I know…I’ve been owing yall this post for awhile! My hold up has been the new computer. I like to show and side by side of my before and after pics and with the Mac I don’t use Picasa anymore so I needed to figure out a new way to do it (pixlr.com is awesome…thanks to Robyn for the tip!).
As you know I did the modified version of the 24 Day Challenge for nursing moms back in July of last year. During that 24 days I was able to lose 6 lbs and 5.75 overall inches. After the challenge I continued to stay on products and continued with the Advocare lifestyle of healthier eating choices and maintained that weight loss and lost another 5.75 inches!
In October some “rough stuff” came to a head in my life and I had to deal with a lot of emotional drama. Turns out…I’m an EMOTIONAL EATER. When I’m upset, I want ice cream. I want cookies. I want brownies. Anything bad for me to eat, I want it. The holidays were a little tough emotionally and I used food to “make me feel better.” When, duh, junk food does NOT make you feel better AT ALL. Instead I felt worse. I felt yucky. I felt ugly. I started back on getting headaches. Etc.
I weaned Britt in December and was EAGER to start the LEGIT 24 Day Challenge in Jan! I NEEDED it!!! I was motivated: New Year, 10 year high school reunion coming up, and a great group of people all doing it together. I couldn’t wait!!!
In November Danielle and Jonathan came down for a visit to share more about Advocare with us Valdosta crew…we learned SO MUCH about the products and the company and how there truly is something for everyone with Advocare. From weight loss, to healthier living, to extra income!
Cutie Preston did NOT find our info meeting very entertaining haha
Over Christmas break Zach and I PIGGED OUT in anticipation for the Challenge. Which is so stupid. Why gain weight that you’ll have to work harder to lose??? So, so dumb and something we both regretted! Although it WAS good to start our Challenges with NO sweets or junk in our house 😉
We had our last pre-Challenge date at Ruby Tuesdays to see Les Mis!
In our goal of stuffing ourselves before starting the Challenge we indulged in a LOT of junk…I took Kye for donuts one morning…
And we had a Zaxby’s FEAST! Yes, I ate TWO pieces of toast!
Starting off the New Year Advocare offered a bundle package with 80 days worth of products. I knew going in that I wasn’t going to meet my goals in just 24 Days so I invested in the huge bundle! It even included their new workout dvd with 24 min long workouts. Yes, I was gonna try to get my butt in gear and sweat a little 😉 For only $30 and no needed equipment, I had no excuse not to!
A BIG group of us started the Challenge together on Jan 7th. I have to say, having so many people doing it with me was a HUGE encouragement for me. I even created a “secret” group on Facebook for all of us to share our experiences, ask questions, and even vent to each other on days that we were struggling. I thought it was a great idea and it was SO helpful to so many people! I’ve kept the group up and running so if anyone decides they wanna do the Challenge I can send you the link to join it with us 🙂
During our Challenge Courtney, Casey and I decided to get a booth at the Bridal Expo here in town. We are all LOVING the Advocare lifestyle and love an opportunity to share our story with others. It was seriously SO FUN. Our booth was packed the ENTIRE expo and we got to meet so many great ladies!!! For throwing it together at the last minute, I think it turned out pretty cute 🙂
We gave out Spark and Rehydrate and even vendors from other booths kept coming back for more!
I used this famous frame yet again and stuck some of our before and after pics and other info on it with clothespins
We made up flyers to give to everyone!
I think the BEST thing about representing Advocare is that we are sharing OUR OWN stories with everyone. People said over and over again that they loved how we had pictures of ourselves at the booth. Seeing our LEGIT results is inspiring and it proves that we aren’t just making this junk up! Advocare IS the real deal!!! I didn’t ask Zach if it was okay to use his pictures and didn’t even THINK about the fact that so many of the girls coming by would recognize him from high school haha. I think his pictures got the most comments from people…many ladies asked if he was single 😉 I mean he IS a good lookin’ dude there is no denying that!
We also had a 24 Day Challenge on display…this is great for you guys to see what it included in it as well!
I was so proud of our booth and proud of the company we were representing!
When it was time for us to do our pre-challenge weigh-in Zach and I were DISGUSTED by ourselves. I had gained back 4 of the 6 lbs I’d lost with my first Challenge and he too had gained. (He gained roughly 5 lbs back of the 12 he’d lost during his first Challenge). We were SO disappointed in ourselves and didn’t have anyone to blame except ourselves and our poor eating choices. We vowed to each other NOT to let this happen again!!!!
Even though I’d done the nursing version of the Challenge before, this was my first LEGIT Challenge. The first three days were again the toughest but having so many friends texting me and using the Facebook group made it SO much easier! I did all the products that are included in the Challenge bundle but I also added in Thermoplus (it’s a fat burner…duh I need that junk!) and Catalyst (it tightens up the skin as you lose the weight).
I LOVE having a plan so I printed off all the info and checked off the boxes as I went (I have TONS of helpful info I can send to anyone who wants it!). Super, super easy and they aren’t kidding when they say it’s nutrition for dummies! The HARDEST part for me was drinking enough water. I just am not a big drinker. I don’t even drink while I eat. My pee is ALWAYS dark yellow because I don’t drink enough throughout the day. I pretty much ate all the same things I did last Challenge (I’m tell ya…I am a ROUTINE eater!) but did love that I could drink Spark two times a day now on days when I needed it. Really helped!!! Zach was out of town a good chunk of time during the Challenge so I didn’t sleep well and needed the boost in the mornings 🙂 I am also a HUGE fan of the Snack Bars. I bought some Cliff bars too since they were cheaper than the Advocare ones and I totally regret that purchase. When I did the comparison of nutrients and such the Advocare bars are WAY healthier with WAY less added junk in them (especially sugar!) and way less calories and fat too!!! I ate a snack bar whenever I had that urge to get something sweet or when I had an emotional breakdown and “needed” something bad for me 😉 Worked like a charm! I also got some Carb-Ease to take before meals where I had a lot of carbs. Cutting out sweets is tough on me…but carbs? Impossible! Literally I tried to go carb-free and I was STARVING b/c I just don’t like enough variety of other foods to make up for the carb intake. I stuck with whole wheat everything though and the Carb-Ease helped digest those carbs so it wouldn’t have a negative result on my meal plan!
I am BLOWN AWAY by Zach’s results. He has ALWAYS been a size 38 pants (dude’s got a booty!) and after his last Challenge we have been able to buy him size 36!!! He is now needing new belts as his belts are on the tightest they can go and they SAG down!!! I look at him and cannot get OVER how thin he is. It seriously takes me back to when were in college. I LOVE IT!!! He did a great job sticking to the plan and his results prove that! He is always on the go so the Advocare Meal Replacement Bars were a big help for him during times when he was tempted to drive through and pick up something to eat 🙂 During this challenge he lost 11 lbs and 11 inches!!! He is down now (we finished up our Challenge the end of Jan/beginning of Feb so it’d been almost a month post-Challenge) to what he weighed in college. UNDER his original goal weight!!!
I did a great job being hardcore about following the plan during the Challenge. The ONLY area I failed with it was drinking enough water. I also did the work out dvd 7 times. Yes, only 7. Haha. But hey, it’s 7 more times than I would have done it normally!!! Honestly…it’s a SUPER great workout. Short. Easy to follow. Zach and I did it together and even had fun doing it. It’s lack of motivation on my part, not the dvd’s fault! I’m sure you mamas understand…it’s TOUGH to find the time. And when I do have the time I wanna do stuff for myself that I enjoy…Plus even though the workout is only 24 min, I get sweaty and have to shower after. I shower at night so that means I gotta do the workout at night once the kids are in bed and I just struggle to FEEL up to doing it. I get lazy at night…I gotta work on that!!!
Anyways…on weigh-in day I was honestly pretty bummed. I had worked hard to stick to the plan and only lost 2 lbs. Which means I was still 2 lbs over my post-Challenge weight last time 🙁 Then I took my measurements. I lost 13.5 inches in just 24 days!!!! How the heck is that even POSSIBLE?!?!?!? All my fellow Challengers said similar things…they had TONS of inches lost!!! I decided then that I just need to NOT WORRY with the scale and focus on the inches. That’s what really matters, right??? Who cares about a number on a scale!!!!
The places I can tell the weight loss the most are my arms and thighs! I lost 2 inches in each thigh alone! Zach can tell a HUGE difference in those areas! When I first weighed in and all post-Challenge I felt like I still looked so bloated in the tummy. Well…it turns out I had my first pre-nursing cycle that week. Can I just say HOLY PERIOD?!?!? It was INSANNNNNNNE. Like the most insane one I’ve EVER had. Post-period I was WAY skinnier and felt so much better 🙂
After finishing up our Challenges we are continuing on products. I still want to lose more weight so I’m taking the MNS Max 3 packets every day, Thermoplus, and Catalyst. Plus I’m drinking a meal replacement shake each morning as well as my daily Spark. The only tough part to me is remembering to take the pre-lunch packet 30 min prior to lunch! Otherwise it’s all so routine now that it’s second nature. I LOVE the lifestyle. I can’t say it enough…I love it!!! I have so much more energy, get more accomplished during the day thanks to enhanced mental focus, and I just FEEL better overall! No headaches, sleeping better at night, and losing weight too 🙂
Zach is also on MNS still but seriously, he’s so skinny I don’t think he needs to lose anymore!!! After he finishes up this box he’s just going to take Omegaplex, Coreplex, Meal Replacement Shakes, and Spark to maintain his weight loss and healthier lifestyle. We are both doing great still eating right and making better choices with our food. We do have “cheat days” now and again but I have realized that it’s NOT worth it. We went off product for a couple days while at the beach and I WOKE UP with a MASSIVE migraine. I felt disgusting. I wished I could puke it all up. That was a great lesson to me that “cheating” doesn’t benefit anyone! We also went on a date night recently and I decided to stick with the plan and order a healthier meal (grilled chicken, veggies, plain baked potato). After the date I still felt pretty. I still felt GOOD about myself. Whereas usually when we go on dates I over-eat and feel YUCKY! Who wants to be intimate with their husband when they feel like garbage???? I prefer the confidence to the want-to-hide feeling 😉
Our plan is to stay with the products, the eating plan, the LIFESTYLE! Heck we get a 40% discount on everything so why would we EVER stop? That membership is a steal! Every three months we also plan to do another round of the 24 Day Challenge to help keep us motivated and our systems cleaned out 😉 We plan to do our next round in April and would love for another group to join us! Swimsuit season is rightttttt around the corner so now is a great time to get beach ready!!!
I’m SUPER proud of EVERYONE who did the Challenge together! You can read about a lot of the results on Catherine’s blog post HERE. I had a contest for the “biggest loser” and Shelia won with 16 lbs lost in just 24 Days!!! She lost over 8%!!! I’m especially proud of Brad, Courtney’s husband, who is in LOVE with some Advocare. Dude is SO serious about it. Like never even ever “cheats” or anything 🙂 He lost 22 LBS during the Challenge and is continuing on products in order to reach his weight loss goals! Courtney also had great results yet again and lost 7 lbs this go round! Girl is shrinking! We had a group of over 20 people do the 24 Day Challenge together and every single person saw results!!! Inches, pounds, more energy, you name it!!! Every person that I have met who has done the Challenge is thankful that they did it! It’s worth the time, the money, and the effort because the results are real!!!!
I am thankful to have found Advocare (thanks Danielle!) not only do I LOVE the changes it has brought to my OWN life (and the extra income too!) but I am especially THANKFUL for the changes it has helped bring about in those I love!!!
If you’re interested in purchasing a challenge I recommend to totally sign up for the membership first. I wish we’d done it and I encourage everyone to do it now b/c why not start saving money from Day 1??? And get enough free Spark to drink 2 a day for your challenge if you want??? It’s a flat $79 fee to become a member and then you get 20% off for life and they send you $50 worth of free product! Once you sign up you get your own website and can start ordering from there right away!!! You can sign up for a membership here: https://www.advocare.com/12089414/BecomeMember.aspx
I also recommend doing the Challenge TOGETHER! Got a husband? A friend? A family member? Get a group together like we did and help motivate and encourage each other!!!
If you’d like to purchase a challenge without joining the membership you can do that here (I recommend picking the chocolate shake flavor!):https://www.advocare.com/12089414/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=99050&id=A&flavor=b
If you’re wanting to get your body baby ready while trying to conceive, are pregnant, or are nursing you can purchase your version of the 24 Day Challenge here:https://www.advocare.com/12089414/Store/ViewBundle.aspx?bundleID=450907&type=B
Obviously if anyone has ANY questions feel free to contact me! After helping everyone get through their challenges I feel like a pro 😉 My email is still the super mega lame one: deliasgoddess33@aol.com. Honestly though Facebook is the best way to contact me if possible! I tend to respond quicker b/c I don’t have to shift through a ton of spam!!!
I’m proud of Zach and I and everyone who participated in this round of the Challenge with us. I’m excited to continue to lose weight…I want this baby pooch GONE!
My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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I'm starting my challenge on Friday! I'm excited but also nervous. I don't think it will be a HUGE lifestyle change, but I am a little stumped about what I'm going to eat all the time. I don't want to get bored with meals and give up. I am for sure excited to see results though! I think it's pretty incredible that you only lost 2 pounds but 13 inches???!!!??? How is that possible? I'm also nervous that I won't see the results I want. I need to be realistic, but I really want to see a drop in size and not just more energy. Although, that would be great, too!
What did you put on your flyer?