Advocare 24 Day Challenge - Day 16

Day 16!!!! I feel like this is the home stretch! I weighed yesterday morning. I have lost 2.5 lbs. I am pretty sure I have lost some inches though. The boyfriend said (more than once) that he could tell I had lost. I'll take whatever I can get.

For whatever reason I felt like total poo yesterday. I was also completely exhausted. I think I have "Murph" to thank for that. Needless to say, a workout was not done. I stayed true to the challenge though.

I did make a new recipe! Turkey meatloaf. I wasn't sure how much I would like this, but it turned out REALLY good. I used this recipe from "The Motivated Mama."

Couple of notes:
1. I only used a 6 ounce can of tomato paste and it was plenty
2. I would add a little water to the paste/sauce on top when you mix it together. It's a bit thick.
3. I use salted versions of everything.

Along with the meatloaf, I made some roasted spaghetti squash. This is becoming a go to in my house. Fast, easy, and couldn't taste better!


Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash
olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut squash lengthwise and dig out seeds. Drizzle olive oil on flesh side of spaghetti squash (doesn't need a whole lot). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place squash flesh side down on baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape out the squash.

**You will know it's done when it's a bit darker and you can scrape all the way to the thin edge of the squash. I like roasting it in the oven much better than the microwave method. I think it's too watery in the microwave.

Advocare Challenge - Memorial Weekend!!!

Yeah, I fell behind. Memorial Day weekend made it a little difficult to write about everything I was eating on days 12-15. I did, however, stick to the plan. I have had VERY few slips or even "bends" of the rules. I did have a few glasses of wine Saturday night. I'll be honest, I felt like CRAP Sunday morning. A few weeks ago that amount of wine wouldn't have phased me at all. I don't know if my tolerance has gone down or if this is making the wine turn against me. If the latter is what is happening I may have to sue Advocare. Nothing comes between me and my wine.

Those who CrossFit know that with Memorial Day comes "Murph." Those of you who don't know about "Murph," it is a workout named after Lt. Michael Murphy who died in 2005. He is one of the main Navy Seals in the movie "Lone Survivor." If you haven't seen that, watch it. It will give you a whole new respect for Navy Seals and our military. So "Murph" is a hero WOD (workout of the day) that pretty much every CrossFit gym does on Memorial Day.  Also, the idea of a "hero WOD" is that you're doing this to honor a fallen soldier. Reminding yourself of this will force you to keep going and not quit because they didn't quit fighting for us. So, this was my first year to do this workout. It consists of a 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats and you finish with another 1 mile run. I knew this would take me forever and I feared I would die somewhere on that last run. I survived ... but barely. I am doing "real" pull ups now and I am slow at them. Ripped my hands in a few places and got to where I could barely pull myself up. My time was 85:31. So basically I survived an hour and a half of hell. An 80 year old on a walker could have passed me on that run. I honestly know that if I can do CrossFit, anyone can. I am the least athletic person I know and I may be slower than your average slug ... but I can do it and anyone else can too.

Back to the Advocare Challenge and food I guess. So ... I had a great lunch on Friday, and it's something I continue to go back to. Lettuce wraps with some grilled chicken, tomato and hummus. This time I threw some avocado in there. It was totally delicious.

Friday night I grilled some pork tenderloins. The marinade turned out really yummy! *See bottom of blog for recipe. We grilled some eggplant and squash to go with it. Two of my favorite vegetables on the grill and they are so easy! I went to a cookout yesterday and took some ground turkey and made turkey burgers with some hummus on top. I also ate a bunch of watermelon and veggies. If you're ever hungry, eat watermelon! Most filling food ever!

I will say that I am FINALLY starting to feel like I am getting a little smaller. All just subtle differences. Of course everyone sees my boyfriend and tells him how skinny he looks and goes on and on. I am trying not to want to kill him ... it's hard though. I will report any weight loss in tomorrow's blog.


Pork Tenderloin Marinade

Pork tenderloin
1/4 cup (or less) Olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Place pork tenderloin (I had 2 in a pack from Sam's and this was more than enough marinade for both) in gallon ziploc bag and pour marinade over it. Let marinate for at least 2 hours. Wrap each tenderloin in foil packet and pour marinade over both. Bake until no longer pink in the center (will depend on size of meat). Let rest for 10-15 minutes after out of the oven. Enjoy!