So it’s been awhile since the Advocare 24-day Challenge has been out of our lives, and I realize I’ve completely let you down in giving you a proper final update and analysis.
Sorry.
If you’ll remember, we started the 24-day Challenge earlier this year. For recaps, here’s the initial announcement, day 1, days 2-3, days 4-7 and days 8-16.
If you’ll also remember, we were sticking fairly closely to the diet and supplements, up until we took a break for Boyfriend’s birthday. Then I tore my ACL, and everything pretty much went out the window. And, as I learned, painkillers and a shit ton of vitamins didn’t make my stomach feel all that awesome, and then with Boyfriend being back and forth between Chicago and me not wanting to limp to the kitchen to make anything worthwhile, and me continuing to come up with excuses like so, we basically fell off the Advocare wagon.
Takeaways
By the time we stopped, I think I had lost about two pounds. total, as well as one inch in my waist. Since the start of Advocare until now, I think I’m down four, but painkiller nausea most likely has something to do with it as my eating habits have basically been cereal and grilled cheese for the past week.
My results (obviously) weren’t anything drastic like a lot of the success stories will tell you, but I suppose those are the extreme cases anyway. In changing our eating habits and re-committing to exercise, I did feel a lot better about myself overall, but like with any “diet,” I also felt guilty anytime I deviated from what they called acceptable in the eating plan.
Overall, I like the healthy habits the challenge promotes. Cutting out all sugars isn’t something that I think is really sustainable, as sugar is in everything – and I don’t like being told I can’t have ketchup – but it does make you think more about sugar is added to everything we eat, especially the processed/pre-packaged stuff. And with all the studies about how increasingly bad a ton of sugar is for you, it’s definitely something to keep in mind when approaching food. And I should probably get my cereal addiction under control.
I didn’t really care for all the supplements – like I’ve said before, I don’t know how it’s really humanly possible for your body to absorb all of those vitamins at once anyway, so I think we peed half of them out. And if I didn’t take them exactly how they said (some with food, some 30 minutes before eating, some before bed), it would really kill my stomach/make me feel really nauseous, which I didn’t really care for.
Final word
I don’t think I’ll try Advocare again. It’s not that it was a bad experience, it’s just that the parts that made me feel the best (eating habits and exercise) aren’t ones I can buy in a box with supplements and shakes. But I can’t speak for you, dear reader. If you’re looking for a jumpstart back into health and need the motivation/a plan to stick to, this might be something for you to try.
Filed under: advocare 24-day challenge
