Sparkalicious Summer Challenge - Ready to Join Us?

  

Well, it's Sunday night and I have mixed emotions - again.  This happens to me every weekend.  You know when you were growing up and your elders would tell you, "time flies when you're having fun" or "the older you get, the faster time goes".  I now believe both of those statements.  My weekends seem to fly by - whether I'm having fun or just trying to play catch up from all the things I wasn't able to do during the week.  I'm always so sad to see the weekend end, but thankful that in this tough economy I have a job.

Now it seems it isn't just my weekends that fly by, but time in general.  It's already June!  Summer is here and that means vacations, time spent by the pool or at the lake, graduations, weddings & showers, and family get togethers.  Before I know it, fall will be here!  Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.  You're probably wondering where I'm going with this.  It's coming, I promise.

Back in April I started the 24 Day Challenge and then posted my results in my blog back in May.  Then my hubby started his very own 24 Day Challenge - and he had great results too.  Lost at least 16 pounds and quite a few inches.  He called one day from work and said he had to take his belt off and use the drill to make a new hole in it so he could keep his pants from falling off!  In the past couple of days, I've had compliments from my children about how I look - can I tell you what a great feeling that is?

So now with summer here, we'd love to share the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge with YOU!  Our team, the SparkStars, is having a Sparkalicious Summer Challenge starting June 10 and running through July 3, 2012.  Here's the info -

 Now is the time to LOOK and FEEL the best you ever have! 

Join us from June 10th - July 3rd and take the 24 Day Trim Challenge!

During the challenge prizes will be earned:
$100 in AdvoCare products will go to biggest loser for % of inches lost.
$100 in AdvoCare products will go to biggest loser for % of pounds lost.
To be eligible for prizes you must email msvannus@yahoo.com a picture of yourself before beginning the Challenge and fill out the form here!
Purchase the challenge and get started!
Be sure you receive a confirmation email after you sign up.

Have questions?  Please send me an e-mail at mary.vannus@yahoo.com

Saturday, Chocolate & Tuna

Today is day 17 of my 24 Day Challenge with AdvoCare.  I've lost a few pounds, quite a few inches, can feel my pants getting looser, and probably most important - feel awesome!   Besides feeling the best I've felt in quite a few years,  I am also eating healthier.  I have been trying some great new recipes and have two more to share today.  I started my morning off with a 30 minute walk, an awesome chocolate shake (with a spoonful of peanut butter), and then a trip to the grocery!

Recently I read a recipe for Chocolate Protein Bars (think brownies that are GOOD for you!) on Jamie Eason's blog .  One night this week I was going to make these, only to find that one of my sweet girls had put the vanilla whey protein container in the pantry . .  empty!  So, to satisfy my sweet tooth, I settled for a rice cake with peanut butter and a few mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top.  Today I made sure I purchased  the vanilla whey protein powder and came home and mixed these babies up & baked them!

While the brownies protein bars were baking, I mixed up "twisted tuna" for lunch.  Growing up in Florida, we actually had avocado and lime trees in our back yard.  Most of the avocados you see in the grocery here are not the same kind of avocados we had.  I think I remember my dad and granddaddy calling them alligator pears.  They were huge - one of those Florida avocados would make about 3 of the little ones we buy on sale for 10/$10!  Anyway, back to the recipe.  This tuna salad can be adapted to your tastes.  I think it might just be my new favorite thing for lunch!   If you decide to try either of these recipes, let me know what you think please.

Jamie Eason's Chocolate Protein Bars
Here's what you will need to make this treat -
1 cup Oat Flour*
4 Egg Whites
2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
1/2 cup Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
8 oz Berry flavored Baby Food (I used Apple Blueberry)
3 tbsp Cocoa
4 oz Water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together in bowl.  In a separate bowl mix egg whites, baby food and water.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together.
Spray square baking dish with a non-stick butter spray and pour batter into dish.
Bake 20 - 30 minutes.
Makes 16 squares (1 serving = 2 squares).
Nutrition Info:  96 calories, 1.4 grams Fat, 12 grams Carbs, 10 grams Protein.
* An easy way to make Oat Flour is to grind up old fashioned oats in a coffee grinder or food processor until it is the consistency of flour.  I store mine in the freezer.

"Twisted" Tuna
1 can water packed Tuna
1 avocado
1 stalk celery
1/2 lime
cilantro, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the avocado in half, remove the seed and peel.  Put avocado in a mixing bowl and "smash" (like the technical term?) it with a form til smooth.  Open the tuna, drain the water and add to bowl.  Chop your celery and cilantro and add.   Squeeze lime juice over all and mix well.  Season to your like with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and more cilantro and lime juice if needed.

This would be great served on a bed of lettuce, stuffed into a pita pocket, wrapped in a tortilla or lettuce . . .

If you've got any questions about AdvoCare products or the 24 Day Challenge, you can find more info here  or leave me a comment or send me an e-mail (mary.vannus@yahoo.com).

Hope you have a great weekend!

Mary

Changing How I Cook

Today is day 13 of my 24 Day AdvoCare Challenge.  I've finished the 10-day cleanse, and now I'm in the "Max" phase where you fill your body with great things to help reset your metabolism.  So in the midst of doing this Challenge, I've also changed what I'm eating (and what my family is eating - they have no choice, unless they are going to start cooking!).  Now when I shop, I'm stocking up on fresh fruits & veggies and lean protein.  My shopping path goes around the outside edges of the store - not up and down all the aisles.  I've been a label reader since I did WW several years ago, but now rather than looking at just calories, fat & fiber, I'm looking at all the additives & preservatives that are added to our food.  No wonder so many people are overweight!  And I've not visited my favorite lunch spot - where the slogan is "eat more chicken"  - in several weeks.  Although on my last few visits before the Challenge, my lunch consisted of the grilled chicken nuggets, fruit cup & water so that wasn't too bad.

The first result I noticed just a few days into the Challenge was I was losing the bloated feeling around my midsection (how attractive) and how great I felt!   If you need energy & focus and don't want to drink several cups of coffee, tea, energy or carbonated drinks, you should definitely try Spark.  Got my hubby to give Spark a try (he loves his energy drinks and I hate the way he crashes).  First he told me he wasn't going to drink the "juice", but he did, and he loves it.

By day 10, I'd dropped a few pounds and lost 9 inches overall.  I'm positive several more pounds will be shed by the end of day 24, and more inches.  This is actually the easiest thing I have ever done to lose weight/inches.  I promise if you give it a try, you will not be hungry - you eat every 3 hours so your metabolism doesn't slow down.

I've been looking for new recipes . . . "clean" recipes that are pretty much food in it's natural state without all the salt, preservatives, chemicals, etc.  We've had turkey - zucchini burgers from Jamie Eason's website.  Also used this recipe, but changed it up and made meatballs to serve with spaghetti squash.  Pretty yummy!    We've also tried the Clean Pizza that can be found on He and She Eat Clean.  Another hit at our house.

Tonight I created a crustless quiche (no white flour, no white sugar, etc.).  Here's what I did.

Crustless Quiche -

Spray bottom of glass baking dish with Olive Oil Pam.  Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of baby spinach.  Now go crazy - start slicing & shopping up all the veggies you love - I used zucchini, baby bella mushrooms, red & yellow peppers, roma tomatoes, Vidalia onions.  Layer this on top of the spinach.  Then I took about 1 1/2 cups of non-fat cottage cheese and spooned that over the top of the veggies.  Because I did an 11 x 13 baking dish, I used 12 eggs.  Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk til mixed well. Stir in about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of unsweet almond milk.  Add a pinch of  salt and some fresh ground black pepper.  Pour the egg mixture over the veggies.  Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes (or til the eggs are set).

I served this with link turkey sausage.
Fast, easy & delish!  Give it a try.

If you're interested in trying any of the AdvoCare products, or have questions, leave me a comment here or e-mail me at mary.vannus@yahoo.com

To learn about the many wonderful products AdvoCare offers, use this link - https://www.advocare.com/120417347/