It may seem silly that I’m typing this since I have only been on the Advocare 24 Day Challenge for one day, but for me it’s a matter of accountability.  I have tried to do these posts before and to post about my weight loss experiences and I have always fickled out after a few weeks.  This time I WANT to make things work and I know that part of that is going to come through having a plan for accountability! Some REAL challenges will come today because I’m going out to lunch with some friends at a favorite Mexican restaurant (and I seriously LOVE Mexican food and I love chips and salsa even MORE) and I’m going to a blogger networking meeting tonight with Chick Fil A and SPRINKLES CUPCAKES! Can you say SERIOUS temptation? I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!

One of the things you do with the Advocare 24 Day Challenge is drink LOTS AND LOTS of water.  I love water, but sometimes I get home and find that I haven’t had anything to drink all day!  I have trouble remembering to fit it into my day! So, yesterday I had a PLAN (I’ve decided the key to success with this is plan, plan, plan!)  I drank a bottle of water in the morning when I got up.  I drank another bottle of water on the way to work, and I took several bottles of water with me to work.  I know it sounds crazy, but I actually set an alarm on my phone to remind me to drink water throughout the day!

I haven’t tried this yet, but I discovered a free iPhone app to help you track water intake!  I just downloaded it this morning!

The biggest challenge for me?  CANDY!  I don’t even really love candy to be honest, but if you’ve ever worked in a school, especially an elementary school, then you know that treats are kind of everywhere.  In the past, when I would pass my assistant principal’s office or head into the workroom, I wouldn’t think twice about grabbing a piece every now and then.  Every time I walked through those areas yesterday, I had to remind myself to step away from the candy!

Here are some things that went better than I had planned:

• No cheese – During the cleanse phase especially, you are supposed to limit dairy.  I anticipated that this would be VERY hard because honestly, I LOVE CHEESE!  I had a wrap yesterday and I thought I would hate not having cheese or mayo or ranch dressing, but guess what?  I added avocado and spinach and tomatoes and it was actually REALLY yummy!
• Energy – I get up REALLY early in the mornings (think 3 a.m.) and my sleeping habits aren’t the greatest.  I have no problem falling asleep at night, but staying asleep is a different story.  I am a Diet Coke addict, and have to have a Diet Coke every afternoon to help me survive.  Even with that, I find myself struggling to stay awake in the afternoons and usually find myself crashing once I get home.  I was surprised at how much energy I still had left when I got home from work yesterday!
• Being HUNGRY – I was really worried about being hungry because, let’s face it, I was used to basically eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and I was doing a complete 180 and going to basically lean meats, fruits, and veggies.  Surprisingly, I didn’t have to worry about this.  I think that planning ahead and making sure that I had meals and snacks ready helped a lot.  Sometimes, I will go for long stretches at work without eating and then I will be starving and binge.  Or, I get home in the afternoons and I’m so tired that I start snacking to try to compensate.  Day 1 I really didn’t feel hungry.  I’m guessing it’s all that water??

Make sure that you check out my meal plan for this week-> Advocare 24 Day Challenge Menu

Next Tuesday will be my first time weighing myself.  Hopefully I’ll have some great results to share!  I also plan to share a giveaway to keep you motivated and help you achieve your weight loss goals!

What are your weight goals?  What are you doing to stick to them?