Advocare 24-Day Challenge Update #1

Hey friends,

It's Day 3 of my Advocare 24 day challenge. I wanted to blog a little bit about how I am doing these first 3 days.

First, I will include the "plan" and then my thoughts about how I am feeling, and how I am doing.

Upon Rising: Drink a Spark, 3 capsules of Catalyst, Drink the Fiber Drink

20-30 minutes later: eat breakfast (protein or fruit)

30 minutes before lunch take Catalyst; drink a second Spark (optional) 

With Lunch or Dinner Take 4-6 Omega Plex and Catalyst

Before Bedtime Take the Herbal Cleanse Packet 

(If you are interested in what these products are and what they do, you can find that information using a simple Google search. I am not interested in providing those details here.)

So... how is it going for me? 

Well, first of all I can say: I.HATE.TAKING.PILLS. And not only that, I am bad at it. Pills get stuck in my throat- they get caught going sideways, etc. It makes me gag. But by day 3, I have learned the art of swallowing pills. I have this down. Which is good news if I ever wanted to survive days 11-24. (WAY MORE PILLS those days) 

Second, a lot of people have talked to me about how great Spark is. How awful the fiber drink is. And well, to be honest, I don't love either one, but it is tolerable to drink. I can do it. Days 1-2 I didn't want to eat breakfast because I felt full on liquid! But by day 3, I was actually ready to eat a hearty bowl of oatmeal and loved every bite. Even though it was simple, plain, quick oats. 

I have the Mandarin Orange Spark, and I am using the Peaches and Cream Fiber Drink. I would recommend the Peaches and Cream fiber drink of all of the available choices, but I have heard there are more flavorful options of the Spark. (Spark is a coffee/tea/soda replacement which provides you with caffeine and it also helps you focus.) 

Third, I have experienced a MASSIVE headache last night into this morning. I wanted to cut my head off. :) But, I used a natural remedy Tei-Fu on my head and neck and thankfully, it went away. I don't know if the headache was just over or the remedy helped, but I was ok today. I think the headache was attributed to the fact that I have cut ALL unnecessary unnatural sugars out of my diet including carbs of the potato, pasta and bread families. So, maybe my body is just fussing back at me. 

Fourth. Exercise. I was able to take a nice brisk walk today at the park, and it felt so so so so good. I would really love it if winter decided to go away for good and provide us with plenty of opportunities for cooking fresh food on the grill and walking opportunities. 

Fifth. I am feeling not much different internally. I feel good about the choices I am making as far as resisting foods that I usually enjoy. I am thankful for the food that I do get to enjoy, and I am really not bothered at this point about the foods I have had to avoid. I am doing really good with being strong and resolved. 

These past three days have given me plenty of opportunities to avoid normal every day temptations. I have resisted at least 3 hamburger type buns, two opportunities for dessert, and countless opportunities for carbs: bread, potatoes, etc. I do it and feel victorious. 

The food literally sits on my tongue long enough to chew it, and then my body has to deal with the consequences. Totally not worth it for me. So, I might as well make good choices, right? 

So, all of this to day, in three days, I am faring well. I am taking the supplements with little to no trouble, making great food choices, and losing weight. Which is always a bonus. 

On Day 1, I weighed 182.7

and the morning of day 3 I weighed 178.8

Which is amazing. 

Also, I should probably note that my scale reportedly weighs about 5 pounds too heavy, so my weight on a typical, correctly calibrated scale would be about 174. Which is great. But because I use my off scale, I am keeping the weight that I see what I report on to keep the confusion less. 

On day 24, I will weigh on my scale, and then a correct scale to give my final ending weight. My short short term goal is to land in the 160's by mid-April. I think I can do it! My long long term goal is to be in the 140's, but that could take SEVERAL months- perhaps 8-10 if I work hard. Let's hope for the best. 

I plan to keep you updated again on day 7. And to talk about some food choices in between. Thanks for reading. :)