I did it!!!

I may not have liked sticking to the challenge guidelines, but I completed two full weeks of the special K Challenge. There is a lot to reflect on too.

I didn’t think I could have the will power not to cheat repeatedly, but I was exceptionally surprised at the quality of the different Special K products. Typically when you think of diet friendly products you think of food that will taste like it is made of cardboard. Totally not the case!

But what made all the difference was the availability of the My Special K app. I was able to log in repeatedly during the day and know my next step, move, snack or what I needed to pick up from the grocery store.

Every product that My Special K generated in my meal plan was available right at my local Stop & Shop where I do the majority of my shopping for the week. I try to find deals, and scan the sales but with three kids tagging along when I typically hit the store, it sometimes is worth spending the extra $15 I would save to travel around town for better deals.

With so many different products to choose from it was hard to narrow it down to which I liked the most, but I found myself loving (and still buying/eating) the Vanilla Almond line. Cereal, meal bars, and of course the French Vanilla Protein shakes. Typically I would choose a high calorie caffeinated beverage as a small meal suppressant during the day, but these were a far healthier alternative!

Of course there were tons of other flavors which were delicious, and best of all – not everything had a sweet flavor. Lets be honest here, sometimes you just want a salty snack as opposed to sweet. I think we have all had those moments. I know I do!

I highly recommend the Cheddar cracker chips myself. They became a favorite of mine.

One of the key’s that the diet/challenge as a whole teaches is moderation and portion control. I think this is one of the biggest challenges for many of us today because of the large portions we have become accustom to. Many are overeating on a daily basis because our bodies, and society has taught us that we need to feel full as opposed to satisfied. It is not about feeling stuffed so we can’t eat another bite, it is about maintaining our bodies.

What did it all boil down to after two weeks?   A slight weight loss, and a huge lesson in healthy snacking.

Over the two week period of the challenge, I of course was challenged to lose 6 pounds in two weeks. At the end of the first week I found myself down to 124 from the beginning weight of 126. I didn’t include the decimal’s my scale includes. Which was a solid two pound difference. When you are looking to lose 10-15 pounds as a whole, two pounds does matter.

At the end of the second week, I clocked in at 122. Two more pounds down for a total of 4 pounds lost during the two week period. A big difference for me.

Will I gain it back by not staying on the strict challenge meal plan?  Who knows, but I will be sure to chime in and include my findings in another couple weeks.

It was a pleasure to work with both Special K and Shape Magazine.
I was pleasantly surprised at all I was able to learn, as well as share with people in my day-to-day life about Special K as a whole.

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Tags: fitness, shape magazine, special k, special k challenge, weight loss

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.