Workout Wednesday: A Review

I started the 24 Day Advocare challenge last month. You can read about my reasons for starting the challenge and my hopes through my posts here.  The challenge is broken up into two parts, a 10 day cleanse and a 14 day clean eating regimen with vitamin supplements.  The challenge comes with recipe ideas, daily eating guide and clean eating tips.  The recipes were simple and great for when I got bored of our normal dinner routine.  The daily eating guide and clean eating tips were in line with what I strive for my diet to look like focused on fruits, vegetables and lean protein. 

          The recommended products for the challenge include the herbal cleanse, 2 boxes of Spark, one bottle of OmegaPlex (an Omega 3 vitamin), MNS Max Supplements and meal replacement shakes. I opted not to get the meal replacement shakes to help minimize the cost. Since the challenge is divided into two parts I’m going to review each part individually. 

First up the 10 day cleanse. During the cleanse, it is suggested to avoid alcohol, dairy, coffee and highly processed foods.  However, the  box states that even if you don’t follow the food guide that you still can lose weight. There are probiotics daily as well as a fiber drink for 6 days. I chose the peaches and cream flavor as I read horrible reviews on the citrus flavors.  The fiber drink was not horrendous however it was very artificial and sugary. I enjoyed it most when I combined it in my oatmeal or smoothie. This part of the challenge is where I lost the most weight.  I lost around 3 pounds during the 10 day cleanse. The cleanse is perfect for people who want to reset after the Christmas holiday or any indulgent period. It helps to *ahem* clean you out of anything lingering around your stomach and intestines. It really gets your digestive system back on track.

Now, on to the 14 day vitamin and supplement regimen.  The pills are divided into individual packs that you take before breakfast, with breakfast and before lunch. The first thing I noticed that there are a lot of pills! There are around 4-5 pills per packet with 4 packs to consume a day. I’ll let you do the math. That’s more pills than I have ever taken in a week let alone a day. 

The claim of these packets is to help suppress appetite, increase metabolism, increase energy and aid in weight loss.  During this phase, I lost another 2 pounds.  However, I did not notice any major effects from the supplements. There was no major changes in my appetite or energy. 

Throughout the 24 days, I ate clean as best as possible and avoided alcohol. I worked out around 4 days a week while training for the marathon.  My meals and workouts were no different than what I would do typically. The main change is that I didn't indulge in a weekly splurge meal like I normally have. 

My thoughts overall on the challenge is that it did not provide the jump in weight loss that I was hoping for. Honestly,  I could have lost the weight through watching my diet and exercising without the supplements.  I believe that the 10 day cleanse was a great way to reset my eating and thoughts toward food after being indulgent over the holidays. On the other hand, I would not recommend the MNS part of the challenge.  

For myself, since I already eat clean and exercise regularly there were no major changes in my routine or diet. I think others may have different results if they make major to their diet or exercise. There was just not that much for me to change. 

One thing that I did learn was how frequent I had cravings for sweets. Until now I never realized how often I wanted to splurge on dessert or a drink after a long day. I had the craving for sweets or a glass of wine honestly about 4 times in weeknight. That's a heck of a lot more than I realized. Following this cleanse, I am going to continue eating clean by following a 80/20 guide. 80% healthy & clean choices and 20% indulgences. I also am starting to plan my meals and snacks more to include a healthy sweet such as dark chocolate or frozen Greek yogurt.  

What are your experiences with weight loss challenges? Have you tried Advocare products?

Fitness: January 20- 25

Today I am thankful for another long weekend. Working in the school system has it's perks, one of them is long weekends and spring break. This weekend we headed home to Wilmington to celebrate my grandmother's and dad's birthday. It was nice to get away and see friends and family.

Of course with celebrations, there was lots of rich food, drinks and desserts. I had to pass on them this time around which I got some strange looks due to my love of all thinks dessert related. I know it will all be worth it in the end!

I am on day 8 on the Advocare 24 Day challenge. The plan has great tips on how to make the most of your cleanse and really focus on getting the proper nutrition through your food. Here are 10 tips that can help you make healthy choices even if your not doing a cleanse.

Also, eating every 2-3 three hours helps keep your metabolism high and keeps you feeling full. I find that if I eat a small breakfast, mid morning snack and then a bigger lunch it keeps me satisfied and I don't snack as much at night.

Along with focusing on my eating, I am keeping up my cardio with marathon training! Today is week three of marathon training. Chances for snow this weekend is going to make some of these runs very interesting! I am going to start trying to work out in the morning at my gym to up my strength training. I have been awful at working out in the morning. Hopefully, getting to a class will help!

Weekly Workouts

Sunday: Rest Day

Monday: Upper Body/HIIT Intervals & 4 miles 

Tuesday: Body Pump & 3 miles 

Wednesday: HIIT Intervals 

Thursday: Body Pump & 6 miles

Friday: Rest Day

Sunday: 10 miles

Five on Friday

It's Friday y'all and thankfully we made it to the end of the work week! Friday also means my favorite post of the week. Five on Friday! So here we go.

One. I finally broke down and purchased a new pair of  workout leggings. I am so glad I did just in time for the "polar vortex". I picked up a pair of Wonder Under pants at Southpoint last weekend and have been wearing them almost daily since then (I promise, not to work!). My previous pair of Luluemon pants were destroyed by my cute puppy when he decided to make them into his new chew toy. 

Two. There were some amazing deals at the Lilly Pulitzer sale was this week. I am beyond thrilled to have gotten a dress and a top in one of my favorite prints. 

Three. I stumbled across this article on the myths of how the brain works and how they have no place in a classroom. Unfortunately, so many teachers  have fallen for these myths. Students are not solely aright-brained or left-brained learner or just a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner. Each student has the ability to learn through numerous ways.  Ultimately, education practices should be "based on policies, initiatives and interventions that have been tried, tested and shown to work has the prospect of offering our children the best possible start to their lives."  Yay, research! 

Four. Today I start Advocare's 24 Day challenge. I have learned the hard way that you can't out train a bad diet. In my journey to get my diet on track I am going to challenge myself to 24 days of clean eating and no cheats. Do I think these pills are a quick fix to my weight loss? No way. What I do hope is that they will supplement the work I am putting in through diet and exercise. I also found an awesome meal plan to go with it here. 

Five. This Bible verse sums up my desires for 2014. It is going to be a great year and I can't wait to see where His path takes us! 

Hope y'all have a great Friday!!