Advocare

One very big piece of my healthier lifestyle in 2016 has been Advocare. Ben and I were introduced to Advocare through some friends of ours way back in 2014. We were interested in the company at the time, but since we weren’t working, we didn’t have the income to spend.

I’ve had to work hard to maintain a healthy weight since I became a teenager. While I haven’t been overweight a day in my life, I was growing concerned because each year my average weight just kept creeping up. I knew that I didn’t want to keep adding on pounds as time went on. After we moved to Oklahoma and I started working at the pharmacy, my eating habits got progressively worse and I exercised less because of my work schedule.

I felt like I needed a jumpstart into a healthier lifestyle. In the past I would get discouraged by slow progress and by feeling hungry because I was focused on calorie-counting. I was ready for a different approach and decided to save up and do the Advocare 24 Day Challenge!

There are two phases to the challenge: the Cleanse Phase and the Max Phase. Throughout the challenge, you focus on eating lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and complex carbs. You also strive to drink 8-10 cups of water per day, especially during the Cleanse Phase. You avoid eating foods that are highly processed, high in fat, or that contain sugar.

Unlike a lot of other cleanses I’ve heard about or read about, I did not feel like I was starving nor sick during the Advocare cleanse! We had been instructed not to check the scale until the end of the cleanse (day 11 of the challenge) because your weight tends to fluctuate a lot during this phase depending on how much water your body is retaining.

I had definitely noticed an increase in my energy levels, but I was curious to know if I had actually lost any weight. I was quite surprised to discover that I had lost 5 pounds and several inches! So I was definitely motivated to keep going with the challenge.

The Cleanse Phase focuses on cleaning out your body of all the junk that’s accumulated (which I obviously had plenty of since I had been eating a lot of sugary, processed, fatty foods before the challenge.) The Max Phase focuses on filling your body up with all the nutrients needed to keep your metabolism fired up!

During the 24-day-challenge, I lost 9 pounds and 14 inches. My energy levels were WAY higher than usual, and since then, I have continued to use some of the Advocare products and also eat the way that the program encourages.

Here are some of my favorite Advocare products that I continue to use:

Spark—I don’t want to live without Spark! This is by far my favorite Advocare product. I am not a morning person, but I also can’t tolerate coffee without a fair amount of sweetener and flavoring in it (pretty much voiding any health benefit the actual coffee has.) Spark gives me a healthy boost of energy and vitamins to start my morning off and it tastes great too!

Catalyst—This product helps me a lot with my workouts! It’s an amino acid supplement, so it helps your body maintain muscle mass during weight loss and workouts. I noticed that I had better results from my workouts while using Catalyst (I didn’t grow as fatigued during cardio and noticed more sculpting from my toning workouts.) It’s a great way to make sure you’re getting an adequate amount of protein in your diet!

MNS E—The Metabolic Nutrition System is one of the core Advocare products. These supplements and thermogenic products are designed to give you energy by providing your body with the daily nutrients it needs as well as giving your body sustained energy. I notice a BIG increase in my energy levels when I use MNS E!

Since the beginning of 2016, I’ve lost a total of 13 pounds. I feel so much better and am enjoying the benefits of healthy eating and weight control. If you have more questions about Advocare, my brother has become a distributor for the company and would love to tell you more about the program and all the products they offer!