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Yesterday, I started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. I have had so many questions about this, from what it actually is to what I need to do to why I am doing it. To make a long story short, there are a lot of reasons why anyone starts the 24 Day Challenge (or any length health challenge for that matter). Everyone has their person reasons, but here are some of the top reasons:
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My personal reasons include:
- Breaking a Plateau: I have lost over 40lbs now, and I have definitely hit a bit of a plateau. It’s natural and it’s normal and almost everyone who goes through weight loss or a toning up journey hits at least one. I need to “trick” my body into losing weight again so to speak by mixing up my normal routine.
- To Get Ready For A Special Event: I have some events coming up this summer and I definitely want to look and feel my best. I have worked extremely hard since January 1st of this year and I want to show my fittest, leanest body possible!
- To Get Back On Track: Not that I ever got off track in my healthy eating or lifestyle this year, but mostly just to “refocus.” I like to re-evalute my health and fitness goals every so often to keep them fresh and keep myself motivated. This gives me a very clear cut set schedule of time to focus on eating extremely clean, cleansing and detoxing my body, and continue training in the gym.
WHAT IS THE 24 DAY CHALLENGE?
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The 24 Day Challenge is a supplementation and nutritional program that you use alongside of healthy eating and exercise. It is NOT a “get fit quick” scam or a diet fad, which is what turned me onto it. It gives your body the jumpstart it needs, whether that is weight loss, energy, body composition, or athletic performance.
There are 2 main phases of the program:
- Cleanse Phase // DAYS 1 – 10: This phase requires you to supplement with only 3 products from the kit. Proper absorption of nutrients in the body is crucial to health and wellness and these will help to cleanse and detox your body so that it can better absorb those nutrients. This phase basically helps with getting rid of waste. This isn’t juice cleansing, fasting, or a sharp reduction in calories at all. You eat delicious, healthy foods each day and exercise in conjunction with these products.
- Max Phase // DAYS 11 – 24: Once you hit this phase, your body is ready to kick some serious booty! This phase is all about sustained energy, appetite control, and core nutrition. Again, this is not a quick fix or a diet pill regimen, and goes hand-in-hand with eating wholesome, healthy foods on a regular basis and exercising.
DAY 1 OF THE CHALLENGE:
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8am: Woke up and got dressed for the gym immediately. The first products you take in the morning is your ProBiotic Restore™ tablets and your Spark. It says to take them approximately 30 minutes before you eat breakfast, but I take them before I head out to the gym and eat half of a banana on the way there. Spark gives me an insane amount of energy and mental focus and I notice it almost immediately. I go to the gym and get in a 20 minute hill training run and 20 minutes of arm strength training.
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9:45am: I got home a little later than usual because I had to meet someone to pick up an essential oil. As soon as I get home I have 2 eggs scrambled with a pinch of salt and pepper and some amazing seasoning my friend got me from Belize. I also add in one serving of a complex carb and drink the Fiber Drink from the kit. The Fiber Drink is simply a powder that you mix with 8oz of water and drink. You want to drink it fairly quickly because it will thicken if you let it sit. A lot of people dread the Fiber Drink because it has a weird texture to it, but I chug mine and I’m fine. It also comes in flavors, which I did not realize when I bought my kit.
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11:30am: I realize that for working out so hard at the gym, the Fiber Drink has definitely helped to keep me feeling full. Of course, eating the scrambled eggs helped get some protein in me as well. I decided to keep chugging water because I don’t really feel hungry at this point. I’ve consumed approximately 70oz of water between when I woke up and this point.
1:00pm: I’m hungry and ready for lunch! I make a green salad with lettuce, radishes, sprouts, sunflower seeds, and 4 hard-boiled egg whites. I limit my salad dressing to 1 tablespoon and it’s more than enough.
3:00pm: They recommend taking Spark again if you feel yourself needing a boost of energy. I personally crash around this time of day almost always and I felt fantastic. I still had energy and didn’t feel like I needed to drink more so instead I had a snack. I decided on a Granny Smith apple with 1 tablespoon of almond butter. It is yum-yum delicious and one of my favorite snacks EVER!
6:45pm: We decide to eat dinner and we’re having leftovers. I have half of a chicken sausage on a whole wheat bun and salad greens topped tomatoes, onions, and ground turkey that has had taco seasoning mixed in. It tastes like a giant taco salad and I am satiated. After dinner, I take my OmegaPlex which is a high quality blend of Omega 3 fatty acids.
8:00pm: I am out with my husband and he decides he needs frozen yogurt. I decide I will have some but only a small amount and add no toppings. I managed to stay strong and do it! I had about 1/4 cup of fro-yo total. You want to limit your sugar during this challenge, so this is my way of still enjoying life without completely giving it up.
10:00pm: I’m gearing up for bed around this time, despite not going to bed until around midnight. I take my last supplements of the day, the Herbal Cleanse Tablets. These have all kinds of wonderful supplements in them to help detox your liver, kidneys and digestive system. I cut my water supply off somewhere around this time as well so that I’m not up all night peeing.
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END OF DAY 1: I feel great. I had a ton of energy and found the products to be simple and easy to take. It helps that Advocare provides you with a 24 Day Challenge booklet that you can use to check off each supplement and meal daily, so you’ll never forget or get confused. I do feel like I have dry-mouth, which is odd because I literally drank WELL over half my body weight in water, approximately 120oz. I chalk it up to it being a normal part of the detox and cleanse process and go to sleep. Onto Day 2!
DAY 2 OF THE CHALLENGE:
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8:25am: I mosey out of bed because I had my alarm set for 8am and I’m sore from yesterday’s workout. My arms are screaming at me, but I know that it’s a good sign I’m building muscle. I hop into my workout clothes, take my ProBiotic Restore™ tablets and my Spark. Today I try Mango Strawberry Spark and it is uber delicious. I head to the gym for leg and glute day. I spend 20 minutes on the elliptical doing the GLUTE PLUS program on it and get my cardio in. I went quite hard on the elliptical, really pushing my legs and glutes to the max by pedaling backward and forward, as well as crouching into a semi-squat while on it. I also do 25 minutes of leg and glute strength training on the machines.
9:30am: I make it home and make myself 2 scrambled eggs, again with a pinch of salt and pepper and my seasoning from Belize. You want to limit your salt intake during this challenge, so I find other ways to make my food taste delicious and spices are one of them. I also ate most of my scrambled eggs in a low-carb, low calorie wrap that I found a package of in the health food section of my supermarket. I have my Fiber Drink and keep drinking loads of water because I feel really thirsty from my workout and the cleanse.
11:30am: Today, my tummy is rumbling and I’m ready for an early lunch. I make myself a huge hearty salad with red leaf lettuce, sprouts, radishes, broccoli, bell peppers, scallions, avocado, cabbage, and sunflower seeds. I love eating this way because I can consume a lot of food and not feel deprived while still keeping my calories down. For dressing, I use a teaspoon of olive oil and a few dashes of red wine vinegar. It’s delicious!
12:30pm: I go back for a snack of one Weight Watchers Jalapeno String Cheese. I am in the mood for something spicy and this sounds delicious to me.
2:00pm: My appetite has clearly picked up a notch today so I decide to have a small bowl of cereal filled with flax, fiber, and blueberries that I purchased from Whole Foods. I only poured myself about 1/3 cup and used cashew milk with it. Again, I don’t feel the need to have another Spark because I still feel energetic. Today was a stressful day for me, but I had plenty of energy.
6:30pm: I have dinner and it’s a chicken thigh with quinoa and sautéed zucchini. I end up also having a very small serving of cereal again, approximately 1/4 cup with some cashew milk. I take my OmegaPlex right after I am finished eating.
7:15pm: My snack is fresh pineapple and blueberries. We always keep fruit in our house and we love it.
11:00pm: I am settling down for the night, writing this post, recapping my day, and I just took my Herbal Cleanse Tablets to finish my day off. I am still drinking water like crazy and have been all day, but I’m trying to ween myself soon for the night because otherwise I’ll be up peeing all night.
END OF DAY 2: I still have dry-mouth. It feels like I have cotton balls in my mouth at times and again, I have been drinking loads of water. I’d say that I drank around 120oz of water today. H20 makes me feel so good on this cleanse. I can already tell between my very clean eating, my water intake, my workouts, and the supplements from Advocare that I look far less bloated, especially in my stomach and face. I feel great energy wise and I’m ready to tackle another workout tomorrow morning.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON THE CHALLENGE:
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Plan Ahead of Time: Life is busy for many of us and writing things down helps me tremendously. I use the Advocare 24 Day Challenge Guide that came with the kit to check off my supplements daily, but I also use a wellness journal and personal planner to write out what I am eating and what workouts I am doing each day for the week. It keeps me on track and helps me feel like I “have” to cross it out and get it done when it is in writing. Plus, if you’re artistic like me, you’ll enjoy the fun that comes with having a planner and decorating it weekly.
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Use Essential Oils For What Plagues You: Yes, I am a doTerra Wellness Advocate, but I only do this because I am extremely passionate about these essential oils and use them myself on a daily basis. My muscles have been super sore today so I used some doTerra Deep Blue for relief. It is inevitable during this challenge that you will feel various ways depending on the day. It’s common to get headaches when you are cleansing your body, so I recommend the doTerra Past Tense blend, and Peppermint Oil. Since we are cleansing our bodies from the inside out during this time, it’s important not to add too many synthetic ingestibles if you can get away with it. I prefer my oils over taking ibuprofen or over-the-counter medication any day. You can shop here or feel free to e-mail me if you have any specific ailments and would like a sample to try!
QUICK TIPS:
- Limit or cut out alcohol completely. I am cutting it out for maximum results. I am not a big drinker anyway, so this is no problem for me.
- Limit sugar and candy intake.
- Cut out processed and fried foods.
- Limit or avoid creamy sauces, high calorie salad dressings, white flour, partially hydrogenated oils, and soda.
- Eat wholesome, real food from the outer perimeters of the supermarket. You can find healthy recipes for the challenge here.
- Watch your portion sizes and look up recommended portion sizes for proteins, vegetables, and complex carbs.
- Drink tons of water. You’re going to need it and you WILL feel thirsty, trust me. It is recommended that everyone drink half their body weight in H20 on a daily basis, even if you are not on this challenge.
Overall, I’m really pleased with how the first 2 days have gone so far. It’s gotten me back into a “groove” in terms of training at the gym, running, and eating even more disciplined. The supplements have been cleansing my body and I can definitely notice that I feel less bloat already.
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If you’re interested in taking the Advocare 24 Day Challenge, I am here to coach you along the way and be your personal mentor. I will answer your questions and add you to our private Facebook groups for tips, tricks, and daily inspiration.
Sign up here to purchase the 24 Day Challenge or click the image below. If you sign up, please e-mail me or add me on Facebook so we can keep in touch throughout the process!
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If you sign up as a Distributor, for just $79 you will receive $50 worth of Advocare product, and receive an immediate 20% off EVERYTHING Advocare offers (with the potential to get up to 40% off). This is the option I chose because I love the products. Advocare offers such a wide variety of products, from supplements to vitamins to workout kits and programs. There is something for everyone, no matter what your wellness goals and concerns are. Sign up as a Distributor here for the 20% off discount, or ask me more questions!
I will be updating you once I finish a few more days of the Cleanse Phase!