Entry 3: Progress on Advocare 10 Day Cleanse

Days 1-10 were not bad at all. The cleanse is very mild and the fiber drink taken in the morning filled me up so that I was not too hungry after waking up. 

I haven’t struggled too much on the diet. We cut out carbs 1.5 years ago during the week; so I think that is why this transition was a piece of cake for me. For my first meal of the day I eat a grilled turkey burger patty (35 grams of protein) with green beans. 2nd meal is usually fish or chicken with spinach salad (no dressing) and green beans, asparagus or garlic broccoli. I usually have fruit as a snack throughout the day and after dinner as a sweet dessert – strawberries, apple, grapes or a banana. I switch up the fruit on different days to have variety. My 3rd meal is very small and just consists of a little protein usually a few bites of a turkey burger patty or turkey or chicken (whatever leftovers we have).

I love that this cleanse is not a fasting cleanse; so you just eat as cleanly as you can with no bread, alcohol, dairy, sugar, grains, etc. You are encouraged to eat lots of fruit, veggies and protein. There is no calorie restriction to follow. And you have a series of supplements you take along with an energy drink – Spark. You are basically cleansing your body of toxins; so your body can absorb more of the nutrients that come in the max phase days 11-24 and you can see more results. Obviously, the closer you stick to the diet the better results you will see. The 10 day cleanse consists of taking a fiber drink in the morning on days 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10 and 3 herbal cleanse tablets at bedtime on days 1-7 and 1 probiotic restore capsule in the mornings days 4-10. You get a chart to help you track this each day since the routine changes some days. I decided to also add in Catalyst to my challenge; so I take 3 Catalyst pills 10-15 minutes before my workout. Catalyst helps feed your muscle and prevents muscle loss during times of dieting and it helps to lean you out during the challenge. I'm most impressed with this product out of all the ones I have tried. I'm trying to gain muscle through this challenge; so this is a very important element for me. I also have to eat plenty of protein throughout the day as well. It all seems to be working. 

After 10 days on the cleanse, you start the max phase of the challenge lasting 14 days (day 11-24) where you add in the MNS supplements. MNS stands for metabolic nutritional supplements. You get your choice of the Max 3 (comprehensive weight loss), appetite control or energy. I chose energy since I'm usually so tired. I need all the energy I can get and I don't have a large appetite anyway; so appetite control would not be as helpful for me in particular. You can also add in meal replacement shakes and bars in the max phase and you can add back in some grains and healthy carbs. I'll be blogging about that phase once I enter day 11.

Observations as of Day 10: Decreasing my alcohol hasn’t been as hard as I thought. I don’t crave it, but socially I struggle because we are so used to having drinks with dinner, attending wine tastings, sampling beers, etc. It really is more of an awkward lifestyle change than dealing with any cravings for it or missing it. I can’t believe I am not jonesing for sweet tea. That is my real addiction. Even on our 4 hour body slow carb diet last year I could have it only on 1 cheat day a week, and I would definitely make up for the rest of the week on the weekends.  I’m wondering how long it will be before I am dying for it. I made it 10 days so far with just 1 cup (hey - cheating with sweet tea only once is actually not bad for me). They say to strive for 80-90% each day on this diet; so they expect that you might not be able to be perfect on the diet part. I was 100% a few days and about 90% the rest. All in all I'd say that’s a huge success! We had a wine tasting one weekend but I didn't drink more than I had to. I showed a lot of restraint in social situations on the cleanse. Luckily the beer fest we attended came 3 days after I finished the cleanse, and I showed more restraint than usual there and got right back on track afterwards so that I wouldn't blow the progress I made. 

I think the fruit is helping as it gives me just enough of a sweet taste and I’m not used to being allowed fruit as the 4 hour body diet doesn’t allow any fruit other than on the 1 cheat day. We never had fruit on cheat days – just bread, chocolate and sweet tea so that is a real treat for me after 1.5 years without fruit. It tastes sweeter than I remember it.

  

Working out has been easier because I have more energy and a lot more motivation. The Catalyst is helping tremendously. I am noticing that my muscles feel really sore (more than normal) which means I’m working harder, longer and hopefully changing my muscle mass more than before. It's a good kind of sore! I am varying workouts daily between the firm sculpting videos which combine muscle sculpting, cardio and weight lifting and some of my favorite p90x videos – arms and legs, arms and shoulders, and chest and back. I like having the variety of workouts, and I am striving for muscle confusion so that my body has to stay on its toes and work harder to become stronger. I am also adding in resistance bands for arms too which I love. I'm seeing a lot of results with this addition.

I already feel much better and have tons more energy than ever before. The Spark has a lot to do with that. I drink the Spark right when waking and before any food. There are also other supplements to take before eating. So I take all those and then my 3 Catalyst tablets and then work out. I have much more energy now throughout my entire workout. Thus, I'm able to give it more effort which helps with seeing more noticeable results. With the Spark I have been able to stop all soda. I hate soda anyway but before finding Spark I had to force myself to drink Diet Mountain Dew on days I only had 2-4 hours sleep so that I could make it through my work day. I'm so glad I don't have to take that crap anymore. I have been looking for a sugar free, healthy alternative to soda to help me feel awake and alert for years. Now I found what works for me. I usually have issues with caffeine irritating my stomach, but the Spark hasn't given me any problems. I just have to make sure not to take it too close to bedtime. I've noticed that I'm way more focused and productive now. My mind stays on task and I can knock out work faster and so much easier than before. Spark is a God send for me. And there is no crash like there is with soda or other energy drinks.

I've been logging my food intake, workouts, observations of how I feel each day and results. Here are the highlights. By day 3, I started to feel a noticeable difference in my biceps after being on Catalyst and lifting weights everyday (alternating different muscles groups each day). I did NOT expect to see any results this fast. Wow! There is no mistaking this. The hubby noticed too. I've been lifting weights with P90X consistently since January and did not see these results. I'm impressed. 

Day 7 was when I realized that I had to make sure to take Spark on an empty stomach and wait 30 minutes to eat to fill the full energy effect. This change was a night and day difference. I had been mistakenly taking it after eating and was feeling sleepy even though it has caffeine in it. I asked my advisor and she advised me to take it before eating. Now when I take Spark on an empty stomach and then workout - Wow!! I have so much energy and mental focus for 4-5 hours. I haven't been this productive mentally or physically in 10 years. This is a game changer. I wish I had this in grad school. It would have changed my life.

Days 8-10 I had amazing energy and focus and even took 2 Sparks these days a few hours a part because the energy was such a great feeling and I was getting loads of work done.

Day 10 - I have lost a total of 7 pounds in 10 days and am convinced I have gained muscle. My hubby can even tell that my arms are getting more toned each day. I am amazed at the difference from the Catalyst over just 1.5 weeks. I'm blown away by these results which exceeded what I was hoping for when I started 10 days prior. I have so much energy now when working out that I love it. I actually wake up excited everyday because I know I'm going to start the day off right with Spark and Catalyst, and I jump up to take it and am ready to get my workout on first thing each day!! What a change for me. I used to dread my daily workouts because I was so tired and it was so draining. I used to put it off till later in the day or night basically procrastinating because I didn't have the energy to get it started. I haven't missed or put off a single workout due to being tired since I started this program. The only 2 days I couldn't work out were because of social events that came after work and we didn't get home to very late and morning workouts weren't possible because those were early workdays for me. Believe me if my schedule had allowed it I wouldn't have missed those 2 days. 

I'm loving the Advocare products and I signed up to be a distributor since I knew I would commit to taking the products for several months to really give this challenge a good effort. I'm so glad I did sign up because I'm already making a list of what to purchase for my 2nd order since I will be through with the 24 day challenge mid September. I was so excited when I got my distributor kit in the mail! If anyone wants to join me on this challenge let me know. I'm so grateful my sorority sisters have shared their experiences with me and that we can do this together. 

If you want to look around at what kinds of products Advocare sells, follow this link and click shop. It will allow you to see the different products on each of their lines - trim, active, well, and performance elite lines. 

https://www.advocare.com/120829420

I'm happy to answer any questions any one has because I am grateful to my sisters that have helped me understand the products too. Stay tuned to see if I continue to feel this good as I continue in the challenge. 

Entry 2: Why this weight loss challenge feels different

As soon as I got my Advocare 24 day challenge kit, I started the 10 day cleanse and the catalyst. I’ve never been so excited to try a new diet or health program, but for some reason I have a lot more hope this time. Something about this combination of supplements, energy drinks, and regime has me more encouraged than I’ve ever been. I feel like I will be successful this time and I’m determined to give this all I have. I’m going to work harder in my exercise routines than I have before, I’m finally going to challenge myself to work on getting to bed at earlier times and I am going to commit to drinking much less alcohol than normal. That last one may be the hardest one yet because it will require major changes socially and in our home life since so many of our hobbies revolve around beer, wine, bourbon and home brewing, but I don’t want empty calories to derail me this time. I initially gained weight due to indulging in alcohol in college and again after graduate school once I started socializing with the rest of the world after being in my own little graduate school world for 7 years (studying and working constantly). I’m challenging myself to really choose the times I drink wisely and reduce my overall consumption. I’m confident that should help the pounds to come off and it’s now or never as I’m getting older and older and my metabolism will only get worse from here on out if I don’t take charge now.

I’m determined to be the driving force this time; whereas I just hoped it would happen to me in the past if I just followed through the motions laid out by other diet plans. It always felt forced and too restrictive and I don’t like to feel controlled; so I believe I sabotaged myself in the past and talked myself in to cheating here or there or I caved due to stress, anxiety or as a result of migraines which causes me to crave sugar terribly. This time I know it has to come from the inside out. I have to want it fully; I have to bring about that change myself and I have to hold myself accountable for what I take in and how much energy I put in to my work outs. I’m taking a totally different approach this time. It has to be my choice this time, and I can’t view it as something forced on me from some unknown outside force. I have to choose to make healthy decisions every moment of the day for my own health and well being and my results will be reflective of each of those choices; so if I want it badly enough I have to keep telling myself that I am in control of those results with each choice I make.

I’ve finally had an aha moment. My constructivism approach to my therapy practice has enlightened me. It’s all about reconstructing how you view yourself, food and your relationship with food and alcohol. I don’t need it. I don’t have to have it, and I don’t have to live for a sweet tea/carb fix to control stress and anxiety or to battle fatigue. I may have certain cravings and be used to eating and drinking a certain way but that can all be changed, if I decide to reconstruct myself and my lifestyle. I may not have liked certain veggies/food before, but I can adjust and enter this time with a more open mind. If I don’t like something at first I have learned through experience that the more I try it, the more I become acclimated to it. I just have to stick with it. I don’t have to accept my life circumstances the way they are and say “well I should give up because it’s not going to work no matter what I do.” I have to say “Why is this not working and how can I approach this from another angle so I can try again?” I don’t know why I have never put this together before for myself because this is what I do everyday in therapy for my clients. Together we keep approaching a problem from a new perspective to gain insight and look at it from another angle to see what changes and shifts would work that haven’t been tried before.

I feel this is the key – “If I change how I view eating and working out and change from the inside first then my body has to follow.” It’s my new mantra! We will see if it works. “Where the mind goes, the body will follow.” That’s how powerful the mind is and I have to learn to work and think smarter on this diet. I can do this!

All of this insight occurred to me when I first started on the Advocare 24 day challenge because I was trying to figure out why it felt different this time. These insights have further motivated me and have helped me commit more fully this this challenge. I feel great after 13 days on this challenge. My next blog will give details of how I have felt through each phase of this challenge and how I feel about the individual products! 

Entry 1: Reasons I started this advocare journey

I’ve been feeling tired and sleep deprived for at least 10-15 years – definitely all through graduate school and the past 5 years after internship as I built up my psychological private practice. The only time I felt any better was about 6 months after my hysterectomy in 2006 – I felt good for a few months after I healed from that major surgery because I was feeling what it was like to not deal with pain from endometriosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) for the first time in about 15 years. That pain had taken more of a toll on me than I had ever realized while it was occurring. But the next year after my surgery I started having complications again with some of the same issues requiring more surgery; so my energy went down hill from there due to lack of hormones. I had to be taken off of hormone replacements immediately as the cysts escalated because they were feeding off the estrogen. So after many years of no energy, no good quality sleep and just feeling crummy in addition to mind blowing migraines 5 days a week I’m starting on advocare to see if I can get myself feeling better than I was before surgical menopause. 

Anyone woman knows that after menopause there is significant weight gain due to lack of hormones. Estrogen impacts so many things – mood, sleep, energy, weight, cognition, memory, emotions, body temperature (hot flashes), etc. I’ve seen a steady increase in weight and decrease in energy and focus/memory mostly even though I’ve been dieting and exercising consistently for years. I’ve just seen no response from my body even though I eat better and work out more than most very active and healthy women my age. I cut out carbs 1.5 years ago and I work out 2 hours a day 4-5 days a week with no results. I’ve done p90X, the firm, and the 4 hour body diet in the past 2-3 years but nothing has helped.

I’m hoping supplements may be the one area that I haven’t explored that may be the missing piece to all this. Plus, I’m slowly starting back on low doses of hormones while my cysts seem to be at a manageable level after another medical procedure last spring. So now I feel this is the perfect time for me to try to jump start my mood, metabolism and energy levels!!

Several female friends (sorority sisters) have found success on Advocare. I first heard them talking about it around the beginning of June (3 months ago) and I’ve watched their weight loss and heard their praises of Spark (energy drink). I’m always interested in weight loss advice, products or strategies because I hate having pounds to lose given that I spent a large part of my life starving myself to stay below my recommended weight. But try as I might the weight caught up with me after indulging in too much alcohol in college, trying medications to try to control migraines that have weight gain as side effects, and 7 years of too much inactivity in grad school while trying to just survive all the sleepless nights of cramming for tests and writing my dissertation. By the time I was nearing internship in 2006 the endometriosis and PCOS were in full swing which plays havoc on your weight as hormones are out of control and the pain restricts activity much of the time. Also, I have thyroid levels that are creeping higher each year that make losing weight almost impossible. It's all a scary combination.

So here I find myself looking for any opportunity to experiment with whatever will be the right fit for me. Given all that, it was really the interest in Spark that drew me the most to advocare as I am a severe insomniac. Suffering from sleep deprivation is one of the worst things I’ve had to deal with because I’m a zombie all day and then my mind is racing at night as I try to work feverishly to catch up on what I missed during the day because I couldn’t fall asleep til 7 or 8 am and then I only get a few hours sleep and my schedule is now opposite of the rest of the world. It is a vicious cycle that I’ve been locked in for years. I’ve been desperately looking for something to help with energy to get me through my therapy and testing sessions during the weekday afternoons and evenings as I am fighting to stay awake every day. When I heard everyone praising Spark for limitless energy and mental focus I knew I had to try it because I HATE soda and just could never drink coffee. I had resorted to Mountain Dew the past year on days I had only gotten 2-4 hours sleep because I couldn’t stay awake through work. Given that I hate soda I knew I couldn’t do that for long. I needed a healthier solution that didn’t keep the weight on. 

So that’s how and why I got introduced to Advocare in June 2012. I told my sorority sister, Whitney, that I wanted to do the 24 day challenge and that I wanted to sign up as a distributor from day 1. I knew this was something that I was going to stick with for at least a few months to give it a valiant effort and I wanted the 20% discount so that I could buy as much of the products as I could afford. Stay tuned for my thoughts on the products and results as I try out all Advocare has to offer!