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Hello everybody! Welcome to Weigh-In Wednesday!

Please go check out my sweet co-host!

Ash @ A Step in the Right Direction

If you're new to the link-up, please leave a comment & say hi!

Here's to a fresh start in 2014! I hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas season/New Year/any other holiday you celebrate but now it's time to get back on track! For the past few link ups, our numbers have been down so I'm hoping everyone was just busy with the holidays. If you love WIW, please share us with your friends. I'm going to fix the link up button finally so hopefully that will help as well!

As for me? I gained a few pounds over the holidays and now I'm back to where I started again and losing. What is my plan for the year?

Right now I'm pursuing a gluten-free & dairy-free clean eating lifestyle change (I hate the word "diet"). You may remember when I did the 10 Day Advocare Challenge back in the summer. I ended up losing about 8 pounds (and kept it off) and I felt great! As soon as I was done though, I had a whirlwind of events that included lots of alcohol, fried & otherwise unhealthy foods - the wedding, trip to Atlanta, baseball games, etc. Then I went off to school. 

So why do this if it appears to be unsustainable in my life? I have a lot of reasons. I know that the proteins in wheat products and dairy products often cause inflammation in our bodies - even if you don't have a full blown intolerance or severe allergy. I also know from experience that I feel better when I'm not consuming these products - I feel full of energy, lighter, more regular, etc. 

I've also read and researched a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests giving up dairy may reduce or eliminate my acne and keratosis pilaris (those red bumps on your arms and legs...). This is REALLY important to me with the wedding coming up.

Pumpkin oatmeal Pancakes!

This is an experiment. I'm going to eliminate these products as much as possible for as long as possible and see how the results stack up. I'm pretty confident that I will never, ever completely give up dairy products. I think I will always allow myself to indulge in cheesy goodness once in a while. I will probably never totally 100% give up wheat products either - it sneaks its way into sooooo many products that you wouldn't even guess contain wheat. But I will do my best to limit their consumption.

So what do you eat instead? All the things I SHOULD be eating more of! TONS of veggies! I can get almost all my nutrients from a plant-based diet. I'll also throw in some lean meats, fish, eggs, and lots of beans and nuts. (I would be bad at Paleo - I love beans & legumes!). 

I'm cutting my alcohol intake WAYYYYY back. When I look back at Winter Break, I probably drank half of those days. I really don't need it slowing me down while I'm training - or ever. Again, I'm still going to enjoy a drink or two once in a while but I'm really limiting myself. I just don't need it. And those darn craft beers are loaded with calories!

My last bad "meal" - Yes that's a cup of garlic mayo

Long story short, it's all about clean eating! I'm trying not to focus on the things I "can't" have and instead on what I can have and what will make me function at my highest level. 

It's been rough at school so far - we've been piled under a foot of snow so I haven't been able to get my car out yet (I don't have a shovel at school). Therefore, I've been living on whatever I had in my apartment which is pretty much just soup, canned vegetables, a few frozen meals from trader joe's, and exactly ONE apple. I'm all out of fresh fruit (except a jar of prunes & applesauce) and I'm hopefully going to figure a way out of here so I can go grocery shopping!

I start half training officially next week. Until then, I'm just trying to get some type of activity in daily. Starting the day with some stretching/easy yoga and progress from there.  

Time to go study! It's my first day back to school. I'll do a Wedding update later :)

How cold is it where you are?

What's your goal for the week?

I'm not someone that is easily swayed by trends and fads.  I'm pretty skeptical so I tend to do a lot of research about something before I decide to buy it or try it (unless I'm having a really anxious, impulsive day...things happen). 

So a couple days ago, I did something a little out of the ordinary for me...

I bought the 10 Day Advocare Cleanse. (*loses 10 followers*). I'm not a believer in magic pills and quick fixes. I'm also not deluded enough to think that I can get to where I want to be health-wise by not committing to appropriate lifestyle changes. So why do the cleanse?

Via

I've been stuck in a big ole rut lately and I'm fed up. Whomp whomp whompppp.

Ok...enough selfies.

I do well about 50-60% of the time eating clean and working out, the rest of the time I'm eating Dewey's pizza and skipping boot camp.  I've been able to lose about 12 pounds so far but I know this is going to be really slow going if I don't commit myself to a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.

What I like about Advocare's 10 Day Cleanse is that you still get to eat! No starvation. No funky soups or weird food combinations. Anyone remember the milk and bananas diet? 

It's just common sense clean-eating. 

Obviously this system isn't 100% clean.  I've looked at the ingredients list for all the products and I definitely have some qualms about how long and complicated it is.  However, I'm still willing to give it a try.  Worst case scenario - I don't like the products and I don't buy them again. 

The suggested meal plan eliminates dairy and all processed food items including white flour, rice, fried food, fast food, added sugar, etc. Dairy is going to be tough for me - I like my post-workout chocolate milk, greek yogurt, or cottage cheese! Aside from dropping dairy, the plan is how I aspire to eat most of the time.

The kicker: no alcohol and no soda.  Sorry Heather, no wine with The Bachelorette and no Coke Zero!  Seriously, I shouldn't be eating or drinking most of this stuff anyway so what's the big deal? You can do anything for 10 days.

My goal for the cleanse is obviously to kick start my weight loss.  More importantly, I want to get back in the habit of preparing clean meals and reduce my sugar cravings. I need to recommit to this lifestyle because I'm tired of making the same goals each week and failing to meet them because I'm not invested in the process.

As far as short-term goals go, the cleanse length and timing work perfectly. I plan to start on Monday or Tuesday (whenever my package arrives) and I am scheduled to end one or two days before my friends' wedding. What a perfect reward!

I also purchased the Spark energy drink that two of my favorite bloggers, Skinny Meg and Mama Laughlin, have lauded for a while now.  I'm not much of an energy drink/caffeine person (I hate coffee 99% of the time) but I'm interested to try it.  I'm running on empty energy-wise most days and I'm hoping it will help me get through my long work nights instead of grabbing a Diet Coke. (I chose the Pink Lemonade flavor). 

Via

So that's that. I should mention I am NOT being paid or compensated in anyway by Advocare so all my opinions and experiences will be my own. I can't wait to start and to see my results!

Last post I mistakenly said Google Friend Connect would be gone come July.  I actually meant Google Reader...which IMHO is the only reason to use GFC.  Don't forget to go follow along on Bloglovin' or you'll be missing out!

Hello Pretties!  As I sit here watching The Bachelorette marveling in the spectacular realness of it all, I decided it might be a good idea to create some goals for the month of June.  Life is going by quickly and if I don't write this stuff down, I have no way of keeping myself accountable.  Here goes nothing.

June Fitness Goals:

• Win all three Diet Bets I signed up for.  Why did I do this?  Because if I'm going to lose weight and win some money, I might as well win x3.  
• Complete Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 with my Weigh-In Wednesday friends! (starting tomorrow)
• Track what I eat every single day.
• Limit alcohol intake to once a week.
• Train for another 5K in July
• Yoga twice a week.

One of my roommates from college is getting married at the end of the month so I want to be down a sizable amount by then - no specific number goals but 10 lbs or more would be preferable. 

I had a pretty productive Monday - I finally went to the grocery and did some meal prep!  My schedule is so packed right now that I don't have much down time and I'm ready to lose it.  I've been wanting to respond to all the sweet comments I got from the Medical Monday link up but this is really the first time I've been able to sit down.  I woke up this afternoon (remember...work all night) to so many thoughtful messages, it completely made my day!

Good news and bad news - tomorrow is my last day of babysitting.  I'm going to miss my little goobers - all four of them - but I'm so ready for a break.  More downtime is necessary so I can really focus on eating clean and getting in quality workouts.  I'm tired and I can't deal with the temptation of cheez-its, fruit snacks, and cookies all the time!

One last thing, tonight I made Jamie Eason's Turkey Meatloaf Muffins!  I can't wait to try them tomorrow for lunch!  Yum yum!

Ignore the yucky pan...I'm sure there's a Pinterest for that!

Jamie Eason's Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground turkey
• 3 egg whites
• 1 diced onion
• 2 diced celery stalks
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp chipotle pepper spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp garlic powder

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 375 and spray muffin pay with non-stick spray. Mix all the ingredients in large bowl until combined.  Roll into balls and put in muffin tin. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Makes 12 muffins. Each muffin has about 120 calories.  

I didn't follow this recipes exactly.  I used minced garlic instead of garlic powder, an italian herb paste instead of thyme & mustard, and a chili pepper paste instead of chipotle pepper spice.  

Next time, I'm definitely going to try to add some tomatoes or salsa in there...it needs a little something extra.

Das ist alles! Until next time.