Sunday, December 11, 2011

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Day 11

I know I said I wasn't going to blog every day during the rest of the 24 Day Challenge but I thought that at least today, I'd fill you in on what the rest of the 24 Day Challenge is.
Here's some info on what I'm doing.

I'm using the MNS Max 3 system which you can buy here. https://www.advocare.com/09085283/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=T1131&id=A

And more info about it and it's amazing ability to help you the rest of the 14 days of the 24 Day Challenge. https://www.advocare.com/Microsite/Images/Store/Labels/T1131.pdf I chose the MNS Max 3 instead of the other MNS systems because I like how it's a balanced approach of more energy and plus appetite control/weight loss. There is also MNS C which has more appetite control, and MNS E which gives more energy. I just have always taken the one that has kinda equal of both. I think next time though I'm going to give the MNS C a try. :)

I am also using Thermoplus, a huge favorite product of mine from Advocare. You can buy it here
https://www.advocare.com/09085283/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=T4101&id=A
And the info about it is right here. https://www.advocare.com/Microsite/Images/Store/Labels/T4101.pdf
Thermoplus is a product I use year round even if I'm not doing a MNS system. Did you know that taking two capsules burns 300 calories? I usually take it (2 capsules) before breakfast and before lunch. Sometimes, I don't always do the before lunch dose. But I always do the before breakfast dose.

I am also using Catalyst which you can buy here. https://www.advocare.com/09085283/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=T2010&id=A
And the info about it is right here.
https://www.advocare.com/Microsite/Images/Store/Labels/T2010.pdf
They sometimes call Catalyst the "butt and belly be gone cure" lol. We all need that right? :)
I take 3 of those once a day at least, sometimes twice a day.

So those are the products I'm using along with my Spark. I am also continuing to use the meal replacement shakes for breakfast most days during these last 14 days. I no longer have to eat "clean", so I can add in other meats, dairy, and carbs now, but I am still trying to eat mostly healthy, and to stay away from junk food.

I think I've lost 1 or 2 pounds so far, and am thrilled. I'm going to really try to be good these last 14 days so I can really make some good progress towards my goals.

Come join me!!! :) You won't regret it!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Day 10! Whoo hoo!!

YEA! I made it the whole 10 days of my herbal cleanse with NO cheating!!! :) Well, the only slight thing was I ate a little popcorn one day, but technically, I don't count that, because it was microwave popcorn I made at home, not in a movie theater, and it was labeled as light butter- can't hardly taste the butter. But other than that, I had no other things that didn't follow the cleanse specifications. :)

I can't wait to start the MNS 3 tomorrow. I'll be on the road tomorrow but have already planned healthier road snacks than I normally eat on the road.

From here on out, I won't be necessarily blogging every day, but I will definitely keep you posted every once in a while during the rest of my 24 day challenge.

I challenge you if you'd like to feel better, be healthier, have more energy, lose any weight, to come join me... if I, a veggie hater, can survive the herbal cleanse, anyone can! :) Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to help you!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

DAY 9!!!

I can't believe I'm almost done with the herbal cleanse! Today was pretty good eating wise, though I'll say I was VERY tempted! I started my day off w/ my spark mixed with my fiber drink. I took Catalyst and drank a meal replacement shake before I went to my favorite step class. I did pretty good in step class, though I had to walk out to go to the ladies' room just b/c of all the liquid I had consumed beforehand-lol.

For lunch, I had another meal replacement shake because I took my son to a bouncy place, so the shake was a good meal to go. :) The popcorn smell there was very tempting at first, but I survived w/o giving in to the temptation!

When I got home, I ate a few nut thins, then rested because it's so hot out there that it wipes me out no matter how much energy I get from my Advocare products. I just needed to cool down.

I thought I'd eat veggie soup for lunch, but I actually never really got hungry again til 4:30 or so. I ate a much smaller bowl of veggie soup then, since I'd be having dinner soon. Then my son had a coupon for a free personal pizza from Pizza Hut that he earned in the summer reading program. I decided to take him to go get it since he was getting tired of chicken too. LOL. Oh my gosh, the smell of that pizza and the sight of it was really, really hard. But luckily, he was very protective of his free pizza that he wouldn't even let me have the last bite of a piece that he didn't want anymore of, because he wanted to save it for tomorrow! :)

I've made it this far, so I'm not going to give in to any temptation. Tonight's also going to be hard because my husband is going to cook my homemade granola bars tonight so I have them for my trip to my mom's. The smell of them baking is going to be a huge temptation. I usually love to eat one when they're warm and fresh from the oven.

Please let me know if you'd like to learn more about Advocare and the 24 day challenge, if you've never done it! I would love to help you!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Day 8! Only two more days left of the herbal cleanse part!

Today is Day 8 of the herbal cleanse. I only have two more days and I'm really relieved. Today's been a pretty good day. I've gotten my eating habits down pat, though I slightly crave chocolate, I'm not going and grabbing it. I am getting tired of chicken, but only TWO more days of chicken! :)

The only thing I feel I'm not getting enough of is exercise. It's so stinkin' hot here in Texas that I have no desire to drive to the Y where I like to do my favorite exercise, step class. I'm just getting in a little exercise each day, but I could do more if I'd push myself harder. I do plan on trying to make step class tomorrow. Gotta get to bed earlier to make the 8:30 one tomorrow.

Sometimes, being a little person on the herbal cleanse is hard for me, when I start seeing other people post their results on their cleanses or their 24 day challenges. I just don't lose weight that quickly, I just don't lose as quickly as average height adults, which can be frustrating. The good thing though is that I've been using Advocare for several years now, and I KNOW that it does work for me, because I've seen it work, it just works a lot, lot, lot slower for me than an average height person. But I'm not going to give up, because I do know that it works, and I am determined to lose these summer pounds I gained by being foolish, plus lose more to get closer to my longterm goal weight. It's going to take more than 24 days but I'm going to stick with it.

So that's my advice to anyone trying Advocare for the first time, don't give up. Keep trying and do your best that you can. You will see results! Yeah, the herbal cleanse is hard drinking that fiber drink, cutting out sodas, sweets, dairy, etc and bad carbs, but it's only TEN days! You can do it!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Day 7!!!

YEA! Only 3 more days left of my herbal cleanse! Today was a good day. I started the day out with spark and my probiotic. Then for breakfast 30 minutes later, I had a meal replacement shake, and I think I had a few strawberries too before I headed to church, as a snack to tide me over til church was over. I took catalyst before lunch. I've been forgetting my catalyst the past couple of days and not taking as much of it. Lunch was the usual veggie soup. My afternoon snack was a banana. Occasionally throughout the day also, I have a few "Nut Thins", a cracker that my in-laws always buy, and I "think" they fit the criteria for the herbal cleanse, so I will always grab a handful when I just need a little something crunchy. they are wheat and gluten free. I like the pecan ones. I really didn't drag any this afternoon, but I still drank a spark to make sure I'd be energized for the rest of the day.

Tonight, we made some more chicken, better chicken! :) It was the 30 minute chicken (a whole chicken) done in the Pampered Chef deep covered baker, much juicier than the grilled chicken. It makes juice too that I can pour over my brown rice so it's not so dry. I don't eat the skin of the chicken. I think it's a pretty healthy version of chicken. :)

Tonight after dinner, my family went swimming so that was my exercise for the day. I swam around using a noodle making sure that my legs were always moving.

Today, I kept thinking about why I love Advocare so much and how I can survive doing the herbal cleanse. Wanna know why? I'm going to tell you-lol. I LOVE to eat! It's ingrained in me, my family, we live for when we travel to go to super cool, local restaurants, always looking for new good places to eat. :) There is no way I could give up eating good food for all my life. Advocare allows me to eat and to enjoy eating. Doing the herbal cleanse and the 24 day challenge helps curb my cravings, so I make better choices. Then when there's something bad I want, I either only eat a little or sometimes the craving goes away. I think that's so awesome, because I still get to eat all the good food! I get to enjoy going to good restaurants or making good recipes at home. But I believe Advocare has helped me to realize all the processed snacks that used to seem so good, aren't good for you, they're bad for you, worse than a good homemade chocolate dessert. I actually can't stand most processed snacks these days, I feel yucky when I eat them. But I do LOVE Mexican food, and yeah I know it's got lots of fat and cheese and stuff in it, but I don't eat it daily, but I get to enjoy it and I don't suffer because of it.

I've also learned portion control. Nowadays in our family, my husband and I use salad plates instead of dinner sized plates. I truly think it helps me manage my portions. Try it! It really works! Now if we were having a multi dish meal with lots of different options one day, I might use a dinner plate, but the things we make and eat for dinner fit really well on a salad plate and it keeps our portions under control.

I think Advocare has helped me to learn to make better choices of what to eat and to manage my portions. I'm willing to be miserable for 10 days on my Herbal Cleanse to really clean my body out of junk, then when the 10 days is up, I go back to eating regularly but I don't go crazy.

Day 6- (written and posted one day late)

We had a busy day yesterday so I didn't get to posting on here last night. I can't believe I'm almost done with the part I like least about the 24 day challenge. I'm going to be a champion though and make it all 10 days. Yesterday was a busy day so I took advantage of Advocare's Meal Replacement Shakes to get me through since we were out and about, and I needed something healthy to fill me up.

I had my usual one for breakfast, but also, I had one for lunch because we were out running errands, and I didn't want to be tempted to grab fast food if I got too hungry. Their meal replacement shakes are definitely a life saver. Later on, when we got home mid-afternoon, I ate my usual veggie soup lunch.

I'm still feeling great and for the most part, full of energy. I do get a little frustrated when it gets this far along in the herbal cleanse, because like I said, I'm not an average height person. I'm a little person, 3 ft. 8, with achondroplastic dwarfism. Losing weight and keeping it off is NOT easy, but thanks to Advocare, it's been made possible, though it's a slower journey for me than an average height person. So think about this if you don't know me, I'm the height of a kindergartener, but with the body of a woman, and the appetite of an adult too. I have to work REALLY hard. My scale isn't really showing much weight loss yet. I usually lose 2 or 3 lbs on the herbal cleanse. The first herbal cleanse I did was the one where I lost the most. I've just been at a plateau in the low 80 lb range, but I'm determined to get below 80 lbs by the end of 2011. I personally would love to be about 70 lbs in the end, I think, but by the end of 2011, I want to be at least in the mid 70's lb range.

Even though I don't have a very good "before Advocare" picture taken intentionally, I am able to look back at pictures in those few years before Advocare and see a difference. It's definitely changed me.

I'll write more tonight, since this was really my post for yesterday.