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Six Month Update

November 11, 2011 in Advocare, Current Affairs, Health with 2 Comments

Six months ago, on May 11, 2011, I started my journey to a healthier lifestyle with the AdvoCare 24-Day Challenge. You can read more about my results from that challenge here. In some ways it is hard to believe six months have passed already. I can remember when I first started this journey I wanted to lose a pound or two a week. “Only a pound or two a week!,” I would frustratingly think. But I couldn’t be more thankful for the slow, steady, and healthy way in which I have been losing weight. I have tried the quick fix diets only to be back to my starting weight, if not heavier, within days of stopping the diet. Being able to change my eating habits and getting regular exercise has allowed me to be smart about my weight loss.

As of this morning I have lost sixty-six pounds and thirty-nine total inches. When I stop and think about that I just shake my head. I have always wanted to lose weight, but was never able to imagine myself losing any significant amount of weight. Honestly, if you would have told me I would be down sixty-plus pounds in six months, I would have figured you too be a very optimistic person. But, man, I am here. Crazy!

May 11, 2011. 398 lbs.

November 11, 2011. 331.8 lbs.

You can see more pictures of this journey at my Facebook photo album, Worth The Weight.

Measurements
(Beginning/Today)

Biceps: 20″ / 15″
Neck: 20″ / 18″
Chest: 62″ / 54″
Waist: 54″ / 44″
Hip: 56″ / 49.5″
Thigh: 32.5″ / 27″
Calf: 18.5″ / 16.5″
Total: 263″ / 224″

As people started to physically see a difference in my appearance, they would ask me how I have been able to lose the weight. So I thought I would share some of the changes I have made in my life to help in the weight loss. I will give a brief look at each of these with plans to write a more in-depth blog post for each soon.

AdvoCare 24-Day Challenge. It all began here. The weight I lost in those 24 days was the catalyst I needed to continue on my journey. I can’t say enough about the challenge or AdvoCare products. The other products from AdvoCare I use are: Catalyst, Omegaplex, Meal Replacement Shake, LeptiLean, MNS Max E, and Spark!

H2O. This is 95% of what I drink. Literally. I never thought I would be able to say that, ever. I have always needed something to drink with flavor whenever I ate a meal. Not anymore. Truthfully, as weird as this sounds, I actually crave water.

Nutrition. This is a massive part of my changes. They say in weight loss its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. I used to have it the other way around thinking I could work off of super-sized fries and double-cheese burger. Not so. In past if I was eating something green it was probably a candy of some sort. Now, just about every meal I have has a green vegetable in it. Recently I have been concentrating my nutrition around a Paleo diet. I would say I am eating Paleo roughly 85-90% of the time.

Exercise. This has been key in my weight loss. I have had weeks where I would eat well, but didn’t exercise and I won’t lose much weight, if any at all. I try to do a cardio workout at least six days a week with muscle development workouts mixed in.

LoseIt! I have never been a fan of journaling my food intake. But for some reason I love using the LoseIt! app on my phone and web to track what I eat. You can invite friends to join in and track each others progress. It has been a good motivator when I start to crave something unhealthy. Knowing it will show up on daily and weekly tracker has discouraged some food choices on more then one occasion.

Holy Spirit. I am no fool to think that I could do any of this without the power of holy spirit within me. Left to my own vices I would keep eating how I have been without a care in the world. But I knew that my previous eating and health habits were only hindering me and my quality of life. I have much more to say on this in a later post.

Thank you all for your encouragement along the way and for the road ahead, it never gets old.

Greg.

Advocare: 24 Day Challenge

June 7, 2011 in Advocare, Current Affairs, Health with 1 Comment

I wanted to write a little more about the Advocare 24 Day Challenge (The Challenge) since that is what has helped me to jumpstart my journey to a healthier lifestyle.

During The Challenge you take five different Advocare products: Spark, Herbal Cleanse, OmegaPlex, MNS Vitamins (E, C, or 3), and Meal Replacement Shakes. The Challenge is broken up into two phases; Cleanse Phase (Days 1 -10) and Max Phase (Days 11 – 24). During the cleanse phase of The Challenge you will take Spark, Herbal Cleanse, and OmegaPlex. The max phase you will continue to use Spark and OmegaPlex while adding in the MNS Vitamins and Meal Replacement Shakes. These products, together with healthly food choices and exercise, will help in getting you started towards a healthier lifestyle.

The products I mentioned above are what comes with The Challenge, however you can certainly add other products if you would like. I added Catalyst, which I highly recommend.

The cost of The Challenge with no additional products is: $182.25 (shipping extra). I know at first that price can be somewhat overwhelming, it was for me. However, I then realized when I divide the cost by 24 (days) The Challenge only cost me around $8 a day – thats facturing in my shipping cost as well. I easily spent $8 a day on at least one of my meals. Not to mention roughly two to three sodas I might buy in a day.

A conservative estimate on how much money I spent on food everyday prior to The Challenge would be $14.25 a day; during The Challenge it was $6.85. Spread that out over 24 days and before The Challenge I would spend roughly $342 on food in 24 days. During The Challenge I would spend roughly $164.44. By taking The Challenge I saved $177.60, almost enough to pay for the challenge itself. The savings will only increase as I continue on this journey to a healthier lifestyle. With the numbers above, over the course of a year, I will save over $2,700 on food!

FAVORITE PRODUCTS

Spark. I can’t say enough about this product! If there is one Advocare product you should try, it would be this. Spark gives me much needed energy throughout the day. Before I started taking Spark it was not uncommon for me to take a short cat nap during the day – usually at lunch. When I take Spark I have no desire to nap, nor am I remotely tired. I find that when I am taking Spark I have less of a desire to eat as well. It is my favorite product that I have tried so far. I recommend getting a canister of your favorite flavor. It is cheaper per serving that way. My favorite flavors are Fruit Punch and Pink Lemonade.

Herbal Cleanse. I have tried other cleanses before and this one beats them all. This is a ten day fiber cleanse and I can tell you it works. During The Challenge I lost just over 18 lbs and 16 of those pounds was during the cleanse phase of The Challenge! The cleanse is not a violet, nasty cleanse. I have taken other cleanes that were rough, but this one is really nice — as far as cleanses go. I even went on a five hour deep sea fishing trip on the fifth day of the cleanse with no problem. If you eat correctly and follow the instructions and suggestions for the cleanse phase you can’t help but see results. I plan on doing the cleanse every three to four months.

Catalyst This was an add-on I did for The Challenge. A potential reality with me losing weight is having a lot of excess skin once I have reached my goal. By using Catalyst I believe I will be able to greatly reduce the excess skin I will have, if any. Catalyst helps to maintain muscle mass during weight loss. It is $31.50 for 90 pills. I think this is money well spent when I realize I could be paying a lot more money to a plastic surgeon to get rid of a bunch of loose skin.

Greg.

MY RESULTS

Before The Challenge (398 lbs)

After The Challenge (379.4 lbs)

18.6 lbs. 12.5 Inches. 24 Days.

June 4, 2011 in Advocare, Current Affairs, Health with 4 Comments

As far back as I can remember I have always been overweight. I was the chubby kid on the playground that was always picked last. As a pre-teen I had to buy adult sized pants because my waste was so big. In high school and college, I only got bigger. In my twenties I became morbidly obese.

I have always been aware of my weight and the effects it could have on my overall health, but I never cared enough about it to make any lasting changes. To be honest, with the exception of my excess weight, I have always had great yearly physicals. I figured as long as my physicals where going well, then everything was fine; regardless of how I looked or felt about myself because of my weight. From time to time I would decide to make a positive change in regards to my overall health. However, I would do well for a week or two and then quit.

With age, I suppose, comes wisdom. Growing up in a world that thrives off of convenience I was programed to eat poorly. My idea of eating healthy was not super sizing a fast-food meal and drinking a diet coke instead of a regular coke. It was time I learned about proper nutrition and stop chasing a quick fix with no lasting results. If I was truly going to lose weight and maintain a healthily lifestyle, I needed to change everything about my diet. On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, I did just that when I started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge.

Since starting the Advocare 24 Day Challenge my whole focus on life has changed. For the first time in as far back as I can remember I am passionate about life. I have a renewed focus on what I am doing everyday. I realize that living a healthy lifestyle not only affects me but those around me as well. The road to a healthier lifestyle will not be an easy one, but it will be well worth every battle along the way. Not only will I be healthier, but I will be a better person physically, mentally, financially and spiritually.

Below is a video I made chronicling my 24 days on the challenge. In the coming days, I plan on writing more about the challenge itself, the products, and my goals for the future.

I want to thank everyone who has shown me support throughout all of my ups and downs with my weight. For the first time I have a focused determination that is fueled by God as well as all of your incredible support.

Greg.