowed but I'm not going to sweat the small stuff; overall the meal was healthy and I'm really proud of myself for doing it. 

I didn't workout this week at all- I am hoping to run tonight and this weekend. Overall I'm feeling good especially because the fiber drink is over until day 8 (so gross) 

Goals for next week- 

1. Continue on the cleanse avoid temptations- remember "How bad do I want it"
2. Go to boot camp 3 days (specifically the 5:30am class)

I Can't come up with a clever title.. so here you go Follow Through Friday Take 4 (2 for me)

This week has been awesome! The week of the wedding was crazy! I was in panic mode and tried to detox and crash diet! I was having panic attacks as if I was the bride. But I calmed myself down- there was very little I could do at that point. Thankfully my sister picked flattering dresses so that helped a lot. I just kept telling myself that this was going to be the before pictures and after the alcohol, delicious food and cake I would get back at it. Last week was slow moving so but finally something clicked; I did it once got to see some results but DAMMIT I want more results so I just have to keep going! 

This week's goals: 

1. Full Week of Jillian 
2. Back on MyFitnessPal - recording every meal not just downloading the app
3. 1 sweet/non clean eating treat a day (moderation) 
4. No eating after 8:30pm 

So I didn't fully complete my goals HOWEVER when I started in May I focused on food first then slowly got into working out. I was totally ready to do Jillian but then decided to do a boot camp class I did this summer. I had a groupon and it was great but shit happened and didn't finish the full month. So now we are back paying full price (kill me it is so expensive! but hopefully gets me there ) but already feel great. I did boot camp on Wednesday and today. This morning we did the 5:30am class & let me tell you I FEEL GREAT!!! I'm so energized and just feeling good. I'm a little sore and tight but not walking like a baby deer so I will take it. 

Next week's goals:

1. Continue using MyFitnessPal
2. Go to boot camp 3 days this week 
3. Eat very little during Super Bowl party 
4. DO NOT MESS UP DURING THE WEEKEND! (for this reason I weighted myself today and weighting again on Monday) 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! 

Take 5000000000 - Operation lose this weight

I don't care how many times I fail I'm going to get this weight off.

All I'm saying is my goals for this coming week !!

1. Full Week of Jillian 
2. Back on MyFitnessPal - recording every meal not just downloading the app
3. 1 sweet/non clean eating treat a day (moderation) 
4. No eating after 8:30pm 

I FAILED!

So this is going from bad to worse! We did so bad on the dietbet neither one of us took it serious! I feel gross and weighting 187 so gained 4 lbs but feels like it is 10lbs. This week was a little better I planned my meals and really tried to stay away from bad foods. But didn't go to the gym all week and I just feel bad and I don't know what is going on. It is all mental! Was considering buying a 10-day cleanse but I feel so silly that I need to buy something to help me get back into the mindset. All I know is that I have to try on my bridesmaid dress on Nov. 22 and I AM FREAKING OUT!

I wish I could be positive and show progress but I'm just not there - and it is really just making me feel crappy.

Thursday blues.

OCTOBER DIETBET

In blog land like in real life there are trends. The popular weight loss bloggers will try something or announce a new challenge and within a couple of hours/days most will follow and join in on the detox, Jillian Michael video, or monthly challenge. Well last month Skinny Meg announced her DietBet and everyone joined in- 887 participants and the pool was $22,575! You bet 25$ (joining fee) to lose 4% of your weight in one month at the end the winners divide the pool of money. Of course every participant had to submit a picture of their weight in the beginning of the month and at the end to make sure no one cheated. Well I decided not to join in because I wanted to see how it all worked out and I knew I was still not mentally focused to lose weight.

However October is here & I"m ready to end the year strong!! And if you know me you know I'm a sucker for bets, some would call it a gambling problem but not the time to get into that. Ashley isn't a gambler but she is competitive so with a little bit of shit talking I had her convinced to do it with me. We did the same rules as the official DietBet however if we both lose our 4% we would just go out for a nice dinner or buy something for the apartment. We did add a little twist so we save some money and avoid crappy temptations. Every time one of us eats fast food- the same amount you spend on the meal has to be added into the pool of money. We officially started yesterday and already I put money in the pool HA but it is game face on - & Ashley is GOING DOWN
 

Starting Weight- 183.6lbs
4% to lose -7.3lbs.

UPDATED GOALS!

When I first started blogging I had created a GOALS page. And as I reflect on what I have accomplished I think it is time to revamp and hopefully ignite some fire in me again. 


BEFORE

1. Try a new fitness activity every month (i.e. kickboxing, cycling, hot yoga, anything else I find in the area) SEMI DONE- BOOTCAMP
2. Try a Pinterest recipe or workout weekly!!  
3. Fit into my Watch the Throne T-shirt  (a little tight but fits)
4. Color Run 
5. Complete 2nd 5k by the end of the summer  (not official race but for myself)
6. Go down a bra size (current: 38B goal: 36B)
7. Learn how to swim
8. Become intermediate in yoga
9. Fit into a size 10/12 jeans (pants)

AFTER (Let's end 2013 with a BANG!) 

1. 10-12 lbs  by Nov- December (specifically the last dress fitting) (5-6 lbs by Oct. 12)  
2. 10 min mile; 5k in 30-35 mins. 
3. Complete 10k (organized or by myself) 
4. Do yoga for a FULL MONTH 
5. ABS! & TONE ARMS & SQUATS! SQUATS! (more circuit training) 
6. Fit better in my Watch the Throne T-shirt 
7. Fit into size 10 jeans! 

With that being said my gym session was awesome last night! did some abs before I ran then after I hit a mile decided I was going to do arms while walking on incline! best decision EVER! I was dripping by the end of 26mins! 

always appropriate! 

Reality Check

I looked at the date and realized I haven't written a post since AUGUST 27! Lord have mercy.. I have dropped the ball.  

So reality hit me HARD yesterday! I decided to finally face my demons.. and step on the scale. For the last month and some change I have ate what I wanted with some moderation and running 2-3 times a week. Of course I was maintaining but slowly eating what I wanted became more frequent- so thankfully the damage was gaining ONLY 3lbs. I'm so happy that the damage was minimal compared to how bad it could have been. However, this is when it dawned on me that I can't just stop; yes I'm so happy that I lost the 13lbs and went down in jean size however this is not where I want to be. I still want to lose another 10-12lbs, be able to be a size 10 in jeans/ fit into my Watch the Throne shirt and not to mention the other healthy goals I had. I honestly believe that I started to see other bloggers maintaining or just losing motivation that I kind of was like you know what I feel the same way especially how crazy my life had become. I"m in no way blaming my lack of motivation on them I just started to relate to them and ::Kanye shrugged:: this lifestyle change.

Something else that was a reality check was "being an emotional eater" I have always been an emotional eater.. ALWAYS. Having a bad/stressful/want to celebrate day I always want comfort food- usually chinese food. And yesterday was no different. I had a bad afternoon and was motivated all day to work out even printed out a workout and then shit hit the fan I skipped the gym and went straight to buy chinese food. I don't know if I can ever become a non-emotional eater but I know that right now- with everything going on in my life I DO NOT LIKE IT. This is something I'm going to work on in the next couple months as stress levels will be higher with my sister's wedding and the holidays.


Now that I can pin point the problem .. what are my SOLUTIONS.

1. I have to blog 2-3 times a week. NO EXCEPTION. I started this blog for accountability and I need to stick to it because it did help for the first 13lbs.
2. NO more processed food! I have to go back to planning/cooking all my meals!
3. Continue running but add circuit training.

With ALL of that being said.. HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

A year ago... Self Motivation

I'm in a deep rut in terms of motivation. When I first started in May I was full throttle ready to lose 20lbs read to have the dream body by August 25. Well today is August 27 and I"m too scared to weight myself hoping I'm still in the 183lbs area meaning down 12lbs since I started and still far from the "dream body". I'm starting to get ansy about my weight again; uncomfortable with clothes I wear; and most importantly looking for the easy way to lose weight. I started talking some green tea pills and raspberry something or another pills my mom gave me that it is suppose to help. Well every time I take them I feel so nauseous and miserable SO WHY AM I TAKING THEM??!! Because I want to see results without doing the work. Admitting it is the first step. I dropped the ball and I'm disappointed in myself. But struggling with this my entire life and finally putting in hard work and seeing results I'm proud of I can only move forward. Will I be back on the wagon again right away NO. I started off slow and need to gradually get back into it.

I love seeing other people's progress as a form of motivation. I follow every fitness Instagram or people I know have lost a significant amount of weight. However there are times where I need to see my own progress to find that motivation again. So I found some pictures from last year and tired to get similar pictures to see the progress.. (I have realized I need to start taking more pictures HA)



The biggest difference are you usually in my face. Just got to keep trucking away! and like Anne and I always say "we will get through this.. we got this"

4th of July Last Year

Sometime this summer

Almost a year ago 

This weekend 

Motivation Monday

I have really fell off from posting recently. Partly because my body is still recovering, partly because my motivation has changed and partly because I'm emotionally drained. HOWEVER! I keep seeing small victories throughout this "lifestyle change" I don't crave soda or sweets or greasy foods (okay I'm lying a little bit but it has gotten A LOT better than when I started in May) I have seen clothes fit me that hasn't in a long time! I bought size 12 dress pants at Banana and size 12 shorts and a Medium size jersey dress at Gap this weekend (pictures to come!) I realized that I do like planning out my meals especially for lunch and my body misses eating healthy! Slowly I'm getting back to eating what I was eating before I got sick & have actually been able to run a few times this past week. My life shifted a lot recently but the main goal is still there! So I just have to keep rolling with the punches because even though old Gigi would have just bought a lot of fries, a lot of bread, a lot of ice cream, cried and watched the Notebook on repeat; the me today is going for a run tonight and excited to eat an apple for lunch today! Yeah I can't believe it either!!

STOP WAITING! BE HAPPY NOW

Oh Snap It's Wednesday

Hello readers!! (warning- I had really strong coffee so I'm a little jittery/hyper) 

Favorite GIF of all time! Get it Wednesday

I'm super excited because we are leaving Baltimore for a long weekend driving up to Syracuse tomorrow afternoon! I"m so drained that I need a pool/relaxation and a lot of mojitos (Ashley's mom's idea) We are still planning to run while we are there and doggie paddling in the pool counts as a workout right??

Boot camp update: So I really didn't want to go Monday tried to come up with excuses not to go however Ashley dragged me there.. and I was so glad I was there & I didn't look like Bambi afterwards so I guess there has been some progress ha. We are back at boot camp tonight!

About a month ago I came across Jennifer's  Project Progress Program and basically you participate by sending a photo/goals and each month you check back in. So I decided this would be extra motivation since all of Jennifer's readers will be waiting for some results (she has a pretty big following). So it is my first month's check in; I told her the 4lbs and 4inches I lost and took new pictures. My new goals for this next month is to lose my first 10lbs, and finish boot camp!


And these are my 1 month progress pictures!!! (purple last month/pink this week)





I was completely shock. There are some visible improvements which I didn't even notice until the pictures since I have only lost 4lbs. In all honesty I don't believe it; I think it is the wall- it has skinny powers LOL. I read a post the other day about Self Worth and it was so on point even though she is married and a mom but essentially it was all the feelings I go through. And after the pictures yesterday I felt like I wasn't worthy of this progress but I am. I deserve the body I have always wanted/imagined. Still think those pictures are wrong and probably going to nag Ashley to take new ones but for now I'm going to accept them.

Off Day

Just an overall blah day.. I'm not sure if it is post PMS but I'm just drained and sad. I really just want to crawl back into bed after work but forcing myself to go to the gym since tomorrow I can't because I work all day.

Looking at a new blog today and she lost 60lbs in 7 months! Talk about hard work and dedication! Check out Jess and her story!

She posted this quote today .  "Actually, I just woke up one day and decided That I didn't want to feel like that anymore, or ever again. So I changed. Just like that. " - Unknown" 

And even though I feel crappy and don't want to go to the gym this sounds about right so just have to push through whatever this is. In the meantime I"m looking at gym clothes/new running sneakers! I have Under Armour sneakers now but think my gift to myself after 10lbs down will be these babies!




Happy Wednesday y'all

Monday, Monday, Monday!

This is Monday of all Monday like "the holy grail of all diet/exercise program starting days" as Amber put it on Friday.

It is Monday July 1st AND 6 months away from New Year's Day. I couldn't imagine a better day to get on any goal you may have!! For me this is a perfect day because while I was on cloud 9 last week due to the progress I had seen and people starting to notice it on my face I decided to EAT BREAD! Not just one roll.. oh no that would be be too good for me.. I ate bread 4 times this week.. white french/Italian bread.. and LOVED EVERY MINUTE

Just picture me like that with bread and butter/beans 

I also was not able to workout this week at all.. so now I was terrified to get on the scale this morning & Ashley suggested I shouldn't since I was feeling so great and the scale might ruin that- even tried on clothes from Banana Republic (side job) that were a size 14 & XL (XL was too big) I was too hype that day!

But anywho I did weight myself and I didn't gain all 4lbs in 1 week so horrahhhhhhh I'm still doing okay! 

And actually had to do my 1 month check in and the results were amazing! People don't lie when the say the scale may not move too much but the real test is clothes and measurements. 

In total lost 4lbs. and 4 inches throughout !! 

	May 25, 2013	June 25, 2013	July 25, 2013	August 25, 2013
Weight	195.6 lbs	191.6 lbs
Left Arm	13in	13.5in
Right Arm	14in	13.5in
Waist	38.5in	37 in.
Belly Button	41.5in	40in
Hips	44.5in	44.5in
Left Leg	26in	25.5in
Right Leg	25in	25in

DETOX IS OVER!

Detox is OVER!! Well is has been over since Friday night but still happy I am DONE!

Now technically it was a 7-day detox however, I decided not to finish it completely. Overall I still think it was  doable however too long! Mentally it starts to get difficult as the days go by. Day 1- Fruits all day was great for breakfast and lunch; dinner was harder and the next day I woke up feeling really drained to the point where I thought I was going to pass out. I didn't thankfully but had to really load up on the veggies that day! Surprisingly enough I enjoyed eating veggies all day because it really exposed me to other options I never really ate like squash. Day 3 was way better because I was able to eat fruit in the morning and veggies for dinner! Day 4 was the WORST!!!! 8 bananas and 8 small containers of Greek yogurt- I managed to 4.5 bananas and 2 yogurts and of course the next day I was so weak had to drink Vitamin water to help. Day 5 was pretty easy because I was finally eating chicken/turkey and 6 tomatoes. By Saturday I was checked out I was craving salads and just overall healthier foods. Overall the detox did what I was hoping it would I lost 4lbs and I started getting my body ready for more fruits/veggies.


I'm feeling great! I'm starting to notice my work clothes fitting better!! And a blazer Ashley bought me in October fully fits buttoned and all!! So yes I am feeling myself and I'm on cloud 9 with motivation !!

ownzzzzz get it gurlll 

Motivation

Happy Saturday ! Sweet & to the point !!