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!
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!
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