24 Day Notes

I kept a few notes while I was on the challenge and thought that I would post them here to share with anyone who is currently on the challenge or thinking about it. 

• Day 1: Fiber drink is WHOA. I'm not sure what I expected because…It's a fiber drink. It's kind of sweet but the texture is a little rough.
• Day 2: My mom suggested using a straw for the fiber drink and that made a huge difference. I haven't pooped my pants, so…yay
• Day 3: I definitely feel more energized this morning. Drinking all the water every day is the toughest part.
• Day 4: YAY, no fiber drink…I am definitely more "regular" … I feel lighter but a little like something is missing since I didn't take the fiber drink earlier.
• Day 5: Still feeling good. No crazy cravings.  
• Day 6: I can tell my stomach isn't as bulgy in my clothes. I almost peed myself today. Remember to go immediately before leaving the house. Drinking 1 spark in the AM and one around 3 pm helps get me through the roughest parts of my day!
• Day 7: Going to the bathroom like clockwork for the past few days. No surprises… I was worried this was going to make me "go" a lot…
• Day 8: I was so glad to have the fiber drink back today! After going the few days without it, it was kind of a sweet treat!
• Day 9: no notes…
• Day 10: I put my pictures side by side from today and day 1. I can't believe that just by eating healthier and ridding my body of all the junk I have had such a drastic change. I know I felt bad but I didn't know I felt THAT bad…I feel like a brand new person. And a little psycho for being so excited about this. 
• Day 11: Lots of pills today! Luckily I love vitamins. The green one reminds me of the alfalfa hay we use to feed our horse…Oddly comforting. haha
• Day 12-15: No notes
• Day 16: I started adding in a little whole wheat pita bread. I ate one today with roasted red pepper hummus. It was so good…I felt like I was doing something bad…
• Day 17: I have changed up different days when I drink the shake. I skipped one day so I drank 2 today. I have never liked any meal replacement shakes until this…super yummy…
• Day 18-23: No notes
• Day 24: 8 lbs down and almost 9 inches gone. I can tell that I'm toner in my butt and thighs and obviously my stomach, which has always been where I am most self conscious. Why in the world did I wait so long to do this?!

I don't believe that I ever shared on here my final pictures… On day 10 a light bulb in my bathroom was blown and it made me look tan. I was a little disappointed on day 24 that I really don't look that dark… HAHA. There was not a HUGE change in 10-24 but I can tell my "pooch" had shrunk, and I had gone down an inch and a half in my waist. I should have taken the pics at the same distance and junk but it was always really early in the morning and I wasn't really thinking about anything other than taking the pic and then eating.

The truth

Before I show you what I've accomplished past 10 days, I want to share with you all the truth why I started this challenge.

1. I have zero control over anything in this entire world, except for myself. And for the past 27 years and couple of months I have not done a very great job at exercising any control. I can't control the way my kids act in public (have you ever tried stopping a melt down on isle 6? Although they are punished for their behavior it doesn't mean they're not going to freak out about getting Fruit Loops instead of Trix.) I can't control the bipolar weather that makes my self diagnosis of SAD linger. 

2. Referring to previously mentioned lack of control, I am a binge eater. My friends who know me best know my weakness for hotdog buns and generally any bread or carbohydrate of any type. I can and have eaten an entire large pizza by myself on more that one occasion. I have eaten an entire pack of hotdog buns in much less than a day's time. Just a few weeks ago I made the no bake drop cookies and ate them until I sugar crashed had to make the boys nap so that I could as well. My addiction is real. And it hurts.

3. After binging, I won't eat until Daniel comes home for dinner for a couple days. Then I'm left with even less energy. 

Now, I'm telling you why I am sharing all of this with you. 

1. I feel like a brand new person. Let me expand...

2. My own little personal saying these past few days is "put good in and good comes out." This can be taken in a couple different ways. The first being that pooping is much more pleasant when you eat healthier. Sorry but it's true. It's magical and I will just leave it at that. The second way is just that my whole disposition feels completely different. I don't wake up and dread getting the day started. I wake up HUNGRY and ready to eat something that is going to fuel me to be the person that I need to be. The person I WANT to be. The mom that my kinds want and deserve.

3. If you're a Christian (and I know not all of you are, so I'll save your conversion for another blog, jk) then you know (or maybe not) that gluttony is a sin. Food is suppose to nourish US to serve HIM. I wasn't doing much serving when I was sugar drunk at 2 in the afternoon. I can't describe how ashamed I am for what I've put in my body. It may sound so silly to you, but this has truly been a life changing experience for me.

And now, I share with you my before and afters… Have any of you heard the saying "abs are made in the kitchen" ? Well this is why, not that I have abs…yet, but this is all because of putting good food and the right nutrients in my body with AdvoCare. Yes, I did work out…but nothing that was overly strenuous. Seriously, anyone can do some squats, lunges, crunches and arm weights while watching TV. I have always had a belly pooch and I have always been insecure about it. But now seeing how much I've changed (inside and out) gives me all the more motivation to continue. I've always said I won't have abs because I love bread too much. Well, I can still have bread…just not the whole loaf. And I can have abs. I will have abs…maybe. Daniel isn't a fan of abs, and he's the only one I've got to impress anyway!

Please don't judge too harshly, it has been only 10 days. I can't wait to see what the next 14 days of the challenge have in store. If you have any questions about Advocare, let me know! I have some amazing friends who have been doing this a lot longer than I have and if I can't answer your questions then they definitely can. 

BTW! I've ordered some samples of Spark to send out to you guys just so you can see what all of the fuss is about! Even if you're not up for the challenge, this stuff is Waaaaay better than Monsters and Red Bull!

I just...

I just have to share with you guys! Today is day 9 that I, Brittany Land, have gone without dairy, sodas, bread, and sugar. Last Monday Daniel and I started the AdvoCare 24 day challenge. Tomorrow will be our final day of the 10 day cleanse. I never in my life thought that I possessed the will power to keep from taking a bite out of the boys PB&Js. I baked two or three times a week. I always had homemade cookies or cupcakes or pie or SOMETHING that I can eat at a cravings whim. 

I am addicted to sugar. 

The first 3 days were very hard, but I stayed strong. Having Daniel, my mom, a friend and my coaches that I could text or call to take my mind off of wanting something I didn't NEED made this so much easier. At times I wanted to run down to the cupcake shop and stuff my face, but I didn't. And now, I feel like a brand new person. I use to CRASH every day between 1 and 2 pm. I was loaded up on simple carbs and my body just could not handle it.

For breakfast I've been eating steel cut oats (which I can't believe I never had before now) with either strawberries, blueberries or banana and just a tiny dash of Stevia in the Raw in it with a side of 2 egg whites (sometimes scrambled and sometimes boiled). This has been the hardest part because I am NOT a breakfast person…unless it's 6 bowls of Lucky Charms. 

I should add that the first and last 3 days of the cleanse I drink a fiber drink in the AM before breakfast. The first 7 days I took herbal cleanse supplements at bed time.

The last 7 days I took a pro biotic before breakfast. 

In between meals I munch on nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and veggies, hummus, peanut butter, and just anything that is high in fiber and protein and not processed. 

Lunches are either salads or left overs from the night before or both. Yesterday I opened a can of tuna, mixed in a tsp of mustard and sprinkled with pepper and it was so delicious. I have seen my sister do this before and thought it was gross… But I tried it. And I liked it. A lot. I ate that with a slice of avocado and some cherry tomatoes. 

For dinner I have been cooking a lot with ground turkey. We have had tacos with homemade seasoning wrapped in lettuce, Spaghetti squash with turkey meat sauce, Chicken fajitas and using lettuce again instead of tortillas (which I am surprised I liked so much. I usually hate myself after Mexican food but not this week!), ground turkey made into patties stuffed with mushrooms and onions (we ate them like hamburger steak), and turkey meatballs (made like meatloaf but with turkey and instead of bread crumbs I used oats). 

This is my second biggest accomplishment. Cooking EVERY night. I'm not going to pretend that we don't normally eat out twice a week. Because we did. And it was showing. 

Third accomplishment is my water intake. They say that you should divide your weight by 2 and drink that many ounces. I've been working out so I've been drinking about 100 oz each day plus my Spark once or twice a day. This is probably AdvoCare's freaking golden child because it is loaded with vitamins and has only half the caffeine of a cup of coffee. I would usually drink a cup or two in the morning but Daniel and my mom would drink it all day every day, and even into the night. Both of them have said that they have had no issues with giving up coffee solely because Spark gives them hours of energy without jitters or a crash. 

I first signed up as a distributor for AdvoCare so I could get 20% off when we ordered our challenges. Now, it is a company with quality products that I truly believe in. It isn't a diet. It is a lifestyle change. And I know that Daniel and I HAD to change the way we were eating or we'd be diabetics within a few years. Now, we will STILL eat our cake, but just a piece. And probably not every day. My friend Ashley who first introduced us to AdvoCare says it's about making good choices at an 80% to 20% ratio. If you're going to eat a muffin or bagel, just keep the rest of it clean. I feel like this challenge is getting us off to the jumpstart that we needed to show us that we CAN make good choices and that they can be healthy and delicious. I am so blown away by not only the discipline I've had these past few days but that everyone on the challenge with me has shown. 

(I feel that I should disclose that during Mr Peabody and Sherman on Saturday I ate 8 of the boys pretzel M&Ms and about 6 of the little sour gummy things.)