Not a Diet... A challenge to Live a Healthier Lifestyle

When starting the 24 Day Challenge the majority of people I talked to about it would tell the, "You don't need to diet!  Why are you going on a diet?"  Anybody that knows me, knows I am a little woman all of about 115lbs.  (Did I just reveal that?)  So when I have started this challenge, they cannot understand why I would be particiating in this.

I have looked at it this way.  I may be little, but I am anything but in shape and I have felt terrible most of the time.  I don't work out or believe in much things "healthy."  I was once called skinny fat.  I guess that's an interesting description, but at the same time it makes sense.  

I started this challenge not to diet.  I want to start living a healthier lifestyle.  I want to be healthier and feel better.  So far it has been successful.  I have been on the challenge now for 16 days and I have to say I feel amazing!  I truely can't believe how much better I feel.  I sleep better, I have had less headaches and jusy all around feel better.  

So what do I say when people don't want to do the challenge because they don't want to "diet?"  It's not a diet at all.  It is a challenge to live a healthier lifestyle.  That is all.

Are you ready to start the challege?  Email me for help and support or click the link below.  If I can do it, so can you!

www.advocare.com/140838133/24daychallenge

The Spark in My Life

I am an avid coffee drinker.  Starbucks is my worst enemy.  I LOVE STARBUCKS LATTES!!  I have a Keurig at home that was the best Christmas present I could have asked for.  

My co-workers can always tell if I have not had my coffee yet in the morning.  In fact, I am usually so busy first thing in the mornings at work, that often times, I would not have enough time to brew an entire pot of coffee.  After about 2 years of being very grumpy because I would not have had a chance to brew my coffee, my boss finally purchased a Keurig for our office.  This way it was never an excuse as to why I was grumpy because I could brew myself a cup in less than a minute.  

I never would have thought that there would come a time that I would no longer yearn for my morning cup of coffee.  If you would have told me there was a product out there that could replace my coffee and I would feel so much better, I promise I would have told you (for a lack of better terms) to go suck an egg.  I could never be without my coffee!  

My stepmother has been talking about her Spark for several years now.  Up until a few weeks ago, I would always brush her off and not dig in to much more of what Spark was all about.  I had never even tried one until the day we were introduced to the business side of Advocare.  I had a fruit punch and it was pretty tasty.  It wasn't until we started the 24 Day Challenge that Spark changed my life!

On day 1 of the challenge, I remember sitting down at my desk and yawning profusely as I usually do.  I am always very sleepy in the mornings no matter how much or how little sleep I have gotten.  I figured it was time to drink my Spark.  I prepared my pretty pink drink because I had the fruit punch flavor.  Again, it was pretty tasty.  I then went about continuing my work as usual, not really thinking too much about it.

About an hour or two later, it dawned on me that I hadn't yawned since I finished drinking my Spark!  I got a lot of work done and was pretty focused while doing it.  So the mental clarity and focus part that Advocare advertises about their Spark really has some merit.  

So now I have to say that I am hooked.  I am obsessed actually with this wonderful product that I was introduced to.  It has definitely put a Spark in my life.  I have had at least one Spark everyday for the past 2 weeks.  Between that and the rest of the Advocare products I am taking, I feel better than I have in a very long time.  I am telling everybody I know about Spark and letting them sample it for themselves.  

Let me know if you want to try it too and I will get you a sample.  If you are already a fan and want to buy some, I have it in stock, or you can order by clicking the picture below.  

Put a Spark in your life and Be Well!

Getting Ready to Challenge Myself - 24 Day Style

Getting Ready for the Cleanse Phase of the Challenge - Days 1-10

The night before we started the challenge, we went grocery shopping.  We got everything we needed to start the week on the challenge.  We bought chicken, steak, squash, zucchini, asparagus, grapes, green apples, eggs, oranges, and leafy green salad mix.  This was to get us through a few days until the weekend. 

Then I gathered all the products for the cleanse phase from our Advisor order.  This is what you need to start the first 10 days.  

Box of Spark

Bottle of Omegaplex

Box of Herbal Cleanse

These two products are optional during the cleanse, but highly recommended. 

Bottle of Catalyst

Box of Meal Replacement Shake

I prepped all of our Advocare products for the week.  The guide that comes with the 24 Day Challenge is pretty simple to follow, but I wanted to make it completely dummy proof for the hubs.  There is also an awesome app available on for IOS and Androids!

I took sandwich size bags and labeled them per day.  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc.  I put a Spark pouch in each one.  (I only drink one per day, but you can drink two if you want.) I then labeled small snack size bags for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Bedtime.  

Days 1-3 - In the breakfast bag I put a catalyst and a fiber drink mix.  The the lunch bag, I put another catalyst.  In the dinner bag, I put 4 omegas.  Since the herbal cleanse caplets come in individual pouches, I labeled them by days and put them all in one bedtime bag.  

Days 4-7 - You get a break from the fiber and now start the probiotics!  In the breakfast bag I put the catalyst and the probiotics.  In the lunch bag, I put a catalyst.  In the dinner bag, I put 4 omegas. 

Days 8-10 - In the breakfast bag, I put the fiber mix, probiotics, and catalyst.  In the lunch bag, I put a catalyst.  In the dinner bag, goes the omegas.  No more herbal cleanse at bedtime.  

I had everything ready to go and situated in a basket as shown below.  Every morning we would get up and begin the day with our fiber drink and morning pills.  One thing to remember to help make taking the fiber drink a little easier... take it with cold cold water.  We would put ice in our cups to get the water super cold.  You have to remove the ice, because if you add the powder while there is ice in the cup, it will clump up.  Use about 6-8oz of water.  Make sure you follow it with another cup of water to complete  the flush.  

The hardest part to get used to was drinking all of the water.  I personally am not used to drinking that much of any amount of liquid each day, much less water.  Water has never been high on my list, but I am getting used to it.  Advocare suggests you drink half of your weight in ounces of water.  It was a lot to get used to.  

Follow the guide and you should not have any trouble getting started on the challenge.  Advocare makes it very easy to stay on track and easy to follow.  

The Infamous 24 Day Challenge

Today actually marks day 10 of our 24 day challenge.  We are through the cleanse phase and on to the max phase.  I will continue my blog with guides and details on how to make the most out of the 24 day challenge, but this post is to elaborate on our personal experiences.  

In the first 10 days, my husband has lost 8 lbs and I have lost 3 lbs.  I feel much better than I have felt in a long time.  I actually just noticed that over the past 3 nights I have slept more soundly.  For those that know me, my sleep habits are extremely poor.  I toss and turn all night and am usually lucky to get a sound 2-3 hours of sleep.  Now that I think about it, I don't think I have woken up in the middle of the night at all.

For that to just dawn on me is an amazing feeling!  Then the rest starts to hit me.  This may actually be what my body has been needing.  To clear out all of the nastiness that I put in my body on a regular basis.  You know the good stuff that is actually horrible for you...  coffee, Coke, fatty greasy foods, sugar, sugar and more sugar.  The stuff that destroys your body.  It has been flushed out.  I have not had a soda in 10 days and I feel great!

So now I conclude with a message to my readers.  I obviously needed to practice what I was preaching.  I needed to see for myself that this could and does actually work.  Not only can you lose weight, but you feel great.  I look forward to being able to continue to share my journey with you.  

Hello Advocare

My husband and I currently work together.  I am the Director of Operations of a commercial fitness equipment company and he is the Director of Logistics.  On average we work about 50+ hours per week.  In May we started a Moonwalk rental business on the side.  We hope to some day grow it into a nice family owned company.  It occupies our weekends and brings us in a nice extra income.  We also get to meet a nice array of people.  

Enter Advocare - 

While picking up one of our rentals, we met the man who scheduled the rental initially.  He was wearing an Advocare hat and took a moment to speak with us.  He spoke about Advocare and the opportunity of becoming an adviser.  He peaked our interest with the dreams of making the kind of money the Advocare advisers make.  He let us sample a Spark and invited us to a meeting a few days later.  

The small meeting at their house ended up being a larger meeting held at a local church.  We listened for about an hour and were convinced.  We wanted to achieve what others were achieving.  We wanted to dream again.  We wanted to provide for our family a supplemental income with the vision of replacing our combined 100 hours a week careers.  

We signed up as instant Advisers.  We decided to skip over just being product distributors.  We wanted to build a team and grow with that team.  Yes, the investment was up there, but we felt it was very worth it.  Go big or go home right?

And so begins our journey... Hello Advocare!