The Truth about the 10 Day Eat Clean Challenge

Do you want to know what it is really like to eat healthy for 10 days straight, minus a cheat meal? Here is the truth...

• Days 1, 2 and 3 SUCKED. All I could think about was the unhealthy foods I couldn't have.
• Chocolate Shakeology with a banana SAVED me! I had Shakeology everyday for breakfast and whenever I needed a chocolate fix. 
• Tiers 1 and 2 in Michi's Ladder are restrictive, but doable.
• I did not go hungry.
• It takes planning to eat clean. You cannot wake up and expect to find a healthy meal in your pantry without planning for it.
• More than likely, you will have to go grocery shopping more than once to stock up on Michi approved foods to get you through the 10 days. 
• In my opinion, eating off of the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder is not more expensive than eating regular. 
• A cheat meal is a MUST. It gave me something to look forward to. 
• What I craved the most was Diet Coke. 
• My Michi approved go-to snack was Whole Grain Toast with Almond Butter. 
• My cravings DISAPPEARED around day 5!! 
• Looking back, I probably should have drank more water.
• Alcohol is not permitted.
• I excised while doing the challenge. However, I hurt my back and was not been able to workout the last 3 days of the challenge.
• I lost 2.2 pounds!! I upped my calorie intake on days 7 and 8 to ensure I wouldn't loose any more pounds. We started round two of the Work Weight Loss Challenge on September 8th. There is some strategy to winning the challenge. It does not help when you lose all your weight with 3 weeks to go. 
• It does not take a super hero to do the 10 Day Challenge. YOU can do this!

Sheila and I are restarting the 10 Day Challenge on Tuesday. 

WHO WANTS TO JOIN US?

The prize... a FREE sample of Chocolate Shakeology and a NEW YOU!

Surprising Results

Here's a no-duh for ya, eating clean brings results. When I first started Insanity in August I was frustrated because my weight was spiraling upwards. I thought, well this doesn't make sense. I'm working out 6 days a week hard. Why am I gaining weight? I ended up convincing myself that the gain in weight was normal in the first week of Insanity. The things we tell ourselves...

This time around I am only eating from the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder, with the exception of one cheat meal per week. Since last Tuesday (the first week of Insanity) I have lost 1.4 pounds! I am doing the exact same workouts as I was in August, but this time around I am actually losing weight. This is soo awesome! Obviously eating clean has made the difference.

I am not going to lie,  eating clean is not easy. There are times when all I want is fast food or whatever Preston is eating. The one thing I cannot get out of my mind is pop. Side note: I have always called pop, pop. I think it's a Colorado thing? If I do say soda I like to say it with a Minnesota accent. I would give anything to have a Diet Coke right now! But then that would mean I cheated on purpose and therefore would have to face the consequences. Not gonna happen!

On a different note, fall TV starts Monday!!! This is so exciting. Here is my TV schedule. Good thing for DVR.

Monday: Oprah, House, Kate Plus 8 & Monday Night Football

Tuesday: Oprah & The Biggest Loser

Wednesday: Oprah

Thursday: Oprah, The Office, Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice

Friday: Oprah

Saturday: Nothing

Sunday: Dexter & Keeping up with the Kardashians

*I usually do not watch Oprah, but this is her last season on regular TV. As a woman, I feel like I should tune in.

**Week 2 of Insanity starts tomorrow.

Mr. Michi

I am the type of person who requires games, wagers and consequences to complete a project or reach a goal. I literally have to be bribed into doing something. It's not that I don't want to do it, but I need that extra push or bribe to motivate me. Funny story, my Freshman year of high school I was trying to decide it I should play softball for Falcon or volleyball at Calhan. I wasn't the best volleyball player, but on the other hand playing softball for another school was a little intimidating. My dad bribed me with a new car stereo to play volleyball. He must have known (before I even figured it out) that I run off of bribes. 

Does anyone else click this way? I now a couple of people that once they declare they are going to do something they do it till the end giving it their all, no questions asked. Oh how I wish it was this easy for me. I declare I am going to (insert current flavor of the month here) and whala it's done!  Ha, ya right! 

Here are some of the games I have going on right now.

In order to motivate myself, and more importantly to get Preston involved, I came up with the Poop Game. The rules are each week poop has to be picked up by Thursday. If it is your week and you forget you owe the other person $20. So far I have payed Preston $40 and he has payed me $20.

As you recall, I came up with the grand idea of starting the Weight Loss Competition Game at work to help motivate me to shed the last couple of pounds (a couple has now turned into 10). As you recall I lost and ended up putting $25 or $30 into the pot. We started round two last week. I am hoping to have better results this go around!

In order to complete the tasks that I put off forever and ever, but really need to do like go to the dentist a friend at work and I came up with the Points Game. Each month we make a list of tasks, to do items, appointments, etc. that we want to complete and assign a point to them (1-5). By the stated date each of us has to of accululated "x" number of points. It we both reach the goal then we get to go out to dinner together. If one person does not reach the stated point goal then they have to pay for the entire dinner and the winner gets to pick the restaurant. So far we both have made our goals. In fact, this month I have to accumulate 23 points. I reached the goal last weekend with about 3 weeks to spare. I tell ya, lists really work for me

The other projects that I have going on that I do not have a game associated with are complete Insanity, finish Little Bee and start the Photography Class on Thursday. 

Because I am absolutely crazy I convinced another coworker to do the Barbie Decker Eat Clean Challenge with me. So for the next 10 days we can only eat food items from the top 2 tiers of Michi's Ladder. This means no alcohol, pop or Starbucks along with candy and other bad foods. Click here to view Michi's Ladder. The list is actually pretty restrictive. We are allowing one cheat meal. If we eat something not on tiear 1 or 2 there is a consequence that is too embarrassing to even post on here. I am pretty sure you will know if I mess up!