About a year ago Meghan and I were visiting with some friends one evening and the conversation turned to exercise and weight loss. Anyone who has known me for more than a few years know that I lost a significant amount of weight from 2005-2007, but have had a hard time keeping the weight back off. I never gained back the full amount, instead I have had a hard time breaking back through the 200-pound plateau...which is frustrating to say the least. Well, as the conversation continued the couple we were meeting with introduced us to a company called Advocare, that specializes in health and wellness supplements. As we listened to what they were telling us my skepticism turned to interest as they described the science behind the products and how they, personally, had felt while using the products. We decided that we wanted to try one of the products they told us about called “Spark”. The best way to describe “Spark” is that it is a sugar-free energy drink that enhances workout stamina, brain focus, and overall energy levels. The great thing about “Spark” is that it is not a product that you feel like you’re going “on-and-off” of, but rather you feel the benefits of the product, until you don’t, no crash involved. This is where I thought the story for Advocare would end for us, we would use this one product and live happily ever after, however, a year later things began to change.
As I said earlier, I have been struggling to break through and maintain my 200-pound plateau. I have been able to get below 200 pounds in the last year, but it came at the expense of a lot of stress and very little food intake...it was definitely something that was not healthy or that I could maintain. At the onset of Spring 2012 I decided that it was time to be very serious about getting below 200 pounds again, and this time doing it in a way that I could maintain for a lifetime. I didn’t look far before I found a program within Advocare called the “24-Day Challenge”. The “24-Day Challenge” includes both an herbal cleanse and a metabolic supplement system that, coupled with a healthy diet and exercise, had been shown to provide great and, more importantly, healthy results.
When I started the “24-Day Challenge” I weighed 209 pounds. I was not entirely unhappy with my body or the way I looked, but I was still self conscious in some of the clothes I own and that in itself was an awful feeling. Before I started the challenge I was running about 12 miles a week, on average, if I was running at all. I didn’t ever feel like I had a lot of energy to dedicate to running and so most of the time I just wouldn’t run. Finally, at the beginning of the challenge I was drinking an unhealthy amount of diet coke, between 40-64 ounces a day! Yikes!
The first 10 days of the challenge are dedicated to cleaning out your system by having you go through an herbal cleanse. The cleanse consists of all natural ingredients including psyllium husk and wheat grass powder, which meant no sudden trips to the bathroom or harsh stomach pains. The second part of the cleanse consisted of a metabolic kick start called MNS 3. Basically, this part of the challenge involved the supplements that we need but do not get in our diet, much like what a multi-vitamin is there to do. So, armed with these tools, I set out on my challenge. I began to notice I had a great deal more energy throughout the day and was much less hungry than I had been leading up to the challenge. One of the most noticeable outcomes from doing the challenge was that I went from running maybe 12 miles a week to running (and wanting to run) 20 miles a week. Clothes began to fit better and I started to drink less-and-less diet coke throughout the day. My results surprised me by the time I was done as I had lost 11 pounds and 10 inches total! Now, I knew I didn’t have much weight to lose, but it felt great to see 198 pounds on the scale in under 30 days!
Let me close by saying this; I really loved doing this challenge. It was a great way to jump start my weight loss going into summer and is something I am recommending to anyone who reads this who is frustrated by either being overweight or by not being able to lose those last 10-or-so pounds and keeping them off. If you have any questions about my experience on the “24 Day Challenge”, or if you would like to do your own 24 Day Challenge please comment below or email me at jrb953@gmail.com.
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