24 Day Challenge - Days 5, 6, 7, and 8

It has been a few days since I last had a chance to update my blog, so I guess I will play a little bit of catch-up on my progress.  When I started this challenge I decided I would not weigh myself every day because I would go nuts if I did that, so I decided I would only weigh every 5 days.  July 4th was day 5 of my challenge so I weighed first thing in the morning and got a pretty pleasant surprise.  The first 10 days of the challenge are not necessarily designed for weight loss, although many people do lose weight.  It is designed to get the "junk" out of your system to get you ready for the Max Phase which is the next 14 days (where the weight loss is suppose to really kick in).  However, after just 4 whole days on the challenge, I was down a surprising 3.2 pounds!!!  That was huge for me because the last 2 months I have been stuck at right around the same weight.  I am super excited!
Now the last several days have been a little more challenging because of the holiday weekend.  On the 4th we went to a BBQ and I was able to stick to the guidelines pretty good (I think the big loss at my morning weigh in really helped me say no to the cookies).  However, the next couple of days were a little more difficult.  I had a bridal shower at my parents' house, which is about 6 hours from where I live, which meant we would be traveling and not as much in control of my food options.  I found myself using my smartphone to research menu options for the different restaurants we wound up eating at, I also brought several snacks with me to curb the temptations.  I did pretty well for the most part (even resisted the urge to indulge in cake at the shower).  I definitely ate a few things that were not necessarily the best options (such as the half a hot dog I had Saturday night ; ) but for the most part I was able to pass on the chocolates, chips, and cokes.
Aside from the few little blips on the food radar over the weekend, I did well and had a lot of fun.  And Miss Thang absolutely loved the fireworks on the 4th ; ) I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!!