Sunday, April 6, 2014

24-Day Challenge

Last month we decided to try the AdvoCare 24-Day Challenge. We knew it would be a big commitment, but we were ready! We had both lost weight since moving to Evansville in September 2012, but needed a program to hold us accountable. Jed had some big goals he wanted to meet and thought the challenge would motivate him. I had come a long way in my fitness journey without any supplements, so I was interested to see how they would help.

Reasons the 24-Day Challenge sounded appealing to us:
  • Jed was a college athlete and had heard that AdvoCare was used by many college and pro-athletes. AdvoCare has continued to uphold a great reputation in the fitness community.
  • We weren't pressured by anybody to start. Jed had heard about AdvoCare years ago and had been given information but always had an excuse on why it wasn't time to start. Thankfully we finally committed!
  • I was inspired by how motivated Jed was about starting the program. It was so refreshing to go grocery shopping and agree on everything we picked up. He never looked at food labels before, but now we were a team equipping ourselves for a battle towards a healthy lifestyle. 
  • It is work friendly! You will have to say "no thank you" to tempting treats, but it is possible.
  • The plan has REAL FOOD. You implement shakes for breakfast during the last portion, but everything else is healthy food! Fruits, veggies, whole grains and protein! AMAZING! I can still feel like a real person and have enough energy to be active!
  • NO STARVING! It is all about nourishing your body. You should never be too hungry or too full.

A video to help explain the challenge! http://www.24daychallengemovie.com/


https://www.advocare.com/140257548/Store/24Wizard/
We ordered 2 24-Day Challenge bundles. We also chose to add on an extra box of protein shakes and catalyst! You can now build your own bundle and customize with different flavors. We were both committed and decided it was all or nothing. NO CHEATING. NO EXCUSES.

I started at 138 and Jed was at 317.

The product I had heard the most about was SPARK! I wasn't sold with all the hype until I did my first workout on the treadmill. I can usually only last 15-20 mins before I give up, but with spark I lasted just over 47 minutes! It may be a miracle potion, or at least the best amino energy drink I've ever used! I am now a believer. 

Our biggest concern was getting bored with our diet, but we stayed pretty creative. Some of the foods we gave up: greek yogurt, cereal, chocolate, tortilla chips, almond milk, anything with flour, cheese, milk, pizza... maybe we were consuming more dairy than needed! If you want to do the challenge you will have to avoid or give up unhealthy/fatty foods and alcohol. Another key to success is portioning. Measuring will not only keep you from overeating, but also from under eating. Getting enough calories is very important to being healthy, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Baked Cod, green beans and grilled sweet potato. 

Lettuce taco boats! Brown rice, avocado, rotel, jalapenos and chicken seasoned with chipotle lime Mrs. Dash.


Brown rice noodles with avocado sauce. Simply blend up an avocado with water and spices to desired taste and consistency.
Whole wheat noodles with spinach, chicken, marinara and a side of strawberries.
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Whole wheat wrap with zucchini and rice chips.




Taco salads with lean meat and extra veggies! 

HAMBURGERS? Yes, you can have a healthy version! 
Whole wheat spaghetti and salad. 

Southwest egg scramble.

Grilled chicken, sweet potato and broccoli.


Roasted turkey(we ate a whole turkey during one week of the challenge), green beans and brown rice. 

Turkey on a bed of spinach with a side of green beans. 

Brown rice with eggs and healthy stir"fry". You'd be surprised what you can "fry" up with water.




Brown rice and black bean burrito bowl. We discovered we love black beans IF we make them ouselves, no more canned black beans! 
We also started baking multigrain wraps to make nachos! Helping us take advantage of our new black bean obsession.

Brown rice pasta salad with veggies and red wine vinegar dressing.
Meals so healthy we felt ridiculously good. Grilled chicken, spinach and broccoli. 


Whole wheat chicken and veggie lo mein.


 Southwest egg white scramble and fruit! I added cilantro to many of our meals to keep them flavorful.
Have a potluck to go to? Bring something you know you can eat! NO EXCUSES! 


***HUGE TIP!!! Pack your lunch for work the night before! No excuses! I have a laptop lunch box and I love it. It's perfect for portioning and the containers make it easy to separate the food that needs to be warmed up. Bring enough food so you wont be tempted by that warm box of krispy creams or that cookie!


If you HAVE to eat out most restaurants have salads and healthier dressing options. We only went out for a going away dinner. It was at a pizza place, and we were the only salad eaters with no beers in front of us! Our salads were HUGE and I swear mine had 3 cups of veggies and a whole chicken breast on top. There were many comments on how good they looked. Yes, we missed the opportunity for buffalo chicken pizza, but we had to stick with our challenge.

I was very impressed by the shakes! I usually make my own and add 1-2 frozen bananas, but I could drink one of these down daily using just cold water! I loved adding cinnamon, vanilla, orange or butter extract. I like to change things up to avoid getting bored! 

Staying active during the challenge was easy since we had so much energy! I was getting up when Jed went to work around 4 A.M. every morning. I had so much time and energy to get a workout in. I could hit the treadmill or  do a T-25 session, maybe both! 


My workout buddies! Spark to give me energy and zoning out to a funny show! 


I even ran my first 7K while on the challenge. It's crazy to think a few years ago I ran a 2 mile St. Patrick's day fun run and cried because I had finally RAN a race. Now I'm doing 7K's and wanting more! 


RESULTS 

Jed is looking incredible and weighed in at 294! 23 pounds down and he's still going!




I ended up losing over 7 pounds and shed some of that extra fat hanging around!


We were both highly impressed with our results and decided to continue making healthy decisions. We are proud AdvoCare distributors who can truly say that these products are successful when paired with self control and a healthy active lifestyle. 



How to buy: 

Simply order online! HERE  ---> https://www.advocare.com/140257548 It's fun to read about the products and what they can help you with your goals!


The kits are pricey, but there are ways to help:
  • Plan out meals with similar key ingredients.
  • Bananas, eggs, brown rice, black beans and frozen veggies are very healthy and budget friendly.
  • Get creative with meal ideas! Try meatless Monday!
  • Save money by eating in the house and not buying the extra snacks and drinks. you usually consume. 
  • You'll have less food waste if you plan well. We didn't throw away any produce, because it was all incorporated into our meal plan. Instead of having bread with every meal we substituted lettuce or another veggie. 
  • Become a distributor! A great idea if you plan on being a frequent AdvoCare product user :)

If you would like to become a distributor(Yes, you get a discount!!) please contact one of us!


It is suggested to only do the challenge every 90 days. We do plan on
starting another challenge sometime after 90 days!We actually ordered more spark and catalyst this week.



Please feel free to ask us any questions about our experience or the products!

1 comment:

  1. My boy friend and I are going to start the challenge in April and this was a great blog to find to get tips and suggestions! Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete