4% Gone!

Good evening all, I have a few minutes before bed, so thought I would throw out an update.

I have lost 4% of my body weight in the month of March, and that is a big accomplishment (10.3lbs)! I am cutting my carb count to 30 a day, and that seems to be working well. My PCOS symptoms have been better, I have been sleeping better, and overall just feel great.

We have been very busy, so we haven’t had actual “meals”. Most of them consist of a salad and a protein (steak, chicken, fish). Tonight I had taco meat wrapped in a low carb tortilla and some fresh guacamole. For lunch, I have been taking meat and cheese, a salad or carrots, and a sugar-free Jell-O. For snacks, I eat on peanuts and string cheese.

I am still taking the Advocare products, and doing very well on them. I am currently on the ThermoPlus, Max C, and Catalyst. I also drink the Spark. Due to the little bit higher carb count, I limit my meal replacement shakes, usually eating an Atkin’s Protein Bar in place of it (19g net carb vs 3g net carb). If you are interested in more information or ordering Advocare products, visit the link to the right 🙂

I will have an updated picture next week. I am really hoping to hit a big milestone goal by next week, 35lbs, but that is determined by the work I put in this week. I hope all that are on their own weight loss journey are having great success! I’m here for support if you need it.  

Stay tuned for a new blog tomorrow, I have some BIG news to announce.

That is all for now,

~Belle Starr

Advocare Update

Well hello there! Going to post a quick update about my Advocare journey. I am STILL battling the stomach flu, and was really sick yesterday and I am not 100 percent, so this will be short and sweet.

Let me begin by saying, I LOVE ADVOCARE. I have lost 25lbs and not stopping. I haven’t measured or taken pictures this month yet, but will try my best to get that done next week. Granted, I haven’t stuck to healthy eating like I should, but I say I am around 80 percent. Once I get back from my cruise for my anniversary, I am going to hit the gym again and get back to meal planning.

I fully recommend their products to anyone who is looking for a boost in energy, weight loss, or just overall health. I love the Spark and the meal replacement shakes.

If anyone has any questions, please check out my Advocare website on the front page of our blog, or visit https://www.advocare.com/131139019.

I still have a long journey, but I am finally beginning to see the old me slowly coming back. I am becoming confident again, and Advocare has given me the energy to keep going.

Anyways, I better get some sleep. Been a long couple of days. Love to all!

~Belle Starr

Advocare 24 Day Challenge Results

Thank you all for being so patient with me. The Hubs was out of town all week, so all my time was wrapped around little bit.

I finished the 24 Day Challenge on Wednesday, the 29th, and had excellent results. Not only did I lose weight and inches, but I transformed how I felt. So…. here are the totals:

18.2lbs lost
20.3 inches gone

I am so proud of myself. Sure, I did “cheat” and not eat exactly to plan a couple of times, but overall I stuck to plan and changed the way I ate. I have so much more energy than I did a month ago. So, want to see a before and after picture? You should feel special. I hate pictures and being in front of the camera, so this is a big step for me.

I still have a long journey to go. I didn’t gain this weight in 24 days, I am not going to lose it on 24 days. I am continuing the Advocare products as I keep losing weight. So I came up with a new challenge for February, no wheat products at all. It is going to be tough, but I think that will be the best at helping me with my PCOS. I will post updates, and at the end of February will do another picture. My other goal is to hit the gym 5 days a week.

I love the Advocare products and support them 100 percent. They helped me jumpstart my weight loss journey and I can’t wait to see what 6 months will look like! If anyone is interested, please let me know.

I have several other blogs in the making, so I cannot wait to post those. I bought a new laptop today, and in love, so I am going to put it to good use!

That’s all for now. Love to all.

~Belle Starr

Cleanse Results

Well, on the iPad again, so we will try this. This will be a short post, I’m so sleepy.

I’m officially done with my 10 day cleanse portion of the 24 day challenge and I have to say, besides the pink eye I have, I feel amazing. My energy is back and I’m eating very healthy. I’m in love with the Spark energy drink and am excited to get to the Max phase. I plan to continue this max phase until I hit my goal weight. I’m very satisfied with the result. My moods are better and my PCOS symptoms are better.

Here they are:
10.4 pounds lost
13.5 inches gone

Since Little Bit and I have gotten pink eye, I’ve been out of the gym for the past 2 days. I’ll be back there tomorrow. Tomorrow the Hubs is going to cook fish for me, and I really don’t like fish, so I will post how that goes. Till next time…

Love to all.

~Belle Starr

Saturday Night Fun

My Saturday nights sure have changed over the past 10 years.

In college (almost 10 years ago), you would find me partying with friends either in Ada or here at home. I would stay out late and get up to work the next morning. I had so much energy and only needed a couple of hours of sleep to function.

After I met the Hubs, most of my Saturday nights were spent with him.

After marriage and I started working at the hospital, my Saturday nights were spent at work, since my shifts were every Friday and Saturday night. When I took a job and worked five 8 hour shifts, I would have one Saturday night off every 3 weeks and those were spent with my hubs and best of friends.

After I found out I was pregnant, I prayed that a job would come along and I could get off nights. That’s when it was announced that our hospital was transitioning to an a new EMR and an EMR team needed to be established. Our LIS Analyst joined the EMR team, and I took over her position. It was all in perfect timing.

Ever since taking that job, I am off on Saturday nights. A year ago, I was searching for the perfect nursery décor and learning how to breastfeed on my Saturday nights, now I enjoy them snuggled up with my baby and hubs on the couch, or if we have a baby sitter, I am out with friends. Its amazing to me how my life has changed over the past 10 years.

Anyways, tonight, I had the chance to go out with friends, but Little Bit is not feeling well and so fussy, that I stayed in and am making a Meal Plan and Grocery List for next week. The importance of staying on track with healthy eating is planning! Tomorrow is food prep day and I will prepare all breakfast and lunches out for the week and have all the ingredients put together for the dinners. It takes about an hour to plans meals and a few hours to prepare, but it helps me stay on track. I am feeling better than I have in months, and I know it is because I am eating healthier and taking Advocare.

Well, I am going to resign. I am so tired and need to get up early for grocery shopping and to get Little Bit ready for his Valentine pictures.

Love to all.

~Belle Starr

Cleanse 1-3

Thought I would do a quick update of the first 3 days.

Cleanse is going well. Days 1-3 were uneventful. Changing my diet has been a challenge, especially since Hubs and I like to eat out quite often. There have been some changes in my body, but I will post my results after my 10 days cleanse is completed, then after my 14 day max phase. I figured it was just easier to use this blog to post my results then try to keep up with two. I can barely keep track of what day it is. I can’t wait to see what my before and after photos will look like.

I can already tell my PCOS symptoms are getting better. My acne has decreased and the bloating is gone. I also have more energy and don’t feel sluggish at all. That is really my driving force in this whole journey, its not about the weight loss, but about being healthy and preventing all the bad stuff PCOS can bring.

Enough from me tonight. It’s past my bedtime.

Love to all.

~Belle Starr

 

A New Favorite

I’m using the new iPad app for WordPress, so bear with me. Let’s see how this goes.

The challenge is going great. My first weigh-in is tomorrow so we shall see. The hardest part is drinking the fiber drink for the cleanse. Can’t seem to figure out how to get the whole thing down. Oh well.

So, as all of you know, I’m not a fan of veggies. I love love love carbs. I really wanted an alternative for one of my favorite, spaghetti. Tonight, Hubs cooked something oh so close, Parmesan Crusted Chicken with spaghetti squash and a little sauce. It was AMAZEing. Now, don’t go into the meal expecting spaghetti, because it’s not. But it is a great alternative to pair a meal that’s low in fat and carbs.

Using my friend Tiffany’s recipe:

~Take a whole spaghetti squash and cut it in half. Dig out the seeds.

~Season squash with choice of seasoning. We used garlic salt.

~Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

~When cooked, the inside will easily come out with a fork in spaghetti like strands.

Here are the pictures:

Well, I’m going to sign out for the night. Baby is in bed so I think it’s an early bedtime for me.

Love to all,

~Belle Starr

A 24 Day Challenge

Well, posting this from my iPad turned out to be a disaster, so I will retype it on our computer… Here we go.

Tomorrow I will be starting the Advocare 24 Day Challenge and I couldn’t be more excited. I really like the Advocare products because they do not promise a “miracle program or a quick fix”, you have to establish a healthy lifestyle in order to get results. You get out what you put in. The diet plan is similar to the lower carb plan I followed when I lost 45 pounds before conceiving Aiden and what I had to eat while I had gestational diabetes, so it should not be too hard. I have already gotten back in the gym, so I am ready to go!

The 24 day Challenge starts off with a 10 day cleanse. It is a gentle cleanse that rids your body of toxins and preps it for the next 14 days, the Max phase. During the Max phase, you continue to follow the meal plan and take supplements that help with fat burning. I plan on continuing the Max phase until I reach my weight loss goals.

Since I have Insulin-Resistant PCOS, it makes it very difficult for me to lose weight. After Aiden was born, the first couple of months were fine, then my PCOS came back with a vengeance. My cysts have returned worse than ever, and all my symptoms are back. I have gained 25 pounds since I had Aiden (I had lost down to 5lbs under pre-pregnancy weight after birth and started gaining back in September). I am hoping that adopting the low carb lifestyle and losing back down to a comfortable weight, that my symptoms will subside.

I have already tried the Spark energy drink and LOVE IT! It is the only energy drink that I have ever tried to actually give me energy AND mental focus! Plus it is full of important vitamins and minerals. So, I am very excited to try the rest of their products. Here is my distributor website if anyone else is interested at looking at their products.

https://www.advocare.com/131139019/default.aspx

After I complete the 24 day challenge, I will post my before and after Stats and pictures. I have contemplating starting my own blog to track the day to day stuff, but I am still on the fence about that.

Anyways, just wanted to share with you guys this journey I am beginning for the next 24 days 🙂 Do not feel obligated to buy or anything like that. I haven’t really shared that I am doing this with anyone, but I wanted you guys to know. You are the people that I want to celebrate my successes with! Thanks for listening!!

Love to all.

~Belle Starr