End of the 24 Day Challenge

So the 24 day challenge ended and the results are in.

How they want it reported, down 20lbs, and almost 16 inches.

That is slightly misleading as the inches is all the different spots added together, the key is: down 3 inches at the chest, 4 at the waist and 2 at the hips.

The map of measures in case you forgot.

And to be fair I forgot the neck one myself and the AdvoCare chart tracked shoulders, which I am now not sure meant the measure I did (wrap all the way around both shoulders) or should have just been the upper meat shoulder of one arm.  Though if it was just one they would have labeled the side to measure.

As plans go this one is pretty good, they should list out a little better what portions to serve and maybe lay out a menu plan with various meals at lunch and dinner to keep the eating healthy and more interesting.  I mostly was eating tuna with salad for lunch and baked chicken with steamed vegetables for dinner every day.  They do publish a cookbook so maybe if they laid out the 24 days with items from the cookbook it would allow for that variety.

I always have issues more with portion control than what I eat.  Don't get me wrong an entire pizza or a half gallon of ice cream gives more momentary pleasure, but even celery stalks and hummus can be eaten to excess.  This plan was just vague enough to let me eat a lot of salad or steamed vegetables and so I wonder if it failed with appetite control.  I'd love to get to the place mentally where a little bit of something great was better than an excess of something mediocre.

I had better than average help with this plan too.  Average help being me berating myself in the mirror.  Outside positive feedback is great, but the voice inside my head is never very positive.

Oh and in the plan's defense it really encourages a vigorous exercise plan along with the eating plan, so my personal failure to do that is entirely the reason these results aren't more dramatic.  I can only say that the energy drinks did not in themselves have me raring to workout.

Finally, the truth of the AdvoCare Challenge is that for the money it's probably not worth it for most people to follow this plan.  There are a lot of vitamins (which I can't call excessive because I didn't get the bright yellow urine of wasted nutrients), meal replacement drinks and energy drinks and its all very expensive.  Even with the maximum discount just looking at the 24 days costs more than 10 bucks a pound.  

All of that before you add the cost of actual food.  Fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and chicken, natural peanut butter, whole grain products, low sugar, and on and on goes the whole industry of products that are the flip side of the 'Cheap to get Fat / Expensive to get Thin' coin in America these days.

Enough depressing myself, this was the special 'end of the challenge' report.  Starting this Friday with the measures with be the new "Diary of a Fat Kid" where I trace in my head the things in my life that affected how I view food and my self-image.  Sorry if that made you yawn too.

Later "low fat" 'Taters.